Neanderthal Seeks Human

By: Penny Reid

Narrated by: Jennifer Grace

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris:

• She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved,
• No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and
• She doesn't know how to knit.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can't help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can't afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn - the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies - to make her an offer she can't refuse.

©2013, 2014 Kathleen Paulus (P)2014 Kathleen Paulus

Fun, funny and very entertaining

I loved this book. It’s another one of those billionaire meets regular woman and falls madly in Love for eternity but it has twists that make it a fun and funny ride. I loooved our heroine Janie. She is just so weird and full of facts and trivia (there goes the “smart romance” part). It felt like one of those romantic comedies you love to hate.
Steam factor: someone in Audible decided to rage this story o-o-omg in the steaminess scale. There is 0 sex description in the whole story. No description at all. How can a story be at the top of the steaminess scale when the steamiest thing it describes is a kiss and then implies that the couple had sex? That’s just strange to me. It should be rated sweet.
The narrator is very good and I would definitely listen to more books narrated by her. Recommended listen for those looking for a funny romantic story without much heat.

62 people found this helpful

Loving this series! This is book 1

I am loving this series! It has all the elements that I love, romance, mystery, adventure, and humor! Only wish audible didn't have the book numbers all mixed up! This is actually book 1!

8 people found this helpful

Pure joy

So smart Janie definitely has aspergers like my son. Made for a fascinating and fun read. My second read was even better than the first. Penny Reid is so creative with her complex yet delightful characters.

7 people found this helpful

Could Not Stop Listening.....

This is a really fun listen. On the surface this is a nerd-gets-hot-guy story, but Janie is not a typical nerd and the author does a good job making her character's insecurities believable and not annoying. Janie is a 26 year old, smart girl that is insecure and querky due to her background. She starts out having a bad day but meets Quinn, the good looking building security guard, that helps her land a new job. They develop a relationship despite Janie's insecurities, ex boyfriend issues and family dramas.

There were parts of the story that were predictable (Janie not realizing Quinn's position in the company), but there is enough other stuff going on with the characters to keep me engaged and listening. I also enjoyed the humor of this story, I liked the eccentric trivia and Janie's internal dialogues.

Over all this is a very solid contemporay romance/ chic-lit story and a highly enjoyable listen. I highly recommend this one - especially at $6 with the Whispersync.

36 people found this helpful

a dumb book

But how can it be dumb when it says "a smart romance" right on the cover?

The heroine is made to sound like a Wikipedia spewing robot with social anxiety, and the hero rarely says more than 2 words at a time, but seems to quirk the corner of his mouth an awful lot. Ironically, the author makes the kind of mistakes that dial back the whole 'smart' thing even more, with poor word choices and nonsensical plot points.

Wording example: "a piece of fruit donned the rim of the glass". I think you mean 'adorned'.

Plot example: She is basically mute, except when she goes on an anxiety induced rant about tree frogs. Yet, the hero decides that THIS is the kind of intellect he's been searching for to run his accounting department. In fact, she's such a genius that it takes her more than half the book to realize that he's the CEO, not just a security guard.

Unbelievable characters, poor plotting, and bad editing make this an un-smart buy for me. I'll be returning it.

26 people found this helpful

What am I missing?? Meh.

*2.5 stars*

I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer over here, but with all the hype with this story, I was just expecting... more.

This book is described as a "smart romance," when in reality it is simply the typical trope of the billionaire/millionaire player guy with baggage who doesn't want to settle down for anyone but makes an exception for his special snowflake, who happens to be a naive, virgin-esk young girl. (aka, Fifty Shades of Grey) And Jane is too tall (!) with too big of a butt and boobs that are too big (!), but doesn't realize she is attractive at all... of course.

I'm not saying that this book is bad, because it isn't, but it isn't anything out of the ordinary, even including putting a geeky, socially EXTREMELY unaware girl as the MC. I couldn't understand how she didn't pick up on her security guard (view spoiler). No one could be that dense, especially after the 100s of clues.

