Cover Image: Conventionally Yours

Conventionally Yours

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Member Reviews

When we discovered that this book is about to be out in the universe, I was so waiting for it. I'm not a huge reader of Anabeth Albert's books but this one was I must read for me and thanks to Netgally, I've been able to read it as an ARC, so thank you.

I'm not gonna lie, on the first half of the book, I was not sure what I was doing, the installment was so slow and I've considered several times to DNF. I'm not familiar with the gamers universe and the two were very unfriendly toward each other, so I was not that much fond of all this. But when the road trip started, everything shifted and the book became way more interesting and I had a great time meeting Alden and Conrad. They were both cute, lovable and very kind and I loved being with them on this trip.

Alden and Conrad are both complex characters and when they start to open up to each other (and us readers), it was fantastic. They both struggle with issues (health, anxiety, poverty and so one) and it was equally heartwarming and heartbreaking to witness all this.By the end of the book, I was so happy to see them overcome all this and be the beautiful souls they were meant to be

.A really beautiful book.

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I love Annabeth Albert. I love all of her novels. Whichever themes she tackles, I love her pen and the way the characters come to life under her words. I really enjoyed her Gaymers series and I couldn't wait to start this novel. I was not sure what to expect given that this is a Young Adult novel (even if the characters are in college). This is the author's first Young Adult novel (which I read at least) and I just loved it.

I loved finding the universe of gamers even if it is a card game and not video games but we feel that the author knows her subject and masters it perfectly.

The main characters are super endearing. I loved following them and discovering them throughout the chapters. I liked the way in which the alternation of points of view will make that we will get as attached to the two characters and learn little by little about their past, expectations and fears. I loved seeing them get closer as they went and drop their preconceptions about each other.

I liked the Road Trip part as much as the Convention part. Once again Annabeth Albert immerses us completely in her universe and makes us want to never leave it.

I really appreciated the modesty and restraint that emerges from this novel, due to the age of the protagonists and the category of the novel. I devoured this novel which deals with a whole bunch of subjects in a fair manner. The author's pen is simply perfect.

Annabeth Albert takes up the challenge hands down and delivers us a novel YA in the rules of the art. A novel that always takes us further with the characters and will make us reflect on ourselves and our expectations, our vision of things, just like it is the case for Conrad and Alden. An initiatory novel, which will make you smile, cry and feel a lot of emotion, for your enjoyment.

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This novel aims for the same territory as Red, White, and Royal Blue. That book sets a high bar, and I don’t think this one matches it, but it’s plenty good in its own right.

Conventionally Yours is a New Adult enemies-to-lovers story set in the world of trading card gaming. Alden and Conrad regularly play together for the Gamer Grandpa vlog, but they are most definitely not friends. Then the players from their vlog are invited to participate in the tournament at one of the premier gaming cons in the nation, where a win would secure one of them a place on the pro circuit, an opportunity they can’t pass up. Neither Alden nor Conrad are looking forward to sharing a car on the road trip from New Jersey to the con in Vegas, and it gets even worse when the two of them wind up traveling alone. However, as they get to know each other along the way, they realize that they might have misjudged each other, and that they could be friends after all—or maybe much more than friends.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this book is that Alden and Conrad are both well-rounded characters, which adds depth to their romance. Conrad was cut off by his family after he was outed. He’s just been trying to get by, taking any minimum wage job he can get to pay for food, shelter, and meds for his asthma. Alden is neurodiverse and struggles to connect to other people. He’s also trying to figure out what to do with his life after he failed to get into med school to pursue his dream of being a doctor. A win at the convention would give each of them not just money but a direction in a life gone adrift, and a big part of their love story involves finding someone who will care for and support them, no matter what.

The road trip is very well done, too. In her note at the end, the author says that she tried to make it as realistic as possible by including actual places that Alden and Conrad might have visited along the way, and their journey did feel true to life. I had to smile at their stop at the pizza place in Columbia, Missouri, because I’ve eaten there myself. (It’s Shakespeare’s Pizza, by the way, if you ever find yourself traveling through on I-70.) And I’m not sure I would choose the tram pods in St. Louis’s Gateway Arch for a serious relationship conversation, but at least it might be a distraction from feeling claustrophobic. (Those things are tiny.)

