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Fandom Hearts #1
Level Up
Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer – including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…
Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.
Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?
Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.
Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?
151 pages, ebook
First published January 3, 2016
About the author
Cathy Yardley
73 books1,312 followersCathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin's, Avon, and Harlequin. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and that sometimes being a little wrong is just right.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 479 reviews
January 23, 2016
What?
A book about gamers that actually portray them as normal human beings?
A heroine who actually has a backbone and (gasp) dreams?
A hero who doesn't sleep with every XX chromosome bearing human in the vicinity?
A healthy relationship between them, unmarred by misunderstandings, unnecessary angst and whatever crap most authors come up with to prolong the story?
And dare I mention... A story with normal sex? No BDSM at all?
Perish the thought!
What is this world coming to?
Oh, the horror! The horror, I say! What is sex without the chains, the handcuffs, the ginger butt plugs and other apparatus to kinkify the sexy times?
Normal. That's what.
N-O-R-M-A-L.
That's what sex is in the ordinary, non-Mr. Grey world. (I can actually hear millions of fans screaming in unison as I wrote that.)
And damn does it feel good to read about a normal romance nowadays, when almost every book I encounter has someone getting roped up/handcuffed to the bedpost/gagged/(insert Dom-Sub activity here). Good Lord, you'd think that everyone has enough pain to deal with on a normal basis. Donald Trump's running for President. Sarah Palin's endorsing him. And now, even historical romance writers are adding BDSM to their stories. There is only so much torture a girl can take.
That's why you could only imagine how relieved and overjoyed I was when I found this book. I swear, I was constantly waiting for a minstrel to pop out from thin air so I could go break out in song and dance in the middle of Sheikh Zayed road, like a scene from The Sound of Music. I've never enjoyed a book this much in a long time. That I say with all sincerity.
Sure, maybe the fact that I'm a huge gamer girl has a part to play in all that. But you see, this isn't really about games, at all. There are no geek lingos used here, so if you're not a player, it's totally okay. It just so happened that the characters work in a gaming company.
There are, however, tons of references to popular culture. Dr. Who. Harry Potter. Sailor Moon. It was like all the fandoms I love were mentioned in one amazing story. I really like that, and I won't even pretend that it's not one of the main reasons why I enjoyed the book as much as I did.
The other reasons are the funny, likeable cast of characters and the maturity in the relationships between them. With the exception of Adam's Ex-Girlfriend From Hell (I seriously wanted to bomb her ass off whenever she interrupted them!), everyone in the book has personality. I especially like Ani, Tessa's best friend. Despite having a small amount of screen time, she still managed to stand out as a fun and natural character.
And:
Reading about Ani and Tessa's banters made me want to call up my best friend. They're that cute. It's rare to find a good friendship between girls in novels. I have no idea why, but girl friendship is almost always laced with envy and insecurities in fiction. Huh.
Another thing I like is how angst-free the relationship between Adam and Tessa is. There's no Big Misunderstanding to complicate things, even when there were a lot of opportunities to fuck things up. It's really just a relationship based on mutual respect and affection--something that's rare in fiction these days.
Overall, this book is a gem. It's a simple, uncomplicated and lighthearted read. If you're in the mood for that, you should really give this a shot.
P.S. Writers should really move on from the Fifty Shades craze. Simple, respectful relationships can still be enjoyable, you know.
A heroine who actually has a backbone and (gasp) dreams?
A hero who doesn't sleep with every XX chromosome bearing human in the vicinity?
A healthy relationship between them, unmarred by misunderstandings, unnecessary angst and whatever crap most authors come up with to prolong the story?
And dare I mention... A story with normal sex? No BDSM at all?
Perish the thought!
What is this world coming to?
Oh, the horror! The horror, I say! What is sex without the chains, the handcuffs, the ginger butt plugs and other apparatus to kinkify the sexy times?
Normal. That's what.
N-O-R-M-A-L.
That's what sex is in the ordinary, non-Mr. Grey world. (I can actually hear millions of fans screaming in unison as I wrote that.)
And damn does it feel good to read about a normal romance nowadays, when almost every book I encounter has someone getting roped up/handcuffed to the bedpost/gagged/(insert Dom-Sub activity here). Good Lord, you'd think that everyone has enough pain to deal with on a normal basis. Donald Trump's running for President. Sarah Palin's endorsing him. And now, even historical romance writers are adding BDSM to their stories. There is only so much torture a girl can take.
That's why you could only imagine how relieved and overjoyed I was when I found this book. I swear, I was constantly waiting for a minstrel to pop out from thin air so I could go break out in song and dance in the middle of Sheikh Zayed road, like a scene from The Sound of Music. I've never enjoyed a book this much in a long time. That I say with all sincerity.
Sure, maybe the fact that I'm a huge gamer girl has a part to play in all that. But you see, this isn't really about games, at all. There are no geek lingos used here, so if you're not a player, it's totally okay. It just so happened that the characters work in a gaming company.
There are, however, tons of references to popular culture. Dr. Who. Harry Potter. Sailor Moon. It was like all the fandoms I love were mentioned in one amazing story. I really like that, and I won't even pretend that it's not one of the main reasons why I enjoyed the book as much as I did.
The other reasons are the funny, likeable cast of characters and the maturity in the relationships between them. With the exception of Adam's Ex-Girlfriend From Hell (I seriously wanted to bomb her ass off whenever she interrupted them!), everyone in the book has personality. I especially like Ani, Tessa's best friend. Despite having a small amount of screen time, she still managed to stand out as a fun and natural character.
"Ah, yes. Adam." Ani clapped her hands. "How's it going there, hmmm?"
"He's been a good roomie," Tess said. "Does his chores from the chore wheel and always leaves the toilet seat down. I hear he's got a few sisters, so I think he's well trained."
"Really? That's it?" Ani sounded disappointed.
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. He's cute, you're in close proximity......" Ani sighed. "I haven't been laid in a year, Tessa. Give me something vicarious and juicy to work with."
And:
"Same thing." Tess shook her head. "What I figured out was, relationships are problematic. Careers last. All I obsess about now is work and my fandoms."
Ani looked like she was going to say something, then huffed. "Apparently instead of that online dating certificate, I should've gotten you a gasoline-powered, industrial-strength vibrator."
Reading about Ani and Tessa's banters made me want to call up my best friend. They're that cute. It's rare to find a good friendship between girls in novels. I have no idea why, but girl friendship is almost always laced with envy and insecurities in fiction. Huh.
Another thing I like is how angst-free the relationship between Adam and Tessa is. There's no Big Misunderstanding to complicate things, even when there were a lot of opportunities to fuck things up. It's really just a relationship based on mutual respect and affection--something that's rare in fiction these days.
Overall, this book is a gem. It's a simple, uncomplicated and lighthearted read. If you're in the mood for that, you should really give this a shot.
P.S. Writers should really move on from the Fifty Shades craze. Simple, respectful relationships can still be enjoyable, you know.
January 17, 2024
3 Stars
A quick and breezy M/F rom-com, between roommates and game engineers Tessa and Adam, who experience an unexpected romantic spark when Tessa’s time-sensitive passion-project puts their platonic relationship to the test.
I liked the gaming vibe and all the fandom discussions within (both real and made up), and I enjoyed the light-angst tone, the snappy banter, and the large cast of characters that filled out the story.
The friends-to-lovers/roommates-to-lovers/office-co-workers dynamic(s) between Tessa and Adam worked well too, with sweet and genuine relationship development that had me rooting for their happiness, and a little bit of steam later in the book to spice things up a bit.
However, as characters, I found both Adam and Tessa a bit… inconsistent, for lack of a better word. Adam presented as goofy and shy one minute and confident and take-charge the next, and Tessa went from a quiet, anti-social hermit, to a bold, take charge professional and social bee in the blink of an eye, with both characters jumping back and forward between these different personalities throughout the story, in a way that felt jarring to me. And yes, yes, humans are all multi-faceted and can be ALL the things, but something about the way both characters ran from one extreme to the next just felt noticeably incongruent to me while reading.
I appreciated the diversity rep too, with Tessa being not only a woman in a male-dominated profession, but also a POC. There was also a noticeable focus on the importance of consent (hell yeah) and multiple discussions about sexism in the workplace (and life in general). But, although all of this is welcomed and encouraged in the books I read, I will admit that something went awry in terms of making it all feel authentic and natural to the story and characters, instead feeling a bit preachy and, again, inconsistent (and at times even contradictory) as the story unfolded.
My biggest issue, however, was in the editing of the story itself. This book has been out for a few years now, and the kindle edition I read was (presumedly) an updated version, and yet the grammatical errors were glaringly apparent from early on. Extra words, wrong words, words missing, and so forth, made for some very noticeably unedited reading. But the worst of it was in the middle portion of the story where viewpoints and settings would jump, one line to the next, missing the usual transition “divide” that usually denoted when a new scene and character was in focus. This happened at least three times and my lord it was discombobulating, forcing me to re-read passages to work out where the shift happened to continue on. I’m not all that sure of if this was a published or self-published book, but I was quite shocked to be reading such glaring errors (constantly) in a book that’s not only been out a few years, but also seemingly had updated editions released.
I actually went and read, like, 50 Goodreads reviews for this one before I’d even finished reading the book myself, and I’ll own that I seem to be among the minority when it comes to my issues with this story. Besides my buddy read partner in crime, *A Reader Obsessed*, it doesn’t seem like anyone else had editing issues the way we did, which is baffling to me, and makes me wonder whether something went wrong with the specific "newer" kindle edition we both borrowed from KU (from two different countries). Which is something to keep in mind, because other versions of the book may not have half the problems I listed above, or may even be non-existent in other editions.
