4.25 Stars

Content Warnings at end of review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this book!

When Milo shows up looking for rare Odyssey cards, Jasper wants nothing to do with him. But Jasper reluctantly agrees to help Milo and learns that he may have changed since what happened in High School. They go on a quest to get the cards back for Milo, and both realize they are falling for each other along the way.

This is such a cute rom-com! I really do like both characters and the way they developed throughout the story. I thought there was so much growth that happened and I liked the way the second chance was given. The relationship was cute and feelings felt real!

This was a quick paced and happy read for the nerdy romance lover! You could read this without having read Conventionally Yours first, but if you have, you'll get some nice cameos of your old favorites!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

Out of Character

I didn’t read Annabeth Albert’s first book in this series, so I wasn’t sure what to expect!

Jasper and Milo were friends when they were young, but when Milo starts playing sports in high school and Jasper publicly comes out as gay, Milo decides to cut ties to save face with his team. Years later, the two reconnect when Milo needs Jasper’s help to find super rare Odyssey cards that he lost. Jasper decides to help, but only because he can use Milo’s help as a cosplayer for various events. While the two of them start working together, their friendship starts repairing and Milo realizes he may see Jasper as more than just that.

This is a very cute, nerdy mlm romance. The two boys haven’t had the easiest of lives and we watch as they work through their old pain and rebuild a real friendship. For those who are into games like D&D, you will love to see the game of Odyssey throughout the book and how it connects so many characters in the story. For me personally, I could have used a little less of it but, alas!

One thing that was a little odd to me is that this reads so much like a YA novel, but it is not. I guess I would classify it as New Adult? The boys are both in their early 20s and there is some pretty graphic steamy steams, so beware if that isn’t something you are comfortable with! The novel as a whole feels somewhat young, so the contrast between those scenes and the rest of the story felt off.

Overall, this is a sweet queer book with a perfect friends-to-lovers trope. If you are into cosplay or fantasy card games, this will definitely be up your alley!

⭐⭐⭐💫

Milo and Jasper were friends once, then during high school Milo became distant. He also allowed his friends to tease/bully Jasper. So many years later when Milo turns to Jasper for help, he’s not surprised when Jasper turns him down, it’s what he deserves after all.

However, Jasper decides to give Milo another chance and agrees to help him with his problem. As the two work together to replace very rare cards the Milo lost in a bet, their friendship (and so much more) becomes stronger and they learn what it means to truly love yourself for who you are and to love those that are there to support you in all that is you.

I loved listening to this book and hearing how Milo and Jasper’s relationship began when they were kids, what happened in high school, and how they work to not only rebuild their friendship but nurture it into something more.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advance copy of this audiobook! This is my honest volunteer review!

Another great book from Annabeth Albert!

Like Conventionally Yours, book one in the True Colors series, Out of Character had a lot of gaming jargon in the dialogue. I am so not a gamer – lol – but I still loved this book. Friends-to-lovers and second chance stories are two of my favorite romance tropes. While Out of Character was technically a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers it still checked off the trope boxes for me.

Milo and Jasper were best friends until Milo screwed up when they were in high school. Now Milo needs Jasper’s help but Jasper’s not too willing at this point. Jasper finally decides to help but Milo has to pay the asking price and do Jasper a favor. And that is the beginning of them getting their friendship back on track.

This was such a good book! Milo was truly remorseful for how he behaved in high school and as they spend more time together Jasper realizes how much he wants to have Milo back in his life. Milo is still coming to terms with being gay and he’s not ready to be out. He’s afraid of disappointing his mother and brother.

This story took me on an adventure into a gaming world that I really know nothing about but was fun to read about. I loved the way that Annabeth brought these characters back to each other. Milo had to face some difficult decisions but came through when it mattered this time.

