She may be the best, but I'm better. And I'm going to prove it!
Love, lust, and competition.
Anna went to the annual Gathering for Alternate Realms just looking for a little fun. Already one of the top-ranked players of the blockbuster alternate reality game, she expected nothing more than a good time and some real competition.
What Anna didn't expect was Erin: the best player to ever grace the game and the most beautiful woman she's ever seen.
Sparks fly as the competition between the two gamer girls heats up. Always the very best, neither wants to tear their eye from the prize, but the more time they spend trying to defeat one another the more they start to realize that what's in front of them might just be far more valuable than winning any game!
Love Games is the latest novel by Mia Archer, author of your favorite geeky lesbian romances!
Four quick points: (1) I might have blinked and missed it, but other than mentioning sex, the only graphic action that occurred was passionate kissing; (2) I do not particularly like it when I reach 69% on the file I’m reading only to find that the book is done; (3) despite the above points, or how someone might feel about the above points, I did in fact like this book; (4) just as it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to tell the difference between the two women on the cover of the book I read (the one that looks like lesbian porn, not the one that looks like lesbian fantasy), there were times when the two main characters kind of blended together in my mind. Annoying, that.
Okay then, now that those 4 points are out of the way – this is the second book I’ve read by this author under the name Mia Archer, and both fall into a loosely constructed ‘geek lesbian romances’ (what with the other one also involving a game though there the book focused more on a game convention, while here the book focused on an actual live action game in progress), and . . . I used the word both. I forget whey I used the word both. Oh, both books that I read by this author under the Mia name. Right. Confused myself. I’ve also read one book by this author under the Lexi Archer name, and one short story under that name. So this is the third book I’ve read by this author, and fourth work overall.
Anna and Erin are the two main characters. And the story is told from their point of view. They are both members of a virtual reality game called Alternate Realms that has an element of the gaming take place in reality. By use of phones and tablets.
Anna is a coder and a regional best player. Erin is the reigning champ and the queen, oh and a grad student. No mention of what she’s studying. I’ve a vague impression, based on nothing really, that both might be somewhere in there mid –twenties. The only character who had their actual age mentioned (I think only one) was Anna’s boss, Shelia. Who, oddly enough, is my age and mentions Doom. See, this ‘Alternate Realms’ thing kind of just flies over my head. No real idea about what it is actually about other than a vaguely fantasy-like game like WoW but with the added element of having a phone app connected to the gaming. So you can see your opponent as you lob fire balls at their groin. But Doom; now there’s a game I’ve actually played. Both single and multi-player, but the thing I remember most is spending many a college night playing multiple player Doom, running around, shooting at people while listening to movie soundtracks on a kind of continuous loop (if I recall correctly, I mostly listened to Top Gun).
There are probably several things wrong with this book, or at least that annoy me, but I’ll just mention two: (1) openly gaming during company time? Quite annoying; (2) everyone being described as being gorgeous? Even the forty year-old boss? Doubly annoying (‘She stood there, about forty years old and not looking a day over her mid-twenties. She had blonde hair flowing past her shoulders. Blonde hair that I sometimes wondered about running my fingers through. The boss lady was fucking hot.’)
Well, long and short – nothing grand here – mostly a fluffy book. An enjoyable way to spend my time. Sadly on a level below ‘Girl on Geek’, ‘Villainess Love’, and though better than that short story I read by Lexi Archer. So, ‘Girl on Geek’ was a sold 4.5 story, ‘Villainous Love’ probably wasn’t that far behind in rating, though I see I rated it 4 stars (not sure why I did that; I just looked at the book review I did, I see no reason not to up the rating to 4.5, since I still think about that book all this time later), this book here is a solid 3.5 stars, then that short story I read is a 2.5 effort. So then – overall rating for this author is: only counting books – 4.17; counting everything – 3.75.
One last thought before I move on. I rarely comment on covers, but I will this time. I much prefer this books original cover over the one currently on Amazon (older cover shows two women wearing odd costumes that may or may not correspond to a fantasy/science fiction/gaming book; newer current cover shows two women standing on a desert like setting in sundresses with one woman fondling the other and looking like the cover to a porn video -> if nothing else, the lack of graphic sex will probably annoy those who enter this book after seeing that cover . . . perhaps; hmms wonder if I blinked and missed graphic sex).
I have no idea why this is rated so high. Sorry, but I couldn't be arsed to finish it.
The cover threw me. Two pretty women, and the title, "love games: a lesbian romance," and so I kinda expected something different.
It is first person for both leads, and flips between them by chapter. There is no scene setting, no intriduction to the game which overlays reality. and names are thrown all over the place without letting the reader in on the secret of teh secondary characters, or the first. Who are they? Why are they? And they play games on company time? The boss does not mind? Who cares?
Big gamer fan and this didn't do it for me, not at all. Maybe I'll pick it up again once I've had a few cans of beer or something.
