Rivals to lovers and a road trip?! Heck yes! I requested this after hearing Annabeth Albert discuss it at Book Con and I'm thrilled to get a chance to read this arc from netgalley. Good story line, characters who are realistic and believable all set in the world of gamers. Albert covers a lot of different topics in this story and it read quickly. I will be looking for more from her in the future!

This is a wonderful, feel good MM enemies to lovers book. It was funny and light hearted with some really difficult situations that were handled with style. It is set around a fantasy card game and the author does wonderful things with that. The characters were great with lots of backstory and the story kept me enthralled the entire time I was reading. A great feel good book in these trying times.

Road Trip anyone? lol What a way to bring two people that really don't like one another together, get them to take a road trip cross country, either they'll kill one another or they may just find out there is more to the other person then they originally thought.

Conrad Stuart is the person that is always joking around and "trash talking" while they film their Odyssey games for the "Gamer Grandpa vlog" while Alden is more of an introvert. You can say Yin and Yang because they are very much opposites on most things which makes for an enjoyable read.

I have to confess I am not a gamer but since I loved Annabeth Albert's #gaymers series I had a feeling I would enjoy this one as well. This story is more on the sweeter side and not as spicy as the other stories were but that was fine because this is a new adult romance so I sort of expected that.

Remember that things are not always as they seem, well that is what both Conrad and Alden figure out during their trip and it was great watching them not only become enlightened to who the other person is but to realize they are someone that they can truly care for.

I always recommend Annabeth Albert's books and this one is no different. If you enjoy a neurodiverse character, a Jewish character, or a MC that has some serious family issues, this book fits all of those characterizations so I would definitely recommend this book to you.

Happy Reading!!!

A great New Adult story from one of my favorite authors

OK, Conventionally Yours is quite a bit different from any of Annabeth Albert's recent books but I loved it all the same. You won't find hot, sexy times in this story but you will find great characters and a lot of snappy dialogue between them.

There was a lot of "gaming" dialogue that pretty much went over my head but I'm sure younger readers will understand a lot more of the lingo than I did. Even so, the abundance of gaming dialogue didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story one bit.

The road trip that Conrad and Alden take from New Jersey to Las Vegas was awesome. Several of the places they stopped were familiar to me. I especially love the bits where they were in Central Ohio since I was born and raised there. I laughed so hard when "Ohio pizza" was discussed; the boys were shocked to learn about pizza cut into squares (they were not fans).

The story isn't angst free. Conrad and Alden are competing against each other for a coveted gaming prize. Watching the characters grow and go from enemies to lovers was a wonderful journey. I loved that Annabeth gave us a look at these two six months later, even if it's not called an epilogue. 😊 (I love epilogues.)

I happen to love a good New Adult story and Annabeth delivered with this one. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

I'm trying to assimilate what I just went through. it was beautiful, stunning, wonderful; I loved it with all my heart and I didn’t want it to end.
First of all, this story is about Conrad and Alden. both so different yet similar in some ways. Conrad, who has been through a lot and it’s still going through a rough path and Alden, a brilliant man whose anxiety keeps him from experiencing more.
The two of them play this card game (that I did not understand at all) and because they have a youtube channel with others, they are invited to this convention and, suddenly, have to spend a lot of time together.
What I absolutely adored was how they thought they hated each other but deep inside was a misunderstanding of how they saw one another combined with banter and a feeling of trying to ignore how cute they thought the other was.
As they begin to spend more time together, to talk, to learn how they really are; they develop feelings. deep, astounding feelings. Their scenes were gorgeously written, my heart was pounding out of my chest with each line.
It was incredible to explore the differences in both, how innocent yet willing Alden was and how sexy yet fearful Corden was; and even more incredible, how they learned from the other and realized what they wanted to do but they had to do it together.
I loved, no, scratch that; I breathed, I lived for these pages and what they made me feel. I am already biting my nails thinking of how long i have to wait for the second one.