Kirt Graves and Joel (Leslie) Froomkin are two of my favorite audiobook performers and they did a fantastic job with Out of Character. I didn’t listen to book one in the series – I read it, but after listening to this one I want to go back and hear their version of Conventionally Yours.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

Review of ARC audiobook provided by Netgalley. I enjoyed this light and fluffy gay romance. It is the story of closeted, shy Italian-American jock Milo and out, theatre & cosplay, academic oriented Jasper. Both were extremely former childhood friends who loved to play legos together. They drifted apart in high school when Milo joined a sports team, became ashamed of his sexuality, and felt he had to be the masculine jock his father wanted for a son.

Years later, when Jasper is a senior in college, Milo meets Jasper again, but this time is different...
Cute romance, and I enjoyed the audio narration. Well written chemistry between the leads. Recommended to those looking for a light-hearted, cute, and nerdy gay romance novel. 3 and a half stars out of 5.

Out of Character by Annabeth Albert
2nd book of the True Colors series. New Adult M-M romance.
Milo lost his brother’s rare game cards. He gets help from Jason trying to replace the cards. As they search, their relationship grows to friendship, sex and love.

Not really a coming out story. More a first relationship story. Milo already knows he prefers men but he’s never pursued it. Until Jasper.
Some live lessons and growing up for these twenty-somethings.
Slight emotional relationship angst and learning self-confidence. The romance was on the sweet side but still R rated, though not explicit. A happy for now that included family in the equation and the potential for future growth.
I enjoyed the return to the gaming world though some of the terms may have gone over my head.
Overall engaging and a satisfying romantic experience.

🎧 I listened to an audio version of this book. It was narrated by Kirt Graves and Joel Froomkin who also did the first book in this series. Their voices are complimentary but different enough to know which of the character POV it was in the alternating chapters. One was a bit east coast accent. Both voices fit the early 20’s age of the men and they made all the secondary characters unique with differing accents although neither were great at the female voices. Emotions of hopefulness, lust and worry are well modulated and expressed. I found the speed of 1.25 the most comfortable which is pretty much the standard for me.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. Thank you to #SourcebooksCasablanca and #DreamscapeMedia

I received an ARC of the audiobook from Netgalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review. Milo and Jasper were best friends, up until Milo joined the soccer team. Milo ran with the jocks who bullied Jasper and their friendship was over. Fast forward some years later. Milo is in a rough spot after losing an extremely valuable set of collectible Odyssey cards that belong to his brother, current serving in the military. With no where else to turn for help, he goes to Jasper who has been active in the world of Odyssey for years. Jasper has an trade for him, he’ll help procure replacement cards if Milo will be Price Neptune for Jasper’s cosplay group. Soon they find themselves spending an awful lot of time together, and a crush from long ago starts bubbling to the surface. Will Milo open up and finally tell Jasper he’s gay? Will the pain of the past keep them from rekindling a friendship, or perhaps more?

This book follows Conventionally Yours, following Jasper, one of the side characters. Once again, Albert writes characters with complex stories and journeys that led them to where they are at the start of the novel. Jasper, without knowing it, helps Milo start to live as his authentic self for the first time in his life. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and following their journey is one of discovery and acceptance.

DNF @ 10 percent. This is not due as much to the book itself but to the absolutely horrendous narration of the audiobook. The fake Boston accents were so awful I couldn’t even continue it was bothering me so much. I think I would have liked this book a lot more if I had read it. The audiobook just ruined it.

This book was cute, but the two narrators were both awful. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I read it on paper. On the bright side, even though it’s the second in a series, you don’t have to read the first one in order to understand this. I didn’t even know this was part of a series until I was halfway through.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: A nerdy gamerdom queer romance for the ages.

💭 Overall Thoughts: This is a cute, nerdy, mostly light hearted childhood friends to enemies to lovers book.

The book holds lots of adorable nerdy themes surrounding “Odyssey” which is a card game that sounds similar to “Magic the Gathering” and cosplay. Loved the nerdy fandom representation but also that the group uses their fandom for the greater good volunteering at a children’s hospital to play the game and dress as the characters (it’s the Child Life Specialist in me).

The book was well paced for me, witty, and light— a good summer read. When dealing with hard topics it did not skim over them but it addressed them without a lot of detail— meaning it may be less triggering for some on some of the topics in my content warnings.

