This is a sweet story about Conrad and Alden who are opponents who are traveling together to a large convention. It tells the story of how they go from being not friends to being each other’s everything.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel.

This book had a lot of great tropes that I really adore; enemies-to-lovers, only one bed, road trips etc, and while I'm not the biggest lover of "fandom/fan culture" books, I thought I would give this a read anyway as the cover is stunning and I love queer books!

I loved how casually queer this book was. We have a main m/m romance with a few f/f and m/m side characters as well as a non-binary side. The romance between Conrad and Alden was very sweet, their gradual move from "enemies" to friends and then eventually lovers was great.

However, I found myself pretty bored throughout and to be honest, not much happens. There are a few conflicts here and there, the parents of both the main characters were huge letdowns for me personally.

Overall, a quick and easy queer read with loveable main characters, I'm sure I'll be reading more by this author in the future!

Received an e-arc copy from netgally.

I’m still deciding if I’m gonna rate this 3 or 3.5 ⭐️.

Anyway, I think romance between the characters were decent and fun. I also think that the bedroom thingy was intense in my part.

The start was fast paced but it did slow in the beginning of the road trip and went on like that for some time which I think bored me to the point I thought it was forgettable for a little. The whole gaming thing also was kind of boring to me as I’m not a gaming person so I can not really understand the whole game thing.

The thing with the romance of the leads was what kept me going, their relationship developed and character development was done nicely, I think. I love how they ended up close. And I also relate to those pushy parents by the way 🤧 THE PRESSURE IS NO JOKE. It’s like you couldn’t breath and have no freedom to choice on how you run your life.

Overalls I think this was a good read for me. I really love the romance part.

3 stars

I've started picking up romance novels as something nice to read before I go to bed rather than trying to take in all the information of the fantasy/sci-fi/other heavy genre I'm also reading. <i>Conventionally Yours</i> seemed like a good fit for me with it being a little geeky.

This may get spoilery. I'll try not to.

The story follows Alden and Conrad on their road trip to a card game convention in Las Vegas in a love-to-hate romance. They are part of a popular Youtube account called Gamer Grandpa (alongside Jasper and Payton, and of course, Gamer Grandpa) and viewers love to watch the animosity between them. As with every love-to-hate romance, they realise that they have viewed each other incorrectly for a long time.

I have to say that I liked the card game more than the romance. I've read another review on here that says the opposite but I wanted to see the guys playing card games more than I wanted to hear about all the 'feels' they were having about each other. The romance itself was fine. I did think it went from 'I really can't stand you' to 'I want your mouth on my mouth' all of a sudden and within a day of the road trip. I would have preferred if they hated each other for at least half of the trip and finally realised the opposite at the convention.

I enjoyed it while I read it but I don't think it'll stay with me for a long. It looks like it may be a series and I'd only read it to learn more about the Odyssey game than the relationship between the lads.

This book was given to me as an ARC from Netgalley.

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a book less this year.

When I read the first thirty percent of the book I was bored and skeptical that I was going to enjoy the book, but I was fairly confident that I’d be able to give it an average rating. At that point I hadn’t actually found anything that was actually upsetting I just found both POV characters to be a little boring and not people I was invested in. That said, I did initially enjoy the group dynamic that the book set up at the game shop.

Then Albert systematically eliminated every potential side character in the most comedic of ways and left me alone for the bulk of the book with these two characters.

To me it never read like either of the characters really grew from their experience being together, it was reall more like at some point you have to just get over that this is the person that you’re stuck with for the week and get over it. I never felt the chemistry between them and I really only wanted them to bone so that perhaps something exciting might happen.

A lot of the complaints I had about the book are rather petty, so I won’t spend time on them here. And I will take time to recognize that Conrad didn’t map the trip, but the idea that this man was so bent on not seeing his relatives in Kansas and still signed on for a trek through the state when alternate routes were certainly available was a choice, as was visiting Denver when the book talks about how he had bad experiences with his asthma there as a child and yet was still caught off guard.

All of the things that popped up to inconvenience the characters of this story felt incorporated in such an obvious way that robbed them of feeling like a moment that I could actually enjoy.