I really wanted to love this story but sadly it didn’t happen. Did I enjoy this book, yeah I did...but not for the romance. This book brought back the joyful memories of yesteryear and all my geeky gamer friends. All the joy filled nights of playing Magic and Dungeons and Dragons.
The pace felt a bit off for me. The first half or so of the book seemed to drag on forever.
I did like how well written both Conrad and Alden’s characters were. The author definitely knows what she’s talking about with the gamerverse. I’m not 100% why I couldn’t connect with this book even though I really wanted too.

This was a good rivals to lovers story.
At the beginning both assumed things about one another which was wrong, it was clear once those fog (assumptions) cleared up they would fall in love.

In this book we followed the perspectives of Conrad and Alden. Conrad who is a beautiful soul, very likeable but is having a hell of a life and Alden who seems perfect but suffers with anxiety. They played Odyssey with a club who upload videos on the channel called Gamer Grandpa.
The head of the club got them tickets to go to the biggest Odyssey pro tournament.

Winning this tournament would mean different things for the both individuals but one thing was clear is that it would change their lives.

With that being said they went on a road trip from New York to LA to get to the tournament and the love began.

I'm a big lover of road-trip books and the enemies to lovers trope so when I first heard about this book back in December, I instantly wanted to read it. Conrad and Alden's journey throughout the book was so adorable and sweet. Also, I really loved the aspect of the tabletop card game called Odyssey that they played. It was really entertaining to read about their love for the game. Truthfully, I really just loved each of their characters and loved rooting for them throughout the entire book.

This was so cute and just what I needed, a contemporary in the midst of all the sci-fi and fantasy I’ve been reading lately.

So many of my favorite tropes; Enemies to lovers, road trip, and more, were in this book, and it made me smile and laugh a bunch of times, but it was serious too - Conrad’s family situation had me in tears, because it looked a lot like things I’ve gone through. I had the EXACT same issues with financial aid, jumped through a ton of hoops, only to get approved then it immediately overturned when my parents were “concerned” and let the school know they would’ve provided me with the info if I’d asked (despite not talking to me in months or paying my bills in any way), they “didn’t want me to get in trouble for claiming they wouldn’t” Anyway, needless to say, this struck me in a deep seated place that won’t forget what it was like to wonder what was wrong with *me* that they didn’t love me right, but I was happy to see a hopeful ending.

I found this book to be a very fun read. It had compelling characters, a wonderful lovestory and a great adventure. I love how the characters all had very clear motives that were justified, and which made you contemplate who deserved what happy ending. I highly enjoyed the cardgame aspect as well, it was written in a way that it wasn't too hard to follow.

I highly recommend this book as a fun summer read for anyone who loves the "Enemies to Lovers" trope and a lot of miscommunication, of course.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley & SourceBooks in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

When we discovered that this book is about to be out in the universe, I was so waiting for it. I'm not a huge reader of Anabeth Albert's books but this one was I must read for me and thanks to Netgally, I've been able to read it as an ARC, so thank you.

I'm not gonna lie, on the first half of the book, I was not sure what I was doing, the installment was so slow and I've considered several times to DNF. I'm not familiar with the gamers universe and the two were very unfriendly toward each other, so I was not that much fond of all this. But when the road trip started, everything shifted and the book became way more interesting and I had a great time meeting Alden and Conrad. They were both cute, lovable and very kind and I loved being with them on this trip.

Alden and Conrad are both complex characters and when they start to open up to each other (and us readers), it was fantastic. They both struggle with issues (health, anxiety, poverty and so one) and it was equally heartwarming and heartbreaking to witness all this.By the end of the book, I was so happy to see them overcome all this and be the beautiful souls they were meant to be

.A really beautiful book.

I love Annabeth Albert. I love all of her novels. Whichever themes she tackles, I love her pen and the way the characters come to life under her words. I really enjoyed her Gaymers series and I couldn't wait to start this novel. I was not sure what to expect given that this is a Young Adult novel (even if the characters are in college). This is the author's first Young Adult novel (which I read at least) and I just loved it.

I loved finding the universe of gamers even if it is a card game and not video games but we feel that the author knows her subject and masters it perfectly.

