Coaching the Nerd is the second book in the ‘Nerds vs Jocks’ series. It stars Bubba, who’s studying to be a personal trainer, and Sean, a genius, who’s studying to be a researcher. The story is told in third person from Bubba and Sean’s pov.



This story between Bubba and Sean takes place at the same time the first book takes place. At the end of the first book readers are already told that Bubba and Sean were a couple. This makes this book kind of a rehash of the same timeline of the first story. I think it would’ve been better if Bubba and Sean as a couple wasn’t mentioned at the end of the first book, it would’ve given this book a slightly more element of surprise.

I’ll start with the cover for my review. The cover model for Bubba looks like he could be Bubba. Sean’s face I can see looks like Sean, but his body wearing a thin t-shirt, no. Yes, Sean is skinny and that’s the point. Sean didn’t like to be seen as skinny. He covered himself up. He wouldn’t have shown himself looking scrawny in a V-neck t-shirt like on the cover. I understand the point of showing Sean as thin, but I think the cover model could have conveyed Sean’s thinness with him in a tight buttoned-up shirt, which would also have made him look nerdy. The Sean in a t-shirt makes the cover unattractive, at least in my opinion.

Plot-wise, I enjoyed this book much more than the first book. That had to do with the fact there wasn’t as much hate and anger in this story as there was in Book One. Without the hatred this was more pleasant to read.

Another thing that made this book more pleasant, were the characters. Both Sean and Bubba were sweet. Bubba had a heart of gold and was gentle. His one lack, was his insecurity because his father had told him that he wasn’t smart so he believed it and it bled into all his relationships with people until Sean came along. I really like how the author wrote Sean. His speech patterns and word usage stood out as distinct characteristics. Sean was almost like a human computer. He looked at everything logically and almost without emotional attachment, so he could see that Bubba was actually smart and he encouraged Bubba in his studies. Sean however did tackle events and interactions logically which made him naïve until he met Bubba. Like getting in shape so someone would want to have sex with him. Sean was starving for touch and kindness and Bubba gave that to him and that’s when Sean realized emotional attachment could make sex much better. They each supported the other with what the other needed the most in their lives. There’s good character growth in the story as both Bubba and Sean confront their parents in different ways on how their parents are controlling their lives, and the two finally break away. I like how it was handled. Both men are young, but I could believe in them as a couple and see them in a relationship that could last their lifetime.

A couple things popped out at me while reading. One was during the Bubba povs. At times while in Bubba’s pov and listening to Sean speak, Sean spoke out of character. He was even more robotic, where he wasn’t like that in the Sean pov chapters. It was rather disconcerting when it happened because it wasn’t how Sean sounded the rest of the time and it did throw me out of the story. The other instance was when Bubba had the big discussion with his dad near the end of the story. Throughout the story Bubba had a certain quality that sounded bumbling or halting. It made him sound less sophisticated than Sean, but that was okay because he wasn’t stupid. Anyway, during the conversation with his dad, Bubba sounded different, without those speech patterns, like a different person. More like Jesse from Book One and Bubba’s dad sounded like Bubba used to sound. I don’t know if it was done to ‘dumb down’ the father or to make Bubba sound more intelligent and pulled together, but I definitely noticed it and it pulled me out of the story again.

Overall, I enjoyed Coaching the Nerd much more than I did the first book. And I liked Bubba and Sean a lot more also. I take off half a star for the few things I mentioned that were obvious and distracted from the story, but the characters are so sweet and distinct, and the plot so enjoyable, I raise the rating to 5 Stars. I’d recommend this book to others. I’ll read the next book in the series, but I’m a bit leery about it because it’s between the two leaders of the fraternities and they really, really, really hate each other. And I really, really, really, didn’t like the amount of hate the authors put in book one.



I received an ARC of this book from the authors for an honest and unbiased opinion.
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Yay, I'm glad I enjoyed this installment more than the last one! Bubba is such a genuine and kindhearted guy, even though his self-confidence in his intelligence is practically nonexistent after constantly being told in some form or another by those around him that he doesn't even have half a brain...that is, until Sean—one of the brainiest brainiacs to ever brain—enters his life. Sean believes in Bubba's intelligence and potential, and it was heartwarming to see Bubba slowly recognize that yes, he can achieve his dream of becoming a physical therapist. I also greatly appreciated how Bubba realized and accepted his feelings for Sean much earlier than most MCs would (gotta love that self-awareness).

The final portion of the story did have a dramatic breakup scene (cue zombie mode for both parties), but while Sean's parents were out of line, I didn't think Bubba's reaction was really him. Apart from that though, I enjoyed their story and it was great seeing how far they and their families had come at the end :) ( )