Kissing Tolstoy is the short first book in a new series from Reid, one of my favorite romance authors. It might qualify as New Adult because it’s set on a college campus and Anna’s about to graduate, but the hero, Luca, is in his early thirties. And we do get his perspective, even though it’s mostly narrated by Anna. But whatever you call it, it’s cute and sexy.

Anna’s an electrical engineering junior, but she has a huge soft spot (borderline obsession?) with Russian literature. She’s also a nerd, which made me love her. As she points out, unlike the depictions on TV might lead you to believe that nerds never have sex, Anna clarifies: “Nerds do it. A lot.”

The set up is cute. Anna’s friend Emily gives her a friend’s address telling her she should email him for a blind date. Anna summons some courage and sends an email to a guy named Lucas. He agrees to meet her at a bar. She goes and is blindsided by the appearance of a super-hot motorcycle guy (leather pants, leather everything, and the bluest eyes she’s ever seen). They have a sort of strange interaction (he grills her about her background), during which she envisions herself having all sorts of fun with him, until he eventually tells her he’s not who she thinks he is—he doesn’t even know their supposedly common friend. She’s mortified as they conclude that she simply emailed the wrong guy. So, understandably, she basically runs away.

So when she shows up for the first day of her summer Russian literature class, she’s mortified again when she sees that sexy motorcycle guy is the professor. He spots her too and the next few classes are more awkward. He ignores her even though she knows all the answers. This is stressful for her:

Being perpetually ignored and then rejected by a person I admired made me want to cry into a big pillow and listen to The Cure while watching Old Yeller and reading the world statistics about the Zika virus.

She finally confronts him. Things progress from there and involve lots of kissing and heated debates about Russian literature.

The book’s in first person, alternating between Anna’s and Luca’s viewpoints (though it’s mostly Anna’s). The voice is great, with each of them quite identifiable. Luca’s is serious and terse. Anna’s is indeed pretty nerdy, but it’s where most of Reid’s trademark humor comes in. For instance, after she’s discovered that her professor is the guy from the bar, she’s at work and her boss observes that she’s anxious, this happens:

I tried to swallow, but I rushed it, and experienced a swallow misfire. It took every ounce of my self-control not to cough.

Anna’s silly, but not in that unnaturally-dumb-girl way that annoys me so much.

So this book would be great for any fans of Reid plus those who like college romances, even if this one involves a professor (and for the record, those relationships usually aren’t forbidden—just discouraged).