The most glaringly bad thing about the book was the voice. It read so young for something with protagonists as old as they were. I can respect a chaste romance, and I can respect not having lots of graphic sex scenes, but this book needed something. It constantly felt like the narrative was talking down to the reader, as though it was trying to market to a teen audience the boring love story of two men in their mid twenties, it was just not something that worked. Then to make things worse the final three chapters almost definitely felt tacked on, from the weirdly constructed fade to black sex scene to the odd time skip to the fact that this is mareketed on Goodreads as the first in a series when the book goes out of its way to not include any kind of meaningful side characters and sitting through more of Conrad and Alden’s sotry is the last thing I’d want to do.

Road trip! This is one of my favorite plots with its forced proximity trope. Add in the shared hotel room dilemma – sorry sirs, only one bed available – with feet brushing up against each other in the night and furtive glances as they change clothes. What’s not to love? Conrad and Alden, the young men starring in Conventionally Yours, find themselves on a cross-county road trip to the massive fan convention and tournament for the Odyssey card game. Prize money and a seat on the pro-tour are on the line. As they travel from New Jersey to Las Vegas, they find they have embarked on more than just a trip; they’re on eye-opening journeys of self-discovery. Can Alden learn to accept himself as he is and stand up against parental expectations that don’t match his own dreams? Can Conrad learn to love himself so that he can allow others to love him? He needs to understand that having lost the love of his parents doesn’t mean no one will ever find him lovable.
“And I can’t say I know what you’re going through. But I do know what it’s like to believe you’re broken when really all you are is … you.”
Conrad and Alden are enemies from the local game store where one of the professors at the nearby college hosts a YouTube show with the store regulars playing each other. More often than not, the two men compete against each other because their fierce rivalry plays well to their audience. When they score some VIP tickets to the game con in Vegas, Conrad and Alden end up alone for most of the trip when the others must cancel. The forced time together naturally leads to them getting to know each other – and themselves – better and challenging their preconceived biases and ill opinions of the other. The enemies to lovers and opposites attract tropes play out well. Annabeth Albert catches the undercurrent of their derisive and cutting remarks perfectly – how an otherwise normal sounding statement rips at the other’s insecurity or anxiety, or how an actual encouraging word is perceived as pity. But by the time they hit Ohio, both Conrad and Alden are starting to wonder why they hate each other and why they are starting to care about the welfare of the other.
Alden is a neurodiverse character, but the nature of his diversity is left indeterminant. Ms. Albert provides Alden with many of the hallmarks of various neurological disorders without the need to slap a label on it. He has difficulty reading people, awkwardness in social situations, experiences anxiety, and interprets things literally. In fact, these characteristics could imply many different disorders or difficulties, or none at all. His neurodiversity is mentioned to explain some of his quirks, but it’s not dwelt upon or made a focus of the story. I commend Albert for her deft handling of the subject.
Alden is a fantastic character: vulnerable, annoying, unintentionally funny, nerdy, anxious, caring, and thoughtful. He is under intense pressure from his mothers to sort out his future. Conrad is likewise a multilayered, likable character with his own anxieties pertaining to the daily struggle to maintain work and shelter while trying to plan a better life for himself. Both men envision winning the tournament as the answer to their woes. Problem is, of course, only one can win and where does that leave their burgeoning relationship? It seems presumptuous that it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that either Conrad or Alden will win the tournament, beating the pros and all the other players across the country.
As the story begins to wrap up, both men take steps toward healing by listening to the other reveal their internal struggles, fears, pain, and worries of the future. Both show great growth as they learn about each other and their hard edges are smoothed away. Broadening their view outside of their own problems gives them a greater perspective in their own self-examination.
There were a couple of negatives in the book for me. First, I found it to be overly long. I wouldn’t call it boring because I did enjoy the entire book; it was just too much, a bit tedious, and I began to skim just a little near the end. Second, I was disappointed at the low level of steam. It reads more like a young adult novel, but clearly it’s not. I expected much more heat like in Albert’s Out of Uniform series.
As far as the actual game play went, I liked being immersed in the Odyssey lingo. It was just enough to feel part of the action, like a spectator, but not so much that I felt I was reading gibberish.
Overall, I found Conventionally Yours to be a pleasurable read. I felt I was right along on the journey, both in the car and in the minds and hearts of Conrad and Alden. I would recommend this novel for its cozy love story and fun enemies to lovers interplay.

