Status Update (Belen’s Review)

Title: Status Update (#gaymers #1)
Author: Annabeth Albert
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: December 07, 2015
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 189 pages
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Blurb:
Book 1 of the #gaymers series

Adrian Gottlieb is winning at life. He’s a successful video game designer with everything a man could ask for, including a warm comfy ride to Denver and a date for his sister’s wedding. But he finds himself in need of a total reboot when he’s left stranded at a snowy campground in Utah. Holiday plans? Epic fail.

That is until Noah Walters offers him shelter for the night and a reluctant cross-country ride. Nothing about the ultraconservative geoarchaeologist should attract Adrian, but once he discovers Noah’s hidden love for video games, the two connect on a new level. Soon, a quiet but undeniable chemistry sparks.

Something doesn’t add up, though. As the miles accumulate and time runs out, Noah must face the most difficult choice of his life. Meanwhile, Adrian must decide whether he’s ready to level up. Is their relationship status worth fighting for, or has this game ended before it’s even begun?

Annabeth Albert is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me. She rarely misses her mark in creating a story for me to cuddle up with and Status Update is no exception. I went into this entirely blind. No blurb, no cover, no other reviews…nothing but the author’s name and the title of the story. I was more than a little worried…but I needn’t have been. I. LOVED. THIS!

Sometimes a story will come along into your life at just the right moment. This was that story for me.

Adrian Gottlieb is a successful video game designer who truly excels at long distance dating. When his latest long-distance boyfriend agrees to drive cross-country with him from L.A. to Denver for his sister’s wedding (to Adrian’s ex-boyfriend) the Saturday after Thanksgiving Adrian never thinks he’ll end up stranded at a snowy RV campground in Utah just before an epic snowstorm, literally left out in the cold…without a jacket or shoes, a phone charger, all his stuff, or his dog, Pixel’s, comfy sweater.

When geoarchaeologist professor Noah Walters offers Adrian shelter for the night the two hit it off…kind of. Noah has been on a six month sabbatical to write his book so he can be considered for tenure at the ultraconservative Christian college he works at, and also coming to terms with being gay, and what that might mean for his possible tenure position. Because before anything else – tenure is Noah’s Holy Grail. Noah is definitely a classic introvert. Arguments and, really, all forms of social settings and gatherings make him extremely uncomfortable, but he’s a really good guy and he eventually, reluctantly, agrees to give Adrian a ride to Denver. When Adrian discovers Noah’s hidden love for video games, especially the one he’s a lead designer on, the two connect, but it’s when Adrian discovers Noah’s “secret” that the two begin to make a deeper connection.

Spoiler

“You can’t exactly watch from over there.” Adrian fluffed Noah’s pillows.
Why hadn’t he suggested they watch the movie in the living area? Suggesting it now would sound paranoid, right? He gingerly sat on the corner of the bed. Pixel and Ulysses bounded past him, jockeying for position in the middle of the bed.
“Better drop the virginal pretty princess routine or you’ll end up on the floor.”
Noah made great gasping sounds that he hoped passed as laughter, albeit of the frantic variety.
Somehow Adrian took this as an invitation to drag him forcibly back on the bed. They ended up in a heap of men and dogs, Pixel dancing on his chest and Ulysses licking his ear. Noah’s laughs switched to the genuine variety.
“Hey, Noah?”
“Yeah?” He tried to talk around the various tails wagging in his face.
“You’re not really a virgin, are you?”
“How is that relevant?” He sat up, gently pushing the dogs off him.
“Oh. My. God.” Adrian stared at him like he’d sprouted a second head. “You are.”
“Can we watch the movie? I don’t feel the need to assuage your curiosity at the moment—”
“What would it take?” Adrian leaned forward, face right up in Noah’s. God, he was more relentless than Ulysses when he got a hold of an idea.
“Clarify,” Noah said carefully.
“For you to talk about this. What would it take? Or—wait. Did you think I meant what would it take for you to lose it?”
Yes. No. Noah’s blood ran colder than the blizzard outside at the same time his face flushed lava-stream hot. He was a mess.
Adrian slowly raised a hand. “I volunteer as tribute.”

I loved every part of this. There’s tension and stress without there ever being any miscommunication or misunderstanding. It has some wonderfully HOT moments! The two hot main characters like and respect each other and, though both types of personalities are recognizable (the gamer geek and the uptight professor), neither one is a caricature.

This story literally checked off every button I have for a romance story. Fun, funny, hot, sexy, great plot…good cast of characters…everything. The more I read it the more excited I became! I so badly wanted a HEA for my boys, and when I got it – Oh yeah. I was HAPPY.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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