I had some mixed feelings about the first book in this series, but I still wanted to try the second one because I liked the concept of romance books about board game nerds.

Unfortunately, I ended up enjoying this even less than the first book. I don't have any big, serious reasons for that - I just really didn't click with the characters and didn't end up liking them as people, and it's kind of hard to enjoy a romance if you don't feel any sort of connection with the people involved.

Now honestly, I'm really not someone for bully×nerd romances. I know here the "bully", Milo, was never *actually* a bully, but mainly someone who never stood up to his bully friends. But the fact remains that Milo's friends bullied Jasper and he never did anything about it. Considering that fact, I didn't feel like Milo took enough responsibility to hold himself accountable, and he even kind of victimized himself because of being "friends" and even living with such awful people. Jasper had to really coach him into taking responsibility for his own life, and I feel like it was kind of rich to make someone who suffered because of your own passiveness help you fix that for you. I know there's the redeeming factor that Milo was gay and didn't feel like it would be safe to come out, but still I just didn't like how this was handled.

Happy pride month!!!

I absolutely loved this book and it is definitely one of my favorites for this year. Jasper and Milo are so perfect and Annabeth Albert did a perfect job of showcasing how a relationship grows and prospers. In some books authors tend to skip over parts they deem unnecessary but Annabeth Albert hit each expectation and exceeded it! This book is perfect for fans of Red white and royal blue and Boyfriend material. Out of character was a fun entertaining read that I could not put down, and I can’t wait to purchase a physical copy!

5/5 stars! Go read this now🥰

An Arc was provided in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this book so much! It follows Jasper ( who you may remember if you read the first book in this series, “Conventionally Yours”. Jasper is part of the group that plays the game Odyssey, helping make a web series all while going to school and volunteering at a children's hospital. Milo, who used to be Jasper's best friend until they had a falling out right before high school, makes a pretty expensive mistake when he loses a few of his brother's VERY rare Odyssey cards. They reunite by chance and while Jasper is still hurt by Milo’s actions from the past (including some bullying that lasted all through high school) but also intrigued by the chance to try and find these cards. He agrees to help Milo replace these cards in exchange for some help with his children’s hospital gig. OF COURSE they begin to fall in love and it is lovely.

If you like Annabeth Albert, you will love this. It is filled with the usual sweet, fun, adorable writing we are used to. I love how she incorporates the gaming and conventions aspect into this series! I am not a gamer but I am familiar with the scene and these books are awesome!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I enjoyed this a lot! I am not a nerd or a geek especially about games and cards, so can’t say I related to this. But if you like alexis hall’s books this might be for you

When Milo makes a stupid, expensive mistake, he needs to ask for help to make it right. But first, he must offer a long overdue apology to a childhood friend.

I love a good low-angst, second-chances book, and this one delivered.

A huge thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

This follows Jasper and Milo who used to be these nerdy best friends up until Milo joined the jocks crowd and left Jasper behind. Years later, Milo shows up at the game store Jasper works at to ask for help after he loses a game where he bet his brother’s ultra rare Odyssey cards. Jasper hasn’t forgiven him yet but he ends up helping him in exchange for agreeing to stand in as a cosplayer for an event they do for children in a hospital. Milo agrees to this despite his feelings against nerds, games and cosplaying. Afterwards, they’re off to solving puzzles and winning tournaments to win off the cards. With all these time together, they start to get to know each other as adults and maybe give each other another chance at friendship or something more..

I previously met Jasper in the first book and I already loved him there! Getting to know him more as this super genuine and friendly guy with a hero complex was so much more fun! It’s obvious that he’ll do anything for the people he cares about and despite still harboring bitter feelings towards Milo, he can’t help but give him a second chance. Then we have Milo who is so easy to love and seeing his journey towards being a better person and finding himself was so delightful!