Edits aside, if STEM heroines and friends-to-lovers romances are your jam, and you enjoy the world of gaming and the passionate fangirling involved in niche fandoms, this might actually work a treat for you, so please take my review with a grain of salt.
A quick and breezy M/F rom-com, between roommates and game engineers Tessa and Adam, who experience an unexpected romantic spark when Tessa’s time-sensitive passion-project puts their platonic relationship to the test.
I liked the gaming vibe and all the fandom discussions within (both real and made up), and I enjoyed the light-angst tone, the snappy banter, and the large cast of characters that filled out the story.
The friends-to-lovers/roommates-to-lovers/office-co-workers dynamic(s) between Tessa and Adam worked well too, with sweet and genuine relationship development that had me rooting for their happiness, and a little bit of steam later in the book to spice things up a bit.
However, as characters, I found both Adam and Tessa a bit… inconsistent, for lack of a better word. Adam presented as goofy and shy one minute and confident and take-charge the next, and Tessa went from a quiet, anti-social hermit, to a bold, take charge professional and social bee in the blink of an eye, with both characters jumping back and forward between these different personalities throughout the story, in a way that felt jarring to me. And yes, yes, humans are all multi-faceted and can be ALL the things, but something about the way both characters ran from one extreme to the next just felt noticeably incongruent to me while reading.
I appreciated the diversity rep too, with Tessa being not only a woman in a male-dominated profession, but also a POC. There was also a noticeable focus on the importance of consent (hell yeah) and multiple discussions about sexism in the workplace (and life in general). But, although all of this is welcomed and encouraged in the books I read, I will admit that something went awry in terms of making it all feel authentic and natural to the story and characters, instead feeling a bit preachy and, again, inconsistent (and at times even contradictory) as the story unfolded.
My biggest issue, however, was in the editing of the story itself. This book has been out for a few years now, and the kindle edition I read was (presumedly) an updated version, and yet the grammatical errors were glaringly apparent from early on. Extra words, wrong words, words missing, and so forth, made for some very noticeably unedited reading. But the worst of it was in the middle portion of the story where viewpoints and settings would jump, one line to the next, missing the usual transition “divide” that usually denoted when a new scene and character was in focus. This happened at least three times and my lord it was discombobulating, forcing me to re-read passages to work out where the shift happened to continue on. I’m not all that sure of if this was a published or self-published book, but I was quite shocked to be reading such glaring errors (constantly) in a book that’s not only been out a few years, but also seemingly had updated editions released.
I actually went and read, like, 50 Goodreads reviews for this one before I’d even finished reading the book myself, and I’ll own that I seem to be among the minority when it comes to my issues with this story. Besides my buddy read partner in crime, *A Reader Obsessed*, it doesn’t seem like anyone else had editing issues the way we did, which is baffling to me, and makes me wonder whether something went wrong with the specific "newer" kindle edition we both borrowed from KU (from two different countries). Which is something to keep in mind, because other versions of the book may not have half the problems I listed above, or may even be non-existent in other editions.
Edits aside, if STEM heroines and friends-to-lovers romances are your jam, and you enjoy the world of gaming and the passionate fangirling involved in niche fandoms, this might actually work a treat for you, so please take my review with a grain of salt.
June 7, 2020
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“You're worth it. And I'm not just going to quietly let you go. I'm fighting for this one...”
If you want a romance book that would fit to any young adult reader and above, this one is for you. Level Up is the definition of Romantic Comedy. Cathy Yardley just mixed the right ingredients to make a RomCom that stays away from cliche but stays close to absolutely readable. I'm so lucky that I get to review because as I'm writing this down, I have nothing but smiles, feels and swoons.
This is my first from Cathy Yardley and if this is how she works with every single one of her books then I'll confidently say that I will love it as well. If you think about it, the plot of Level Up is not at all new. A guy and a girl roommates, something really is bound to happen. But Yardley made the typical plot-line exciting and refreshing with her quirky and real characters, witty dialogues and realistic turn out of the story. First of all, the interracial couple is what drawn me in to this book. Although it wasn't such a big deal in the book, I feel like I haven't read enough stories with interracial couples. It was such a huge reason why I adore this book so much.
Second is the undeniable chemistry of our main characters, Tessa and Adam. Tessa is the kind of heroine that every reader will like. Yes, I just said that. I mean, HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE A HEROINE WHO LIKES SHERLOCK, HARRY POTTER AND DOCTOR WHO? It is not possible. I was rooting for her throughout the whole story. She just don't have fandoms, she's a feminist too. Yep. You read that right. In her field where men are dominating, all she wants is to be recognized, respected and to reach her personal goal. I don't want to say anything anymore because it might be a spoiler but the way she did all that was with flying colors! Adam in the other hand, was endearing. A total alpha guy but adorable too. I always thought that if an author can write a hero like that, I will be happy and impressed. Cathy Yardley nailed it! Adam is that love interest who deserves all the swoon. Now the two of them together? You get a hilarious and sweet geeky story.
The romance was just the right amount. Not too much that the reader will find it cheesy and unrealistic but just enough to say that everything is genuine. You really won't help but ask for more when you turn the last page.
You don't want to miss Level Up by Cathy Yardley. It's hilarious. It's real. It's a love story that melt hearts! The memorable characters will climb inside your heart while you're caught by Yardley's smooth and terrific writing. I highly encourage you to read this RomCom page turner, that way you can fangirl with me and we get to ask for a second book. Trust me, you'll want it.
“You're worth it. And I'm not just going to quietly let you go. I'm fighting for this one...”
If you want a romance book that would fit to any young adult reader and above, this one is for you. Level Up is the definition of Romantic Comedy. Cathy Yardley just mixed the right ingredients to make a RomCom that stays away from cliche but stays close to absolutely readable. I'm so lucky that I get to review because as I'm writing this down, I have nothing but smiles, feels and swoons.
This is my first from Cathy Yardley and if this is how she works with every single one of her books then I'll confidently say that I will love it as well. If you think about it, the plot of Level Up is not at all new. A guy and a girl roommates, something really is bound to happen. But Yardley made the typical plot-line exciting and refreshing with her quirky and real characters, witty dialogues and realistic turn out of the story. First of all, the interracial couple is what drawn me in to this book. Although it wasn't such a big deal in the book, I feel like I haven't read enough stories with interracial couples. It was such a huge reason why I adore this book so much.
Second is the undeniable chemistry of our main characters, Tessa and Adam. Tessa is the kind of heroine that every reader will like. Yes, I just said that. I mean, HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE A HEROINE WHO LIKES SHERLOCK, HARRY POTTER AND DOCTOR WHO? It is not possible. I was rooting for her throughout the whole story. She just don't have fandoms, she's a feminist too. Yep. You read that right. In her field where men are dominating, all she wants is to be recognized, respected and to reach her personal goal. I don't want to say anything anymore because it might be a spoiler but the way she did all that was with flying colors! Adam in the other hand, was endearing. A total alpha guy but adorable too. I always thought that if an author can write a hero like that, I will be happy and impressed. Cathy Yardley nailed it! Adam is that love interest who deserves all the swoon. Now the two of them together? You get a hilarious and sweet geeky story.
The romance was just the right amount. Not too much that the reader will find it cheesy and unrealistic but just enough to say that everything is genuine. You really won't help but ask for more when you turn the last page.
You don't want to miss Level Up by Cathy Yardley. It's hilarious. It's real. It's a love story that melt hearts! The memorable characters will climb inside your heart while you're caught by Yardley's smooth and terrific writing. I highly encourage you to read this RomCom page turner, that way you can fangirl with me and we get to ask for a second book. Trust me, you'll want it.
June 7, 2017
“Oh, and Tessa?" Ani smirked. "I love that you combed your hair, but couldn't bother to put on a shirt." Then she hung up.
Tessa covered her bare breasts. "Damn it," she said. "I thought the camera was angled up higher.”
This story was such a pleasant surprise and just what I needed to help me emerge from my 2017 reading slump. With some notable exceptions, I have been having a hard time getting into new stories this year and seem to find comfort in re-reading some of my past favourites. Not so with this book. Cathy Yardley’s Level Up was a sweet, heartwarming and funny story about two roommates, Tessa and Adam and their unlikely pairing. I would almost classify it as chic-lit, except for the fact that so much of the third person narrator was focused on Adam’s point of view.
Adam liked Tessa as a roommate. She was quiet, paid her rent on time and did her share of things around the house. But he didn’t really know her, through no fault of his own, despite the two also working together.
Tessa, a painfully shy introvert, had been obsessed with progressing in her career at Mysterious Pickles Games. Along the way, she hadn’t bothered to make any friends or form relationships.
Add a bet to get a girlfriend and a girl looking for a promotion into the mix and it made for a very entertaining read. Tessa, once she came out of her shell, was a real spitfire. I loved how caring and giving she was to her newfound band of of friends. Each of them brought their own brand of intrigue to the story. It left me wanting to know more about their stories.
“She nudged away. "No, I've never seen Entourage," she said. "Call me bitch again, and I'll kick your ass between your ears."
"See? Emphatic. I'll bet you would, too," he said, and his voice had admiration as well as humor. ”
Adam was all around swoon worthy. A hot package wrapped up in a sensitive geek, I loved everything about him. Despite both his and Tessa’s brains telling them all the reasons not to pursue a relationship, every time they came near one another, they couldn’t keep their lips apart.
