You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO was sent in by Katie who wants to find this contemporary romance:
This was my first contemporary I read in high school (so published pre-2007).
It featured a sexy-when-he-takes-his-glasses-off nerd hero and a career-oriented hottie heroine who get stranded on a deserted tropical island – I think after a plane crash? I also remember they had only a limited number of condoms, which was a big plot point.
I’d love to re-read this to see if the book that expanded my love of romance to include contemporaries holds up in any way!
I do love a sexy-when-they-take-their-glasses-off moment. Blame She’s All That.
I think it might be Nerd In Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
I’m not sure of the specific title, but if this basic premise is your catnip, there was a Rec League a while back that was something like “couples stranded in nature/fighting together against the elements,” and I found a lot of good suggestions there.
I second the Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
If any of you want to read this, its part of Kindle Unlimited along with the rest of the series.
Sounds like Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann to me. Hero is a Navy SEAL, but a nerdy one, and the heroine is a lawyer.
Here’s that Rec League: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2019/05/the-rec-league-survival-romance/
I just want to say thank you for “deserted island” instead of “desert island”. That’s it. I’ll see myself out.
@Darlynne: as someone who gets noticeably twitchy over “box set” vs. “boxed set,” I am right behind you. Let’s go.
To the deserted island.
With a boxed set.
(Of wine.)
I’m positive I have read ‘Nerd in Shining Armor’ and enjoyed it but at the time it had a different cover. This new cover is … whoa.
+1 on ‘deserted.’
What about a deserted desert island with desserts?
I just thinking if you were stranded on a deserted island, condoms would be the least of your worries!
Then again I suppose that sort of thing passes the time until rescue?
I want to go to Dessert Island! Tiramisu! Chocolate Chiffon Pie! Lemon Curd Tarts! Blueberry Swirl Bundt Cake! Creme Brûlée! The possibilities are endless.
/I recently received an email from someone who used the phrase “for all intensive purposes.” And to think, 35 years ago, I was getting upset about “impact” being used as a verb.
My favorite(?) pet peeve these days is “If you think [whatever], you’ve got another thing coming” (that’s not my typo, I keep seeing a “g” when it should be a “k”). It doesn’t even make sense, but I’m seeing it more and more, even in books that have supposedly been edited and proof-read. I’m in agreement with the rest of the grammar nerds represented here!
Don’t you remember Blue Lagoon? Getting pregnant on a unpopulated island (see what I did there), is not a fun time!
OP here – it was Nerd in Shining Armor! Thanks for everyone who helped!
Desertification; when fertile land becomes desert.
Dessertification: when your plans for a healthy meal turn to a dinner of ice cream.
@DiscoDollyDeb All the exclamation points reminded me of my favorite commercial with the ice cream. Now I want ice cream.
Truthfully (blush), before this set of posts, I thought desert islands were those that were made up of just sand dunes. That is, desert islands were islands that had deserts on them. The last thing I’d want would be to be deserted on a desert island, although I’m in accord with D3 that being deserted (or dessert-ed) on a dessert island would not be such a bad thing …
Although it’s not the book the OP is looking for, I remember one of Angela Knight’s old novellas had this premise — so of course when the condoms ran out, they switched to anal sex. Which honestly made a lot of sense (though I can’t remember what they used as lube, if they used anything at all.)