I love the whole jock x nerd, second chance, best friends to enemies to friends to lovers romance they had! Their chemistry was just so natural that I can’t help but be invested all throughout! I loved how Jasper just ticks all the boyfriend material qualifications and seeing him help Milo navigate through all the newness of the experience was so wholesome! There was this comforting realness in their relationship and especially in the way they transitioned from friends to lovers. The realistically written smut scenes was such a nice addition!

As for the gaming aspect of this book in particular, I love how it explored how serious rare card collecting really is with all the different ways they had to take like going through online markets, solving puzzles and participating in tournaments. I also loved the cosplay side of this book! It was so cute and I appreciated what they did for the children in the hospital.

Overall, this was as equally amazing as Conventionally Yours and I highly recommend if you’ve read that to dive straight into this or if you just love adorable mm romance set in the world of nerds! I love this world and these characters and I’m up for whatever else the author has in store for this series!

This was an adorable book that had one of my favourite tropes in it - enemies to lovers, but it was more friends to enemies, enemies to friends, friend to lovers, and that’s just *kisses fingertips*

There were some really good getting to know you (again) “dates” and while there was a bit of angst there was also a very sweet romance story going on.

Plus: nerds love 😻😻

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Enemies-to-lovers? Tired. Friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? Wired.

Out of Character was very much a story about making seemingly irreversible mistakes, second chances, and a friendship that blossoms into more. Following Jasper and Milo, Annabeth Albert returns to the world of conventions and tabletop games and takes readers on an emotional ride. Jasper and Milo used to be best friends in school until Milo chose the soccer team over Jasper. Instead of standing by his best friend who was being bullied by those guys, Milo drew clear lines, not wanting to be associated with Jasper’s “nerdiness” because he likes role-play games reminiscent of D&D. Years after no contact, the two collide again as Milo needs Jasper’s help to retrieve valuable gaming cards he lost in a drunken moment of hubris.

I can see readers falling head over heels for Out of Character and rightly so. While the story takes quite a while to get going since the first part pretty much deals with establishing the backstory of Milo and Jasper, once it picks up, you’re in for quite an emotional journey. I loved how careful Jasper was when it came to letting Milo back in and how their past didn’t just magically disappear because they were attracted to each other in the present. Milo hurt Jasper a lot by giving up their friendship in order to stay with the cool crowd and that’s pain Jasper can’t forget or forgive easily. All the memories of their past and the impact it had on who they are now was so relatable and made my heart hurt because I think we’ve all had that one friend who abandoned us to move on to greener pastures and this relatability really shone through in this story.

The blooming romance between Jasper and Milo develops slowly yet naturally and I found myself invested in their relationship. There were a lot of intense feelings, regret and resignation in the beginning but the way everything is resolved definitely makes it worth it to keep reading.

While this is very much a character-driven story, we also have multiple side plots and characters that enrichen the story, for example Jasper’s younger sister April and Milo’s brother whose cards he gambled away. On top of that, there are loads of scavenger hunt moments as Milo and Jasper try to find the same deck of valuable playing cards, gaming references, and the occasional cute and fun date that had me swooning. Add to that the tension between Jasper and Milo, the fun cosplays and a redemption arc that feels like a punch to the heart, and you have a great romance.

A story of second chances, fun cosplay events and two main characters that will steal your heart, Out of Character is a sweet and restorative second installment in the True Colors series!

This is a wonderful romance story. The characters feel real and relatable. They both change and develop believably as the story progresses. It was so refreshing to to have a story about gaming that shows a more believable view of the gaming community. I know that our patrons will appreciate being able to see something of themselves and their own lives reflected with kindness and compassion in literature. This will be a wonderful addition to our romance collection.

4.5 stars
I greatly enjoyed thos nerd/jock, childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers NA romance! It played with the expectations set around these tropes and executed them super well, and I had a great time reading all the way through.

Content warnings include: homophobia, semi-explicit sex on-page, mentions of bullying, death of parent, autoimmune disease.

I loved that it didn't subscribe to stereotypes despite being rather tropey. Jasper, being the nerd, was way more confident that Milo, who instead was way more of an artsy introvert despite fullfilling the jock role.

