Vicki Lewis Thompson's contemporaries are among the few I read,and I particularly appreciate the later books in the series, including this one, in which both leads have at minimum some distinctly nerdy traits, and they aren't treated as things that need to be fixed. I can happily say that Nerds are from Mars continues that trend from the last of the original print series. I was a bit put off by Darcie's need for Nolan to let her put together a chart for him at first. Wouldn't nonjudgmentally listening to her discuss her work without having to participate in it have been enough? Insisting on somebody who doesn't believe in astrology taking part in it seemed on par with knowingly beginning to date somebody of a different religion and insisting on them converting, and right away at that. However, as the book went on, Darcie didn't try to convince Nolan to consult astrological charts so much as she encouraged him to trust his intuition more. And since good intuition, for a person who isn't inclined to believe in psychic phenomena, can also be explained in terms of a person drawing conclusions based on data of which they may only be subconsciously aware, I don't think she made him abandon his scientific approach to life, there. It's acknowledged that her crystals might have more of a Dumbo-feather effect than "working" on their own, and she's not making him check to see if the stars are right before the Mars mission launches, so I had no reason to fear.
Vicki Lewis Thompson does have some writing ticks that bother me, like her habit of having characters think of having had sex (or engaged in any non-PIV sexual behavior) has having "had a sexual experience." Has anybody, ever, thinking of the great time they had the night before, thought "I had a great sexual experience with [fill in the blank]"? It's that kind of usage. No. You'd either think "had sex," or the name of the particular sexual activity involved. That said, her books are still great fun starring characters I enjoy spending time with, and this is an enjoyable, fast read.
Overall grade: B