“What the hell is this guy supposed to be?"
He gave her the perfect look of derision, then walked up to Tessa. Then, the most amazing thing happened.
He stopped, then did the most perfect Sherlock hair-ruffle she'd ever seen. Then he reached out, framed her face, and laid the most breathtaking kiss she'd ever experienced on her.”
Adam and Tessa’s co-workers at Mysterious Pickles Games were hilarious during Tessa’s quest to get their buy-in to help her friends while also trying to get a promotion in their department.
“What's that all about?" he asked José.
"Don't know," José said. "Maybe it's the Sailor Moon outfit."
"I hope not," a deep voice rumbled. "Or else I'm screwed, as well.”
“The guys looked over, and for the second time that morning, Adam was stunned speechless.”
Loved this and can’t wait to read the follow-up stories!
May 13, 2019
***3.5 Stars***
This was cute! My first read by this author and a good introduction! I definitely plan on checking out the rest of this series and more of her books.
Here you get a slow burn between roommates + close working conditions + closer conditions when a storm rolls in and they have to huddle for warmth
I really liked Adam and Tessa. The evolution of their relationship felt natural and honest.
Throw in a bunch of gamer and fandom friends and this was a nerdfest that made me smile from start to finish.
However, one downer for me was the editing. This could have definitely used one more pass.
******************************************
Before Reading:
WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS SERIES BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!?! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Book 1 Level Up: Roommates/Friends to lovers with a video game engineer heroine
Book 2 One True Pairing: Opposites attract & fake relationship (hollywood heartthrob & gothabilly bookworm)
Book 3 Game of Hearts: Geeky brother's best friend with plus sized cosplaying mechanic heroine
February 19, 2016
"So I guess you're the one using sex to sell, now."
She blushed, her cheeks going a deep dusty rose. "Sailor Moon isn't sexy."
"Are you kidding?" [Adam] laughed. "That short skirt? Long hair? The boots with heels? Totally sexy."
If you've ever been into fandoms, I'm pretty sure this book will be relatable. It's such a fun, geeky book, with mentions of plenty of tv shows, games and anime. And though these characters are into geeky things (like fangirling over tv shows, mentioning conventions and cosplay, and even playing Quidditch Pong), they're far from being the stereotypical geeky losers we see so often. (Like seriously...one guy, Abraham, is even a kinda beefy, ex-army computer genius . He was a jerk through the book so I was satisfied with this.)
For anyone even remotely interested in reading this book, I encourage you to go download it from Smashwords because it's free over there! I don't know how long it'll remain free, but I encourage on getting it now and thinking later if you want to read it or not. And hey, you've got absolutely nothing to lose even if you end up finding it's either not to your liking or just straight up hating it.
The very first thing that I loved about this book was the author's approach to diversity. The main character, Tessa Rodriguez, is Latina. And then there's her bff Aniya Choudry, who's of Indian descent. The author is able to convey their backgrounds simply through their names. She doesn't do what is typical in some books that feature POC characters, which is having them spout random words in their native tongue (and to people who don't speak that language). Seriously, how many times have you seen the stereotypical Latinx character tossing out random Spanish words? Yardley doesn't do that here.
She also didn't treat Tessa or Ani as anything other than regular Americans rather than some ethnic stereotypes. Ani isn't portrayed as some shy going-on-30 virgin. Nope. She complains to Tessa about not having been laid recently. She makes sexual jokes with Tessa because...why the hell not?? That's what you do with you bff! And Tessa even says that Ani sent her a stripper as a birthday present two years ago. I loved how..."normal" (for lack of a better word) the POC characters were portrayed (as opposed to always having to be "different" from their non-POC counterparts).
And I also liked that Tessa and Ani actually had speaking roles. I've gotten tired of diversity being doled out in largely silent or minimal (one to two lines) speaking roles. I feel like authors throw them in to seem like they're super inclusive and all about diversity...but when it comes down to it? Their main characters are generally all non-POC. The side characters who have actual speaking roles are all non-POC. Like, thanks for the diversity but you can do better. I know it can be done because the world doesn't look anything like it's being portrayed in books, especially when the author chooses their setting to be a large, multicultural city.
The other thing I really liked was the author approaching other serious issues. Because Tessa works in the gaming industry, her experiences with sexism are mentioned a few times, going as far back as interviewing at a bunch of places before finally getting a job. And even then, she's super overqualified for the job she's doing.
Tess sighed. "Right now, I'm just a glorified sound technician. What I want to do is be a game engineer–somebody who works on the architecture. Somebody who actually builds the code, not just somebody who adds sound effects."
"So what's stopping you?"
"Well, it's not my skills, that's for damned sure," Tess said, trying not to sound as bitter as she felt. "The engineering group is small, a total clique."
"Probably male dominated, too, am I right?" Ani asked, her voice tight. "Trust me. I've faced that."
"Definitely," Tessa said, feeling despondent. "There's a boys' club going on."
Tessa and Ani have both experienced sexism in their respective fields and acknowledge it. The author could've chosen to ignore this and act like it wasn't a real issue (unlike some author's special snowflake characters who never encounter any prejudice or discriminate ever!), but she didn't. She decided to mention it, even having Tessa bring up the racist aspect of it later.
"And I'm not just making it in because of quotas--plenty of people accused me of that. They said I got my job was because I was Latina, or because I was female."
I absolutely adored Tessa. She has some great friendships with other women, including her best friend Ani and a fangirl group that befriends her. She was a fun character to read about. And hell no, she doesn't need some guy coming in and saving the day for her. She's fine sticking up for herself, even when a guy is ready to do it for her.
"You couldn't even handle a man like me," [Harold] spat out.
"Please. The only sizeable thing on you is your inferiority complex," she shot back. "So why don't you use that needle dick of yours as a compass, and find the door?"
He took an angry step forward, looking ready to lunge. Adam stood up, hands fisted, but Tessa moved faster.
"You want to try something?" she said, standing next to [Adam], chin up.
(She also stands up for herself against a big bad bully at a later point. She tells Adam to back off when he tries to stand up for her because she wants to handle it herself!)
Another aspect of the novel that I loved was the author's acknowledgement of consent. There's a point where Tessa surprise-kisses Adam. Later on, she apologizes for it. I was with Adam here, thinking it was silly at first that she was apologizing for something so small. But, when I really thought about it, I was glad that she did. The only reason why I was ok with what she did was because I'm able to read Adam's thoughts and know of his interest in her. If he hadn't been interested? Yeah, then it would've been a problem.
There's even a part later on in which Tessa is drunk. I absolutely loved that it was in there because I've read faaar too many damn books in which drunk sex is written as being super fine. Drunk consent is not consent, no matter how much someone tries to convince you that it is.
Tessa and Adam's relationship was pretty cute. They're pretty close in age (her 25 to his 27), and they've been roomies for about a year and haven't really thought of one another as anything more. Adam's friends think he's still hung up on his ex, Casey, but he claims he just hasn't bothered to try and date because he's busy (and he hasn't been with anyone in the year since their break-up). Tess's last relationship was a few years back and hasn't slept with anyone in three years.
(Other than that, there's absolutely no mention of sexual past for either of them. There are no scenes with OM/OW, no mention of anything sexual to do with an ex...just nothing. It's only mentioned that they haven't had sex in x number of year(s) and that they've been in relationships.)
And although they've been pretty platonic roomies for the last year, there's just something that sparks between them. He notices that she smells like "roses and almonds," but he's sure to mention that it's probably body wash because he's pretty sure she isn't the perfume-wearing type. They both try and deny the attraction at first, but it just grows and grows. It was fun to watch them in completely denial for a time, excusing this sudden attraction their dry spells or proximity or just anything except what it is.
Although I thought Adam was pretty beta, so if Alpha's are more your thing, he may not appeal. But, he does have a possessive streak.
"So you don't mind if I..." He made a vague, incomprehensible gesture.
"If you what?"
"You know. Ask her out."
Adam's eyes widened. Why should he mind? Of course he didn't mind.
"I'll break your fucking arm," he said instead, casually, then blinked at himself.
José sighed. "Damn it. I figured. Well, maybe you'll screw it up," he said jovially, then punched Adam on the arm. "See you tomorrow, man."
Violent, sure, but I'll take this over those Hs who tell some OM it's fine if they ask the h out when refusing to acknowledge their own feelings.
Adam's relationship status plays into the story quite a bit. He's definitely not a manwhore. His friends even note "[they] all know [he's] Mr. Relationship;" that "[he's] not the dating, hit-it-and-quit-it type," but more so the "one-girl-flowers-and-candy type." He bets his friends that he can get a date no problem before a certain deadline.
Because of this, there's a point in which he's asking out the secretary that works at their gaming company, Stacey. I thought I might be bothered by this but
The other mention of another woman is Adam's ex, Casey. She broke up with him the previous year just after Christmas. I totally didn't mind this because I can see how a long-term relationship, especially in a co-habitation situation, can't be easy to pick apart. And it's only been a year since then.
And even though this stuff is mentioned, he never actually moons over Casey. In fact, he usually recalls her in a negative manner (not misogynistic). He remembers how different they were; that she was generally a wet blanket and was disapproving of his gaming habits and buddies. And then, by contrast, he sees how much more compatible he and Tessa are; how much more they have in common.
Casey also remains as a present aspect of the story.
The only negative I have for the book is that I felt the novel was wrapped up too quickly and felt rushed by the end. there were a bunch of things left out, imo. If the book had been lengthened, I hope the author adds more stuff like this to it. And although this book isn't a novella (being nearly 10k words over the average novella max), it's still on the shorter side of things when it comes to novels.