A note for folks who like their romances spicy—this novel is PG-13 at most. The few sex scenes are not very detailed. It’s slow burn, too; Conrad and Alden don’t even start kissing until about halfway through the story. There’s a lot more gaming than heat in this book, which falls on the sweet end of the spectrum.

Readers who liked Red, White, and Royal Blue might enjoy this one, too, especially ones who geek out over gaming. It’s the first of a series, and I’m looking forward to finding out who will be falling in love next.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

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Author Annabeth Albert did the research on table-top games and fan conventions, and it shows! Albert also does representation of lesbian, gay, non-binary, and neuro-diverse characters very well here. Please note: Trigger warning for homophobia.

Set in a fictional college town in New Jersey, our two main characters meet at their campus LGBTQA+ alliance club and end up joining the same comic-book shop table top gaming group for Albert’s creation, ‘Odyssey.’ Each believes their life issues would be solved if they could just win the gaming tournament at the Las Vegas Odyssey convention and are willing to endure the long car ride alone together in order to get there.

Alternating points of view between Conrad and Alden was the perfect choice for this tale, as they both come to realizations and make life-altering choices along their journey. I appreciated the slower pacing, as this was a character-driven story, not action-heavy. These are realistic and relatable characters whom I enjoyed getting to know.

This is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers tale with minimal, PG-13 heat. It’s technically classified as New Adult due to the main characters being in their early 20’s and having met through their university, but I am comfortable recommending this to mature YA readers (and gaming fans) who have seen the trigger warning and want to enjoy Conrad and Alden’s story.

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Conventionally Yours is the immensely geeky, immensely fun rivals to lovers road trip book we've all been waiting for. Annabeth Albert has expertly balanced all the elements of a classic contemporary romance with the kind of geekiness that anyone who is a geek can relate to on a whole other level.

The main plot of the story revolves around a road trip from the East Coast to Vegas, the worst nightmare of card playing rivals Alden and Conrad. They've been at odds for a long time, and now they're having to travel to a convention together, where they'll be competing in a tournament that they both need to win, but only one can take the trophy. The plot itself was a little predictable and a little cheesy, but in the best way. To be honest, in a contemporary romance like this you're not really looking for realism, so the way this wraps up nicely and is really enjoyable.

Alden and Conrad were both very well fleshed out characters, with a good balance between the two; I really liked both of them, which is not something that happens often with dual POV books. What I particularly liked about them was how developed both of their backstories were, and therefore how developed their motivations were. Alden was a character I loved a lot because of his neurodiversity, because how he experiences this is something I recognise in myself. He was also such a sweet character and I really enjoyed seeing how good he was at helping people learn the game he loves. Conrad was also a really likeable character, with a lot of depth and a lot of inner strength that made it easy to root for him. He was very much his own character and that added so much to the book.

Relationships that start out with hatred are something that I'm normally wary of, but this was done it a very thoughtful way. Their hatred was never bone deep, and it was actually really easy to see why they clashed, and then why they started warming up to each other. The played off each other very well, and their relationship was very much a two way street that was so easy to ship. The chemistry between Alden and Conrad was very present, even considering their rocky start, and the way it grew was so enjoyable to read.

My main issue with the characters and the way they were written was that I often had trouble remembering which character's POV I was reading because they both had a very similar voice, and this often took me out of the story due to having to figure out what I was reading. This was not a major detraction to my reading experience, but it was still inconvenient at times.

Conventionally Yours revolves very heavily around a card game similar to Magic: The Gathering, called Odyssey. I've played Magic before, so it wasn't hard for me to recognise how the game functioned, but I feel like Annabeth Albert was able to introduce it in a way that didn't lose the non-geeks while still delving into the depths that a card gamer would know and appreciate. She also did a really good job of showing the expansive culture that develops around a game like Odyssey, the different people who play and the way we all come together. The way that all of this was built directly into the story made everything so much better and so much more realistic.

