Conventionally Yours

Conrad is in it to win it. He and a few other gamers are given the chance to get to a convention full of players who enjoy the same game. His reasons for wanting to win are his own. The attraction he suddenty feels for another gamer shocks him. Will he be brave and share some of himself? Alden has always been the one not good enough. Finally he has a chance to prove he is good at something. Something for himself. He puts it all out there for someone who only gives him glimpses of himself. He too, has his reasons to want to win. Can they compromise somehow? These characters were brilliant in their own right. Both bringing so much to the story it almost blinded me. I loved the friendships gained, and the journey itself. Each of the students seemed to have so much to them. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. ***This early copy was given by Netgalley and its publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Another dub. Well... not entirely. “Conventionally Yours” featured my favorite trope, enemies to lovers and it’s primary focus is on Conrad and Alden, polar opposites. The dynamic duo take a road trip to compete at a convention and in the midst of their adventure, emotions flare. It was sorta kinda cute I give it that and there wasn’t much to complain about with the characters but… everything else was kind of meh. There lacked sparks between the main characters, the gaming aspect left me yawning, the cross county road trip was boring and just about everything in between left me in a daze. The story just dragged on and wasn’t up to my speed. Sadly, this didn’t leave a lasting impression on me and was a complete miss.

Alden is socially inept, perhaps on the autism spectrum, perhaps not. He likes rules and regulations and things being just so (as do I). Conrad is his opposite, charming, casual and someone who makes friends easily. The two of them play Odyssey in a weekly game which is narrated and blogged by one of their professors. Conrad thinks that Alden is uber-critical and sneers at him, Alden thinks Conrad finds him boring and a stick-in-the-mud. When their professor is given free tickets and competition entries to the Odyssey convention in Las Vegas they all make plans to drive cross-country to the convention, but first the professor and then one of their team fall out, leaving Alden and Conrad to spend six days driving across America together. Squabbling over directions and food stops turns into friendship and romance, but when the two of them come head-to-head in the tournament that they both desperately need to win, will romance survive? I really liked the sound of this geeky, enemies to lovers, road trip romance and was thrilled to be gifted an ARC by the publisher. While the plot was pleasant enough I just felt that Annabeth Albert was trying too hard to be politically correct, with the gender-indeterminate friend who felt like a plot device. I have no idea if Odyssey is a real game (google would suggest not) but I really didn't get a feel for the game at all. Similarly, Conrad and Alden's romance was of the fade-to-black variety and I got the overwhelming impression that it was because the author didn't know how to write about gay sex. Heck there was mild swearing, a few F-bombs were dropped but no-one mentioned a c*ck at all. I felt, and it was only an impression, that Annabeth Albert had seen that YA/NA gay romances were a thing and so set out to write one without much knowledge of the subject. As a consequence it felt a bit like a road trip with two fourteen year olds and we hit every teenage cliché known to man. I liked this, and I felt there was a great book trying to get out but I wouldn't recommend it. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.