Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix

Having gone to college for engineering and starting my career as an engineer, I found myself frequently in classes and on teams where the members were primarily male. In college, I joined SWE and was in an all engineering sorority. After school, it was important to me to have connections that could relate. Initially, most of these connections were co-workers in other STEM based careers. Then, a few years ago, I found and joined a mom's group on Facebook specifically for engineers. It is a great community and I enjoy the opportunity to ask questions of like-minded women, share 'nerdy' humor and help others by sharing my perspective on some of their questions. A few weeks ago, someone in that group posted about a book that they were going to check out called Remedial Rocket Science. I pulled up the description for it and thought, I want to check that out too. Our local library only had the e-book, so I had to request it through the library network. It took a while to arrive but as soon as I finished the last book, I started reading this one.

Remedial Rocket Science was the first book in the Chemistry Lessons series by author, Susannah Nix. The series is described on her website as "…standalone romantic comedies feature smart, geeky STEM heroines who discover that romantic chemistry isn’t as predictable as the laws of science…"

The book was awesome to read. Having come from a STEM background myself, I loved having a heroine who seemed to have similar priorities, interests and challenges to those that I had faced as a woman in STEM. We meet Melody at the end of her freshman year at MIT, when she meets a young man named Jeremy, who is visiting a friend in Boston for the weekend. They spend the evening connecting and exchange numbers before parting ways with the promise to reach out if he returns to Boston or she finds herself in LA. Fast forward three years and Melody is headed to California for a job interview and decides to reach out to Jeremy. They meet up for coffee while she is in town for her interview for an IT position as a local company and again when she moves out there. She learns that he has a girlfriend, amongst other things that keep her from being able to reconnect with him like she had back in Boston. This leaves Melody feeling a little bit alone in a new town, being in IT she works with a number of men, many of whom don't pay much attention or know who she is.

Melody meets Jeremy's girlfriend Lacey one night at dinner and Lacey later invites her to yoga. They become friends, spending time together at yoga and coffee after, run into each other at the company picnic and other events. Over time, their friendship did grow and there was one point where Melody reluctantly let Lacey set her up on a date with a guy ("what was it with people that were happily in a coupled wanting the rest of the world to be coupled too?"). When Melody first met him, she described him as cute..."one of her favorite flavors of cute". She found that they had some similar interests but generally didn't connect and after the date she reflected, "He wasn't so bad, really. She could see why Lacey had thought they'd hit if off." This whole experience rings so true.

I think one of my favorite quotes though is "Her feelings for [him] were like Schrodinger's Crush. As long as she didn't open the box, their relationship existed in a state of quantum superposition: both possible and impossible at the same time. She was too much of a wimp to find out whether the cat was alive or dead." What a great reapplication of a quantum theory!

Remedial Rocket Science was a very enjoyable book. It was a quick, easy read with the right length chapters to keep the story moving. The characters were well developed and so relatable.

If you are looking for a contemporary, romantic comedy story, I would highly recommend checking out this book. There are five more books in this series and she also has a number of other books. I think that I have found myself a new author. In fact, I already have requested the second book through the library network: Intermediate Thermodynamics.

What are you reading?

Trailing a Killer by Carol J. Post

A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

It's no secret, I love to read. I always have. And, once I start a book, I just want to keep reading. I have been known to take the book I am reading with me for a 10 minute car ride so I can sneak in a little extra reading and I have stayed up much later than intended to read 'just one more chapter'. This is especially true with a book that pulls you in and makes you unwilling to put it down. This was the case with Trailing a Killer by Carol J. Post. This book offered both a great non-stop suspenseful plot and touching love story.

From the beginning, the reader is dropped into the middle of the action as we join Erin and her rescue dog, Alcee on their way to a collapsed building during a storm for a rescue mission. She soon discovers that one of the people in the collapsed building is a man that she had a summer romance with in her youth - Cody, putting a more personal touch and interest to the overall situation and case. As the story unfolds, we start to learn more about their past together and with time, the things that had shaped them since they last saw one another. It is through this sharing that Erin also shares with Cody about her faith and he begins to explore his own. Through this progressive exposure of information, the characters are well developed and I found them to be very relateable.

As many young men would, Cody doesn't want to believe he is at risk after learning what caused the house to collapse and continues on with activities he perceives as 'lower' risk when Erin suggests he keep a low profile. It isn't until he finds himself nearly run off a bridge and dodging bullets in a parking lot that he realizes that he truly is at risk. It is only then that he agrees to essentially go into hiding but still winds up finding himself coming close to danger and in dangerous situations that could have gotten him killed because he is so trusting. Fortunately, he recognized the situation soon enough and was able to avert danger. Each time I thought I new who was after Cody, I decided I was wrong and I found myself trying to guess their identity to the end; it certainly was a surprise to me!

The story was quick moving, action and anxiety packed and the characters were very likeable, making the story very engaging. If you enjoy suspense stories, you should definitely check out this book and the others by Carol J. Post.

About the Book:

A killer with an explosive agenda…

And a K-9 and determined detective on the case.

In a hurricane’s aftermath, Detective Erin Jeffries is stunned when she and her search-and-rescue K-9, Alcee, uncover a collapsed building’s only survivor—her long-ago ex, Cody Elbourne. And it’s quickly clear that the disaster was no accident. Now only Cody can identify the man who set the explosives that killed his grandfather…and Erin must stop the killer dead set on silencing him.

About the Author:
From medical secretary to court reporter to property manager to owner of a special events decorating company, Carol's resume reads like someone who doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up. But one thing that has remained constant through the years is her love for writing. She started as a child writing poetry for family and friends, then graduated to articles which actually made it into some religious and children's publications. Several years ago (more than she's willing to admit), she penned her first novel. In 2010, she decided to get serious about writing fiction for publication and joined Romance Writers of America and her local RWA chapter.

Carol lives in sunshiny Central Florida with her husband of thirty-two years, who is her own real-life hero, and writes her stories under the shade of the huge oaks in her yard. Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano and holds the position of church treasurer. She enjoys sailing, hiking, camping, almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of three fat and sassy cats and one highly spoiled dog.

You can learn more about the author on her blog.


No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. A complimentary review copy was provided to me.