Built on tropes ranging from rivals-to-lover to "there was only one bed", with a heavy dash of character development and a slathering of geek, Conventionally Yours is a riot of a book. The layers and progression of the story make it such an enjoyable read to curl up with and disappear into, and will leave you wanting just one more chapter so you don't have to give it up yet.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I am a huge fan of Annabeth Albert, and I know when I’ve loved a book when I finish it and didn’t even realise it was 3am. I’m use to Albert’s more adult books but I was super excited to hear she was releasing a more YA geared book! Though I’m not sure where this technically falls, as our main characters are in uni and within the age range of 20-24...I’m 25 this year and would still like to consider myself a “young adult” For my own sanity, so I’m going to go with that!
Conventionally yours while filled with familiar tropes, felt like a fresh take on our geek/nerd love stories. I’ve read a few books where a nerdy convention is the focus and I think I was actually pleasantly surprised that the convention aspect, while the driving force, was only a small portion of the actual story. Essentially it’s more of a classic road trip book, with a kind of enemies to friends to lovers romance, and I am a sucker for that trope! Albert definitely delivered there too in such a soft, sweet way.
Im not too sure how “good” the neurodiverse representation is, but as someone who works in the mental health field I know there’s a massive spectrum out there and discussions around anxiety didn’t seem too unfamiliar.
Honestly, my only ‘negative’ I guess would just be that I wasn’t too interested in the actual logistics of the tabletop card game itself. I much preferred the character driven aspect. I did love the observations made about each main character while they played and either won or lost, but as far as actually getting details about different decks and which card is rare and what beats what...I wasn’t too interested and did skim over most of that exposition.
All in all this was a really fun, sweet novel with an adorable cast of characters! Highly recommend!


I was provided a copy of Conventionally yours through Netgalley.

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This book intrigued me right from the start - as a huge nerd and a fan of conventions, I loved the cover, and upon reading the description, knew that I had to read it as soon as possible. A gay romance centered around two nerds, a convention for a Magic-the-Gathering-adjacent game, and a road trip? It's like the writer reached into my head and wrote all my favorite things into one.

The story centers around Conrad and Alden, who both play the popular card game Odyssey at their local game store and for a friend's gaming vlog. Both fairly well-known in their gaming community, the two are complete opposites in terms of personality and playing style. Conrad is a brash, charming, lovable guy, while Alden is brilliant, but reserved and bossy, and the have become well-known for butting heads while playing. When they are offered tickets to the huge Odyssey gaming tournament in Las Vegas, representing the vlog they play for, it's an opportunity neither can pass up. Alden seems like he has it all together, but is struggling with figuring out what he wants to do with his life, and Conrad is working several part-time jobs to keep afloat after having to drop out of school. Winning the tournament could change everything for both of them.

When circumstances force them together on a road trip, driving from New York to Nevada, neither are looking forward to it.. But what surprises them both is the unexpected connection that develops between them, and what that means for the tournament, their futures, and each other.

This story was sweet, oh-so-relatable, gut-wrenching, and ultimately a delightful, nerdy escape. Plus: ALL THE TROPES. Won't spoil them, but oh man, so many good ones. Highly recommended!

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mortal enemies alden and conrad are invited to the upcoming 'odyssey' gaming tournament, yet they're the only ones out of their gaming group taking their professor's car to do a road trip to las vegas. along the journey, they may or may not develop some feelings for each other, though both still rely on the win of the tournament for their future. will they find a way to work this out?

do you ever read a book that slowly goes from a solid 4 star review to a barely 2 star one? this happened to me reading this one. i was happy to see that a person who uses they/them pronouns is part of their gaming group. nevertheless, that's where the representation stopped. besides alden's two mums, there were no female characters of any importance included. even worse, there wasn't any kind of bipoc representation! on top of that, conrad is described as very sexually active, which wouldn't be bad at all, if he wouldn't make alden feel bad about being "a virgin" at the same time. this is yet another book that doesn't acknowledge that virginity is a social construct. please stop putting this kind of pressure on young readers, virginity is a concept, it's not real, it's not something that has to be achieved! moreover, conrad makes fun of alden for not drinking and since alden takes medication for his anxiety, he literally accuses him of being no fun because he doesn't want to violate a prescription warning, which he SHOULDNT, because he could die from that?! conrad is super unlikeable and i couldn't relate to him at all. his character sends all the wrong messages to all readers out there, i unfortunately cannot recommend this book.

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What a sweet book! It follows two enemy gamers on a road trip to a RPG convention and, of course, they fall in love. It's told in first person alternating between the two leads. At times, it deals with heavier topics (family estrangement), but it still offers a delightful escape from the world.

