Best of
Nerd

2018

Invincible, Compendium Three


Robert Kirkman - 2018
    Witness the conclusion of Mark Grayson's epic adventures, from "The Death of Everyone" to "The End of All Things."Collects INVINCIBLE #97-144.

Prince Xander


Ruth Cardello - 2018
    One wild project. The Taken by a Trillionaire series is an escapism fantasy that was born at a party at RWA. Over cocktails, J.S. Scott, Melody Anne, and Ruth Cardello laughed as they plotted this book with the help of two industry friends, Chris and Brian. If you are looking for a historically accurate representation of a monarchy or a serious depiction of how royals maintain their bloodlines, this may not be the book for you. If you love larger than life characters and fun storylines that take you to exotic places with sexy alpha men, then welcome to our imaginary kingdom: Rubare Collina. The men are insanely rich, the traditions are potentially deadly, and the sex will leave you craving a night on this dark isle. If you’ve ever fantasized about what it would be like to be swept off your feet—or tossed over a prince’s shoulder and taken—then you’ll enjoy this series. Prince Xander: Taken by a Trillionaire Novella by Ruth Cardello (previously published in the TAKEN BY A TRILLIONAIRE ANTHOLOGY, the other novellas from this series are now sold separately) Royal Prince Xander Demande needs to choose a wife before his thirtieth birthday, or he will lose his crown. His list of potential candidates is long but shortens to one woman after a brief encounter with the socially inept, but beautiful and brilliant, Dr. Reanna Fielding. She never thought Prince Charming would come for her. He never thought any woman would melt his heart. Love makes its own rules, but will it save her when she defies not only him but the laws of his kingdom? In Rubare Collina, a marriage proposal can be a dream come true—or a death sentence.

Challenge Accepted


Amanda Abram - 2018
    Despite the fact their BFF fathers have been encouraging them their whole lives to be friends, they've managed to avoid each other at all costs. Emma thinks Logan is a callous jerk who cares about nobody but himself. Logan thinks Emma is a stuck-up goody-two-shoes with no life. The two couldn't be any more different...which is why Emma is so confused when the Emerson High Computer Club's "Summer Fling Compatibility Test" concludes they're a perfect match. But Logan’s not confused. He lied on the test to make his "sometimes girlfriend" think they're not meant to be and now Emma is furious that he made her lose out on the chance of having a swoony summer romance with the perfect guy. Forced by his stepmother to make it up to her, Logan decides to help her win the heart of her lifelong crush: his best friend, Matt. He knows how much of a challenge this will be. Matt is good-looking, popular and outgoing. Emma is quiet, bookwormish, and scared of everything. However, Logan is convinced that with some major tweaking, he can transform Emma into someone Matt could fall for. But as the summer heats up, so does their budding friendship… and soon, they may be faced with the biggest challenge of all: falling for each other.

Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—And How It Will Reshape Our World


Lawrence D. Burns - 2018
    Soon, few of us will own our own automobiles and instead will get around in driverless electric vehicles that we summon with the touch of an app. We will be liberated from driving, prevent over 90% of car crashes, provide freedom of mobility to the elderly and disabled, and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. Autonomy is the story of the maverick engineers and computer nerds who are creating the revolution. Longtime advisor to the Google Self-Driving Car team and former GM research and development chief Lawrence D. Burns provides the perfectly-timed history of how we arrived at this point, in a character-driven and heavily reported account of the unlikely thinkers who accomplished what billion-dollar automakers never dared.Beginning with the way 9/11 spurred the U.S. government to set a million-dollar prize for a series of off-road robot races in the Mojave Desert up to the early 2016 stampede to develop driverless technology, Autonomy is a page-turner that represents a chronicle of the past, diagnosis of the present, and prediction of the future—the ultimate guide to understanding the driverless car and navigating the revolution it sparks.

Electric Blue Love


Rebecca Jenshak - 2018
    guys and girls don't think about relationships the same way. Especially in college. So, when I caught the girl sitting next to me on the plane reading a magazine article on how to get out of the friend zone, I did something I never do - I got involved. One look into her electric blue eyes and the darkness inside of me faded. Light and hope radiated from her like a neon sign. Guys like me know how to get the girl, but we rarely get to keep them.  Bianca: Girls like me fade into the background. Nice, quiet, smart girls without the latest trendy clothes. My friendship with Court started as an opportunity to get inside the male mind, but it turned into so much more. His touch sent current coursing through my veins. His kiss jolted my heart. But here is something I learned a long time ago... you can't force people to love you back. No matter how much you long for them.