If this plot seems familiar - two young men meet, dislike each other, end up on a long road trip, get to really know each other and fall in love - yup, it's been done before. But do not let that deter you from picking up this book and simply falling in love with the characters and the setting.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about card-based game play so I'll apologize in advance for my appalling lack of knowledge. Albert has created a game called Odyssey that can be played online, in a team or individually against a group of fellow players. Card decks are purchased and new decks can be built using components that match the player's strategic plan.

Alden and Conrad are regulars on vlogger Professor Tuttle's Gamer Grandpa channel and when he surprises his team with tickets to Massive Odyssey Con West (MOC) in Las Vegas, Conrad and Alden end up driving a huge black Lincoln to Vegas, stopping in small game shops along the way to film content for the channel. Alden is 23, elegantly built, very smart and lives at home with his two moms who want him to go to medical school. Conrad is a bit younger, a small town Kansas boy who looks more like a baseball player than a gaming nerd, and he's had a helluva year due to family issues.

As the days and miles go by, Conrad learns that Alden is neurodiverse, hasn't been accepted to any medical schools, and feels very pressured by his moms to find a high prestige career. Conrad slowly reveals his family's reaction when he was outed and his struggle to survive each day. I love how Annabeth Albert uses elements and strategies from the game as metaphors for Conrad and Alden's lives - play your own game, small moves create big results, work to get just one more turn, one more turn, etc.

If you've read Annabeth Albert's "Out of Uniform" series, this might be a bit tame for you as it is pretty non-explicit (but give it a try, I think you'll reall enjoy it), and if you're a big fan of her "#gaymers" series, dive right in! 4.5 stars for "Conventionally Yours."

Conventionally Yours is something new from Annabeth Albert, less romance novel and more contemporary romance with more of a slow burn and less sexy times.

The plot was a bit too slow for my taste but this is obviously meant to be a character driven novel. I appreciated the way the characters themselves were revealed to the reader and the way the characters’ relationship with each other was developed. Unfortunately it took me about 50% of the way through the novel to finally really get into it and start to feel attachment to the characters and the story. I wanted them to get their happy ending by the end but wish I could have felt that way from the beginning.

I think readers who enjoying gaming and prefer something more like YA romance will enjoy this one, unfortunately it’s just not really for me.

Not bad, but not exactly a winner for me.

I was expecting something similar to Annabeth Albert's #gaymers series, which I really enjoyed. That series struck the right balance between gaming and romance for me.

'Conventionally Yours' is quite heavy on the gaming, with a good chunk of the book devoted to actual playing. I have no interest or connection to that world, so I found it difficult to relate to the MCs and to stay focused in the story.

I did like the set-up of Conrad and Alden's romance. Enemies-to-lovers and opposites-attract always make for some funny scenes!

The two are very sweet together, once they put aside their mutual dislike and start sharing bits of themselves with the other.

However, it was all just very...tame. I never truly felt a spark between Alden and Conrad, and found myself pretty bored at times.

Also, the two men come across as quite young. Much more so than their actual age. Again, I just found it difficult to relate to the MCs or be invested in the outcome.

Overall - this book just wasn't my jam.

However, 'Conventionally Yours' may be more to your liking if you're looking for a quieter new adult romance that's heavy on the gaming.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 Geek Road Trip Stars.

Conventionally Yours is the first in the True Colors series, featuring college-aged guys who take a road trip to a gamer tournament. I do believe you should have a basic grasp on gaming (particularly card gaming) to get the full entertainment value, as it was a large percentage of the novel.

The novel was the epitome of slow-burn, turning enemies into teammates into friends then into lovers.

For the first half of the novel, I was enthralled with the realistic chemistry between Conrad and Alden, especially their backstories that were slowly unfolding as the story moved forward. They were drawn to one another, yet were competitive, as well as misunderstood by the other. Preconceived notions of the other's living situation, with a hefty dose of judgment coloring how they viewed one another. It was realistic, in the manner that humans do this to each other on a daily basis.

On the gaming front, Odyssey reminded of forever and a day ago when I was in my late teens and my ex was obsessed with buying a billion Magic The Gathering cards to play. While I thought it was addictive fun, we were broke, so I definitely felt for Conrad. I thoroughly enjoyed all the gaming aspects, but since I understood the dynamics, I'm not in a position to say whether or not a non-gamer would get heads or tails of that portion.

