Rivals: Gaymer Guys Book 1, Alison Hendricks

Proving your worth is more than just doing your job.  For Finn it's giving all his time, talent, and focus to the Cyclones.  They're his family and being successful in the gaming world is what he's dedicated himself to.  But there's one big distraction: a hot yet annoyingly antagonistic rival.  Ryker, along with proving to his father that gaming is a legitimate career, is obsessed with Finn and his bids for attention become inflammatory more often than not.  Hooking up at a convention becomes more when they end up on the same team but nothing is ever that easy.  With something to lose on either side of the rivalry Finn and Ryker will have to focus on what's most important if they want success both on and offline.

It was really difficult to like Ryker in the beginning.  He was childish, arrogant, irritating, reactionary, and pessimistic.  He was also vulnerable, yearning for love, fun, and intelligent.  By taking a little while to see his better side we got to know all his facets really well and I couldn't help but feel for him.  There was a bit of him that needed to be loved, cared for, and carried before he could settle and meet his true potential.  As the story came to its conclusion it was clear that it wasn't just Finn that needed to be his home, it was the whole team and we got to see him really blossom.

Finn, on the other hand, was the most giving soul and I hoped so hard that he'd find the latitude necessary to achieve his life balance.  He gave all of himself and rarely stopped to fill his own reservoirs.  While I wasn't exactly thrilled that he was so easily distracted during the gaming situations, I wasn't too upset because it was honestly the first time he was so consumed by not just attraction, but hope for someone else that he was bound to need a longer adjustment period.  By the end he got his own version of settling as he and Ryker found love, family, friendship, and belonging.

Together they were crazy hot.  There were sparks all over the place, both the antagonistic kind as well as passionate.  I don't really feel their relationship got enough in the way of give and take though.  Ryker needed his hand held a lot so more time and attention was given to his evolution and it felt like Finn's was more of a byproduct of the situation instead of a driving force behind both of their goals.

It's also important to mention that the whole thing was heavy on the gaming terminology, world, and just about everything else you can imagine.  I was quite lost in the beginning until I accepted that there are just some things I wouldn't understand.  When I took the story as a whole rather than trying to grasp all the gaming stuff, I found that it was much easier to read.

With a slow start I was wary of how much I'd end up liking the story but both men and the concepts of family and forgiveness drove it deep, drove it home.  I was surprised to have enjoyed the story as much as I did.

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