The story wasn't great. It wasn't bad but probably one of her better written ones. The author didn't overly state the obvious or reiterate the same point in the span of two paragraphs as she usually does. Nor does she overly abuse the phrase, "thank you very much," as she often does. The story wasn't compelling or anything but cute and fluffy and easy to pick up. If you are looking for a quick and easy nerdy lesbian read this isn't a bad story.
I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I reveled in this book. Finally, a book that celebrates the geek. I'm not sure whether Archer plays any games like this, but she's definitely got the avid dedication and fandom down. It was easy to see how the love of the game in her story intersected with the experiences I've had in the gaming community. And there's just a way to speak - to eat, breathe, and live geek and gamer, that she conveys so absolutely believably in this story. Another hit. The pacing in this book is fast and furious. It has to be since the events take place over just a couple of days, but rather than rushing me, it made me want to read faster so I could find out what happened next. It also kind of mirrors that feeling of getting caught up in a game so totally that you have to just keep going, keep playing. And that mirrors that heady rush that comes with attraction, lust, and possibly love. The only thing I didn't like about the pace is that it seems really quick for a relationship. And that's possibly why the story ended the way it did, making the reader sure that our two heroines were going to see each other again, and were going to try to make their relationship work, but not making any extravagant exclamations of undying love. Which was a bit of a letdown, but infinitely more realistic. And you get the idea that the two like each other enough to really work at being together. All in all, this was an exciting read for the geek in me, and a pretty satisfying one for the romantic in me. Definitely worth it.
This is a sapphic tale set in my opinion Gen X❗and rather than enemies to lover's we have our first lead character Anna get her first glimpse of Erin from a online article revealing the ARealm's longest standing queen❗ And Erin gets her first glimpse of Anna during a brief stop. Where Anna stops in at this roadside lounge and store; it's their Anna decides to take her first preemptive strike at the reigning❗ Plenty of heat radiating off these two. For more you'll have to check it out for yourselves😎❗
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The book is about frp but done not just online but done in person. There's a major tournament which is held in the real world with all sorts of people attending, a castle and people using online magical attacks which result in people being 'killed' for the rest of the day.
There's a woman called the Queen who has a majorly good and strong reputation but there's another woman who is there to challenge the queen. The description of what happens is done really well and the relationship between the two women is really neat.
Fun little story, enjoy it between other books. No deep insights but that is really why you read a book or watch a movie - entertainment, if I want to be educated or have my consciousnesses raised I will go to the appropriate place. This is what I like about Mia Archer - she does not preach, she provides entertainment.
This well written book has well developed characters and an entertaining storyline. Two women, Erin, the reigning international Queen in an elaborate alternate reality game, and Anna, the challenger, are instantly attracted to each other from Anna's first attack. I recommend this interesting book.
A very fun and cute romance well worth a read. Only issue I had was that the last 30% of the book was a preview of another of the author's novels, which I don't really mind, but it is a bit annoying when an otherwise great story stops when you still think you have a third of it left.
I really wanted to jump into this story and join the fun. The geeky gamer girls really made me think of some people I know. The build up in the game reminds me of experiences I've had playing, and I can tell Archer has some experience in the gamer world. The relationship between the characters developed over the span of a few days, but I don't read for reality!
All in all, the story is fast paced with action, fantasy-conflict, a really imaginative game/LARP occurring in the background, some intrigue, and a fast developing romance. The author builds up the attraction between the main characters well and does forgo the erotic scenes, but it doesn't detract from the story. Again, this was a fun, fast, romance, with an ending that isn't cliffhanger so much as open ended.
This is the second gamer geek love story I've read by this author and I've enjoyed them both thoroughly despite being borderline anti gamer myself, lol. Gaming and role playing interests me very little but Mia Archer has managed to tempt me into two completely different worlds and keep me intrigued, laughing and smiling. My only objection and reason for four star here is that as vivid as the alternate world is the reality sex is not. Everything is so detailed, in world, but then in the reality bits it sometimes feels lacking or missing that same intensity especially in regards to sex scenes. In world, things are brought to life in such great detail but then we get so little detail in sex scenes that I can't help but feel a little bit robbed. Outside of that, Mia Archer kinda makes me want to become a gamer girl.
I was under the spell that was setting me on fire and it had nothing to do with the spells in Alternate Realms.
I didn't understand the point of this story. There were no backgrounds given on the characters, we don't know much about them especially on Erin. I feel like this is more of a long one shot, if that's a thing, than a full story. Though I admit some of the scenes were cute especially when they're still checking and measuring each other out and the ending fight was too cheesy for my liking. I just can't really get into the story. Sorry.
This was such a fun story. The gaming with an undercurrent of romance was just right. Fun characters kept me laughing and smiling all the way through. The gaming added just the right drama to keep the story flowing. A great read!