On the road trip front, as someone who has traveled by car from Pennsylvania to New Mexico almost twenty times, there was a feeling of déjà vu while reading. I found it humorous, because most of the stops are exactly where I ended up every night, like we took the same path of travel. A bit of a walk down memory lane for me.

The chemistry between Alden and Conrad was off the charts. Their emotional reactions were realistically portrayed, as well as heart-clenching. The slow-burn truly had me believing in their connection.

All in all, I was highly entertained on many fronts, enjoying the gaming aspects, the road trip through the US in the same path I've traveled myself, but it was the pacing that knocked it down from a five-star read by a star.

Slow-burn is difficult to keep 'most' readers engaged. As an avid slow-burn reader, even I started to get a bit disinterested around the 65% mark. Not much was happening, aside from relationship and character growth (both amazing things) but the stops and the game stores all started to meld together into redundancy – been there, done that, during the last chapter. I needed the pacing to pick up to keep my interests. I read 65% in one sitting, then it took me a week to read the rest, when I was fully rooting for Conrad and Alden, curious to see who won the ultimate prize and the decisions they made for the future, but was quickly becoming disinterested as the days crawled onward.

Highly recommend to fans of the author, slow-burn readers, and gamer-geeks.

Loved this NA gamer road trip romance.
I'm a sucker for a road trip trope especially one with 'only one bed'. Add to that enemies to lovers and a gamer con as the end goal and you've hooked me in.
This was good. The romance was sweet and the characters were well rounded and complex. Alden in particular was an interesting character to read.
It's NA, so whilst not fade to black it was low heat, but this didn't affect my enjoyment of the story at all.
Recommended.

Dual POV, third person, New Adult, contemporary, enemies to lovers romance with some angst, miscommunication, but, not to worry, a very happy ending.

I wish the things that happened off page had been fleshed out more (including the love scenes.) To be honest, I loved Albert's #Gaymers series (start with Status Update, it's awesome), and was hoping this would be more in that vein, but it's more new adult angsty and less humorous. I would recommend this to those who enjoy card role playing games and a sprinkling of angst before they make it to the happy ending.

2.5 stars

3.5 stars. The pace was a bit slow for me, but I like how Annabeth Albert took the time to really show how these people who didn't like each other much could slowly open themselves up to each other within a short period of time using forced proximity and road trip tropes. I was expecting more time at the actual convention itself, rather than the lead-up to it, and I wish there had been more explanation about how the tabletop game worked; not being familiar with that world, I was a bit lost at the beginning. But the story itself is well plotted, with genuine stakes for both characters.

Conventionally Yours is a enemies to lover romance about two openly-gay men named Alden and Conrad. Both men are obsessed with the card game named Odessey and are on a mission to win the world Odessey convention. On the road to the convention, both men are faced with having to deal with each other, both emotionally and physically. Even though they are known as enemies on their professor's vlog, Conrad and Alden soon form a friendship which turns into something more

Both men need to win the tournament to prove to their families that their passion is not a waste of time, plus the winnings of the tournament are life changing.

This story was emotional, funny, and heartwarming. I was rooting for both characters from the first page. I enjoyed the 1st person fuel perspective of the book and felt deeply for both characters. I also enjoyed the way the author handled one of our characters being on the spectrum, while being a gay male. This story is sweet, fun and fast-paced read.

Oh where do I start with this one? It's funny, its real, its witty, it leaves you wanting more but you're also weirdly content with what you got. The slow burn nature of this rivals to lovers is so incredibly charming and the author has done such a great job of conveying every emotion right from the awkwardness to the simmering feelings of shame and bitterness to the tender feelings of a growing crush. I've come to realise that internal monologues characters have isnt a writing choice I enjoy much, so that was a bit of a damper. Overall though, I really enjoyed the book and felt like it did a great job of portraying a soulful, HEA queer romance, one where the diversity doesn't feel like tokenism. I really appreciate the author including an enby character, I've personally never read a book with nonbinary representation before and I'm glad this book has started to change things for me.

Reviews now up on Goodreads and my bookstagram!

I love all kinds of games so as soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to read this.

