Annabeth Albert's been on my TBR list for ages, and I'm glad I finally dived into Conventionally Yours. I'm enjoying her buttoned-up heroes and the banter she creates between them and their often more relaxed counterparts, and really looking forward to reading more from her.

Conventionally Yours follows two rivals stuck together for a road trip to the Odyssey gaming tournament. Popular and charming Conrad Stewart and the perfect and rule-loving Alden Roth find out they have more in common than they thought as they travel together. The card game element made this really unique and though I wanted a bit more heat from this low steam romance, I really appreciated the way that Conrad respected Alden's boundaries around his mental health, and how Alden learned that there were areas of his life that he could be more flexible about.

I'm definitely interested in checking out the rest of Albert's backlist.

A fun read, perfect for those in the gaming world and looking for LGBTQ representation. This book was a unique breath of fresh air,

*ARC provided by Netgalley*

DNF 25%

The idea behind this book was interesting, and I liked the aspect of giving a voice and a life behind gamer/geek characters. Also, this book portrays a Jewish, neuro-diverse, LGBTQ+ character, which is AWESOME! & also so refreshing to have Jewish characters portrayed in a story unrelated to the Holocaust. The two MCs backgrounds were interesting, and I definitely wanted to keep on reading to learn more about them.

However, I usually looooove the enemies to lovers trope, but I couldn't feel the chemistry between the characters. I also felt like their personalities weren't always constant, and quite immature at times 😅

I wish I could've persevered some more, but after a month I haven't made any progress with this book.

I found this hard to get into, but it ended up being so cute. Despite having read Annabeth Albert before this book felt completely different. I loved that it had diverse LGBTQ+ representation that was done well.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for my copy to review.

DNF
I didn't like,the writing and I didn't care about the characters. They were his one-dimensional to me.

I thought i would try this book as i really like gaming - stories about. But as this was board gaming i was immediately lost as i only know Harry Potter's game in this general area.
It needed more of something to interest me.
It could appeal to shy teenagers but the characters were older. I think it has missed it mark.
But some young adults may enjoy so I'm giving it 3.

Our main characters Conrad and Alden go on a road trip to a gaming convention. Both of them are desperate to win at the tournament taking place there, for a variety of reasons.

Obviously they don‘t like each other, so we have plenty of strife and arguments on the way. And, rather expectedly, their animosity undergoes a change during the trip.

Chapter POVs alternated between our two main characters, with some slight overlap. Nicely done, but sometimes I had to check back to the chapter headings, to remind myself whose chapter I was reading.

The first chapters did not endear either of the main characters to me. Once the reasons for their desperate wishes to win the tournament got clearer, they became more likable. But I never became a fan of either of them or their blooming romance.

The story didn‘t do much for me. The road trip was a nice idea, but was pretty dull. Their soul searching was pretty bland as well. Predictable, with a relatively uneventful plot. It wasn‘t boring, but it never grabbed me either. I skimmed heavily during the middle bit, because I simply didn‘t care what happened. I liked the last 30% at the convention. Sadly, the ending felt rushed.

I am giving this New Adult enemies-to-lovers M/M romance the benefit of the doubt, rounding it up to three stars.

I received this free e-copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

I thought this book is YA because the cover looks like it and the plot too but it isn't and I thought it would be a convention romance but it is more of a road trip romance. The book is classified as NA but the heat level and the way it was written doesn't feel like it. I also didn't feel any connection between the two main characters. It felt like there was no romantic tension between them. Overall, this was an okay read.

1.5 Stars

This book wasn’t what I was expecting. It took me months to read. I kept putting it down. All the card playing felt like I was reading A how to, to play A magical card game....Odyssey was the name of their card game.

I felt that’s what went wrong for me in this book. The focus felt more on the game and not the main characters.

Unfortunately... this book was extremely boring for me. There wasn’t any balance between the gaming and main characters getting together. I didn’t feel the build up between them. It took forever for little things to happen... like their first kiss.

I feel so disappointed that I couldn’t get into this book. I thought it was going to be a little like the first book from the #gaymers Series. Status Update was 3.5-4 stars for me.

I still love this authors work. This book just wasn’t for me.

*ARC provided by SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca via Netgalley*

4.5/5 stars

I really loved this sweet male/male, enemies to lovers romance! There were so many nerdy and heartfelt moments throughout this story that made it a keeper. I loved how their friendship and romance slowly evolved on a road trip to a card game tournament. Alden easily won me over with his socially awkward, anxious and nerdy self. Conrad appeared to be the sexy, party college boy from a well off family that recently left school. However, throughout the story you slowly find out neither guy is who they seem to be on the surface. I really loved reading the interactions between Alden and Conrad. They both had so much chemistry! I loved how Alden and Conrad slowly figured out they had more in common than they realized and neither one had their life figured out. Their romance was a sweet and sexy slow burn with semi-open door scenes. Overall, I really liked this new adult romance and can easily see myself re-reading in the future! I'll definitely be reading through this author's backlist as well.

*Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book for free from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man. What to say about this book, other than it is absolute perfection. I knew I was going to love it, because quite honestly Annabeth Albert is one of my top favorite authors, and love it I did.

Alden and Conrad have one of the most precious slow burns I have ever read. Enemies to lovers only in that they have a whole lot of miscommunication and assumptions about the other. Forced proximity, which is my jam; and a whole lot of fun nerdiness.

