Jocks May Be Cool But Nerds Rule In Madison Parker's "Deep in the Count"

Nerd: One whose unbridled passion for something, or things, defines who they are as a person, without fear of other people’s judgment. – Zachary Levi

Madison Parker has offered her talents to the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s “Love Has No Boundaries” summer event, and, in the process, has managed to give the jock/nerd trope a decidedly welcome makeover.

Brandon is the openly gay jock in this particular story. He’s the pitcher on the university baseball team, who breaks form as the stereotypical cocky athlete we’ve all come to expect where those guys are concerned. Brandon is actually kind of shy and is entirely unassuming that just because he plays baseball he’s got any sort of automatic cachet as a stud. The only thing that may be considered usual about Brandon is that he needs help in math. He’s failing Statistics, which puts his scholarship in jeopardy, and that’s where his best friend Jack’s nerdy roommate comes into play.

Corey is an unapologetic nerd. He outright owns his nerdiness in the best possible way: by being confident in himself and his awesomeness, and not caring what other people think of him. He’s happy with who he is and is fulfilled by the academic life, so when Brandon comes to him for tutoring, there is no playing the role of the timid geek. Corey grabs the athlete by the jockstrap (or whatever. Bad analogy but “takes the bull by the horns” is so cliché), and sets out to help Brandon understand mathematical statistics, eventually resorting to some pretty manipulative teaching methods, and I’m definitely not spoiling the fun of discovering that little manipulation for yourselves. Read the book.

Well, needless to say, Brandon is hooked and Corey is not. Corey isn’t looking for a boyfriend, let alone one with whom he has absolutely nothing at all in common. And that’s when Brandon decides to pull out all the stops and decides to appeal right to Corey’s love of cryptology, and that’s when Madison Parker also gives a great new meaning to the epistolary method of storytelling.

Deep in the Count is such a fun and fresh little story. Brandon and Corey were a case of “love at first sight” for me, even if it didn’t happen quite that way for Corey.

I definitely recommend checking this one out.

You can download it for FREE here:

Reviewed by: Lisa