Review: "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by Sarra Manning (Contemporary Romance, Nerd Romance)

	You Don't Have to Say You Love Me Sarra Manning Publisher: Corgi Genre: Contemporary Romance, Nerd Romance Publication Date: February 3, 2011 (Affiliate links)
Description from Publisher: Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules and the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don't get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William's been in LA for three years, and Neve's been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he'll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her. So she's not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she'd better get some, well, experience. What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia's colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he's such a man-slut, and so not Neve's type, she certainly won't fall for him. Because William is the man for her... right?
My Rating:	Sexiness Rating:
What a gem of a book! I had heard mixed reviews on this, but had also seen it recommended to those who enjoyed "Some Girls Do" by Clodagh Murphy, so I gave it a shot. (I <3 books="" br="" clodagh="" do="" especially="" girls="" murphy="" ome="" s=""> At first, I couldn't really like Neve. She seemed to be too pretentious and fairly boring as a result. Her letters and conversations with William seemed to be mostly just letters between colleagues and not exciting or romantic. And he was always asking her to do things for him! Max was an interesting character and it was him, and his love for his dog, that especially kept my interest. As I kept reading, I really grew to appreciate just how very well-written this was. As you read, it's as though you are Neve and before you know it, it feels like a completely different book and character (in the best of ways - superb character development!). All of the characters, both primary and secondary, were well-developed and interesting. The dialogue felt natural (aside from Neve's pretentiousness, but that's to be expected ;) ) and it had good amounts of heart and humor throughout. The steaminess was also believable and just right. There was a particular line or two that made me chuckle in the novel for being "meta." Something about how the biography being written felt stilted for the first few chapters but really grabbed your attention after that... ;)