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The Player and the Geek
British software engineer James, clings to carefully made plans in his perfectly unadventurous life. He avoids people-ing at all costs and has no need of a boyfriend. Forced to spend the summer at the Oregon office, his ordered world is thrown upside down.
Awakward in his home-made jacket, and melting in the heat, isn’t how James expects to meet one man tour-guide & player Brad, who’s keen to show James the sites of Astoria. Including his bed.
James's old habits are discarded, his carefully guarded heart opens, as a casual one nighter developes into much more. But James isn’t prepared to find a man who’s as kind and caring outside the bedroom as he’s wanton and inventive inside. Or to start falling in something for Brad, because James must leave at the end of summer.
The Player and the Geek is a steamy, opposites attract, small town gay romance. This story was originally released in 2015 as a novella called Heatwave Astoria . It’s now revised and enhanced as a full-length novel, with 50% extra content. The plot, characters and setting remain the same. What others said (Goodreads reviews) What is nice here, and in all Livings' work, is a young male voice looking at modern gay romance from a slightly different perspective than we're used to. What we see are two very plausible lives as lived by two perfectly probable young gay men. That one is English and the other American is a plot device, not a crucial detail. The two characters could have been reversed without damaging the story; the nerdy American code-writer and the smooth English cad. What makes Livings’ story work is the authenticity of the young men, and his ability to coax character out of archetypes.
...both men break into new territory seeing something in the other man making them want to take a chance at love. There is a slow build of chemistry between Brad and James, but you can tell that things are going to start to sizzle. This is a laid back story where you get to enjoy the main characters as well at the town of Astoria and the people that live there. I am always happy when there is a Happy Ever After ending, and this story has a really good one.
Brad is just... well... a man-slut. Seriously though, he is! He has a map where he marks where he's been and who he's shagged! Puts notches on the bed post look like a religious retreat. James is like the polar opposite of Brad. He's content in his introverted ways. Not well versed in dating or hooking up. James is a romantic looking for forever and Brad is more of a vagabond. I found the entire concept very clever. I recommend this if you're looking for something different and fun.
Awakward in his home-made jacket, and melting in the heat, isn’t how James expects to meet one man tour-guide & player Brad, who’s keen to show James the sites of Astoria. Including his bed.
James's old habits are discarded, his carefully guarded heart opens, as a casual one nighter developes into much more. But James isn’t prepared to find a man who’s as kind and caring outside the bedroom as he’s wanton and inventive inside. Or to start falling in something for Brad, because James must leave at the end of summer.
The Player and the Geek is a steamy, opposites attract, small town gay romance. This story was originally released in 2015 as a novella called Heatwave Astoria . It’s now revised and enhanced as a full-length novel, with 50% extra content. The plot, characters and setting remain the same. What others said (Goodreads reviews) What is nice here, and in all Livings' work, is a young male voice looking at modern gay romance from a slightly different perspective than we're used to. What we see are two very plausible lives as lived by two perfectly probable young gay men. That one is English and the other American is a plot device, not a crucial detail. The two characters could have been reversed without damaging the story; the nerdy American code-writer and the smooth English cad. What makes Livings’ story work is the authenticity of the young men, and his ability to coax character out of archetypes.
...both men break into new territory seeing something in the other man making them want to take a chance at love. There is a slow build of chemistry between Brad and James, but you can tell that things are going to start to sizzle. This is a laid back story where you get to enjoy the main characters as well at the town of Astoria and the people that live there. I am always happy when there is a Happy Ever After ending, and this story has a really good one.
Brad is just... well... a man-slut. Seriously though, he is! He has a map where he marks where he's been and who he's shagged! Puts notches on the bed post look like a religious retreat. James is like the polar opposite of Brad. He's content in his introverted ways. Not well versed in dating or hooking up. James is a romantic looking for forever and Brad is more of a vagabond. I found the entire concept very clever. I recommend this if you're looking for something different and fun.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2020
9 people want to read
About the author
Liam Livings
49 books42 followersLiam Livings is an award-shortlisted gay romance novelist, creative writing tutor, and ghostwriter. His fiction focuses on friendship, British humour, and romance with plenty of sparkle. He’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from Kingston University.
He shares his house with his boyfriend and cats. When not writing he bakes to indulge his dangerously sweet tooth, admires unaffordable classic cars, and drinks all the pink wine with friends. His favourite sport – of which he’s a gold medal winner – is reading a romantic novel in a long hot bath.
To learn more about his teaching, visit: https://www.realpeoplewritebooks.com/
To learn more about his books, visit: www.liamlivings.com
He shares his house with his boyfriend and cats. When not writing he bakes to indulge his dangerously sweet tooth, admires unaffordable classic cars, and drinks all the pink wine with friends. His favourite sport – of which he’s a gold medal winner – is reading a romantic novel in a long hot bath.
To learn more about his teaching, visit: https://www.realpeoplewritebooks.com/
To learn more about his books, visit: www.liamlivings.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2020
The Player and the Geek is a small town, opposites attract romance by Liam Livings. The story of Brad and James is sweet, sexy and I really liked it .
October 31, 2020
"The Player and the Geek" is a surprisingly sweet small town romance that packs a whole lot of heat, and I'm not just talking about the summer heatwave in the storyline. Hometown boy and unabashed player Brad and British transplant and IT geek James meet by chance, and don't waste any time getting to know each other for some one-off casual fun. Brad is seeking another conquest to notch on his world map (yes, an actual wall chart) and James a weekend release of sorts, with neither looking for a relationship but their hearts have other plans. I'll admit I wasn't the biggest Brad fan initially, but he grew on me with his blunt honesty as he and James caught feelings and shared in "film geekery" bonding time. That's not to say there weren't also some scowl-inducing emotional whiplash moments courtesy of either one but then again, both were admittedly out of their depth when it came to relationships and boy were they spectacularly correct in those self-assessments.
With Brad volunteering as James's personal tour guide, I appreciated how author Liam Livings turned the Oregon coastal town setting into a kind of third main character. Knowing the area myself, the descriptive detail of several of its must-see locations adds a unique layer of realism to this story. The setting is actually what drew me to the book to begin with, and it didn't disappoint.
With Brad volunteering as James's personal tour guide, I appreciated how author Liam Livings turned the Oregon coastal town setting into a kind of third main character. Knowing the area myself, the descriptive detail of several of its must-see locations adds a unique layer of realism to this story. The setting is actually what drew me to the book to begin with, and it didn't disappoint.
November 2, 2020
Super entertaining. Brad was the best. He might of came off as OTT to some people but to me he was hilarious and fun...not afraid to be himself and all his glorious gay self. Its fun seeing a player change his ways and Brad did a 180 for James. James and Brad really was opposites in most ways but had a love for Astoria and all the movie history/museums there. Their chemistry was HOT...hotter than that heatwave they were having...hahaha but the romance was sweet. Brad brought James out of his shell...to enjoy life more and James gave Brad a whole outlook to love and be loved. I really enjoyed this story (gave me alot of laughs and constant grins) and I think others will too.
October 13, 2020
I love Liam’s writing style makes his complex characters so believable, you have delightful secondary characters and the main ones are so frustrating, James and Brad can’t make their minds up whether they should be buddies with benefits or not. Slow burn, humour, at times I wanted to throttle them, so many misunderstandings, neither have ever dated, chemistry and hot hotter sensual scenes.
I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book for my honest opinions of which I’m under no obligation to do so. I absolutely recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book for my honest opinions of which I’m under no obligation to do so. I absolutely recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews