Genre: Romantic Comedy
Published: August 8, 2023
Pages: 319
STEM gets steamy when a coder takes up sexting to pay the bills in this daring debut novel, perfect for fans of Olivia Dade and Kate Stayman-London.
As the only woman programmer at her firm, Lark is thrilled to land an account for a huge client. But her dream job quickly becomes a nightmare when she accidentally projects a scandalous (and completely unsolicited) picture from her phone onto the screen during a presentation. Before she can recover, her coworkers jump in to steal the account, leaving Lark jobless and broke.
When a friend suggests text message–based sex work as a stopgap between jobs, Lark is dubious. She's all about sex positivity, but carrying out sexual fantasies—even digitally and anonymously—with complete strangers is daunting. How will she explain how she’s earning a living—especially to Toby, her good friend and longtime hopeless crush?
Still, she needs the money, and after a few (embarrassing and hilarious) false starts, she actually starts to like sexting—especially with one particularly charming and nerdy client who keeps popping up in her DMs. But as Lark and Toby grow closer, she finds herself with a decision to make: tell Toby she’s a sex worker—and try to forget the anonymous client who has her struggling to separate work from real feelings—or keep the secrets that are piling up in her inbox.
Sure to appeal to readers of Helen Hoang and Jen DeLuca, Amber Roberts’s Text Appeal celebrates women in STEM, friends becoming lovers, and finding lasting love in the digital age.
As the only woman programmer at her firm, Lark is thrilled to land an account for a huge client. But her dream job quickly becomes a nightmare when she accidentally projects a scandalous (and completely unsolicited) picture from her phone onto the screen during a presentation. Before she can recover, her coworkers jump in to steal the account, leaving Lark jobless and broke.
When a friend suggests text message–based sex work as a stopgap between jobs, Lark is dubious. She's all about sex positivity, but carrying out sexual fantasies—even digitally and anonymously—with complete strangers is daunting. How will she explain how she’s earning a living—especially to Toby, her good friend and longtime hopeless crush?
Still, she needs the money, and after a few (embarrassing and hilarious) false starts, she actually starts to like sexting—especially with one particularly charming and nerdy client who keeps popping up in her DMs. But as Lark and Toby grow closer, she finds herself with a decision to make: tell Toby she’s a sex worker—and try to forget the anonymous client who has her struggling to separate work from real feelings—or keep the secrets that are piling up in her inbox.
Sure to appeal to readers of Helen Hoang and Jen DeLuca, Amber Roberts’s Text Appeal celebrates women in STEM, friends becoming lovers, and finding lasting love in the digital age.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
Does the adage about not judging a book by its cover extend to the title? Because I picked this book to read based purely on the pun-y title. I went into it expecting a laugh out loud type rom-com. And it mostly delivered on those expectations. At least at first.
I easily saw where certain parts of the story were heading, but what I didn't foresee was the way Lark would react. While I can sort of understand her perspective, her reaction seemed excessive, especially considering her behavior up to that point. It's really disappointing when a story loses you near the end. Unfortunately that's exactly what happened with this book for me. There was one other minor detail from the blow-up that really bugged me, so I have to ask, am I weird because I have multiple phone chargers? I can admit that the six I have specifically for myself is overkill, but only having one seems really unrealistic to me. And I got caught up on that line of thought for a while.
Overall I give Text Appeal 3.4721 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Amber Roberts writes contemporary romance about unabashedly nerdy characters in ridiculous situations. She lives with her husband, two children, and formerly feral cats in the Vermont woods, where eating maple creemees is a year-round activity. She spends her time copywriting, forgetting to water her plants, and awkwardly replying “you too” at inappropriate moments. Follow her on Twitter @ARobertsWrites and Instagram @AmberRobertsWrites.
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