Book 666: Beta Test (#gaymers #2) – Annabeth Albert

I managed to restrain myself to only reading two squeal-inducing pretty much swoon-worthy MM romances this go around, and it has nothing to do with the library not having #3 available right away, so you’re welcome.

Seriously though, why are these things like some sort of drug? They’re not rocket science, they’re well written but they’re not going to stay with me forever (I’ll forget them within weeks if not days), and they’re definitely not anywhere close to high brow, but they’re SO DAMN GOOD. Now I’m off on a tangential internet search on studies of what romance novels do to people’s brains. [There appear to be plenty of studies but mostly on women and mostly, it seems, derogatory.]

This is basically another plug-and-play MM romance novel. Ravi was a once-mentioned-minor-character in the first book of the series, Status Update, and I’m assuming book three will be about Josiah who was mentioned a few more times than once, but seems to fit the bill. Ravi is an outgoing, vibrant dressing artist at the same company Adrian and Noah work for; and Tristan is a spreadsheet-loving, khaki-ironing adorkable semi-closeted gaymer (oh hey…) and of course opposites attract so boom: book two in the series.

“But where Ravi saw creative freedom, Tristan saw a fiefdom ripe for seizing. And spreadsheeting. Ravi wasn’t entirely sure that was a verb, but if it was, Tristan was the master of it.” (Loc. 198)

I get why Albert called the series #gaymers, but at the rate she’s going she may as well have called it #roadtrippers. Both books so far have used road trips as the meet-cute to get the protagonists together. If she does it again in the next book I’m seriously going to question whether these actually are plug-and-play romance novels.

There’s not much more to say aside from the fact the story was believable for a romance novel. The drama was mostly self-imposed (as it usually is) and stemmed from Ravi’s conservative Indian family and Tristan’s uber-conservative mom and dad. I wasn’t 100% on board with the other issue Tristan faced, it seemed sort of wedged in and not fleshed out enough, but it didn’t really counteract the rest of the narrative.

The dialogue was just as perfectly corny as it needed to be,

“And their bodies told stories, entire novels, as they moved together. All the poetry in the world couldn’t compete with the emotion surging through them.” (Loc. 3,062)

I mean that’s cringe-worthy, but also OMG-perfect. So, basically, my brain simultaneously vomits and celebrates when I read things like that…which is a good thing? No seriously, I’m asking There’s something about the over the top extreme and then cloyingly sweet passages that just goes straight to the dopamine-center of my brain and just makes my brain turn to a love-infused-mushy mess.

Recommendation: More please, thank you. This was a fun quick read. Albert knows how to write MM romance (including the sex scenes) and knows how to keep the story moving forward. The drama (conservative families) felt more realistic in this novel than the drama (abandoned at an RV park) in the preceding novel, but is it a little played out? Yes. Would I continue to read it in the guise of romance novels? So much yes. So take that for what it’s worth, but this is the romance genre and so much of the drama is just there for the catalyst not for the drama itself.

Opening Line: “Tristan read the manual. Actually, to be precise, he read the Christopher Exploration Industries Employee Handbook for the second time as he sat in the conference room the receptionist had shown him to.”

Closing Line: “Laughing, Tristan captured Ravi’s mouth in a deep kiss. Let their friends wait. This came first. This would always come first.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes form Beta Test
“You know, sometimes disappointing your parents is the only way to figure out who you were meant to be.” (Loc. 525)

“‘Exactly. I want to be your friend,’ Tristan said in a quiet, earnest voice that hit Ravi like a missile from a Space Villager gunship. Like boom! There went the quiet, happy little planet of Ravi’s life. Because he’d had plenty of friends-with-benefits, and not a single one of them could make Ravi’s insides wobble like this. He didn’t want to be Tristan’s friend; he wanted to be Tristan’s everything.” (Loc. 2,288)

“‘Everyone fights.’ Maria waved her hand again. ‘The key for you is what are you going to fight for? That’s the whole question, isn’t it? It’s not what you fight over, it’s what you fight for.'” (Loc. 2,837)

“I might love you. No sacrifice is too much for you. I want a future together. I want you to be my family. I saw that clearly, and I can’t tell you yet, but I can kiss you and kiss you and kiss you and hope you feel it too, this strange scary big feeling.” (Loc. 3,058)