If this book were more serious, I probably would have rated it a little lower. As it is, I thought it was just super fun and I loved a lot of the things the author made sure to mention. It was just a funny book to read, making for a rather enjoyable experience.
January 14, 2016
My first review of the year 2016 and it is definitely going to be an exciting one because I just loved this book to pieces. The process of me loving it was this:
Me: Oh, it’s the last day of the Christmas holiday. I should do some extra studying to stay ahead!
Me: But there is this blog tour coming up, so I should probably start reading…
*starts reading*
*giggles*
Me: I’ll read another chapter and then stop
*one hour later*
Me: ASDFGHJKL THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD
Me: NEVER STOP READING
*reads, giggles, adores book, wants to inhale it*
Me: Finished! Oh goodness… when did it become 1am?
If that doesn’t show just how much I loved this book, I think maybe this review will.
I immediately fell in love with the writing style of this book. It opens with a skype conversation where Tessa is talking to her best friend who is living abroad for her studying course. I just loved how their conversation just sounded so realistic and flowed so well. From that point onwards it was easy to tell that the writing style would be fun and not deter from the reading experience at all, but instead add to it all the more.
The book was also very true to the series title. It was about fandoms. Tessa meets a wonderful group of girls who are all nerds at heart. And by nerds, I mean they reference shows like Doctor Who, Sherlock and Supernatural. (Superwholock, basically! And if you know me, you know I love ALL those shows.) They also mention some shows I don’t watch and generally are girls who love their fandoms. I could really relate to that as being a dedicated fangirl myself, so I was chuffed to see it so well translated into a novel.
But it wasn’t all fun and games. Tessa is a gamer, and it is a pretty difficult business for a girl to break into. Cathy Yardley manages to make time to five into the whole feminism aspect of needing to work very hard as a female to reach the top of the game in a most testosterone run business. Tessa sticks up for girls and other minorities as well, which you can see reflected in her character and some of the happenings in the book.
The secondary characters weren’t the most developed characters in the world, but it was okay because what we got to see was their relationships. You could tell that all the girls had such a close bond even though their personalities were very different – as you can tell as soon as they are each introduced. One of them, called Cressida, is even an agoraphobic (someone who never leaves the house.) That wasn’t given a large focus, but it was nice to see it in passing.
But there were Adam’s friends too! He had a lovely guys gang which again, the author captured perfectly. I loved the way the guys were all fun and games and teasing, yet underneath you could tell that they all really cared about each other too. I really liked seeing the dynamics of their close knit gang.
Being me, I am not someone who is interesting in gaming and all the video games people can spend hours playing. I am especially not interested in coding (it’s so hard to prompt myself to do it for the blog) and I was a bit nervous reading a book where the main character is centered on that. However, somehow the author got even me excited about coding, which was surprising to me!
Now for the best part! The romance! The whole time the author was very teasing and there was quite a build-up. There were challenges set by friends, rules and near-misses which Tessa and Adam seemed to experience quite a lot. They had a few moments that made me want to bang their heads together and say ‘just DATE already!’ But the romance truly was heated and teasing. I will say that it is more a light NA kind of romance than a YA one because there are explicit scenes with detail to them as well.
To summarise? This book ticked all my boxes. I’ve been in the mood for contemporary romances lately, and this one was all I wanted with a mix of fandoms in there too.
This review and more can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/20...
Me: Oh, it’s the last day of the Christmas holiday. I should do some extra studying to stay ahead!
Me: But there is this blog tour coming up, so I should probably start reading…
*starts reading*
*giggles*
Me: I’ll read another chapter and then stop
*one hour later*
Me: ASDFGHJKL THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD
Me: NEVER STOP READING
*reads, giggles, adores book, wants to inhale it*
Me: Finished! Oh goodness… when did it become 1am?
If that doesn’t show just how much I loved this book, I think maybe this review will.
I immediately fell in love with the writing style of this book. It opens with a skype conversation where Tessa is talking to her best friend who is living abroad for her studying course. I just loved how their conversation just sounded so realistic and flowed so well. From that point onwards it was easy to tell that the writing style would be fun and not deter from the reading experience at all, but instead add to it all the more.
The book was also very true to the series title. It was about fandoms. Tessa meets a wonderful group of girls who are all nerds at heart. And by nerds, I mean they reference shows like Doctor Who, Sherlock and Supernatural. (Superwholock, basically! And if you know me, you know I love ALL those shows.) They also mention some shows I don’t watch and generally are girls who love their fandoms. I could really relate to that as being a dedicated fangirl myself, so I was chuffed to see it so well translated into a novel.
But it wasn’t all fun and games. Tessa is a gamer, and it is a pretty difficult business for a girl to break into. Cathy Yardley manages to make time to five into the whole feminism aspect of needing to work very hard as a female to reach the top of the game in a most testosterone run business. Tessa sticks up for girls and other minorities as well, which you can see reflected in her character and some of the happenings in the book.
The secondary characters weren’t the most developed characters in the world, but it was okay because what we got to see was their relationships. You could tell that all the girls had such a close bond even though their personalities were very different – as you can tell as soon as they are each introduced. One of them, called Cressida, is even an agoraphobic (someone who never leaves the house.) That wasn’t given a large focus, but it was nice to see it in passing.
But there were Adam’s friends too! He had a lovely guys gang which again, the author captured perfectly. I loved the way the guys were all fun and games and teasing, yet underneath you could tell that they all really cared about each other too. I really liked seeing the dynamics of their close knit gang.
Being me, I am not someone who is interesting in gaming and all the video games people can spend hours playing. I am especially not interested in coding (it’s so hard to prompt myself to do it for the blog) and I was a bit nervous reading a book where the main character is centered on that. However, somehow the author got even me excited about coding, which was surprising to me!
Now for the best part! The romance! The whole time the author was very teasing and there was quite a build-up. There were challenges set by friends, rules and near-misses which Tessa and Adam seemed to experience quite a lot. They had a few moments that made me want to bang their heads together and say ‘just DATE already!’ But the romance truly was heated and teasing. I will say that it is more a light NA kind of romance than a YA one because there are explicit scenes with detail to them as well.
To summarise? This book ticked all my boxes. I’ve been in the mood for contemporary romances lately, and this one was all I wanted with a mix of fandoms in there too.
This review and more can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/20...
March 23, 2018
A delightful darling of a tale. Level Up is both a light and sweet roommates-to-friends-to-lovers romance and a "girl, keep on kicking butt and taking names" affirmation.
The following goodies are in store for you:
*All hail STEM heroines! As a gal who has always, well, sucked at math, I can't emphasize enough my admiration of women thriving in their respective STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Tessa, a coder and aspiring video game engineer, is dedicated and ambitious but frustrated with the sexism that plagues the industry. Her introverted nature is something of a hindrance in moving forward. Bolstered by the support of friends and Adam, she learns to assert - and believe in - herself.
*Consent is sexy. The evolution of Tessa and Adam's relationship is sweet and steady. They live and work together, but they don't know each other - not really. And it was a treat to experience them getting to know each other, to see their friendship gradually catch fire. While they weren't lacking in insecurities and reservations, they generally communicated well, supported each other, and enjoyed each other. And ALL the props for Adam repeatedly seeking affirmative consent 👏
*Diversity. Tessa and several of her co-workers are POC. I’ll scream until I’m blue in the face: diversity enhances stories. Diversity enhances our world. My world is full of color, and I expect the same in my books.
Within Tessa's friendships and working relationships, there is much geeky goodness to be found. But even if you're not into any particular fandoms, it's easy enough to follow along. There were some moments that read as over-the-top or obnoxious, but they were few and far between.
I enjoyed Level Up up and down 😜 I highly recommend this funny AND fun story.
✨Unapologetic Romance Readers' New Year 2018 Reading Challenge: STEM Heroine Romance✨
Read for SBTB January - March 2018 Quarterly Challenge: a book with a character who works in a STEM field.
The following goodies are in store for you:
*All hail STEM heroines! As a gal who has always, well, sucked at math, I can't emphasize enough my admiration of women thriving in their respective STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Tessa, a coder and aspiring video game engineer, is dedicated and ambitious but frustrated with the sexism that plagues the industry. Her introverted nature is something of a hindrance in moving forward. Bolstered by the support of friends and Adam, she learns to assert - and believe in - herself.
*Consent is sexy. The evolution of Tessa and Adam's relationship is sweet and steady. They live and work together, but they don't know each other - not really. And it was a treat to experience them getting to know each other, to see their friendship gradually catch fire. While they weren't lacking in insecurities and reservations, they generally communicated well, supported each other, and enjoyed each other. And ALL the props for Adam repeatedly seeking affirmative consent 👏
*Diversity. Tessa and several of her co-workers are POC. I’ll scream until I’m blue in the face: diversity enhances stories. Diversity enhances our world. My world is full of color, and I expect the same in my books.
Within Tessa's friendships and working relationships, there is much geeky goodness to be found. But even if you're not into any particular fandoms, it's easy enough to follow along. There were some moments that read as over-the-top or obnoxious, but they were few and far between.
I enjoyed Level Up up and down 😜 I highly recommend this funny AND fun story.
✨Unapologetic Romance Readers' New Year 2018 Reading Challenge: STEM Heroine Romance✨
Read for SBTB January - March 2018 Quarterly Challenge: a book with a character who works in a STEM field.
April 4, 2016
This wasn't a bad book, per se, but it had a lot of weird moments.