I adored how they each came together, but also allowed each other to grow into strong individuals. Each man very much complimenting the other. It was so beautiful, and warm, and I am forever convinced that Albert can do absolutely zero wrong.

The book itself is a whole lot less steamy that I am used to, and really focuses on the individual struggles as well as the budding relationship. If you want to get into M/M romance this is the perfect place to start.

5 stars. Go read it!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

You know those corny books that do the bare minimum, yet you're still satisfied? This was it for me.
My likes
-the geeky stuff (conventions, comics, all the references)
-the snark
-Although I'm not a fan of road trip books, this was sweet.

Okay so, I'll start off by saying that this was cute - but just fell a little flat in my opinion. While reading I got a sense of familiarity, not that I've read it before, but I felt that the book didn't bring on many original ideas and it has been done in the past by other authors.

I will say that I really like the whole "game" concept, I've never been a fan of gaming so going into this I was a little worried I would be really lost. That wasn't the case, Annabeth Albert did a great job explaining how the game worked and even going as far as to explain the different "moves" within the game.

The book follows both Alden and Conrad who are polar opposites and also mortal enemies. Already this book has one of my favorite tropes, I'm a sucker for enemies-to-lovers and will admit it was cute to watch the relationship unfold. The two of them are stuck roadtripping cross-country to get to the biggest Odessey fan convention. I really enjoyed the roadtrip portion of the book, as it providing some great alone moments intertwined with "game" scenes as they would often stop at novelty stores and play a few rounds,
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and ideas are my own.

I had high hopes but the writing style and the characters really fell flat to me. I was disappointed! It seemed a little too fluffy and good to be true.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it wasn't what I had been expecting.

I've been a fan of Annabeth Albert's work from the beginning. I enjoyed her Perfect Harmony and Gaymers series, so I thought this one would be something along those lines. But it wasn't. At least for me. In more than one occasion I felt bored and uninterested. Ultimately, I didn't feel invested in Conrad and Alden's developing relationship.

In the beginning I found the characters intriguing and was excited to see their journey and growth as the story progressed. And although they did come into themselves and let themselves enjoy each other's presence and their adventures on the road, I just could not really see them connecting on a deeper level. They eventually became friends and by the end of the story they had become more, but to me it didn't really jump off the page. Maybe it was that the road trip was just that, a road trip with none of the extraordinary moments I've come to expect when enemies are forced together by circumstance. Or maybe it was the whole gaming aspect of the story, which really went over my head most of the time.

The author's writing was as good as I've come to expect and all the characters were interesting in their own right. In the end, the romance was I was expecting but the story was good nonetheless.

I tried to like this book, I really did. I started and stopped again several times until I finally got it read to the end. It was fine, well-written but I don't think this one was for me.
3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of this book, the review is unsolicited and opinions are my own.

I liked the enemies to lovers situation a lot. The book was definitely a slow burn, but it fitted nice to the story. In my opinion it made the book a lot more interesting, because I as the reader had a lot of time to properly get to know the characters and the situation they are in. It was nice to have both Conrad’s and Alden’s perspectives, therefore it was easier to understand their unique problems and feelings. The majority of the book focused on the road trip through America which I loved. Road trips in books are always so much fun. Another thing that I loved about the book were the illustrations. The supporting characters were really interesting and I wish that we would learn more about them. Maybe that will happen in a future book(?) Overall I enjoyed reading the book. It was gripping to follow the story of our main characters and see them figuring out some major problems in their lives.

Annabeth Albert's opposites attract novel is a delight! The characters are unique and sympathetic. Can't wait for the next in the series.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

This book follows two main characters, Alden and Conrad, who aren’t exactly the best of friends, as they make their way across the US in an old beat up car, on their way to a convention for their favorite card game. The catch is their starting to fall for each other but at the end of the trip they will be going head to head in a tournament both determined to win and receive everything that comes with it. Can their fledgling relationship survive the upcoming battle?

I really enjoyed the main characters of both Alden and Conrad and really liked all the backstory we got about each of them. I really believed in both of them as characters and felt like they were developed pretty well. The relationship between them, however, I didn’t find too believable as I didn’t really feel that the chemistry was 100% completely there. Which would also explain why I didn’t really feel any of the tension between them that I would have liked to when they were in the middle of disagreements. I also felt like classifying them as “mortal enemies” in the blurb was pushing it a little bit because if anything they were more acquaintances that got on each other’s nerves a bit. But, we quickly find out that’s only because they never really spent the time to get to know each other.

I really liked the way the majority of this book took place while on a road trip, as I love road trip books and we got to enjoy the only one bed trope at least once, which is always a fun trope to have. I also really enjoyed the convention and found the gaming aspect of this book pretty interesting. It should be noted that this book is super heavily focused on the gaming aspect so if that’s not your cup of tea be forewarned.

While I did question the relationship a bit, I didn’t really have any other qualms about this book and really enjoyed it overall. While this book didn’t keep me at the edge of my seat in a deep need to know what happens next, I still was unable to put it down as it just made me happy.

I loved this book. The geek fandom was a wonderful setting for Conrad and Alden. It was a fun road trip story but also very sweet and adorable. I loved how real the characters felt with all of their flaws. A great read!