Four quick points: (1) I might have blinked and missed it, but other than mentioning sex, the only graphic action that occurred was passionate kissing; (2) I do not particularly like it when I reach 69% on the file I’m reading only to find that the book is done; (3) despite the above points, or how someone might feel about the above points, I did in fact like this book; (4) just as it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to tell the difference between the two women on the cover of the book I read (the one that looks like lesbian porn, not the one that looks like lesbian fantasy), there were times when the two main characters kind of blended together in my mind. Annoying, that.

Okay then, now that those 4 points are out of the way – this is the second book I’ve read by this author under the name Mia Archer, and both fall into a loosely constructed ‘geek lesbian romances’ (what with the other one also involving a game though there the book focused more on a game convention, while here the book focused on an actual live action game in progress), and . . . I used the word both. I forget whey I used the word both. Oh, both books that I read by this author under the Mia name. Right. Confused myself. I’ve also read one book by this author under the Lexi Archer name, and one short story under that name. So this is the third book I’ve read by this author, and fourth work overall.

Anna and Erin are the two main characters. And the story is told from their point of view. They are both members of a virtual reality game called Alternate Realms that has an element of the gaming take place in reality. By use of phones and tablets.

Anna is a coder and a regional best player. Erin is the reigning champ and the queen, oh and a grad student. No mention of what she’s studying. I’ve a vague impression, based on nothing really, that both might be somewhere in there mid –twenties. The only character who had their actual age mentioned (I think only one) was Anna’s boss, Shelia. Who, oddly enough, is my age and mentions Doom. See, this ‘Alternate Realms’ thing kind of just flies over my head. No real idea about what it is actually about other than a vaguely fantasy-like game like WoW but with the added element of having a phone app connected to the gaming. So you can see your opponent as you lob fire balls at their groin. But Doom; now there’s a game I’ve actually played. Both single and multi-player, but the thing I remember most is spending many a college night playing multiple player Doom, running around, shooting at people while listening to movie soundtracks on a kind of continuous loop (if I recall correctly, I mostly listened to Top Gun).

There are probably several things wrong with this book, or at least that annoy me, but I’ll just mention two: (1) openly gaming during company time? Quite annoying; (2) everyone being described as being gorgeous? Even the forty year-old boss? Doubly annoying (‘She stood there, about forty years old and not looking a day over her mid-twenties. She had blonde hair flowing past her shoulders. Blonde hair that I sometimes wondered about running my fingers through. The boss lady was fucking hot.’)

Well, long and short – nothing grand here – mostly a fluffy book. An enjoyable way to spend my time. Sadly on a level below ‘Girl on Geek’, ‘Villainess Love’, and though better than that short story I read by Lexi Archer. So, ‘Girl on Geek’ was a sold 4.5 story, ‘Villainous Love’ probably wasn’t that far behind in rating, though I see I rated it 4 stars (not sure why I did that; I just looked at the book review I did, I see no reason not to up the rating to 4.5, since I still think about that book all this time later), this book here is a solid 3.5 stars, then that short story I read is a 2.5 effort. So then – overall rating for this author is: only counting books – 4.17; counting everything – 3.75.

One last thought before I move on. I rarely comment on covers, but I will this time. I much prefer this books original cover over the one currently on Amazon (older cover shows two women wearing odd costumes that may or may not correspond to a fantasy/science fiction/gaming book; newer current cover shows two women standing on a desert like setting in sundresses with one woman fondling the other and looking like the cover to a porn video -> if nothing else, the lack of graphic sex will probably annoy those who enter this book after seeing that cover . . . perhaps; hmms wonder if I blinked and missed graphic sex).

February 16 2016
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