The Good:
- I really liked Tessa a lot, she's an introvert who's working on getter better in social situations but she also is really ambitious about where she wants to be in her career, especially as a woman working in a heavily male-dominated field. I love that she succeeds and is recognized for her abilities!
- I liked that the relationship was one of friendship and mutual respect that evolves nicely into romance.
The Bad:
- I was kind of weirded by Adam's hang up over having a relationship with a woman who is very career-conscious. Which is to say, maybe grow up instead of trying to find a woman who solely exists to fulfill your needs! He gets better but yeah.
- The impetus for the couple's first kiss was just so ridiculously contrived that I had to stop reading out of bafflement.
- The constant reference to popular internet fandoms and weird-ass representation of (white) fandom culture that weirded me out so much. The main character even refers to herself as a Superwholock in a professional setting, you guys. It was very "sounds fake, but ok". I think the book fared better when it was talking about the fake show Mystics than when it was talking about real shows/fandoms that will terribly date this book in the future. Half the time, I was just like "Dear God, Tessa, get better taste" lol.
- There's a sweeping romantic moment in the book that references Benedict Cumberbatch in his role as Sherlock Holmes and, frankly, that is the last thing to engender romantic feelings, I'm sorry. I actually had to look up "the most perfect Sherlock hair-ruffle" because I had no clue what it meant and those are five horrifying seconds that I will never get back.
The Good:
- I really liked Tessa a lot, she's an introvert who's working on getter better in social situations but she also is really ambitious about where she wants to be in her career, especially as a woman working in a heavily male-dominated field. I love that she succeeds and is recognized for her abilities!
- I liked that the relationship was one of friendship and mutual respect that evolves nicely into romance.
The Bad:
- I was kind of weirded by Adam's hang up over having a relationship with a woman who is very career-conscious. Which is to say, maybe grow up instead of trying to find a woman who solely exists to fulfill your needs! He gets better but yeah.
- The impetus for the couple's first kiss was just so ridiculously contrived that I had to stop reading out of bafflement.
- The constant reference to popular internet fandoms and weird-ass representation of (white) fandom culture that weirded me out so much. The main character even refers to herself as a Superwholock in a professional setting, you guys. It was very "sounds fake, but ok". I think the book fared better when it was talking about the fake show Mystics than when it was talking about real shows/fandoms that will terribly date this book in the future. Half the time, I was just like "Dear God, Tessa, get better taste" lol.
- There's a sweeping romantic moment in the book that references Benedict Cumberbatch in his role as Sherlock Holmes and, frankly, that is the last thing to engender romantic feelings, I'm sorry. I actually had to look up "the most perfect Sherlock hair-ruffle" because I had no clue what it meant and those are five horrifying seconds that I will never get back.
Read
July 24, 2019This was super charming - mostly fluffy, but also ... *briefly leaves lane* ... fairly clear-sighted about the place of women in male-dominated industries (especially women of colour) and male-dominated spheres. I think it struck a nice balance of showing how the heroine, while not dominated by those experiences, was affected them, and deftly managing the needs of the story alongside its more political aspects. The heroine is lovely--introverted, geeky, competent--and the hero is not a dick (at least mostly not) which is basically all I look for in a romance hero. Yes, it's a low bar but it is not cleared as often as you'd hope.
Anyway, this is mostly just enjoyable as all hell. The secondary cast is great but slightly out of control, and the writing is a little shaky here and there, and I felt the first kiss between the hero and the heroine was a bit forced but ... eh. Nitpicks. I also really appreciated that the heroine was aware of the *hero's* consent. How nice, and rare, is that?
Anyway, this is mostly just enjoyable as all hell. The secondary cast is great but slightly out of control, and the writing is a little shaky here and there, and I felt the first kiss between the hero and the heroine was a bit forced but ... eh. Nitpicks. I also really appreciated that the heroine was aware of the *hero's* consent. How nice, and rare, is that?
May 9, 2024
This was a fun, quick, light read.
Adam is so cute! I loved him! And Tessa was great too. I really liked the gaming/cosplaying/coding scene. It was very entertaining.
Overall a great read, with endearing characters and a sweet, sexy love story.
My favorite scene from the whole book, thanks to Adam:
"He stopped, then did the most perfect Sherlock hair-ruffle she’d ever seen. Then he reached out, framed her face, and laid the most breathtaking kiss she’d ever experienced on her."
**Swoon**
Adam is so cute! I loved him! And Tessa was great too. I really liked the gaming/cosplaying/coding scene. It was very entertaining.
Overall a great read, with endearing characters and a sweet, sexy love story.
My favorite scene from the whole book, thanks to Adam:
"He stopped, then did the most perfect Sherlock hair-ruffle she’d ever seen. Then he reached out, framed her face, and laid the most breathtaking kiss she’d ever experienced on her."
**Swoon**
December 25, 2017
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🌟 I read this for the Yule Bingo Challenge, for the category of Butter-Beer: a sweet book. For more info on this challenge, click here. 🌟
I'm taking advantage of the holiday break to clean out my Kindle, and LEVEL UP has been a book I've been wanting to read for a while. Not only did it come highly recommended by my friend sraxe, it also features a STEM heroine of color and an adorable romance based on mutual respect and not "dat ass."
I know, right? How refreshing.
Tessa is a shy, socially anxious young woman who works at a gaming company. She would like to advance but isn't quite sure how. Her roommate, Adam, works at the same company, and when she lets him know that she's angling for a newly available position, she gets him to agree to put in a good word if she can prove herself.
The chance comes when she rescues Adam after a highly unsuccessful attempt to ask a girl (Stacy) out. Stacy and Tessa end up bonding over geek culture and Stacy invites her over to meet some of her friends. Tessa finds out that they own a brick-and-mortar bookstore that isn't doing to well, and comes up with the idea to code a game for a popular fandom contest for publicity.
I really loved the emphasis on coding and geek culture. Yardley also shows, without being too depressing, how the all-male environment can sometimes result in a misogynistic culture (think "brogrammers") and how women often have to prove themselves twice as hard. Tessa has to fight for recognition, and even when she succeeds, she sometimes has to sacrifice her pride.
The relationship between Adam and Tessa is really well done. It's fully consensual, and progresses as a normal relationship would - slowly, tentatively, with lots of talking and discussing and just hanging out. I don't think enough romance novels show couples just hanging out and having fun.
I was afraid for a moment that the ending was going to do something annoying, but what I was afraid was going to happen didn't happen. Tessa manages to accomplish her dream, and doesn't have to sacrifice her relationship (or vice-versa); I really hate when women are forced to choose. LEVEL UP is a really cute, light romance that hits the spot when you can't stand the patriarchy anymore. ;-)
3 to 3.5 stars
August 10, 2017
Update: 8/10/17
It's so unmemorable, I literally don't even remember what it's about anymore. And it's only been a month. Sooo....I think it's time to downgrade....1.5 stars
---------------
2 stars
When I got to the 85% mark, I realized that I had read this book before.
Talk about unmemorable.
-------------
Geeky/fandom contemporaries are my frakking kryptonite.
Allonsy!
It's so unmemorable, I literally don't even remember what it's about anymore. And it's only been a month. Sooo....I think it's time to downgrade....1.5 stars
---------------
2 stars
When I got to the 85% mark, I realized that I had read this book before.
Talk about unmemorable.
-------------
Geeky/fandom contemporaries are my frakking kryptonite.
Allonsy!
May 25, 2024
4.75 stars. Thanks to Inna for the recommendation! I loved it.
This was really fun. I loved seeing Tessa get out there and make friends. And Adam seeing the amazing person in front of his own eyeballs. Minimal drama. I loved her multiple times of being badass. Like when she tells off that dude in the restaurant, stands her ground and beats Abraham, stands up to Abraham for Adam, and knows her worth.
Safety deets
- Adam has an ex who tries to get back with him and he tries to ask another girl out in front of the heroine, and a few other minor incidents that are about misunderstanding rather than him hitting on anyone else.
- Tessa has a few guys that hit on her.
- Condoms used.
- epilogue with them together and happy tho not far in the future.
-Great consent
- addresses sexism in tech without being too preachy
This was really fun. I loved seeing Tessa get out there and make friends. And Adam seeing the amazing person in front of his own eyeballs. Minimal drama. I loved her multiple times of being badass. Like when she tells off that dude in the restaurant, stands her ground and beats Abraham, stands up to Abraham for Adam, and knows her worth.
Safety deets
- Adam has an ex who tries to get back with him and he tries to ask another girl out in front of the heroine, and a few other minor incidents that are about misunderstanding rather than him hitting on anyone else.
- Tessa has a few guys that hit on her.
- Condoms used.
- epilogue with them together and happy tho not far in the future.
-Great consent
- addresses sexism in tech without being too preachy
May 26, 2024
4 stars. Took me a little bit to get into the story, but I really ended up enjoying this and will continue the series.
Tessa and Adam have lived together for a year but haven’t really interacted much or even noticed each other in any kind of way that went beyond roommates. They live in the same house, work at the same company, but ultimately live very fairly separate lives. That is, until things start to change between them. First, Tessa finds out about a job opening at their company and asks Adam to put in a good word for her. When he tells her that she’s not social enough, that no one at work really knows who she is or what she can do, she works hard on opening up and changing her solitary lifestyle. Her efforts to become more social really change her life in a big way. She meets some girlfriends, finds out about some issues a few of them have with their bookstore business, and she offers to code a game that she thinks can win a contest and draw a celebrity to their location to boost the business. Her friendship with Adam really takes off and soon their interactions grow into so much more.