The story follows Alden and Conrad, two Odyssey (a famous card game) players who seemingly hate each other but are part of the same gaming group under the tutelage of Professor Tuttle, who shares videos of their matches online.

When Professor Tuttle scores tickets for the whole team to attend Odyssey Con, Conrad and Alden find themselves on a cross-country trip to Las Vegas alone. What they expected to be a horrible experience turns out to become one of the best in their life.

This is a very short-lived enemies to lovers situation because despite not tolerating each other prior to the trip, they’re forced to work together and become close as they open up and are truthful about their opinion on one another. Alden is super sweet and blunt. Conrad is confident and fun-loving. One is shy and the other basks in the attention of people.

Their polar personalities makes for really good banter and teasing but also miscommunication and confusion, especially on Alden’s part who doesn’t always get the jokes.

The romance is really sweet and I love that it was a high-stakes romance. They both needed to win and at the same time wanted the other to win too so it made for good conflict. I also thought that the reality of being kicked out after coming out to your parents was handled well. It was heartbreaking to see Conrad slowly coming to terms with the fact that any of it was his fault.

Overall it was very enjoyable and I loved the lgbt+ diversity.

4.5⭐️. Enemies to lovers, road trip, opposites attract.
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🚗 Q: what’s your favorite game?
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Here’s what we have: a cross-country trek to a game tournament between two men who are competitors & heavily dislike the other (and also look like Armie Hammer and Kit Harington. This is just speculation but let a girl live). What could possibly go wrong—and right (kissing, kissing, kissing!)?
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Annabeth Albert’s Conventionally Yours is delightful & I adored it. Told from dual perspectives, we get to see where Conrad (handsome, brawny, “Disney-hero”-like) and Alden (good with kids but seemingly awkward/grumpy/reserved with most adults, cute) assume or see the worst in each other. We also the moments when they start picking up on the fact that no, the other person is not the worst person ever. They’re actually pretty cute.
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Albert compellingly sketches the conflicts both characters are facing in their families & shows how both they’re moved to meet the challenges facing them. I especially love how Albert portrays Alden’s neurodiversity and his anxiety, which sometimes makes him snap at other people. (<— me. It’s hard to explain how worrying about something irrational can lead to you being mean to someone cute in your vicinity but if you have anxiety, you get it, I think).
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The romance between Conrad & Alden is low-angst though still high stakes because I wanted both leads to admit IMMEDIATELY that they loved each other and that—thank God for the sake of the story—didn’t happen right away.
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I will admit that my thirsty soul wanted more steam on the page but Thirsty Soul was appeased by the slow burn and all the ways Conrad and Alden are sweet to each other.
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This book is great. I’ll take four more like it, please.
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CW:
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outing not by choice, subsequently cut off by parents

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Another ARC I was more than happy to review. #ConventionallyYours is an #enemiestoloversbook which can be some of my favorite storylines. Doesn’t matter how many times it’s done, I still love it. Conrad and Alden are part of the same group that plays the card game Odyssey, but that doesn’t mean they get along. When they get the opportunity to be a part of the biggest gaming convention and tournament they want to jump at the chance. But a road trip with each other? Can they survive the trip and hope to make their gamer dreams come true?
Thank you to #NetGalley and #SourcebooksCasablancaPaperbacks for this #ARC, which is now available as of June 2, 2020. #bookworm #bookstagram #pridebooks #yabooks

Conrad is fun, popular, and good looking. Also, he can barely keep a job, had to drop out of school, and now he is about to lose the only place he can afford. The only chance he has to turn his life around and prove his worth is if he wins the tournament.
Alden is brilliant, and restrained, and self-controlled, and just perfect. Perfect grades, the best card deck but yet he can't figure out his future.
Two rivals, two boys who dislike each other, with the only thing connecting them being their game playgroup, are going to find themselves on a road trip to the biggest fan convention. They both want to win, but what if this journey gives them something so much more than just a win?
It is a super cute romance but I think it could have been shorter. A lot of things were said twice, that for me if they were deleted it would not have changed the course of the story, rather than make it more appealing. Overall, I really enjoyed it and loved both Alden and Conrad.

Annabeth Albert continues her great chain of nerdy novels with this geek-filled, dungeons and dragons-esq RPG romance.