The Life of Captain Marvel #1


Margaret Stohl - 2018
    Now, she’s a leader in the Avengers and the commander of Alpha Flight. But what if there were more to the story? When crippling anxiety attacks put her on the sidelines in the middle of a fight, Carol finds herself reliving memories of a life she thought was far behind her. You can’t outrun where you’re from — and sometimes, you HAVE to go home again. But there are skeletons in Captain Marvel’s closet — and what she discovers will change her entire world. Written by best-selling author Margaret Stohl and drawn by fan-favorite comics veteran Carlos Pacheco, this is the true origin of Captain Marvel.

Where Is My Flying Car?: A Memoir of Future Past


J. Storrs Hall - 2018
    Were the futurists and SF writers of the day just wrong? Or has something more interesting and important happened? Will we ever get flying cars? This book offers a compelling analysis of the past and a surprising view of the future.

Fling


Baylin Crow - 2018
    The only guy I've ever wanted sees me as nothing more than the kid next door and his younger sister's best friend. But when Dean comes home after college graduation, things are different. I've grown up, and the way his golden-brown gaze scorches a path over my body tells me he's noticed. When he makes me an offer I should refuse, I'm caught between my feelings for him and logic screaming that this idea is doomed to end in heartbreak. DEAN: I'm not interested in anything serious but I need to have him. I plan on spending a few months at home relaxing before beginning my dream internship. What I don't count on is my little sister's best friend sending me for a loop. He should be off-limits, but the pull I feel toward him is too strong to ignore. When I come up with a solution to spend the summer together in secret, I'm sure I have it all figured out. I just need to work him out of my system. It’s supposed to be free of complications…a fling. By the end of summer, it’s anything but simple.

A Theory of Love


Kate Christie - 2018
    Fresh off a year’s family leave, she is hoping for a quiet return to her teaching and research career at Edmonds University, where she is still in search of the holy grail of tenure. Given that she has recently chucked her Serious Research Interest in the visual arts to study romance novels, she’s pretty sure her best bet is to skate under the radar of university higher-ups for the foreseeable future. Cassidy Trane is only in Washington State for another few months. Soon she’ll be resuming her hipster lifestyle in San Francisco, making good money in the tech industry and cheering for her ex-teammates on the local pro rugby side. She certainly doesn’t intend to fall for an academic, especially not one at the university where her golden-boy twin brother literally teaches rocket science. But as fate conspires to bring Cass and Eva together, they learn that sometimes plans have to be flexible—that is, if they want a chance at their very own Happily Ever After.

Nerdgasm


Kimberly Reese - 2018
     My stutter makes it easy to become the center of attention for all the wrong reasons, so I try hard to stay out of the spotlight. But when Addison Mitchell breezes into the class I TA for, she turns my world upside down, shaking me out of my comfort zone. Confident and bold, her wandering hands set my body on fire. She sees the real me, and she’s still interested. I’m completely out of my element, yet I’ve never felt more alive. Fingers crossed we're not a one-off fling. I have a lot to learn, but I’m willing to make this work. I’m going to give her more than a nerdgasm. I’m going to give her my heart.

Blood & Lace


Trinity Scott - 2018
    A relentless crime reporter for The Boston Times, she’s dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of the truth no matter the cost. But when she gets suspended for bending the rules one time too many, she decides to take a much-needed vacation and visit her twin sister Eden in Los Angeles.But when Chloe arrives and finds her sister missing, her reporter’s intuition kicks in. Although local law enforcement believes she’s run off with an ex-boyfriend, Chloe knows better: something is seriously wrong and if the cops aren’t going to find Eden, Chloe’s going to do it herself.That’s when Special Agent Gage Pierce steps in.A programmer who singlehandedly stopped the largest human trafficking ring known to date, Gage’s expertise is just what Chloe needs to track down her sister. But since he plays the strong and silent type, Chloe finds herself putting just as much effort into cracking him as she does into cracking the case. As the two work together and get closer to finding Eden, their feelings for each other intensify. With the clock ticking and time running out, will Chloe and Gage be able to rescue Eden in time and also continue their blossoming affair? Or is it lights out forever?

Supernova


Anne Leigh - 2018
    Our personalities clash but the fire in her eyes matches mine.Her name is Bridgette Cordello.And she’s the only sister of the man my first love left me for.*This is a standalone sports romance novel*

Deep Learning for Search


Tommaso Teofili - 2018
    You'll start with an overview of information retrieval principles, like indexing, searching, and ranking, as well as a fast indoctrination into deep learning. Then, you'll move through in-depth examples as you gain an understanding of how to improve typical search tasks, such as relevance, with the help of Apache Lucene and Deeplearning4j. The book wraps up with a look at advanced problems, like searching through images and translating user queries. By the time you're finished, you'll be ready to build amazing search engines that deliver the results your users need and get better as time goes on!