I'm always wary of bully/victim romances, but here it was well done, giving the characters a history way beyond the bullying at school, as well as making the bully character regretful and show remorse from the very start.

There was a lovely bunch of character development and plot, though overall the book is slow, and rather long for a romance too. I enjoyed every page of it nevertheless.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for making this book available to me via #Netgalley.

We follow to guys who were childhood friends but they slowly grew apart when one of them became popular in high school and the other was basically the nerd. Milo has found himself in a situation that has become almost typical for him (he messes up all the time according to him), he has lost his brother's prized cards (from a popular game) and he needs to get them back before his brother returns home. This is when he meets his ex-friend Jasper (who really is the sweetest soul) who is a very popular player of the game and they fall into an agreement when Milo has to cosplay for a children's hospital while Jasper helps him win back the cards.

Only this time has they rekindle their friendship, they began to explore why they really stopped being friends and the secrets that Milo has held in his heart in fear of not being accepted by his fake friends and homophobic father.

This is just a fun heartwarming story that explores self-acceptance, friendship and love. Highly recommend.

When Milo needs the help of a gamer to get back his brother's prized collector cards, the last person he ever thought he would ask would be Jasper, the ex-best friend that he allowed his team mates to bully all through high school. But when one favor helps out with another favor will the two put the past in the past and become close again? And just how close will Milo allow the relationship to get when it will cause him to come out to his family? With wonderful characters and more than one underlying plot this was another great read by Annabeth Albert. Honest and true emotions are felt with every turn of the page and the storyline will stay with the reader long after the book is complete.

I read Conventionally Yours and loved it. I didn’t love Out of Character quite so much, but it’s still a great and enjoyable read. Milo and Jasper (a supporting character in the first book) are ex-best friends. And then when high school happened, Milo dropped Jasper and hung out with jock bullies. Now it’s 8 years later, and Milo needs Jasper’s help with tracking down rare Odyssey (the Magic the Gathering-like game that also played a starring role in Conventionally Yours) cards of his deployed brother’s that he was fleeced out of.
Phew, set up over. The book focuses a lot on Milo changing and becoming a better person. But my favorite parts were when Jasper changed as well; the “one is good and the other is bad and needs to redeem himself” just isn’t interesting.
Watching the two of them navigate a relationship and solve problems was lovely. The results are fine but the process and the negotiations and compromise and listening is what’s really satisfying and shows their compatibility. The brief appearance of Alden and Conrad at the end made me miss them and their banter and frisson, though.
Still, enjoyable!

This book was great. I really loved the friends to enemies to lovers book and seeing the characters develop. This book was really hard to put down and i was fully immersed in Jesper and Milos journey together.

What a cute, second-chance romance novel!
Out of Character is such a fun, heart warming book that I very much enjoyed!
I have not read the first in this series so now I'm gonna back track lol but still anyone who enjoys a cute, fun, romance needs this book.in their lives!
Going to be a hit when it hits the shelves July!

Thank You NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this advance ebook!

Jasper Quigley is the ultimate sidekick, always around to help family and friends, whether it's lending a hand or cracking a joke. Jasper knows that every great story needs a good sidekick, but he still longs to be someone's hero. Not Milo Lionetti's though. Once best friends, Milo not only walked away from Jasper nearly a decade ago at the onset of high school, but he became a person who passively if not actively helped bully the "nerds" like Jasper from the safety of the jocks inner circle. But now, Milo needs Jasper's help. Milo has lost his older brothers prized playing cards and Jasper is the only gamer he knows who can maybe help get them back before his brother returns from overseas. Reluctant to make himself vulnerable to Milo again, Jasper still strikes a deal since he needs a Prince Neptune for some an upcoming cosplay event at the local children's hospital. When Milo doesn't bail after Jasper proposes the deal the two begin a quest that may not only restore the cards Milo's needs, but rebuild a friendship that could leave love.
A truly delightful contemporary romance that features former friends who became enemies and may just become lovers if everyone plays their cards rights. I loved this book. The alternating POV between Jasper and Milo worked really well in the building of their relationship and added a nice layer of complexity to the novel. Milo's character evolves exponentially over the course of the novel, but it Jasper grew with him as well. The exploration of friendships as we grow up and the necessity of cutting toxic people out of one's life to make room for new friends was a nice touch outside the romantic relationship. Jasper had an awesome friend group and the elder mentors relationship to the group was simply heartwarming. A phenomenally fun read I will be recommending to many romance readers. This is for grown up fans of "Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda" or "Red, White, and Royal Blue."

