Organic Chemistry

By: Andrew Grey

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Chemistry: Book One

Brendon Marcus lives for his work. A boy genius who fast-tracked his way to college professor by his early 20s, he doesn’t know any other way to be. People confound him. So when Josh Horton, the assistant football coach, pursues him, Brendon isn’t sure what to make of him.

Josh has his own problems. His successful parents aren’t particularly happy with his career path, and some of the players don’t like having a gay assistant coach. He begins to have doubts, but Brendon makes the world look a little brighter.

But when Brendon’s department head starts to make trouble, Josh and Brendon discover that standing up for each other is the first step to standing up for themselves.

©2013 Andrew Grey (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Sweet Geek Love Story by Great Narrator

First, let me say that I am a fan of Andrew Grey and I am a huge fan of the Geek/Jock story, so this hit my buttons in a big way. I like that Andrew made Brendon a strong if very naïve geek and that the relationship between him and Josh wasn’t a typical “I am your hero since I am so big” type of relationship. It was very sweet, pretty short, and had a little hot sex to make it an all around good read.

The audible:

So, I don’t know how many of you read the book before the audio version or vice versa or one and not the other, but – so far in my experience – I have always read the book first. This is important to note, because it means that I had already formed pre-conceived notions about the “voice” of the MCs. That being said, I think that Nick J Russo did a good job. His voice is smooth and nice to listen to. He tries really hard to give all the characters a separate “voice” and though this can be distracting at times, it’s also a nice touch. It helps to keep clear who is doing the speaking.

Josh’s “character” as read by Nick wasn’t how I would have read him (at all) – but it wasn’t bad, just different. Brendon is done very well, and matches what I would have imagined.


Nick tries to add in appropriate emotion and (ahem) groans where appropriate and that’s also a nice touch.

As a staunch proponent of reading then listening – I will say again that this is a good interpretation, and certainly worth listening to, even if you haven’t read it first.

Story: 4 out of 5 hearts
Audible version : 4 out of 5 hearts

I WANT MORE

The only thing I can say is that this was a fantastic novel and I wish it didn't have to end. I look forward to listening to more novels written by this author.

Sweet and fun!

I have a weakness, okay, so I have many weaknesses, I'm a versatile girl after all ;). Anyway... I have a weakness for geeks, the socially awkward and oblivious ones. Add in a scientist and a chemistry one at that and that book has my name on it.

Brendon has always been on the outside looking in on life. Being smarter than most everyone he meets he's only had his work to keep him company. That is until he meets Josh, the assistant football coach. I liked Brendon and Josh together and I loved watching Josh teach Brendon about life and muddling through a new relationship - or in Brendon’s case his very first relationship. His first kiss. Meeting the parents. But also teach each other to stand up for themselves and each other.

Nick J. Russo was great as usual. There's a reason why he's on my short list of narrators where I don't need to sample the book before picking it up. I loved how he handled the obliviousness of Brendon and balancing Josh, he captured the essence of the characters in a really good way.

Organic chemistry was a low angst story about a chemistry professor and the football coach. It was sweet and funny and perfect when you want to dream away to college for a while.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Gay jock falls for " Rainman "

While I had to suspend believe about the attraction and patience Josh has for the borderline autistic Brandon, the story was superficially nice and somewhat entertaining.
As a book I may not have finished it but Nick J Russo has a talent to make you want to hear more. One of my top 3 narrators!
Without him I wouldn't have made it to the end.
The interesting plot twist is a 22 plus year old gay genius associate professor with no social life or social skills. And, as expected, he is a complete blank slate when it comes to having a boyfriend. From learning how to kiss, getting it on and eventually going all the way was the one redeeming part of this story. Though again, with character development and story line a bit far fetched.

Hunky Stud Coach Falls For Aspie Geek Professor

Blinded by love at first sight, hunky Coach rescues clueless genius from the worst of academic politics to find laughter and success.

This is a fun, fluffy read.

Any additional comments?

I love nerdy, virginal characters who have a hard time navigating life and Brendon delivers on all of those fronts. I also love it when the bigger, stronger character comes in to sweetly sweep my nerdy boy off his feet, which Josh delivers on as well.

This is a fun, fluffy read. I had a couple of minor complaints, but on the whole I enjoyed the story.

Nick J. Russo once again delivers a sweet performance that kept me entertained and invested in the characters.

This is just sweet, cuddly, romantic fun.

Recommended.

A sweet simple little read.

Any additional comments?

I wasn't disappointed. Lightweight, easy read that wasn't over long and filled an afternoon nicely. Brendon's a genius and very literal in all senses of the word and Joshua's completely the opposite, sporty, hunky but very kind and sweet. For its type it works very well and there's some nice chemistry going on between the two of them.

search tool failure

I actually was looking for information on metabolic pathways, not a gay romance. Search tool failure. The first bit was even about a chemistry professor, but we never heard his formula. The autism character study vaguely interesting, although it leans on some tropes that are not as common as they appear in fiction.