I really liked how this book, while semi short, had a good deal of depth. Tessa is a female working in the tech industry, so there is the obvious issue of sexism in her workplace. The author did a good job of not just rug sweeping but addressing the issues that come with being a woman in a male dominated field. There’s also a good deal of focus on consent, which I appreciate.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what else this series has to offer.
Safety
▫️Both celibate for a while, heroine for 3 years, hero for 1
▫️They have known each other for years, but were never interested in each other.
▫️Hero was broken up with by his girlfriend a year before the start of the story, she moved away, and he was still somewhat hung up on her a year later, but quickly got over those feelings as he started to get to know the heroine.
▫️Hero tries to ask OW out in front of the heroine - it’s still early in the story and OW isn’t interested
▫️OW drama from the hero’s ex. She wants him back, but she’s too late - he only wants the heroine.
▫️No OM drama
▫️No scenes with OM/OW, no cheating
▫️Good consent, condoms used
Tessa and Adam have lived together for a year but haven’t really interacted much or even noticed each other in any kind of way that went beyond roommates. They live in the same house, work at the same company, but ultimately live very fairly separate lives. That is, until things start to change between them. First, Tessa finds out about a job opening at their company and asks Adam to put in a good word for her. When he tells her that she’s not social enough, that no one at work really knows who she is or what she can do, she works hard on opening up and changing her solitary lifestyle. Her efforts to become more social really change her life in a big way. She meets some girlfriends, finds out about some issues a few of them have with their bookstore business, and she offers to code a game that she thinks can win a contest and draw a celebrity to their location to boost the business. Her friendship with Adam really takes off and soon their interactions grow into so much more.
I really liked how this book, while semi short, had a good deal of depth. Tessa is a female working in the tech industry, so there is the obvious issue of sexism in her workplace. The author did a good job of not just rug sweeping but addressing the issues that come with being a woman in a male dominated field. There’s also a good deal of focus on consent, which I appreciate.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what else this series has to offer.
Safety
▫️Both celibate for a while, heroine for 3 years, hero for 1
▫️They have known each other for years, but were never interested in each other.
▫️Hero was broken up with by his girlfriend a year before the start of the story, she moved away, and he was still somewhat hung up on her a year later, but quickly got over those feelings as he started to get to know the heroine.
▫️Hero tries to ask OW out in front of the heroine - it’s still early in the story and OW isn’t interested
▫️OW drama from the hero’s ex. She wants him back, but she’s too late - he only wants the heroine.
▫️No OM drama
▫️No scenes with OM/OW, no cheating
▫️Good consent, condoms used
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2016
Мимимишная история про гиков))
Тут нет мачо и секси-кисок. Нет супергероев и суперзлодеев. Нет трагедей вселенского масштаба и потоков слез и соплей.
Есть люди.
Он - обычный парень, год назад переживший не самый приятный разрыв. Он застенчив с девушками, неловок, но мил.
Она - обычная девушка. Ну... ладно, не совсем обычная. Она кодер.
Они - соседи-сожители.
Адам не воспринимает Тессу, как девушку. Тесса видит в Адаме возможность попасть в команду разработчиков игр.
Он заставляет ее общаться с людьми, она - спасает его от неловких ситуаций с дамами.
И вместе они должны за три недели написать игру, чтобы спасти магазин друзей от уничтожения.
О романчике не могу сказать вообще ничего плохого. Разве что начало грубоватое - слишком в лоб (через диалоги) автор рассказывает о прошлом героев. Но если перетерпеть несколько страниц, дальше все замечательно.
Легко, задорно, с юмором и парой жарких сцен. Много отсылок к массовой культуре (игры, сериалы, комиксы, анимэ). Отсутствие надуманных страстей.
Может, не слишком глубокие, но прикольные персы (и главные, и второстепенные). Объем небольшой.
Короче, забавный и ненапряжный роман о том, как тяжко девушке-кодеру доказать свою профпригодность xDDD
Ну и о любви, конечно))
Поставила бы оценку повыше, но как-то... в сравнение с остальными многозвездочными романами тут немного не тот уровень)))
Тут нет мачо и секси-кисок. Нет супергероев и суперзлодеев. Нет трагедей вселенского масштаба и потоков слез и соплей.
Есть люди.
Он - обычный парень, год назад переживший не самый приятный разрыв. Он застенчив с девушками, неловок, но мил.
Она - обычная девушка. Ну... ладно, не совсем обычная. Она кодер.
Они - соседи-сожители.
Адам не воспринимает Тессу, как девушку. Тесса видит в Адаме возможность попасть в команду разработчиков игр.
Он заставляет ее общаться с людьми, она - спасает его от неловких ситуаций с дамами.
И вместе они должны за три недели написать игру, чтобы спасти магазин друзей от уничтожения.
О романчике не могу сказать вообще ничего плохого. Разве что начало грубоватое - слишком в лоб (через диалоги) автор рассказывает о прошлом героев. Но если перетерпеть несколько страниц, дальше все замечательно.
Легко, задорно, с юмором и парой жарких сцен. Много отсылок к массовой культуре (игры, сериалы, комиксы, анимэ). Отсутствие надуманных страстей.
Может, не слишком глубокие, но прикольные персы (и главные, и второстепенные). Объем небольшой.
Короче, забавный и ненапряжный роман о том, как тяжко девушке-кодеру доказать свою профпригодность xDDD
"I am not picking on you because you're a woman. I'm picking on you because you don't want to do things my way and you want to mess with my codes."
"You're a sexist."
"I'm a misanthrope. I don't hate women. I hate everybody!"
Ну и о любви, конечно))
Поставила бы оценку повыше, но как-то... в сравнение с остальными многозвездочными романами тут немного не тот уровень)))
June 9, 2016
4 ½ stars. Fun read. I enjoyed the whole thing. Excellent dialogue.
Heroine Tessa is a computer programmer in a company that makes video games. She is qualified to be a coder (programmer) and wants a promotion to be part of the coding group. But so far her job is merely providing sound for video games. Her co-worker and roommate is Adam. Tessa is an introvert. She becomes friends with a group of women. It was fun reading about the friendships and her relationship with Adam.
The plot and conflicts made a good story. The relationships were well done. The dialogue was really well done. It made the characters come alive. It’s a good example of how to show and not tell. And I liked the dialogue during the sex scenes.
As of June 2016 this is free on Amazon.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 151 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words but rarely used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day Washington state and California. Copyright: 2016. Genre: contemporary romance.
Heroine Tessa is a computer programmer in a company that makes video games. She is qualified to be a coder (programmer) and wants a promotion to be part of the coding group. But so far her job is merely providing sound for video games. Her co-worker and roommate is Adam. Tessa is an introvert. She becomes friends with a group of women. It was fun reading about the friendships and her relationship with Adam.
The plot and conflicts made a good story. The relationships were well done. The dialogue was really well done. It made the characters come alive. It’s a good example of how to show and not tell. And I liked the dialogue during the sex scenes.
As of June 2016 this is free on Amazon.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 151 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words but rarely used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day Washington state and California. Copyright: 2016. Genre: contemporary romance.
February 11, 2019
J’ai beaucoup aimé cette lecture ! J’ai eu du mal avec le temps choisi et le côté un peu trop rapide mais j’ai trouvé que l’histoire d’amour était cuuuuute et ça rattrape le reste ! En bref une jolie lecture !
February 11, 2016
3.5 Stars
Nice and sweet! Some minor quibbles with the writing - some phrases got repeated over and over. I loved the feminist and anti-sexism and anti-homophobia messages but they came out as over-the-top and preachy occasionally. Still, I quite enjoyed this quick read! Yay for female POC game engineer!!!
Full review:
I picked this book for free a couple of weeks ago on Amazon (and it is still free!) because I was intrigued by the premise - a geek gamers' romance with a Latina heroine who is a real game coder and is trying to fit in professionally with the rest of the boys in the game making/designing business.
Overall, I enjoyed this light and fun romance a lot. It has a an easy flow to it and I found the characters believable in their struggles into adulthood.
It's a friends (roommates)-to-lovers trope which I generally enjoy and found it pretty convincing here. Tessa was an introvert and a geek, focused on getting ahead professionally and not really good with social interactions. Adam on the other hand, was more outgoing and laidback at the same time, though he was struggling through the betrayal of his ex-girlfriend who left him for a better job in NY.
I quite liked both Tessa and Adam and they were adorable together, both resisting the attraction to one another because of fear it would destroy their easy friendship (and being colleagues, just further complicated things for them).
Adam's friends (who are also coders in the same company) and the group of girls Tessa befriends also fitted very well into the story. Together they made a very sweet romcom - geeky, full of pop culture trivia and fandom references but also easy to follow and relate to even if you are not a gamer or into fandoms.
What I liked the most is how refreshingly normal the characters and their issues were - just ordinary young people navigating the tricky road between professional success and personal relationships. While reading, I kept thinking yes, thisis real, this could happen to anyone.
I have some minor issues with the writing which felt repetitive at the times (certain phrases were used far too often). I also felt the the strong the anti-homophobic and feminist messages, which I greatly appreciate, came off preachy and overimposed on the story/characters rather than an intrinsic part of the narrative.
Still, I very much appreciate the diversity aspect of the story, it's stance on equality and freedom of choice. Overall, this is a fun, easy romance, refreshingly everyday while successful avoiding most of the genre cliches.