The main characters are super endearing. I loved following them and discovering them throughout the chapters. I liked the way in which the alternation of points of view will make that we will get as attached to the two characters and learn little by little about their past, expectations and fears. I loved seeing them get closer as they went and drop their preconceptions about each other.

I liked the Road Trip part as much as the Convention part. Once again Annabeth Albert immerses us completely in her universe and makes us want to never leave it.

I really appreciated the modesty and restraint that emerges from this novel, due to the age of the protagonists and the category of the novel. I devoured this novel which deals with a whole bunch of subjects in a fair manner. The author's pen is simply perfect.

Annabeth Albert takes up the challenge hands down and delivers us a novel YA in the rules of the art. A novel that always takes us further with the characters and will make us reflect on ourselves and our expectations, our vision of things, just like it is the case for Conrad and Alden. An initiatory novel, which will make you smile, cry and feel a lot of emotion, for your enjoyment.

This novel aims for the same territory as Red, White, and Royal Blue. That book sets a high bar, and I don’t think this one matches it, but it’s plenty good in its own right.

Conventionally Yours is a New Adult enemies-to-lovers story set in the world of trading card gaming. Alden and Conrad regularly play together for the Gamer Grandpa vlog, but they are most definitely not friends. Then the players from their vlog are invited to participate in the tournament at one of the premier gaming cons in the nation, where a win would secure one of them a place on the pro circuit, an opportunity they can’t pass up. Neither Alden nor Conrad are looking forward to sharing a car on the road trip from New Jersey to the con in Vegas, and it gets even worse when the two of them wind up traveling alone. However, as they get to know each other along the way, they realize that they might have misjudged each other, and that they could be friends after all—or maybe much more than friends.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this book is that Alden and Conrad are both well-rounded characters, which adds depth to their romance. Conrad was cut off by his family after he was outed. He’s just been trying to get by, taking any minimum wage job he can get to pay for food, shelter, and meds for his asthma. Alden is neurodiverse and struggles to connect to other people. He’s also trying to figure out what to do with his life after he failed to get into med school to pursue his dream of being a doctor. A win at the convention would give each of them not just money but a direction in a life gone adrift, and a big part of their love story involves finding someone who will care for and support them, no matter what.

The road trip is very well done, too. In her note at the end, the author says that she tried to make it as realistic as possible by including actual places that Alden and Conrad might have visited along the way, and their journey did feel true to life. I had to smile at their stop at the pizza place in Columbia, Missouri, because I’ve eaten there myself. (It’s Shakespeare’s Pizza, by the way, if you ever find yourself traveling through on I-70.) And I’m not sure I would choose the tram pods in St. Louis’s Gateway Arch for a serious relationship conversation, but at least it might be a distraction from feeling claustrophobic. (Those things are tiny.)

A note for folks who like their romances spicy—this novel is PG-13 at most. The few sex scenes are not very detailed. It’s slow burn, too; Conrad and Alden don’t even start kissing until about halfway through the story. There’s a lot more gaming than heat in this book, which falls on the sweet end of the spectrum.

Readers who liked Red, White, and Royal Blue might enjoy this one, too, especially ones who geek out over gaming. It’s the first of a series, and I’m looking forward to finding out who will be falling in love next.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Author Annabeth Albert did the research on table-top games and fan conventions, and it shows! Albert also does representation of lesbian, gay, non-binary, and neuro-diverse characters very well here. Please note: Trigger warning for homophobia.

Set in a fictional college town in New Jersey, our two main characters meet at their campus LGBTQA+ alliance club and end up joining the same comic-book shop table top gaming group for Albert’s creation, ‘Odyssey.’ Each believes their life issues would be solved if they could just win the gaming tournament at the Las Vegas Odyssey convention and are willing to endure the long car ride alone together in order to get there.

Alternating points of view between Conrad and Alden was the perfect choice for this tale, as they both come to realizations and make life-altering choices along their journey. I appreciated the slower pacing, as this was a character-driven story, not action-heavy. These are realistic and relatable characters whom I enjoyed getting to know.

