Nerdy by New Year

Squad Goals, Book 2

By: M.F. Lorson, Jessica Bucher

Narrated by: Tanya Dougherty

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

To get the guy, she'll have to get down and nerdy!

Lucy and Simon used to be inseparable...until Lucy hopped on the popularity train by humiliating Simon in front of the whole school. Now, her senior year goal is to get him back by New Year's Eve.

Step one: Join his club and find a cause.

Step two: Prove to him she's more than a mean girl.

Step three: Earn his trust, and maybe his heart.

Simon is perfectly fine with never speaking to Lucy again, especially after she humiliated him sophomore year. But then she walks into his Key Club meeting with a mission, and suddenly old feelings come roaring back.

Lucy and Simon started the year as enemies, but they may just end it in each other's arms.

Get this second installment in the Squad Goals Series today!

©2019 M.F. Lorson (P)2020 Jennifer Costley

Cute YA Romance

I really enjoyed this story. It has good characters, some humor and I thought the narrator did a good job. I'll be listening to this one again.

For Fans Of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

A More Innocent High School Version Of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Series! Simon & Lucy’s Second Chance Romance Is A Delightful Light Read About High School Love – Perfect For Middle And High Schoolers.


This is book two in the Squad Goals series about three girls in their senior year at Delinki High School in Minnesota. It is a smallish school with a population of eight hundred in a somewhat rural area. Addie, Lucy, and Nora – the squad - have a tradition of sorts that began their freshman year. They begin each school year with a sleepover in Nora’s barn. They each write their squad goals for the year into a special notebook, then pass the notebook around, each in turn taking a season with the notebook and a turn to fulfill their goals. This series is a more innocent high school version of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It is clean (just some kisses and cuddling), so appropriate for middle schoolers and high schoolers.

Book one, Hot by Halloween, is Addie Altman and Gray Turner’s story. So far, Addie has achieved her goals each year. Senior year she vows to get revenge after being dumped as a junior and heads to the swim teem where she meets Gray, the new guy, and both their plans get turned upside down. In this book, Nerdy by New Year, Lucy Caldwell has a mixed record of achieving her goals. This year she hopes to make amends with a few people from her past, but she never foresaw that her old nerdy best friend, Simon Hawkins, would have turned into a dreamy Clark Kent. In Promised by Prom, book three, Nora Henry hopes to finally get her chance at love. She has had no luck achieving her goals and considers herself an ugly duckling. Little does she expect that Addie’s brother Max Altman, a grade below, will catch her attention. The jokester is very popular with the girls, but has secretly held a torch for Nora since forever.

Lucy Caldwell did some things she isn’t proud of in her past – all in the name of being popular. But she is heading off to college next year and doesn’t want to graduate with a guilty conscience, so she makes three goals for her senior year. First, she owes her ex-boyfriend Trevor an apology. Next, she needs to be unselfish and give back to society in some way. Finally, she needs to earn Simon Hawkins’ forgiveness for the horrible incident that humiliated him in front of the whole school and put an end to their friendship two years ago. But even she knew that might not be possible.

Simon Hawkins is a nerd. Not that he minds it – he loves Star Wars and Star Trek. He plans on attending MSU next year and is working on his RA application to shave some costs. His family went through some rough times a few years back, and though they are getting back on track now, he cannot take money for granted. He is heavily involved in the Key Club at school, which looks great on applications and should boost his chances for getting RA. This year he is president, and everything his small group has worked for over the years – all the volunteer hours – is about to pay off. He has been working hard to organize the club’s four day trip to D.C. over the New Year, planning tours and activities. But the last thing he expects to happen is for Lucy Caldwell to show up at his meeting and ask to go along.

Simon and Lucy’s story is a sweet second-chance romance. Simon is adorably nerdy and insecure. He has never had a girlfriend before and is plagued by insecurities when Lucy comes back into his life. He wants more than friendship but cannot afford to make any mistakes where she is concerned. Lucy quickly learns that her old friend has changed in the past two years, and once they start speaking again she realizes what a catch he has turned into. She, too, has insecurities despite her dating experience. Lucy has a lot of growing up to do in this story, but she faces it head on. She reexamines her priorities and finds some things are not as important as she once thought. Simon and Lucy get to know one another again as they struggle with their feelings for one another, but there are a few bumps along the road (though the drama is mostly minimal). Their story deals with betrayal and revenge as well as friendship and forgiveness.

Simon and Lucy’s story is a delightful light read about high school love – perfect for middle and high schoolers. It is nicely written. The plot is fairly simple. The characters are nicely developed and realistic. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Simon and Lucy. I rate this book 4.5 stars.

