Gaming for Keeps by Seleste DeLaney
June 10, 2013
Contemporary Romance Novella
Entangled
Reviewed by Mandi
Pen Holloway is tired of dating, as her last boyfriend turned out to be a big jerk. She is a huge gamer, obsessed with playing the online computer video game, Heroes of Fallen Gods. It was there she met her previous boyfriend, so when another fellow player who goes by the online name, Lohonas, invites her to a gaming convention, Pen is unsure. She kind of feels like her and Lohonas have a nice flirtation going on, and she isn’t sure she is ready to meet him in person. But as this convention excites her, she decides what the hell.
Cal (aka Lohonas) definitely has a crush on Pen, and can’t wait to see if they hit it off in real life. Cal has some secrets though – yes he spends much of his time gaming, but the other time is spent as part of TRAIT, a group of spies. Rumor has it that a big illegal arms deal is about to go down at ConDamned and Cal is sent to infiltrate a movie premiere at the con where they think the baddie leader will be making his move. Cal has no idea what Pen looks like, so when they both arrive at the Con, they fall for each other, not knowing it is actually each other in real life.
This book has two really cute characters. I really enjoyed both Pen and Cal. They both have a lot in common with their gaming and they both have good chemistry together, even when they don’t realize who the other is. I like a romance book centered around gaming and cons too. It’s different and gives us a little more nerdy-ish, brainy characters. And even though Cal’s spy job took me a bit by surprise, I kind of liked how crazy it is. He is a nerdy spy..that is cool.
My biggest disappointment with this book is that it is too short. It’s too short for the romance between Cal and Pen to actually develop. A lot of the book, they don’t even realize who the other is, and I wanted them to have more time to fully explore their feelings for each other. And, Cal is part of what I assume is a really cool group of spies – but we barely touch on that. There is this big baddie at the conference and when it all builds to the climax, it’s over with a snap of your fingers. I wanted much more time spent with Cal’s TRAIT team and with bringing down the villain.
I really liked the author’s voice in this book but we needed many more pages for it to all come together.
Rating: C+
LOL! Sounds cute…but I’d probably have same issue as you with the story being short and therefore underdeveloped. Gamers, though…fun!