Beta Test
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
Opposites attract for two workplace rivals in this forced proximity romance from bestselling author Annabeth Albert Player vs. Player. Fight! Brilliant graphic designer Ravi Tandel is ahead of the game—he’s just been asked to present a top secret project at a huge conference in Seattle. All systems are go...until he learns his buttoned-up office nemesis is coming along for the ride. Tristan Jones isn’t really the gamer type, but he knows the back end of the video game business inside out. Together, he and Ravi will give an awesome presentation. If they survive the cross-country trip first. Tossed together in close quarters, Ravi’s shocked to see Tristan’s sexy, softer side emerge from such a conservative shell. He’s less shocked to learn his handsome colleague’s prominent family would never support an out-and-proud son. But Ravi didn’t struggle through his own coming out to hide who he is now. To be together, Tristan will have to push past his fear and ultimately decide: Does he want a future with Ravi? Or is it game over before they’ve even begun? #gaymers Book 1: Status Update Book 2: Beta Test Book 3: Connection Error Also by Annabeth Albert: Shore Leave Book 1: Sailor Proof Book 2: Sink or Swim Out of Uniform Book 1: Off Base Book 2: At Attention Book 3: On Point Book 4: Wheels Up Book 5: Squared Away Book 6: Tight Quarters Book 7: Rough Terrain Hotshots: Book 1: Burn Zone Book 2: High Heat Book 3: Feel the Fire Book 4: Up in Smoke
Reviews with the most likes.
I'm getting a little tired of how I keep identifying with the repressed gay guy from a painfully traditional family. (Gee, I wonder which part of that I identify with the most?) It does make for a more emotionally fulfilling read, though. Anyway, I loved Tristan right from the start and Ravi grows and matures by leaps and bounds over the course of the story. And he isn't unwilling to admit when he's wrong. There also was more to do with the Space Villager game which was nice - because I was so hoping that game would take center stage with the romances and not just be a background. It's probably going to be in the next book even less though, because in that story only one of the guys works for the company.
3.5 stars
Status Update was first my first Annabeth Albert book, and I was completely charmed by the energetic hipster Adrian and the quiet, steady but closeted Noah and the love they found on an unplanned road trip. So when I read the next book in the Gaymer series, Beta Test, featuring another opposites-attract couple (including one MC who was more or less in the closet because of his conservative family members) who go on an unexpected work road trip...well, unfortunately it couldn't help feeling like a bit of a retread. However, the two MCs, Tristan and Ravi, are nowhere near carbon copies of their predecessors. Their progression from distrustful co-workers to grudging friends and then lovers never seems forced or hurried, and the family issues they both face make the obstacles to their HEA realistic yet relatively angst-free. Not the most memorable romance I've read this year, but definitely an enjoyable one. Looks like there is at least one more book to come in the series (one secondary character is practically begging for his own book), and I look forward to reading it.
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Featured Series
3 primary books7 released books#gaymers is a 7-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Annabeth Albert.
