Monday, January 23, 2017

Review: Level Up by Cathy Yardly

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Series: Fandom Hearts Book #1
Format: Ebook
Rating: 3 Stars
How I Got It: Purchased/Free on Amazon
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Self-Published

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads
 
Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?


Review

While I gave this book 3 stars I give the cover 5. It's adorable and looks a lot like fan art. Generally, I liked the story and characters, but needed it to be longer or just better developed. And the formatting was a little funky which confused me-page breaks were created for a reason, people!

Ms. Yardly definitely made some good decisions or admirable ones. The heroine is a person of color and a realistic introvert. She also had Tessa be involved in coding/Game design. As my sister would say-STEM for the win! Adam was intelligent considerate without being awkward or cliche.

There was also an attempt at positive female friendships. The groundwork was there, but like the story as a whole it didn't feel fully developed. I still commend her for having women who can support each other.

The romance was cute and predictable. I've said this before, but I'll say it again-I'm not bothered by predictable romances. It's kind of a friends-to-lovers story. I just wish I knew more about them as individuals. Tessa and Adam were pretty one dimensional.

After hearing this hyped up on the DBSA podcast (I'm still calling it that) I was a little disappointed. But I do want to read another of the books in this series-especially since they are on the short side.

Thanks for reading!
Holly

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