Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Gamer’s Choice
AUTHOR: Valerie Ullmer
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 136 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2021
BLURB:
Neko-Ren Ellison
Love wasn’t in the cards for me. My first relationship ended with a dramatic event, and police involvement. Needless to say, I wasn’t keen starting a new one.
But a knock on the door one random night changed everything. After exchanging some witty banter through my closed oak door, safety first, I threw it open to find an exquisite bearded man, hair tied back, muscles on display… all-in-all, my fantasy come to life.
I wove elaborate dreams around the two of us within minutes, yet my illusion shattered when I learned he was straight. But the protective and intense man became a fixture in my life, and no matter how many times I tell myself he’s not available, I stubbornly hold out hope.
Graham Norris
I’m screwed.
I can’t figure out what shocked me more. The realization I’m not only attracted to a man, but to my dazzling, openly gay, younger next-door neighbor who makes every protective instinct in me flare. Or at the ripe old age of thirty-four, I’m stupidly fighting against my one chance at happiness.
Despite my grumpy and staid personality, the brilliant and funny man introduced me to his world, his family, and worked his way into my heart. The more I’m immersed in everything Neko, my desire for him only grows.
Yep, completely screwed.
Gamer’s Choice features an age gap, bisexual awakening romance between a professional let’s player and his new neighbor. It’s a standalone gay/bisexual romance with an instant connection and a ten-year age difference.
~Descriptions of domestic violence and stalking, includes abuse from an ex-partner, descriptions of an attempted assault with a weapon. Please avoid if the subject matter is triggering.~
REVIEW:
Neko is a game streamer. With abuse in his past, as the blurb says, Neko is not looking for love. Instead, it comes to him, in the form of Graham. Graham heard his neighbor scream and went to investigate. What follows are revelations that neither expected – especially since Graham believed he was straight.
I picked up this book for review based on the blurb, which reads well, and I’m a sucker for friends to lover’s stories. I hoped to read a tale of friendship, recovery, love, a bit of angst, etc. Technically, I got all that, but not in the form I expected. I expected a slightly darker, more dramatic story.
Neko and Graham are likable characters. Neko’s family and friends are scene-stealers, and the dialogue is delightfully blunt with no hidden undercurrents or guessing games. Neko has a quirky honest way of making conversation and is one hell of a cook. All these are things that I enjoyed.
However, what I also got was instalove. The marketing blurb says that there’s an instant connection, and I’m not saying that love at first sight, is not possible – I know for a fact that it is. But, everything about the storyline was as good as instant. The minute they speak, they are instantly friends. Graham is instantly protective. He instantly knows that Neko is the nicest person he’s ever met. From then on, they are inseparable. Graham instantly realized that he may not be straight and has close to no visible issue with it, almost instantly falling in love. The family is instantly on board and instantly loves Graham. It was all a bit too much. Events in life that are sweet and nice are often needed, but this bordered on the saccharine. The blurb says that this is a friends-to-lovers story. There was hardly time to be friends before they were lovers.
The story is told in the first person, present tense from the viewpoints of Neko and Graham. I checked back in correspondence, and nothing says that this is or is not a final draft. Nevertheless, some errors should have been picked up on the first edit. There is a part spoken in the third person, ‘they walked out of the…’. And a common error among self-published works is one of autonomous body parts. E.g., ‘my gaze darted’ or ‘my eyes tracked upward’. Body functions should not be treated as though they are separate from their owner – at least not without a qualifier like ‘as if with a mind of their own,’ etc.
Anyhow, gripes aside, I liked the characters, they were quirky, and the light-hearted nature of the conversation was charming. I loved the conniving twins – damn, they’d make a kick-ass story of their own, and best friend Echo is a force to be reckoned with. There is plenty of sexual discovery, both mental and physical. Other parts of the story include a lot of cooking, hacking, a good family, helping others, spreading lies, and a possessive ex who provides drama in paradise.
Overall, I liked the concept of the story, and the dialogue made me smile. Technical issues and an unrealistic timeline got in the way. An instant connection doesn’t have to mean instant everything.
For any reader looking for a sexy interlude with over-the-top niceties, some fleeting drama, and that good-egg feel-good factor – Gamer’s choice will fit the bill. This is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of book, which some people will adore. It just didn’t tick all of my boxes, and my emotions never got a workout – hence the mediocre mark.
RATING: 
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