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This book totally hooked me from the beginning. I mean how could I not love a book about two guys who fall in love on their way to a gaming convention?
Did I love the LGBTQ+ and nerd aspects of this book? Oh yes, but that isn’t why I have already recommended it to two people. Well, maybe it is why I recommended it to one of those people… But while that might be why you start the book it is the characters and their relationship that keeps you reading. I loved that this book is about two people who make each other better. It is certainly more pronounced in Alden, who starts to believe in himself and more importantly, figures out what he wants. But Conrad is just as much changed, realizing he is good enough.
I really enjoyed learning about these characters as they drove across the country. This book is sweet but also very realistic, which is a hard combination to find. My one complaint is that this card game that is very prevalent in this book is not explained. I am sure it is based on some real-world game, I’m just not familiar with it.
I really enjoyed this book, and I really have recommended it to two friends, and I am now recommending it to all of you.

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This is a new-to-me author, and I really enjoyed her voice. These characters felt very real and I was always pulling for them!

Conrad Stewart has had a rough year. Far rougher than even his closest friends know. He's hanging on by a thread trying to keep his life from totally falling apart. He's a part of the core 4 players for a vlog called Gamer Grandpa, about a popular tabletop/online game, Odyssey. He lives in a college town in New Jersey, but he's had to drop out of school, due to lack of funds, and he's working odd jobs where he can, but none have really worked out long-term. He gets a free ticket to a huge fan convention in Las Vegas, plus a spot in the Odyssey tournament at the con. But, he has to get there, and he can't afford to fly. So, a road trip it is. Too bad it ends up being a road trip with his least favorite person from the vlog group.

Alden Roth has no clue what to do with his life. His plan for med school isn't panning out, and his moms are getting more urgent in wanting him to make choices about his future. Lately the only joy he gets is from playing Odyssey with the others for Gamer Grandpa's vlog. Even if no one really likes him. And even if Conrad gives him a hard time every chance he gets. But, when the tickets to the fan con in Vegas are offered, he knows he needs to go, and win, and then his future will be sorted for him. But, Alden is scared of flying, so he needs to drive, even if he has to drive two weeks with Conrad.

Conrad and Alden bickered so much, but the connection between them was clear from the start. Once they were on their own, they were so much more open and honest with their feelings, and I liked watching them finally get to know each other, after so long of only assuming things about one another. Alden had certain tendencies, and anxieties, and they held him back from really being open with most people. Conrad gave off the vibe that he was the good time guy, and all the while his life and family were a mess. They both learned a lot about being honest and allowing people to get close to them.

Since this was a road trip story, Conrad and Alden were the main focus, though the other vlog players, Payton and Jasper, and Gamer Grandpa (aka Professor Tuttle) were fun in the periphery too. Since this appears to be the start of a series, I hope we'll be learning more about them in the future.

Watching Alden and Conrad fall in love, and navigate their road trip, and the game tournament was sweet and satisfying. I adored their connection and how much they came to care for and depend on one another. They're both young, and have a lot to learn about life and they learn some of that from each other along the way, which was lovely. I really enjoyed this story, and I will definitely read more in this series!

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Heat Factor: Feels like closed door, even though it’s technically not
Character Chemistry: These two felt super wholesome and super young
Plot: New adults road trip to a gaming convention tournament. ONLY ONE CAN WIN.
Overall: These young men made me feel a little old with all their, “What am I going to do with my life!?” crises.

Looking back with a macro lens, I enjoyed Conventionally Yours. Protagonists Conrad and Alden go through quite a bit of personal growth, but when everything becomes tense, and defensive reactions could include avoidance and refusal to communicate, Albert doesn’t opt for that lazy conflict option. Instead, Alden and/or Conrad take time to see the situation from another angle, and decide how they want to go about resolving the conflict with love and understanding. I loved their interactions during the tournament. At the end of the day, it’s a reasonably mature relationship for two new adults with very little relationship experience or life experience under their belts. Also, these two are just syrupy sweet once they open up to each other and quit being all judgy.