Milo Lionetti used to be close friends with Jasper Quigley but they grew apart when he joined the football team meaning it wasn't cool to be seen with a nerd like him. Things escalated so Jasper can't think of those times without feeling hurt so why is Milo coming into his gaming store asking him for help? Milo feels guilty about all that bullying and wishes he made better decisions growing up but his latest disaster means he's seriously going to disappoint his older brother so he needs Jasper's skills to rectify his mistake. A lovely trip back to the gaming world seen in Conventionally Yours.

Enemies-to-lovers? Tired. Friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? Wired.
Out of Character was very much a story about making seemingly irreversible mistakes, second chances and a friendship that blossoms into more. Following Jasper and Milo, Annabeth Albert returns to the world of conventions and tabletop games and takes readers on an emotional ride. Jasper and Milo used to be best friends in school until Milo chose the soccer team over Jasper. Instead of standing by his best friend who was being bullied by those guys, Milo drew clear lines, not wanting to be associated with Jasper’s “nerdiness” because he likes role-play games reminiscent of D&D. Years after no contact, the two collide again as Milo needs Jasper’s help to retrieve valuable gaming cards he lost in a drunken moment of hubris.
I can see readers falling head over heels for Out of Character and rightly so. While the story takes quite a while to get going since the first part pretty much deals with establishing the backstory of Milo and Jasper, once it picks up, you’re in for quite an emotional journey. I loved how careful Jasper was when it came to letting Milo back in and how their past didn’t just magically disappear because they were attracted to each other in the present. Milo hurt Jasper a lot by giving up their friendship in order to stay with the cool crowd and that’s pain Jasper can’t forget or forgive easily. All the memories of their past and the impact it had on who they are now was so relatable and made my heart hurt because I think we’ve all had that one friend who abandoned us to move on to greener pastures and this relatability really shone through in this story.
The blooming romance between Jasper and Milo develops slowly yet naturally and I found myself invested in their relationship. There were a lot of intense feelings, regret and resignation in the beginning but the way everything is resolved definitely makes it worth it to keep reading.
While this is very much a character-driven story, we also have multiple side plots and characters that enrichen the story, for example Jasper’s younger sister April and Milo’s brother whose cards he gambled away. On top of that, there are loads of scavenger hunt moments as Milo and Jasper try to find the same deck of valuable playing cards, gaming references, and the occasional cute and fun date that had me swooning. Add to that the tension between Jasper and Milo, the fun cosplays and a redemption arc that feels like a punch to the heart, and you have a great romance.
A story of second chances, fun cosplay events and two main characters that will steal your heart, Out of Character is a sweet and restorative second installment in the True Colors series!

I friggin’ love this series from Annabeth Albert! As a geek and MTG player, it is so much fun to find that represented in a positive way! Another thing I really liked about this book is that it didn’t follow the typical romance format of meet, fall in love, miscommunication/someone-does-something-dumb-so-they-break-up, realize they’re dumb and actually talk to each other, then happy ever after. They just fell in love, worked through issues by talking and listening, and happy ever after. Both characters were super lovable (though Jasper could get a bit annoying) and I just really loved this book.
4.5 stars

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book! Full review will be up on Pop-Culturalist.com closer to July 6th. This book is ideal for fans of Becky Albertalli. I actually read this one as a book club pick with the Love, Arctually book club. It's a friends-to -enemies to friends-to-lovers book. Jasper and Milo's heartbreaking story also has a lot of humourous moments in it. This is one you'll want to read if you're into contemporaries!