What I Liked:
👍 Loved that this book fought against stereotypes— just because you play soccer and like cars doesn’t mean you can’t also like art and have insecurities.
👍 There is some good character growth and change through the book.
👍 Representation of gay and trans characters as well as physical and learning disabilities.

What I Didn’t Like:
👎 I had a hard time connecting with Milo at times, but I think it was the audio version.

🎧 I had a REALLY hard time with the voice portrayal of Milo. I just couldn’t connect with the “tough Jersey Shore Italian Jock” vibe. Otherwise the narrator was engaging and well paced — listened at 1.5.

💞Read this if you liked: The Kiss Quotient, Well Met

⚠️ Content Warnings: homophobia, death of a parent, military deployment, car accident, alcoholism

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for allowing me to listen with request for honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars
Steam: 🌶🌶🌶/5 stars (steamy scenes with description)

No spoiler review 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the Audiobook and to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest reviews.

I alternated between the Digital Arc and Audiobook and I enjoyed doing that!

Narration: Two different narrators. One for each character. It worked well! There voices kept me interested! Very well narrated! Their voices fit the characters so well I thought

Ex friends to Enemy to lovers with an excellent LGBTQA+ rep!

Also loved the video game, card games and cosplay parts of the story. I’m a nerd so I appreciated the nerd culture! It made me smile!

Jasper and Milo were best friends in the past and then became best friends and enemies in high school. Now they have to help each other out. They are so cute together and I love their story. A slow burn attraction that I loved! Was so well written. It was also a great story of forgiveness of others and ones self.

This book also had some really well written and sweet spicy scenes!

Some parts were a bit slow so not a full 5 stars but I really enjoyed this book!! If you are looking for a cute, steamy, LGBTQA+ and nerdy in the best way romance I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions and thoughts are mine.

Not my favorite Annabeth Albert series but this was a great follow up to Conventionally Yours. I would go as far to say I actually liked this storyline better than Conventionally Yours. Jasper gets his redeeming story and the friends to enemies to lovers trope is great. Not nearly as much in depth gaming as the first book, which is nice for someone who is here for the romance action. I often find myself skimming over scenes like that and that was not necessary this time.

At times, the accents seemed a little much, There were moments when both narrators dropped the accents for the main characters and I wondered why they couldn't speak like that for the whole thing. I looked past it. I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to the audio book over physically reading, but I'll take what I can get.

And of course there was a HEA, so what more could you ask for?

Oh my gosh this was absolutely adorable! I really enjoyed the first book in this series so its not a huge stretch to think I was going to like this one.
I think I actually liked this book better than the first one. I found the main characters in this one to be more relatable by far. And while I am not a fan of trading card games I can definitely get behind a real world epic quest.
The entire vibe of this book had this fun quest/treasure hunt feel and I loved it. I could not put this book down. I read this whole book in one day and I was grinning the whole time. I just had so much fun reading this. It honestly makes me want to go back and reread Albert's first book. I am just so glad I can get this book into people's hands and spread the gay nerd love!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Out of Character is the second installment in the True Colors series. In it, you will meet Jasper and Milo. They used to be the best of friends until the day they just weren't. Which is why I was really excited to see how their romance would blossom once feelings came out to play.

Now I'll admit that these two were pretty freaking cute throughout the entire book. Their lives weren't completely easy but they eventually found a way back to one another. I honestly like their relationship but I at times I wanted things to slow down a bit. For some odd reason, it just felt like things were moving way too quickly for me. Which, yeah, is weird to say since they used to be friends and everything... but that's how I feel at this moment,

In the end, I have no idea if there's going to be a third book or not but I wouldn't be mad if one randomly popped up either. I just need more cuteness please!

DNF 15%

Okay, I tried listening to this book quite a few times, and I just couldn't ever get into it. I often have a hard time with narrators who have deep voices typically associated to men... I also really wanted to give this author another chance (as I also DNFed Conventionally Yours), but it didn't work out this time either.