Nice and sweet! Some minor quibbles with the writing - some phrases got repeated over and over. I loved the feminist and anti-sexism and anti-homophobia messages but they came out as over-the-top and preachy occasionally. Still, I quite enjoyed this quick read! Yay for female POC game engineer!!!
Full review:
I picked this book for free a couple of weeks ago on Amazon (and it is still free!) because I was intrigued by the premise - a geek gamers' romance with a Latina heroine who is a real game coder and is trying to fit in professionally with the rest of the boys in the game making/designing business.
Overall, I enjoyed this light and fun romance a lot. It has a an easy flow to it and I found the characters believable in their struggles into adulthood.
It's a friends (roommates)-to-lovers trope which I generally enjoy and found it pretty convincing here. Tessa was an introvert and a geek, focused on getting ahead professionally and not really good with social interactions. Adam on the other hand, was more outgoing and laidback at the same time, though he was struggling through the betrayal of his ex-girlfriend who left him for a better job in NY.
I quite liked both Tessa and Adam and they were adorable together, both resisting the attraction to one another because of fear it would destroy their easy friendship (and being colleagues, just further complicated things for them).
Adam's friends (who are also coders in the same company) and the group of girls Tessa befriends also fitted very well into the story. Together they made a very sweet romcom - geeky, full of pop culture trivia and fandom references but also easy to follow and relate to even if you are not a gamer or into fandoms.
What I liked the most is how refreshingly normal the characters and their issues were - just ordinary young people navigating the tricky road between professional success and personal relationships. While reading, I kept thinking yes, thisis real, this could happen to anyone.
I have some minor issues with the writing which felt repetitive at the times (certain phrases were used far too often). I also felt the the strong the anti-homophobic and feminist messages, which I greatly appreciate, came off preachy and overimposed on the story/characters rather than an intrinsic part of the narrative.
Still, I very much appreciate the diversity aspect of the story, it's stance on equality and freedom of choice. Overall, this is a fun, easy romance, refreshingly everyday while successful avoiding most of the genre cliches.
December 27, 2018
I have never wanted so badly to smush two characters’ faces together! Tessa is an engineer at a game company, and other than going to work, she doesn’t get out much. But events conspire to thrust her not just into a new much-needed group of girlfriends, but into the arms of her roommate, Adam, who is also her coworker. Tessa and Adam have always had a friendly but distant rapport, but when he agrees to help her out with a side project, they start seeing each other in a new light. I’m sure I’m biased, but with a tech nerd hero named Adam, there was no chance I wasn’t going to adore this book.
June 19, 2020
Cute. Cute. Cute.
A pretty real feeling short book about gamers finding love and themselves. Too sweet!
A pretty real feeling short book about gamers finding love and themselves. Too sweet!
June 30, 2024
This was such a cheesy but cute rom-com book.
An office/roommate trope with some gamer vibes. Perfect if you looking for a light hearted read and you have kindle unlimited.
An office/roommate trope with some gamer vibes. Perfect if you looking for a light hearted read and you have kindle unlimited.
May 24, 2020
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
I really liked what this book was doing in terms of representation of women in male-dominated industries like gaming, women in fandom, and the misogyny that women often face in these spaces. I also liked that the MC is a Latinx woman because there is often even less representation and space for women of color in these places. Unfortunately, I really did not care about the romance. And that's kind of the point? It's a case of really wanting to love something, but ultimately it not working for me the way I wanted it to.
Tessa Rodriguez works for a game developer and wants to advance her career, but she is very nerdy and very introverted, barely even interacting with her attractive housemate and co-worker Adam. But when a job opens up on a team she wants to join, she must prove she can be sociable and is capable of the work. She also meets some awesome geeky women and develops new friendships. And if it wasn't clear, the ultimate romance is with Adam.
I loved the representation, I loved the female friendships, and I loved the fandom references. I never really cared about the romance and wasn't terribly impressed by Adam. I also felt like the depictions of the guys as socially awkward and misogynistic was kind of unbalanced. Both things absolutely exist, but I get irritated when nerdy guys are always depicted as awkward and socially unaware because many of them are not. This might come from being married to a scientist, but I prefer a bit more nuance in different depictions of characters.
That said, I will probably try something else from this author because I like the idea behind these books and I'm always looking for a good nerdy romance.
I really liked what this book was doing in terms of representation of women in male-dominated industries like gaming, women in fandom, and the misogyny that women often face in these spaces. I also liked that the MC is a Latinx woman because there is often even less representation and space for women of color in these places. Unfortunately, I really did not care about the romance. And that's kind of the point? It's a case of really wanting to love something, but ultimately it not working for me the way I wanted it to.
Tessa Rodriguez works for a game developer and wants to advance her career, but she is very nerdy and very introverted, barely even interacting with her attractive housemate and co-worker Adam. But when a job opens up on a team she wants to join, she must prove she can be sociable and is capable of the work. She also meets some awesome geeky women and develops new friendships. And if it wasn't clear, the ultimate romance is with Adam.
I loved the representation, I loved the female friendships, and I loved the fandom references. I never really cared about the romance and wasn't terribly impressed by Adam. I also felt like the depictions of the guys as socially awkward and misogynistic was kind of unbalanced. Both things absolutely exist, but I get irritated when nerdy guys are always depicted as awkward and socially unaware because many of them are not. This might come from being married to a scientist, but I prefer a bit more nuance in different depictions of characters.
That said, I will probably try something else from this author because I like the idea behind these books and I'm always looking for a good nerdy romance.
June 13, 2017
Nerd love!! ❤❤❤
Yeah I got nothing done in the day I spent every spare minute reading this. I had terrible sleeping last night because of the anxiety of ending on a nerve wracking chapter. Loved it like I loved Ruthie Knox's Truly. Yay for swoony adorkable novellas. This one sings the song of my people, can't wait for more of the series!
Yeah I got nothing done in the day I spent every spare minute reading this. I had terrible sleeping last night because of the anxiety of ending on a nerve wracking chapter. Loved it like I loved Ruthie Knox's Truly. Yay for swoony adorkable novellas. This one sings the song of my people, can't wait for more of the series!
February 4, 2016
I loved this book! It was funny, sweet and smart. It was refreshing to read a romance without all the misogynistic double standards.
February 16, 2016
Please note that I rated this 4.5 stars, but rounded up to 5 stars on Goodreads.
So I saw that Bark's Book and Nonsense marked this as to read on Goodreads and it looked like the kind of book right up my alley so I went and got this and finished it up this weekend. A very fast and entertaining read. I think that some things could be improved for future books in the series, but this was a solid first book.
Told in the third person, Level Up has roommates and coworkers Tessa Rodriguez and Adam London starting to realize that they are starting to think of each other as more. What makes this story so very interesting besides just the romance is the fact that the job that Tessa and Adam have is working at a gaming company. We get to see Tessa's perspectives of the gaming culture.
So now let's get down to the nitty-gritty. First off, I loved Tessa. Even when she was frustrating the life out of me. It was wonderful to read a romance novel starring a minority character who was in love with coding and was doing her best to break out of her job into a job with more prestige at her company. I definitely sympathized right along with her for being good at something that typically only "boys" are good at and feeling like your family doesn't understand you at all. I am a long time gamer and have been whooping my brothers butts at RPG and some first person shooters since I was a kid.
The big difference between me and Tessa though is that she is an introvert. This is mentioned several times in this story (and honestly it needed to be only mentioned once) but I can see why this was an important point to have in the story. Tessa feels as if she is not progressing in her job because she's a female. However, there are other females doing quite while at their jobs and her one boss is a female. I wish that the book had delved a bit into that contradiction right there. We as readers start to realize that Tessa may not be progressing because of her being female but also because she's an introvert and does not interact with her other co-workers besides Adam.
The book starts to take off more for me when Tessa meets her new friends who all have a variety of interests, but all seem to have a shared love of Doctor Who.
And right along with the character of Tessa, I found myself loving Adam. Adam is still recovering from his last break-up and let's himself get talked into a bet about finding a girlfriend. We find out that Adam's social skills are not that great either. Just hanging out and having game nights with his coworkers, he hasn't met any new women since Tessa moved in with him.
Due to Tessa's new friends' business about to go under, she asks Adam to help her in developing a game in three weeks time in order to win a contest. Doing this also pulls in some of her co-workers as well and readers are given a peek into coding (thank God it wasn't boring).
It's a forgone conclusion that Tessa and Adam are going to wind up together, but it was fun to watch them trying their best to fight off the attraction they had to each other until finally just saying screw it and giving into fully. I found the sex scenes hot and also funny.
I have to say that I thought the writing was good (it's pretty apparent that Cathy Yardley has some experience in the gaming community along with coding) though I thought the flow was off in a few places. I noticed a few times one of the characters would be talking to someone and then a few sentences later the book had transitioned into another scene with no clear stopping point between scenes. I don't know if she needs to add a visual page break there if she wants to continue on in the same chapter or what. Or if she needs to include more reading cues so I as a reader know the previous scene ended. It just happened enough that I noticed and it kept taking me out of the story.
I do wish that the setting of Snoqualmie, Washington had been utilized a bit better. I looked it up and realized that 1) this place really does exist and 2) it lies 25 miles east of Seattle, Washington making it around a 30 minute drive. The characters in the book acted like it was in the middle of nowhere and that there was nothing to do there. It has some pretty fantastic falls, a bunch of restaurants, historic district, etc. This is always a pet peeve of mine in romance books. If you are going to have the story take place in the town, I like it when there are some descriptions included regarding the place where the characters reside. Make it come alive to me as I read it.
The ending was very funny and cute and it seems to be setting up a nice segue into future books.