As for the Audio: it is nicely performed and consistent with the book.

I received an audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great High School Love

This is was great story of young love. What a great reminder of all the crazy feelings and insecurities that was high school. We have friends. We fall in love. We make bad decisions. We are swayed by those around us. We are unsure of who we are.

This was a very sweet story of young friends, Lucy and Simon. Lucy made a bad decision and hurt her best friend, thus losing him. She realized the error of her ways and decided to make huge changes to her priorities.

Simon was wonderful! I would have loved a Simon in my high school days. He was wonderful and forgiving and very helpful to Lucy in her strides at bettering herself.

I would absolutely recommend this sweet, innocent story of young love.

Cute

This is a cute story that embodies so much of the angst I remember either experiencing myself or watching my friends experience in high school. The character have really good friends available to help them through the heart aches that come their way. I can still feel the anxiety of wondering whether a certain boy liked me, or what the popular girls thought. The kids in this book experience these same anxiety filled moments and find ways to overcome them. I enjoyed the young romance of this book and would gladly read more.

Great Read

Nerdy by New Year (Squad Goals #2) was a great Read by M.F. Lorson and Jessica Bucher. At one time Lucy and Simon were inseparable best friends. That was until Lucy became popular and humiliated Simon in front of everyone at school. This year is their senior year and she has made it her goal to get him back by New Year’s Eve. Simon doesn’t ever want to speak to her again, but unlucky for him she joined his Key Club. She seems to be on a mission but things may quickly change for the two enemies. I can’t wait to read more by the authors.

Great YA love story

Another great YA love story and I look forward to the next book in the series. I enjoyed the humor and personalities. The stories flow from one to the next and draw you into the characters. The narrator did a fantastic job of the different voices, bringing the story to life.

Cute Young-Adult Book

I received this book from the author on StoryOrigin for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't realize this was book 2 of 3, so now I'm going to have to go back and read book 1 and then continue on to book 3. I am actually invested in these girls.

Nerdy by New Year is a cute young adult book where Lucy made some Senior Year goals that she wants to complete by New Year's Day. These goals center around a guy from her past that she humiliated and was always sorry about - Simon. This book made me smile and laugh and tear up a little. I was rooting for Lucy and Simon the whole way through.

The narrator of this book is also really good. You know the making of a good narrator is one who makes you forget that there is only one person talking and not multiple.

If the other books are like this one, this is going to be a fun series to read.

Great YA story

I was given an advance copy of this audio book for an honest review. This was a cute story for young adults that details the the life of a teenager. My 17y/o daughter & I listened to this together & we both enjoyed it. I recommend young adults to read or listen to this book.

A cute teenage rom com.

A cute teenage rom com. Lucy and her two girl friends set up goals for themselves. They help each other reach them. Lucy's is to get Simon to forgive her for embarrassing him in front of the whole school their sophomore year. She will need to "nerd down" to accomplish this. This is Lucy and Simon's story. I loved both characters. And their friends, too. A fun look into their high school years!

Great story!

High school is not easy, and everyone just wants to survive. Not everyone gets to right the wrongs done in while actually still in high school. Usually it happens after it’s over. Lucy wanted to fix her mistakes and do something good before she graduated. This is her story, and it’s sweet. It was a fun listen. I found myself rooting for her and Simon. More importantly, I rooted for her journey to be a better person.

Nice and easy

The story is sweet and the narrator is doing a great job, I recommend this for anybody needing something nice and easy to listen to

Such a cute story

Nerdy by New Year is a sweet ya romance that I wouldn't hesitate to let my daughter listen to. The characters are fun and relatable. The story is realistic. The narrator breathes life into Lucy and Simon's story. After reading about Lucy in Hot by Halloween I enjoyed getting to know her character more in her story. I loved the fact that the characters transcend the typical high school cliques and become a nerd/ popular girl couple. Such a cute story.

Needs more stars

This was so very cute. The last book was really engaging and fun but this one tops it. The change in the main characters was so much fun to see as they matured and developed. The narrator again just pushed this story to the top. The characters were easily identifiable and that is hard to do.

Can’t wait to see what these girls get up to next

Cute and fun

Lucy and Simon used to be friends. Now she's trying to make up with him before the year is up. But there are problems ahead... I thoroughly enjoyed this cute, sweet YA novel. The narrator was great and brought the two main characters to life.

Simon & Lucy

I listened to the audio of this book and I give it 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 I enjoyed it from start to finish. I liked both Simon and Lucy from the beginning and they kept growing on me. I loved how Lucy changed and I loved how Simon was cute without knowing it. I liked hearing about Addy and Gray. I can’t wait for the last book, looking forward to where there story going. Tanya did another great job!