Nerdplay

A laugh-out-loud, steamy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com between a fiercely independent woman running a nerdy adult retreat and the charming lawyer determined to close a high-stakes real estate deal—until love rewrites the rules. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood.

It’s all fun and games until...well, nobody loses an eye, but they might just lose their hearts. Cricket Abernathy has no qualms about letting her geek flag fly. For two weeks every summer, she welcomes like-minded adults to a specially curated camp, where they release their inner children and participate in activities like Hero 101, fanfiction collaborations, and zombie apocalypse training. It’s their safe space, and Cricket would rather eat ramen noodles for the rest of her life than sacrifice the camp to the financial gods, which is exactly what she tells the big city lawyer who seems to think his client is entitled to her property simply because the numbers in his bank account require commas. Charles Owen Frederick Thorpe IV, Esquire, is a man on a mission—to become the youngest partner in his firm’s history, win his family’s approval, and match the career successes of his siblings. Unfortunately, his one shot at partnership happens to be the acquisition of real estate currently owned and occupied by a headstrong woman wearing a Nerdy by Nature t-shirt and special edition Converse. With the deal and his partnership in jeopardy, Charlie is determined to do whatever it takes to wheedle Cricket’s land out from under her, so he does what any ruthless lawyer would do—he registers for camp. He’ll play her game of cornhole with cornballs, and by the end of the two weeks, he’ll have that contract signed, sealed, and delivered. How hard can it be? Too bad love has its own endgame…

© 2025 Simon Maverick (Audiobook): 9781668154229

Release date

Audiobook: 7 October 2025