So I saw that Bark's Book and Nonsense marked this as to read on Goodreads and it looked like the kind of book right up my alley so I went and got this and finished it up this weekend. A very fast and entertaining read. I think that some things could be improved for future books in the series, but this was a solid first book.
Told in the third person, Level Up has roommates and coworkers Tessa Rodriguez and Adam London starting to realize that they are starting to think of each other as more. What makes this story so very interesting besides just the romance is the fact that the job that Tessa and Adam have is working at a gaming company. We get to see Tessa's perspectives of the gaming culture.
So now let's get down to the nitty-gritty. First off, I loved Tessa. Even when she was frustrating the life out of me. It was wonderful to read a romance novel starring a minority character who was in love with coding and was doing her best to break out of her job into a job with more prestige at her company. I definitely sympathized right along with her for being good at something that typically only "boys" are good at and feeling like your family doesn't understand you at all. I am a long time gamer and have been whooping my brothers butts at RPG and some first person shooters since I was a kid.
The big difference between me and Tessa though is that she is an introvert. This is mentioned several times in this story (and honestly it needed to be only mentioned once) but I can see why this was an important point to have in the story. Tessa feels as if she is not progressing in her job because she's a female. However, there are other females doing quite while at their jobs and her one boss is a female. I wish that the book had delved a bit into that contradiction right there. We as readers start to realize that Tessa may not be progressing because of her being female but also because she's an introvert and does not interact with her other co-workers besides Adam.
The book starts to take off more for me when Tessa meets her new friends who all have a variety of interests, but all seem to have a shared love of Doctor Who.
And right along with the character of Tessa, I found myself loving Adam. Adam is still recovering from his last break-up and let's himself get talked into a bet about finding a girlfriend. We find out that Adam's social skills are not that great either. Just hanging out and having game nights with his coworkers, he hasn't met any new women since Tessa moved in with him.
Due to Tessa's new friends' business about to go under, she asks Adam to help her in developing a game in three weeks time in order to win a contest. Doing this also pulls in some of her co-workers as well and readers are given a peek into coding (thank God it wasn't boring).
It's a forgone conclusion that Tessa and Adam are going to wind up together, but it was fun to watch them trying their best to fight off the attraction they had to each other until finally just saying screw it and giving into fully. I found the sex scenes hot and also funny.
I have to say that I thought the writing was good (it's pretty apparent that Cathy Yardley has some experience in the gaming community along with coding) though I thought the flow was off in a few places. I noticed a few times one of the characters would be talking to someone and then a few sentences later the book had transitioned into another scene with no clear stopping point between scenes. I don't know if she needs to add a visual page break there if she wants to continue on in the same chapter or what. Or if she needs to include more reading cues so I as a reader know the previous scene ended. It just happened enough that I noticed and it kept taking me out of the story.
I do wish that the setting of Snoqualmie, Washington had been utilized a bit better. I looked it up and realized that 1) this place really does exist and 2) it lies 25 miles east of Seattle, Washington making it around a 30 minute drive. The characters in the book acted like it was in the middle of nowhere and that there was nothing to do there. It has some pretty fantastic falls, a bunch of restaurants, historic district, etc. This is always a pet peeve of mine in romance books. If you are going to have the story take place in the town, I like it when there are some descriptions included regarding the place where the characters reside. Make it come alive to me as I read it.
The ending was very funny and cute and it seems to be setting up a nice segue into future books.
March 11, 2016
Well, that's a lovely short chick-lit novel with totally relatable main character. I mean it. She's a programmer, she's a geek, she's introvert, she skypes her best friend because they live in different places, e.t.c. She's like the cooler, smarter and more professional version of me lol
I liked the book because it is simple and light. It's not something big but it's enough to spend some time and relax. It is a book about friendship, relationships (healthy relationships without ugly misunderstandings, idiot plot twists or something else which keeps couple apart for like entire length of the book), about women's struggles at finding a decent job (no matter how professional they're).
3 stars just because I don't feel like this book is at the same level as my other books that I rated higher. Anyway, I enjoyed it and liked it.
I liked the book because it is simple and light. It's not something big but it's enough to spend some time and relax. It is a book about friendship, relationships (healthy relationships without ugly misunderstandings, idiot plot twists or something else which keeps couple apart for like entire length of the book), about women's struggles at finding a decent job (no matter how professional they're).
3 stars just because I don't feel like this book is at the same level as my other books that I rated higher. Anyway, I enjoyed it and liked it.
December 30, 2016
I enjoyed this one. Sweet and wonderfully nerdy.
December 31, 2017
awww this was cute and perfect. I'm a sucker for a good geek love story!
January 24, 2019
2.5 stars
Level Up is romance novel about two programmers falling in love. They are also roommates, they work together and they embark on a quest to save local independent bookstore. On paper, the novel sounds great and promising, however the book was mediocre at best and unfortunately even lower than that.
2.5 is the very accurate rating representation of my feelings towards the book but in clear conscience I couldn’t round it up to 3 goodreads stars.
Adam and Tessa are the main characters. Both of them are geeks, both of them are straight cis people, Adam is white, Tessa is Latina. While Adam is project manager at engineering department, Tessa is just sound editor, her goal is to make it into engineering. They are in their mid-20s, I believe. Their romance was believable but I just didn’t care, apart from what I’ve just mentioned they didn’t really have much of a personality, they could’ve been fine as a secondary characters but not as the leading duo.
For the most part I felt “ok that’s whatever”, while reading the book. It’s not the best endorsement and it definitely wasn’t a memorable read.
I like that the consent was a big part of the story. When lack of consent happened it was addressed. As well as the narrative made it clear the consent is important and consent under the influence isn’t a 100% consent.
However, I found several issues with the book and they significantly dumped my reading enjoyment.
•annoying bitchy ex-girlfriend trope looming over Adam and causing mild drama
•Adam’s friends are the epitome of “bros will be bros”. They were annoying, sexist and mildly sexually-harassment-y. One of the guys, José, asked the receptionist Stacey every day since she was hired couple of weeks ago, she declined to go out with him, but he kept asking her and nobody seemed to be bothered by it, except for Stacey herself. Adam was supposed to be “feminist” but he really wasn’t all that aware about his friends.
•The novel focused on Tessa’s “feminism” and standing up for herself at work environment, but she was mostly self-focused. Except one case at the cafe.
•The case at the cafe includes unconsented kiss (later addressed and frowned-upon), Tessa insulting terrible man by insulting his short height and dick size (really?! Are we really doing it?! so lame)
•The book store crew and Tessa’s new friends were more interesting than Tessa. Tessa was more interesting when she was with them. I liked their friendship group.
•The game plot line and later the job plot line were disappointing
•Tessa was lowkey cured from being introvert by making friends. Hurray.
•Sex scene was boring
•I don’t know, man. I probably am forgetting good parts but I was frustrated with the book, so objectivity? Never heard of it.
I guess if you want to read m/f romance about geeks, who are coworkers and roommates, you might enjoy Level Up...
Note: I read the first edition as I owned this book for years, I saw the cover was redesigned. I wonder if the text was edited too...
Level Up is romance novel about two programmers falling in love. They are also roommates, they work together and they embark on a quest to save local independent bookstore. On paper, the novel sounds great and promising, however the book was mediocre at best and unfortunately even lower than that.
2.5 is the very accurate rating representation of my feelings towards the book but in clear conscience I couldn’t round it up to 3 goodreads stars.
Adam and Tessa are the main characters. Both of them are geeks, both of them are straight cis people, Adam is white, Tessa is Latina. While Adam is project manager at engineering department, Tessa is just sound editor, her goal is to make it into engineering. They are in their mid-20s, I believe. Their romance was believable but I just didn’t care, apart from what I’ve just mentioned they didn’t really have much of a personality, they could’ve been fine as a secondary characters but not as the leading duo.
For the most part I felt “ok that’s whatever”, while reading the book. It’s not the best endorsement and it definitely wasn’t a memorable read.
I like that the consent was a big part of the story. When lack of consent happened it was addressed. As well as the narrative made it clear the consent is important and consent under the influence isn’t a 100% consent.
However, I found several issues with the book and they significantly dumped my reading enjoyment.
•annoying bitchy ex-girlfriend trope looming over Adam and causing mild drama
•Adam’s friends are the epitome of “bros will be bros”. They were annoying, sexist and mildly sexually-harassment-y. One of the guys, José, asked the receptionist Stacey every day since she was hired couple of weeks ago, she declined to go out with him, but he kept asking her and nobody seemed to be bothered by it, except for Stacey herself. Adam was supposed to be “feminist” but he really wasn’t all that aware about his friends.
•The novel focused on Tessa’s “feminism” and standing up for herself at work environment, but she was mostly self-focused. Except one case at the cafe.
•The case at the cafe includes unconsented kiss (later addressed and frowned-upon), Tessa insulting terrible man by insulting his short height and dick size (really?! Are we really doing it?! so lame)
•The book store crew and Tessa’s new friends were more interesting than Tessa. Tessa was more interesting when she was with them. I liked their friendship group.
•The game plot line and later the job plot line were disappointing
•Tessa was lowkey cured from being introvert by making friends. Hurray.
•Sex scene was boring
•I don’t know, man. I probably am forgetting good parts but I was frustrated with the book, so objectivity? Never heard of it.
I guess if you want to read m/f romance about geeks, who are coworkers and roommates, you might enjoy Level Up...
Note: I read the first edition as I owned this book for years, I saw the cover was redesigned. I wonder if the text was edited too...
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