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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tries too Hard to be funny, June 6, 2003
I wanted to like Nerd in Shining Armor. I really did. After all, I'm a nerd, and its nice to see one of us get some time in the spotlight at least once and a while....But this book's humor fell flat and seemed forced at least to this reader, and I disliked the 'hillbilly' humor which I felt was quite corny, and at times embarrassing bad. The heroines says things like: "Tarnation Jackson, you're slower than a coon dog with a full belly!" I don't know... I really cringed. It just wasn't even remotely funny and seemed quite hard for me to believe that a modern heroine would speak like that. Also, I felt the writing especially at the beginning needed some improvement. The writer tells us things and doesn't SHOW us. Do we really need the silly tale about Elvis's underwear, and the whole Beverly Hillbilly thing about coming to Hawaii? Couldn't that have been edited out, in favor of dropping us into some form of juicy office scene illustrating the situation for the characters?
What I DID feel the author did well was when she wrote things from the male perspective, in particular Jackson's point of view. These sections and insights into the hero's character were actually really good, and I wish were expanded in favor of dropping some scenes with the secondary romantic couple (a redundant romance involving her mother). Jackson needed more 'air time' and the secondary cast needed a little less.
Overall, this author's brand of humor just did NOT appeal to me. I found myself skipping over parts to get to the end to find out what happened... This might appeal to people who can overlook modern people saying things like "Tarnation, moonshine, etc." For me, it left me feeling let down.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Romantic Comedy, June 10, 2003
Genevieve Terrence is really a hillbilly at heart. Her mother moved her and her brother to Hawaii to give them a better life than what they could have gotten in the hills and hollows of Tennessee. Genevieve and her mother have both tried hard to bury their roots. Genevieve works as a secretary for a software firm. She's heard all the rumors about her boss Nick and his "business trips" to Maui but she knows that if he ever takes her, she'll be the woman to settle him down. When Nick finally asks Genevieve to accompany him to Maui, she jumps at the chance. Jackson Farley is a genius at writing software, but he is a total social misfit. He's color blind so his clothes often don't match and he gets so wrapped up in writing his software that he forgets everything, and everyone, else. Jackson fell in love with Genevieve the moment he saw her. She's always been kind to him and they've developed a nice friendship. When Jackson is asked to accompany Genevieve and Nick on the trip to Maui, he thinks maybe he can protect Genevieve from Nick.
During the flight, Nick proves to be a real jerk and ends up bailing out of the plane with the only parachute. This is a real problem because he's the pilot. Jackson end up putting all his hours playing with his computer flight simulator to use and crash lands the plane in water off the coast of a deserted island. Jack (a man that can crash land a plane safely should be called Jack instead of Jackson) and Genevieve swim to shore where they set about working to survive the night. Genevieve puts all the skills she learned growing up in Tennessee to use and does a lot towards saving them. Jack turns out to be a hunk under all his nerd clothes and to be very chivalrous. He is what a romantic hero should be. Ms. Thompson writes with a lot of humor. I would highly recommend this book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A huge disappointment, May 6, 2004
I've read several of Vicki Lewis Thompson's books and I've enjoyed all of them, but I've never hated a book more than I hated this one. The heroine of the book (now 26) moved to Hawaii at the age of 15 from the backwoods of Tennessee. From the first page to the last page, there were continual references to her life in Tennessee--relatives that run around barefooted and making moonshine, no electricity, it being common place for girls to lose their virginity at the age of 12/13. I've never lived in TN, but I am from the south and VLT's depiction of southern people outraged me. It was stereotypical and extremely insulting. I can assure you that there are in fact people in the south who manage to hang on to their virginity beyond the ripe old age of 12, they do own shoes, and I've never known anyone who made moonshine or who didn't have electricity. In addition to the fact that I found the book insulting, I hated the heroine. She was superficial and just plain stupid. The last chapter of the book she finally grew a brain and was somewhat likable, but that's a long time for the reader to have to wait. The hero would have been likable if it weren't for the fact that I spent the entire book wondering what in the hell he wanted with this woman. He deserved better! Numerous times the actions of the characters were just ridiculous. One example: they were stranded on a deserted island with no water, no food, and no idea rather or not they were going to be rescued, but they did have a gun. When a boat showed up and the occupants of the book refused to take them to the mainland, they just allowed the boat to drive away and leave them there. Any person with half a brain would have used the gun and forced the people to take them to the mainland.
Prior to reading this book VLT was an `automatic buy' for me, but never again will this southern girl spend another dime on a VLT book. I gave the book a rating of one star, but only because I wasn't allowed to give it zero stars.
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