This doesn't mean this book isn't for you, so I definitely urge you to check it out if the synopsis intrigues you!!

I didn't realise this was the sequel to Annabeth Albert's other book, which unfortunately was also a DNF from me - I struggle to gel with the author's characters and I'm not a fan of the idea of a romance between someone and their former bully/person who was party to the bullying.

WELL WASN'T THIS JUST PRECIOUS

I loved "Conventionally Yours" and this was such a tender companion set in the True Colors universe. I dare say I liked it even more than the first??? I loved the friends-to enemies-to friends-to lovers plot and I just adored both of these characters. I really enjoyed their joint quest to find the rare cards and the relatable growth arcs of trying to become better people, forgiving, and shedding unhealthy environments, people, and situations in our lives and owning our true selves. I thought this was really wonderful.

I also listened to this in audio and really enjoyed it. Kirt Graves is one of my favorites (he has narrated TJ Klune's Green Creek series and I'm a huge fan) and he did so well with Milo's character. It was a really well-done audiobook.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the e-ARC, and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook, in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

The book was good! Solid 3 ⭐️ for me.

I feel like there were three parts to this story: 1. Milo’s coming out and battle with internal homophobia 2. The rekindling of a friendship (later romantic relationship) between two childhood friends and 3. The two character’s desires to help one another out by intertwining their lives (Jasper’s cosplaying and charity; Milo’s big mistake with losing someone else’s collectible cards after losing a bet).

It was a cute story! I enjoyed the aforementioned parts 2 and 3 more than the aforementioned part 1 though.

I find bullies-turned-lovers, within the gay world, definitely over done (not saying I hate it, because I do like a good redemption romance story)—I just feel like I’ve seen it so many times, so I knew how it was going to play out. I liked Milo’s coming out arc, but I got bored with the “my high school friends didn’t like gay people, so I couldn’t like them, even though I was a gay person…oh and btw, I’m in college now, so I still care about what my high school friends think.”

Also, my interest in cosplay and role-playing cards is limited, so I couldn’t connect with that storyline as much as I wanted too. But I loved the uniqueness of those interests shared by the characters. I think anyone who loves cosplay and playing cards/role-play board games would love this book—so definitely give it a try!

Thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for giving this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinion are my own.

3/5 ⭐️s

I was worried going into this because I hadn’t really connected with Jasper in Conventionally Yours and wasn’t sure I’d be pulled into his story. That worry was spot on.

Overview:
Jasper is in for a shock when he high school bully, Milo, shows up in a panic, desperately in need of rare Odyssey cards…something he thinks only Jasper can help him find.

What Worked:
- I loved how Milo grew in confidence throughout the book. He found his path in life that lets him be himself while doing what he loves.

What Didn’t Work:
- Milo and Jasper had almost zero chemistry. I liked them because I was told to like them, but it didn’t feel natural to me. The formula said they were going to end up together, so they did. The journey to that was underwhelming though.
- I’ve noticed Annabeth Albert tends to write six endings for one book. Just like with Conventionally Yours, Out Of Character could have ended about 30 pages before it did. I understand she was wrapping up lose ends, but it doesn’t feel like a coherent story when the reader is being tossed from epilogue to epilogue with no connecting moments. A lot of Milo and Jasper’s ending could’ve been skimmed over in one epilogue.

Overall:
- Three stars, but I doubt I reread it.
- Check this out if you’re interested in friends-to-lovers.
- I don’t recommend the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Milo and Jasper were best friends when they were younger. But as the teenage years hit they grew apart. Milo became one of the cool jocks, and Jasper was the nerdy boy that Milo’s friends made fun of. Now that they’re older, Milo is going through a really challenging time, and turns to Jasper for help. The two make a deal and agree to help each other, and along the way not only does their friendship re-emerge, but old crushes do as well.

I really enjoyed seeing the process of how these two characters learned how to trust each other again. This was a low-angst, sweet romance and fans of gamings and cosplay will definitely love this one!

The audio was done well and I appreciated that there were two different narrators for the different POVs;