My main issue is that this story dragged on and on. I listened as an audiobook, which was nicely narrated, and I felt like nothing happened! It is a loooong audiobook, over 14 hours, and I literally couldn't take it anymore at about 10 hours. It was too much, too much of a TSTL female MC and the bossy male MC that I've seen before. It felt like it needed to be edited down by 100 pages (or 4 hours) to be cohesive and well-paced, and it felt VERY self-pubbed to me.

I guess I'm just not seeing what everyone else did. Sure, I enjoyed when Jane spouted some obscure facts and was entertained by her oddities, but that can only take a book so far.

75 people found this helpful

Disappointing

I was looking for fluffy laugh out loud romance and other silliness with this. But I hated our Hero... he never got better and eventually I couldn't finish. Maybe when I was younger I would have liked to be whisked away by a rich liar who thought he could control everything *for my own good* but now I value honesty and partnership, even in fantasy.

I appreciated our heroines tangential thoughts although sometimes the mental ramblings bored me instead of entertained. It would have been an easy thing to move past if she wasn't so clueless about obvious things and her love interest less of a douche canoe who's only redeeming quality apparently is his god-like looks

48 people found this helpful

Smart Romance Says It All

What did you love best about Neanderthal Seeks Human?

I loved Janie's knowledge of random things and her curiosities -- robot companions was too funny because it was too random. I loved that Quinn could take Janie's wiki facts in stride!

What other book might you compare Neanderthal Seeks Human to and why?

I think that if someone has read and enjoyed Alice Clayton, specifically Wallbanger, then that same reader will enjoy this series!

Which scene was your favorite?

There are too many scenes I thoroughly enjoyed to limit to one favorite! Let's see.. the kisses at the concert, the afternoon at the concert in the park, all scenes when Quinn asks Janie what she's thinking and she tells him random factoids or random ideas for an invention or out-of-the-blue curiosities!

If you could take any character from Neanderthal Seeks Human out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I think most female readers would want dinner out with Quinn (and it is hard for me to not want dinner out with him, too, he's almost too yummy to resist and I love that he orders for Janie), but I think I'd love to chat with Janie!

9 people found this helpful

Ok Book - Not Great, Not Horrible

This was not my favorite book but it wasn't horrible either. The story starts off rather slow. Even the unexpected twists in the book fell flat. It is a good book if you are in-between series and need something to fill the time. I most likely will not continue the series, since at the end of the book I did not care about either of the main characters.
Narrator did a good job.

3 people found this helpful

Disappointed

I wanted to like this book. I wanted to like the story, but there was way too much "thinking". Minute after minute of detail and internal bs during every single interaction.

3 people found this helpful

Well read, cute but too long

The author read really well. With a lot of these indie romances the narrators sound like automatons, so it was refreshing that Jennifer Grace did really well.
The story was cute but about halfway through I was exhausted by Janie's inner monologue. She was dense to the point of stupidity at times. I know some people don't pick up social cues, but she blatantly disregarded what was right in front of her.
The story could have been wrapped in half the time, but the series is very good Penny Reid has really grown from strength to strength.

1 person found this helpful

Wow

I stumbled upon this by chance and thanks to the very engaging story line spent 2 hours walking on the treadmill every day just so I could listen. Not a funny story but a really sweet one. Not so sweet that it was unbelievable but that fuzzy feeling sweet. The characters are likeable & the narrator not annoying. Real writing that is not a story based around sex. Be warned if you are looking for a 'hot' story ,this will not be for you. The sex is discreet which in my opinion is just right for this story. A truly fabulous listen which is so good I am buying the books. A real gem

1 person found this helpful

Really enjoyed it

This book was a surprisingly good read. Looking forward to the follow-up. My only critique is the narrators unconvincing childlike voice for Jannie who is supposed to be tool voluptuous woman.

Fantastically witty

Absolutely loved this, I fell in love with the main characters and am now off to look for a sequel!

Not my favourite book

I think the author must have been told to use a thesaurus. There were odd phrases such as "my breath abdicated my lungs" and "I smashed my lips together" and "my hair crashed over my shoulders". One phrase that confused me (although probably not thesaurus-led) was "I slid my teeth sideways". Unless I misheard, this lady must be a genetically modified elephant as I understand their teeth move forwards in their mouth.
The story was of a longer Mills and Boon style but I quite fancied some easy listening trite romance after my previous blood and gore detective story. I'm going back to death and doom again now as it was just too poorly written, obvious and unfunny and has put me off this style of book for a while. This isn't recommendable unless you have a very low reading age, in which case, enjoy!!

