An accidental meeting and a misunderstanding lead to a life-altering connection.
A new job, a new city, and hopefully a new life. When chubby gamer Oliver Barnaby receives a job offer from the best boutique game developer in the country, he leaves his family and his less than spectacular existence in Oklahoma without a second’s hesitation. Determined to change more than his career and his geography, Oliver implements a plan to finally land a boyfriend. Step one is improving his skills in the bedroom.
A life that looks perfect on paper, but feels empty in reality. Attractive, successful, charismatic Jaime Snow has a life other people envy. His already booming business is growing. He isn’t lacking in friends. And he has no trouble finding a date. But there’s an emptiness in Jaime’s heart and a hole in his life that only the right man can fill.
An accidental meeting, a misunderstanding, and falling in love. When Oliver and Jaime end up at the same bar at the same time, they each see something they want in the other. Going to bed together that first night is easy. Building the lifetime relationship they both desperately crave will require trust, time, and a little misunderstanding.
If you want an angst filled, nail biter of a story, Not A Game isn’t the book for you. However, if you want what I think is Cardeno C‘s specialty, a romance set in the real world, with characters that you can relate to, then this book is a great choice!
Oliver is a chubby game developer who decides to move across the country to start a new job, and a new life, and decides to press the reset button on his love life by getting lessons on loving from a male escort. In walks Jamie, and they begin a misunderstanding that Jamie is loathe to correct until he can figure out how to do it and keep Oliver in his life.
I really enjoyed getting to know Oliver, and all his quirks. Everything was a numbers game for him, down to figuring out the number of people attending a party. Logic and forthright understanding was how Oliver worked through his life. If he could quantify it, or explain it rationally, then he could understand it, and move on. However, if it made no sense, then his nerves ballooned, and he would shut down. This was so true to how many people deal with every day life situations. It was just one more reason to love the character of Oliver.
Jamie was so sweet and loving, caring for Oliver as much as he could, showing him how important he was, and how attractive he found him. He let Oliver know that his size was desirable to him, not a turn off, emphasizing it when Oliver needed it most. Jamie showed himself to be the boyfriend that Oliver needed and wanted.
I would have liked to see a bit more of a conflict, to see how these men dealt with issues that needed resolution. There were a couple things that I thought needed to be resolved, for Oliver’s comfort level to be where he needed it to be to be comfortable in his relationship with Jamie. However, a sweet read like this doesn’t necessarily need conflict to be enjoyable, and leave the reader wanting the HEA that came at the end.
And of course, we have a great setup to see what is ahead for Jack, as he ventures back into the world of dating after 8 years of a broken heart. Looking forward to that, because CC will no doubt give us what we are craving.
4 pieces of eye candy