Given their age and inexperience, as well as what we see of their relationship at the beginning of the novel, this maturity is both welcome and somewhat unexpected. The story begins with a self-absorbed antagonism based on misplaced assumptions. Conrad is a social butterfly whom everyone loves, but he doesn’t take anything seriously (Alden’s view), and Alden is an uptight know-it-all who likes to be right more than he likes to be nice (Conrad’s view). What they don’t know about each other, but what the reader learns early, is that Conrad was disowned by his family, couldn’t afford school, and was forced to drop out and work multiple jobs just to pay for his housing and asthma medicine. Meanwhile, Conrad might think that Alden’s life with his two supportive moms and stellar GPA is all roses, but Alden struggles with feeling inadequate because he’s somehow neurodiverse but no doctors can figure out in what way exactly, so he just comes across as socially awkward and rude. Furthermore, his moms keep trying to figure out what’s “wrong” with him while also making him feel bad for not getting into med school by pressuring him to figure out a suitably prestigious backup plan.

I understand the gut reaction to dislike a person based on perceived rudeness or unlikeability, but also, given our growing awareness of neurodiversity, it's frustrating to see Alden clearly struggling with what would be considered normal, polite behavior while Conrad (and the other gamers) constantly assume the worst of him. But I'm sure that's what real neurodiverse people deal with in real life regularly, which is just depressing. This was one of those times that reading made me realize that I could be mindful of real life experiences in the future, because Alden’s sadness about never having any friends is really tough to read. He’s the more vulnerable protagonist quite a bit in this book, even though Conrad is the one living with absolutely no safety net.

Alden and Conrad do a bit of sniping at the beginning of the book, but it doesn’t take much time for them to see each other in new ways and then open up to each other on their road trip to Vegas for the gaming convention and tournament. The trajectory of this story isn’t particularly surprising EXCEPT for when we get halfway through the book thinking that these two need to 1) figure each other out and 2) figure out how their relationship can survive the tournament. At that point, all of a sudden, Conrad pops in to let us know he's made too many bad dating choices and Alden is too good for him. So, yay! Worthiness relationship sabotage setup!

If you like all the angst of a new adult (“OMG! I have to adult! That’s so hard! What am I going to doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo?!”), this is a nice, soothing read with surprising emotional maturity. Plus the gamer culture representation is always fun to see.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

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Mana, er scroll...tapping, road tripping, nerd loving awesome coming of age romance story that is so sweet, I swear I got a cavity.

I loved this sweet (read: this book had no graphic sex scenes) m/m romance between a neurodiverse man struggling against family obligations and his total opposite, a fun loving loner struggling to survive after his family disowned him.

This two men captured my heart and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sweet nerdy romcoms with a dash of angst.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

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I go to New York Comic Con every year, as well as some other conventions, so I was super excited to read this! This book is about two rivals of sorts, Conrad and Alden. Part of the same gaming group, they end up driving cross country to a convention to compete in an “Odyssey” gaming tournament that could change their lives, if one of them won. Cue the long distance drives, close quarters, motel rooms with one bed, and the thawing of a basically baseless rivalry.

I am a sucker for the whole “forced shared space” trope, so this was a lot of fun! The pacing was good, just what I have come to expect from Annabeth Albert!! The story was engaging as well. I am not sure if the game in this story is real, but the atmosphere of the convention was awesome! I hope there are more stories to come from this group of characters!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

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A great combination of a road trip adventure, the excitement of conventions and competition, and the sweetness and heart-warming feeling of discovering first love.

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I am so bummed that I didn’t love this book. When I read the blurb I was like “enemies to lovers nerdy gay young adults?! I’m IN!!!” That’s my bread and butter. But unfortunately, this felt like something I’d read before. I wish there was more explanation of the game upfront - I felt confused at first and struggled to get into the story. I also had a hard time buying the journey from “enemies” to lovers for Alden and Conrad. It felt like they went from hating each other to listing pretty quickly (and I don’t usually mind that but I felt like they got caught in the lusting for too long so the enemies felt fake). Also I expected and wanted more sexy time - this is my own personal preference and based on Albert’s other books I was let down a bit.

Overall, this could be a lot of people’s cup of tea but the confusing plot, the feeling I’ve read this before, and the lack of true connection, left me feeling frustrated. I’m so bummed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Casablanca books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*will also be posting to my stories (@literaryintersections) on Pub Day

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Conventionally Yours is a wonderfully sweet story, an enemies to lovers tale done well. I adored the evolving, tender and deeply heartfelt relationship between Conrad and Alden. Alden being neurodiverse was such a nice surprise. He was well written, his eccentricities helped define who he was as a person but never felt like it was overwhelming or too much. Conrad was so wonderfully real and his faults and troubles felt authentic. The writing style was perfectly paced and although I doubt I'll ever understand the card game, there wasn't too much of it that you felt bogged down with it as a reader. A wonderful book overall.