1 person found this helpful

Romance at it's best!

I loved this audio book! It has a really good story line with unexpected twists keeping it interesting right to the end. I laughed so often at the zaney lead character, and loved the love scene's. The narrator too dida really great job. All in all I highly recomend this audio book.

1 person found this helpful

loved it

My first Penny Reid book and I must confess I am hooked...its the funniest and most down to earth romance I have read in a very very long time! Now am gonna have to get started with all her other books😊😉

Funny, emotional and moving romance

I have already read this book on kindle and I am a real Penny Reid fan so I have to admit I liked this book even before I listened to it. Be warned, it’s a slow starter, as Penny Reid tries to get us inside the fairly unusual head of the h, who is a real nerd and had a mind that tends to wander to irrelevant topics as a form of distraction from stress. She also tends to spout endless streams of irrelevant facts when nervous and as a result has a reputation for being just a little bit weird.

The book starts with the “worst day in her life” when she dumps her boyfriend for cheating, which, as she lives in his flat, means she is homeless as well. She is then “downsized” at work and escorted out of the building by security guard H, on whom she has a massive crush. The H in this romance lends a whole new meaning to the description “inscrutable”. It made an interesting change to find that everyone (not just the h) found him difficult to emotionally connect to and he is very removed from normal social interaction, which made his constant attempts to connect with the h even more fascinating. You can feel the depth of the feelings between the two growing even though the h is very reluctant to get involved and when nervous spouts out whatever comes into her head – usually embarrassing herself in the process. She is also not a traditional beauty, and feels outclassed by the H who she thinks is just perfect in every way and therefore way “out of her league”. The H is more difficult to understand but it is obvious from his actions that he is fascinated by the h and keeps pushing for a relationship while constantly have to battle her weird way of interpreting facts and her numerous inner conflicts, where she extensively analyses and often misinterprets whatever is happening between them.

There is a minor mystery plot involving her sister which adds well to the story and serves to further explain the h’s obvious issues. She is a complicated and unusual person who is extremely endearing to the reader, and seeing her fall in love with someone who not only understands her but also respects her fountain of knowledge is not only very touching, but also extremely, laugh out loud, funny. Special mention must go to her circle of friends in her knitting group (to which she attends but does not knit!) who are the sort of supportive and understanding friends that we all wish we had.

The narrator in this book had a difficult job, which she does extremely well. There were, on reflection, a few plot issues that I did not notice on my first read. We never do find out exactly what the H’s company does that is so mysterious, and we don’t get much about his background, and what made him into what he is. Nor do we find out what he did to solve the problem with h’s sister. Furthermore I feel that the story of h and her childhood could have filled a book just on its own, and I would have liked more detail about this. There is a follow up book to this one, so maybe some of these issues are clarified there. I look forward to reading it.

This is a book well worth reading if just for the epilogue alone. This is the only part of the book from the H’s POV and Penny Reid manages to write a touching, emotional and satisfying epilogue - in a bathroom fixtures store!

Quirky - Loved it

Absolutely loved this book, I could really relate to Janie, what a fabulous character, loved her imperfections, loved that she spoke before she thought, loved her directness, just loved her.
Then we have Quinn, couldn't think of a better match for Janie, he's hot, sexy, rich and just on her wavelength. I love the nickname that Janie and her best friend Elizabeth have for Quinn, McHotpants, oh yeh hilarious. McHotpants manages to save Janie during one of her worst days ever, and he manages to keep saving her during random moments of bad luck. A wonderful story, that I am sure is the start of a wonderful series, can't wait to get to book 1.5.

Traditional Romance Plot

Excellent version of the normal 'run of the mill' romance girl meets billionaire...
I expected more from the plot given the reviews, however, this story is really well done and puts similar stories in the shadows.
I absolutely loved Janie's internal dialogue.
Great characters.