Status Update (Renee’s review)

Title: Status Update (#gaymers #1)
Author: Annabeth Albert
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: December 7, 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary
Word Count: 64,000
Reviewed by: Renee
Heat Level: 3 flame out of 5
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

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 keeps on more firmly cementing herself in the “don’t bother reading the blurb – it doesn’t matter” category for me. I will read it if she writes it. Period. Status Update is another prime example of that.

Adrian and Noah meet at an RV park when both are on road trips. Adrian is a 25 y/o who works for a video game company who builds these great big fantasy worlds for gamers. Noah is a 35 y/o geoarchaeologist who teaches at one of the most ultra-conservative colleges in the country. Re: students get kicked out for having pre-marital sex. All on the up and up because everyone must sign a morality contract to work there or attend. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Adrian has a habit of long-distance relationships who wind up being losers while Noah has a habit of no relationships at all. And no hookups. Noah is firmly in the closet with so much internalized homophobia, it’s very sad. Because of his super-conservative religious upbringing and current track to tenure at the university, he has made a very conscious decision that he will remain alone and celibate. He won’t ask anyone to be a secret for him. And while I admire that bit of selflessness, you just want to hug him and ask him why he chooses to be alone when he doesn’t have to be?

But Noah has built this fortress around himself. He doesn’t have any gay friends. No one knows the truth about his sexuality, and he’s been around no one but conservative, non-tolerant people his entire life. So while I normally cringe at the martyr angle in books, I gave this a pass because it was so very plausible and it wasn’t shoved down our throats the whole time.

The writing was simply flawless. We get alternating POVs – love it! So we get to see inside the heads of both MCs. Adrian was just enough tough love vs. supportive, and I really liked his character too. You can count on a phenomenal HEA with some amazingly steamy scenes!

Ms. Albert has done it again. She tells what seems to be an epic love story but is just two men who fell in love. She’s so very talented, and I get giddy when I see a new release coming our way from her. Highly recommend!