Humphrey (Free) Mitchell in His Dream Role was inspired by a real-life guy. Unfortunately, I don’t know his name. But one day, while I was hanging out on Twitter, probably procrastinating doing something important, a fellow writer tweeted an article. It was about a guy who dressed up in outlandish costumes and hung out at the gym while his friend worked out. His friend was severely overweight and was embarrassed to go to the gym because people would stare at him. When I read the article, my only thoughts were that this guy is awesome and he should totally be a hero.

So when I was creating my characters for the second Hot & Nerdy trilogy, and I decided that one of my heroes was a drama nerd, it made complete sense for me to use this.

I love Free. I think he’s my favorite of my Hot & Nerdy heroes in this trilogy. There’s something about him. Maybe it’s that he’s awkward in social situations (I can totally relate) or it’s that when he dons a costume, he becomes that character. He loves his family and he’s an all around good guy.

Part of what makes Free so much fun is his awkward nervousness and how he deals with it—or should I say covers it. Being an actor means that Free excels at memorizing lines. Because of this, he can spout movie lines in everyday situations as if they’re his words.

And it would’ve been easy to just make Free an actor and leave it at that, but while he loves acting, Free’s career is in the finance world. He wants to work with his father. He loves numbers and money and helping people. As much as acting is his escape, finance is his stability.

Free is about as beta as a guy can get and maybe that’s why I love his so much. He’s sweet and thoughtful. Who wouldn’t love a guy like that?

His Dream Role

Free Mitchell loves the theater. In his dreams he’s the one taking the spotlight. But so far he’s played against character by following in his father’s footsteps as an investment banker. When he’s masquerading as Dr. Who or Sherlock Holmes to help his brother, he feels he can escape his shy, dorky persona. But nothing’s prepared him to play boyfriend to a gorgeous girl like Samantha Wolf.

Samantha isn’t quite sure what to think of Free. He’s cute, sweet, and quirky, but his outlandish costumes make him seem crazy. However, it turns out Sam has a soft spot for theater nerds. And the more time they spend together, the more their steamy romance begins to take center stage. Only problem is, there doesn’t seem to be a script. And it’s anyone’s guess how this one will end.

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About Shannyn

Shannyn Schroeder is the author of the O’Leary series, contemporary romances centered around a large Irish-American family in Chicago and the Hot & Nerdy series about 3 nerdy friends finding love. When she’s not wrangling her three kids or writing, she watches a ton of TV and loves to bake cookies. http://www.shannynschroeder.com