This is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers tale with minimal, PG-13 heat. It’s technically classified as New Adult due to the main characters being in their early 20’s and having met through their university, but I am comfortable recommending this to mature YA readers (and gaming fans) who have seen the trigger warning and want to enjoy Conrad and Alden’s story.

Conventionally Yours is the immensely geeky, immensely fun rivals to lovers road trip book we've all been waiting for. Annabeth Albert has expertly balanced all the elements of a classic contemporary romance with the kind of geekiness that anyone who is a geek can relate to on a whole other level.

The main plot of the story revolves around a road trip from the East Coast to Vegas, the worst nightmare of card playing rivals Alden and Conrad. They've been at odds for a long time, and now they're having to travel to a convention together, where they'll be competing in a tournament that they both need to win, but only one can take the trophy. The plot itself was a little predictable and a little cheesy, but in the best way. To be honest, in a contemporary romance like this you're not really looking for realism, so the way this wraps up nicely and is really enjoyable.

Alden and Conrad were both very well fleshed out characters, with a good balance between the two; I really liked both of them, which is not something that happens often with dual POV books. What I particularly liked about them was how developed both of their backstories were, and therefore how developed their motivations were. Alden was a character I loved a lot because of his neurodiversity, because how he experiences this is something I recognise in myself. He was also such a sweet character and I really enjoyed seeing how good he was at helping people learn the game he loves. Conrad was also a really likeable character, with a lot of depth and a lot of inner strength that made it easy to root for him. He was very much his own character and that added so much to the book.

Relationships that start out with hatred are something that I'm normally wary of, but this was done it a very thoughtful way. Their hatred was never bone deep, and it was actually really easy to see why they clashed, and then why they started warming up to each other. The played off each other very well, and their relationship was very much a two way street that was so easy to ship. The chemistry between Alden and Conrad was very present, even considering their rocky start, and the way it grew was so enjoyable to read.

My main issue with the characters and the way they were written was that I often had trouble remembering which character's POV I was reading because they both had a very similar voice, and this often took me out of the story due to having to figure out what I was reading. This was not a major detraction to my reading experience, but it was still inconvenient at times.

Conventionally Yours revolves very heavily around a card game similar to Magic: The Gathering, called Odyssey. I've played Magic before, so it wasn't hard for me to recognise how the game functioned, but I feel like Annabeth Albert was able to introduce it in a way that didn't lose the non-geeks while still delving into the depths that a card gamer would know and appreciate. She also did a really good job of showing the expansive culture that develops around a game like Odyssey, the different people who play and the way we all come together. The way that all of this was built directly into the story made everything so much better and so much more realistic.

Built on tropes ranging from rivals-to-lover to "there was only one bed", with a heavy dash of character development and a slathering of geek, Conventionally Yours is a riot of a book. The layers and progression of the story make it such an enjoyable read to curl up with and disappear into, and will leave you wanting just one more chapter so you don't have to give it up yet.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Annabeth Albert, and I know when I’ve loved a book when I finish it and didn’t even realise it was 3am. I’m use to Albert’s more adult books but I was super excited to hear she was releasing a more YA geared book! Though I’m not sure where this technically falls, as our main characters are in uni and within the age range of 20-24...I’m 25 this year and would still like to consider myself a “young adult” For my own sanity, so I’m going to go with that!
Conventionally yours while filled with familiar tropes, felt like a fresh take on our geek/nerd love stories. I’ve read a few books where a nerdy convention is the focus and I think I was actually pleasantly surprised that the convention aspect, while the driving force, was only a small portion of the actual story. Essentially it’s more of a classic road trip book, with a kind of enemies to friends to lovers romance, and I am a sucker for that trope! Albert definitely delivered there too in such a soft, sweet way.
Im not too sure how “good” the neurodiverse representation is, but as someone who works in the mental health field I know there’s a massive spectrum out there and discussions around anxiety didn’t seem too unfamiliar.
Honestly, my only ‘negative’ I guess would just be that I wasn’t too interested in the actual logistics of the tabletop card game itself. I much preferred the character driven aspect. I did love the observations made about each main character while they played and either won or lost, but as far as actually getting details about different decks and which card is rare and what beats what...I wasn’t too interested and did skim over most of that exposition.
All in all this was a really fun, sweet novel with an adorable cast of characters! Highly recommend!