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Annabeth Albert is one of the few authors whose books I’ll pick up without needing to know much about them, and I was keen to jump into Conventionally Yours, book one in her new True Colors series.  I enjoyed it and looked forward to picking it up again after I’d had to pause, but I can’t say that it completely worked for me.  I’m not sure if it’s a case of “it’s me, not you”; it reads more like a Young Adult (maybe New Adult?) book than anything else of Ms. Albert’s I’ve read, so maybe I’m not the target audience.  The fact that I know nothing about the world of gaming, didn’t put me off; I actually enjoyed the parts that dealt with the strategies and game-play, and I liked the central characters, but the pacing drags a bit in the middle, and the leads often felt younger than their stated ages twenty-one and twenty-three.

Conrad Stewart and Alden Roth are part of a small group of gamers who’ve met regularly to play Odyssey for the last few years.  The online vlog they contribute to, Gamer Grandpa, is run by a former maths professor, and is one of the most popular Odyssey vlogs;  as well as analysing their in-person play,  Professor Tuttle comments on the online version of the game and offers general game theory for the masses.  Of the four players, Conrad, Payton and Jasper are friends, but Alden is still something of an outsider, even after three years of playing together, and the adversarial relationship between Conrad and Alden - especially Conrad’s particular brand of cocky trash-talk - is something of a draw for their audience.  The two of them really don’t get on all that well; Conrad thinks Alden is a superior and stand-offish control-freak, while Alden finds Conrad’s casual attitude irritating, seeing him as a party-loving college drop-out who doesn’t really care about anything.

When the book opens, the Professor announces that he’s got them all complimentary tickets for Massive Odyssey Con West, the huge fan convention taking place in Las Vegas the following month.  Gamer Grandpa has impressed someone at Odyssey HQ, and he’s been invited to sit on some panels, and they’ve all been invited to play in the tournament – a huge event with prize money and a seat on the pro tour up for grabs.  Success in the tournament could be life-changing for both Conrad and Alden, but both of them are reluctant to commit at first.  Conrad can’t afford the air-fare, and is surprised when Alden says that he doesn’t fly;  but the Professor has it all worked out.  They’ll make a road-trip of it; they’ll share the driving, make stops and personal appearances at game stores on the way, play a few hands of Odyssey with the locals, see the sights… it’ll be fun.

Of course even the best-laid plans go awry, and an accident and family emergency leave Conrad and Alden on their own, on what looks set to be an uncomfortable journey.  Except that their enforced proximity soon engenders a surprising friendship and affords them the perfect opportunity to start to lower their defences and realise that they’ve completely mis-read each other for three years.

Conrad and Alden are engaging characters who are easy to root for, and their antagonists-to-lovers plotline is fun to read.  Conrad is the sort of guy who uses sarcasm and bravado to hide his inner vulnerabilities, and his story is a heart-breaking one – all the more so perhaps, because it’s not an uncommon one when young people come out to unsympathetic, conservative parents.  He perceives Alden as incredibly lucky on that score; Alden lives with his two moms, and his queerness has never been an issue, but as Conrad learns more about him, he starts to see that just because Alden never had to hide his sexuality from his family, his life is far from perfect.  Alden’s high-achieving moms have pretty much mapped out his life and are trying to force him to make decisions he’s not ready for; he’s socially awkward and has anxiety issues, and reading the part where he talks about his neurodiversity and explains how desperately his moms have tried to find a label to fit him – whether it be Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Personality Disorder or any other disorder – and how he never feels like they see him, was really affecting.  Even more affecting is Conrad’s complete acceptance of him:

“Neurodiverse or not… You’re just you.  Just Alden.  It’s who you are.  Changing any of it isn’t necessary.”

The gradual realisation that they’re actually attracted to one another (and have been for a while) is awkward and sweet, Alden’s inability to refer to sex as anything other than “that” is cute, and I liked the honesty and trust they showed to each other. They talk about things that are difficult for them to talk about, sharing their fears, their hopes and their dreams with someone else for the first time, and I also liked the way Ms. Albert has them incorporating the experiences and lessons learned from the trip into their game strategy.