I was provided a copy of Conventionally yours through Netgalley.

This book intrigued me right from the start - as a huge nerd and a fan of conventions, I loved the cover, and upon reading the description, knew that I had to read it as soon as possible. A gay romance centered around two nerds, a convention for a Magic-the-Gathering-adjacent game, and a road trip? It's like the writer reached into my head and wrote all my favorite things into one.

The story centers around Conrad and Alden, who both play the popular card game Odyssey at their local game store and for a friend's gaming vlog. Both fairly well-known in their gaming community, the two are complete opposites in terms of personality and playing style. Conrad is a brash, charming, lovable guy, while Alden is brilliant, but reserved and bossy, and the have become well-known for butting heads while playing. When they are offered tickets to the huge Odyssey gaming tournament in Las Vegas, representing the vlog they play for, it's an opportunity neither can pass up. Alden seems like he has it all together, but is struggling with figuring out what he wants to do with his life, and Conrad is working several part-time jobs to keep afloat after having to drop out of school. Winning the tournament could change everything for both of them.

When circumstances force them together on a road trip, driving from New York to Nevada, neither are looking forward to it.. But what surprises them both is the unexpected connection that develops between them, and what that means for the tournament, their futures, and each other.

This story was sweet, oh-so-relatable, gut-wrenching, and ultimately a delightful, nerdy escape. Plus: ALL THE TROPES. Won't spoil them, but oh man, so many good ones. Highly recommended!

mortal enemies alden and conrad are invited to the upcoming 'odyssey' gaming tournament, yet they're the only ones out of their gaming group taking their professor's car to do a road trip to las vegas. along the journey, they may or may not develop some feelings for each other, though both still rely on the win of the tournament for their future. will they find a way to work this out?

do you ever read a book that slowly goes from a solid 4 star review to a barely 2 star one? this happened to me reading this one. i was happy to see that a person who uses they/them pronouns is part of their gaming group. nevertheless, that's where the representation stopped. besides alden's two mums, there were no female characters of any importance included. even worse, there wasn't any kind of bipoc representation! on top of that, conrad is described as very sexually active, which wouldn't be bad at all, if he wouldn't make alden feel bad about being "a virgin" at the same time. this is yet another book that doesn't acknowledge that virginity is a social construct. please stop putting this kind of pressure on young readers, virginity is a concept, it's not real, it's not something that has to be achieved! moreover, conrad makes fun of alden for not drinking and since alden takes medication for his anxiety, he literally accuses him of being no fun because he doesn't want to violate a prescription warning, which he SHOULDNT, because he could die from that?! conrad is super unlikeable and i couldn't relate to him at all. his character sends all the wrong messages to all readers out there, i unfortunately cannot recommend this book.

What a sweet book! It follows two enemy gamers on a road trip to a RPG convention and, of course, they fall in love. It's told in first person alternating between the two leads. At times, it deals with heavier topics (family estrangement), but it still offers a delightful escape from the world.

This book totally hooked me from the beginning. I mean how could I not love a book about two guys who fall in love on their way to a gaming convention?
Did I love the LGBTQ+ and nerd aspects of this book? Oh yes, but that isn’t why I have already recommended it to two people. Well, maybe it is why I recommended it to one of those people… But while that might be why you start the book it is the characters and their relationship that keeps you reading. I loved that this book is about two people who make each other better. It is certainly more pronounced in Alden, who starts to believe in himself and more importantly, figures out what he wants. But Conrad is just as much changed, realizing he is good enough.
I really enjoyed learning about these characters as they drove across the country. This book is sweet but also very realistic, which is a hard combination to find. My one complaint is that this card game that is very prevalent in this book is not explained. I am sure it is based on some real-world game, I’m just not familiar with it.
I really enjoyed this book, and I really have recommended it to two friends, and I am now recommending it to all of you.