Conventionally Yours is an easy, absorbing read, and Annabeth Albert clearly knows her stuff when it comes to the gaming portions of the story.  The writing and characterisation are strong, both protagonists are attractive and complex and I enjoyed getting to know them - but even so, something about this book didn’t work quite as well for me as I’d hoped.  The slow pacing in the middle does allow for the relationship to develop and for us to get to know Conrad and Alden as they get to know each other, but on the other hand it is slow, and while the romance is front and centre, and there’s no doubt about their mutual attraction, it all seems a bit low-key.  For anyone wondering about the sensuality rating, the sex scenes are pretty much fade-to-black (which works for the tone of the book) which is one of the reasons I wondered if this is YA (it’s not categorised as such at Amazon).  So I’m on the fence.  There are a lot of good things going on – the representation (Alden is Jewish as well as gay and neurodivergent, Payton is non-binary) is well-done, the gaming sections are interesting and, towards the end, surprisingly exciting! – and the romance is really sweet.  There’s definitely an audience out there for this book and others like it, but I’m just not sure it’s me.  So I’m offering a low-grade recommendation; I suspect it won’t meet the expectations of some of the author’s fans, while others will love the change of pace.  I’m somewhere in the middle.

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This was a wonderful romance story that has everyone's favorite tropes: haters-to-lovers, opposites attract, long road tripping, and being forced to share a bed. I loved the playful banter that Conrad and Alden kept up throughout the book. Before reading this book I had little knowledge of the gaming world, especially how intense and immersive it can be. I enjoyed learning about the game (and different strategies that can be used) as well as the perks of being a professional gamer. Any reader will fall in love with the characters right away as they are sweet, sensitive, and insecure. Both Conrad and Alden are people who I would love to meet in real life! Sometimes I wished I could just give them a hug! Albert does a wonderful job of incorporating real life problems into an otherwise fun story. I really enjoyed this read and stayed up all night to finish it!

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Conventionally Yours is an incredibly fun road-trip romance. It follows Conrad and Alden as they make their way to a fan convention for a card game at which they both excel. Conrad's life is falling apart in every realm except the game, Odyssey. He is on the brink of homelessness and is unable to continue his education and is relying on prize money from the competition at the convention to turn his life around. Alden is counting on winning to give his life direction and get the scrutiny of his mom's off him as his life has not taken the path they all had planned for him.

I had so much fun reading this book. I was literally awake until 5 am reading it; clearly, I had a good time. The romance is cute, and the road trip moves the story along quite well, the tension between the characters is well done, both romantic and related to the competition they are about to play each other in.

I can't think of many non-fantasy road trip books I have enjoyed, but this one was pretty great. I particularly think it was great to read during isolation as it takes you on a cross country road trip with tons of fun stops and a decent amount of being allowed to touch other humans.

I did bump against the speed at which the romance went from like to love, thought the rest of the pacing was well done, but that jump seemed jarring even though it was well telegraphed to the reader. It was just hard to believe that a character who keeps himself emotionally separate from other people as a defense would be this quick to say I love you. The other issue I had with the book was that the ultimate culmination of the plot seemed very very convenient. I love a happy ending, and I wanted a happy ending, but this would have been more believable if the book had had mentions of the ultimate outcome being an option earlier on in the book. My vagueness is in an attempt to not spoil beyond "this romance novel ends happily," which itsn't a massive spoiler because it is somewhat expected in the genre.

I liked the nerdy fun aspects of the book. I have never been this kind of nerd, I assume Odyssey is kind of like Magic the Gathering, but I don't know enough about it to be sure, but I loved reading about the excitement the characters had for the game.

The characters were an excellent group of mostly LGBTQ+ people. I liked the inclusion of a nonbinary person in the book and do kind of wish that they had more page time. Obviously, a two-person road-trip taking up most of the book doesn't leave tons of page time for the other characters. But this seems to be a series so maybe I will be seeing these people again! I also really appreciated Alden's character, I related to the social anxiety plus being embarrassingly literal at times, I loved reading about the way he interacted with the group and seeing them come to understand him better.

This was a fun enemies to lovers jaunt across the US full of nerdiness and the pressure of making life decisions (I am currently doing this bit so I related hard). I had a good time reading and will certainly rad more of the series.

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