Elite Starfighter: Game 3 brings us Lily and Darius' story. Lily is the third in a trio of gamer friends who are the first on Earth to complete the ElElite Starfighter: Game 3 brings us Lily and Darius' story. Lily is the third in a trio of gamer friends who are the first on Earth to complete the Elite Starfighter game. Her good pals Jamie and Mia have reached the max level, accepted their Starfighter ranks, and been whisked off planet by their handsome pair bond copilots. This is how Lily found out that the game was not really a game, but an actual training program for an intergalactic planetary war. Before disappearing from Earth, Mia texted Lily and told her to expect a visit from Darius. Because HE IS REAL.
Bags packed and raring to go, Lily hits the ground running in her six metre Titan, Athena, a gigantic humanoid battle mech which Lily pilots from the inside. Lily and Darius (who pilots his own Titan, Tycho) are immediately engaged in planet Velerion's battle for survival against the evil Queen Raya. Why does it seem that Darius is hiding something? Does Darius trust Lily as a warrior? Will their new "pair bond" work out?
I loved the continuation of this series. It was great to see old faces. The battle sequences were exciting and detailed. Lily and Darius share a combination of sexy times as well as the growing pains of a new relationship that has not fully matured. They need to better communicate. This creates the internal crisis of their story, with stakes raised as they are sent into battle as a fractured couple.
Grace Goodwin delivers another wonderful story, entertaining on multiple levels. Especially, funny this round is the self-referring humour as Darius sneaks a read of the books Lily has brought with her from Earth - and tailors his next seduction on Mated To The Warriors (Interstellar Bride Series) by you know who!
(ARC received from the author via Booksprout.)...more
Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 left off. Mia and Lily have continued to play the online game, Starfighter Training AAmazing and out-of-this-world!
Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 left off. Mia and Lily have continued to play the online game, Starfighter Training Academy, but it’s been two weeks since their friend, Jamie, finished her final level and vanished completely. Mia Becker is a computer analyst working in cyber-intelligence for the German federal police (Bundeskriminalamt (BKA)) by day, who continues hacking in her leisure time by playing the Starfighter Mission Command Specialist (MCS) in the game at night.
Mia has been using her skills and connections to search for Jamie but has been unable to find her. Soon, she learns why, when she celebrates her own victory over completing the game and learns that her virtual training partner, Kassius Remeas of Velerion, is a real flesh and blood alien who has come to collect her and whisk her to the Vega star system.
I’d looked everywhere… on Earth. I wasn’t losing my touch at hacking and tracking. The best intelligence gathering systems in Europe had not failed. I had been looking in the wrong place. On the wrong planet.
Already obsessed with one another after months of flirting and lusting and emotional bonding during virtual training, Mia and Kass waste no time in getting physical from the moment he picks her up at her work place. They get physical A LOT. I mean, what’s a Mile High Club when you have the Two Star Systems Same Day Club? Trust me, these two! They can’t keep their hands off each other and they don’t care who knows it.
As the newest and only Starfighter MCS bond pair, Mia and Kassius are vital to Velerion’s war effort against the evil Queen Raya. Their job is to hack into systems and gather information that entire battle plans will drawn upon. Their elevation to the elite ranks of Velerion’s fighting force is not universally welcomed, however. An unscrupulous former supervisor and Kassius’ own hacking history lead to some potentially deadly internal conflicts. Will Mia be able to survive them? Will Jamie be there to help her friend?
I enjoyed every moment in reading this story. I felt Mia’s excitement as her calculating mind quickly grasped the reality of Kassius’ arrival. I was transfixed by their unrestrained passion for one another. (Did I mention there was a lot of that?) I bristled with indignation as Kass and Mia faced off with their nemesis. Grace Goodwin excels in transporting her reader into the sci-fi world of her imagination. This was another fabulous instalment in a gamer girl’s dream come true.
I was a total space hussy. And that made me smile.
This is a sincere review on an ARC version from the author via Booksprout.
Holly is a software engineer at a company that manufactures virtual reality headsets and gloves. As their CTO, she’s had the opportunity to develop heHolly is a software engineer at a company that manufactures virtual reality headsets and gloves. As their CTO, she’s had the opportunity to develop her own pet project: literally, a VR pet therapy for pediatric hospitals. Just as she is about to secure her first contract with a New York kids’ hospital, her company is taken over by the Chortsky siblings, Alex and Bella, as part of their plan to bring Bella’s tele-erotic product line closer to fruition.
What will happen to Holly’s “pet” project if the Children’s Hospital finds out that her parent company now also makes sex toys? How does a prime-obsessed, hyper-organized, control freak girl geek handle this adversity? Well, she bribes her magician twin into teaching her lock-picking skills so that she can break into her new bosses’ office. She’s going to introduce their dad’s penetration software into Bella’s prototypes in order to sabotage the next investment meeting. Yeah, she’s brilliant but in a mind-bendingly non-sensical way. Soon she’s caught in the act, in a very compromising fashion, by The Devil himself, but by then I’ve already gotten quite a few “chortles” under my belt.
Misha Bell delivers total hilarity, endearing geekiness, and smoking hot sexiness once again. I loved every moment of Holly’s neurotic quirkiness as she tries to keep her job, protect her project, and hide her drooling lust-filled fantasies about her hot new boss. She befriends her other boss, Bella, (feeling more than a little guilty about their rocky introduction) and QA tester Fanny, and I couldn’t be happier with the nerdy girl bonding.
Memorable gems include Alex’s bear dog-chihuahua cross, Beelzebub, another over-the-top dinner party with the Chortsky parents, and dirty phallic Tetris game playing. There were tons of “awww-the-feels”, family-you’ve-got-to-love-em, and embarrassing laugh-at-inappropriate moments.
Hard Byte is romantic comedy with a perfect blend of silliness and soul. An unshackled sense of humour provides the former and its cast of amazingly endearing characters brings the latter. This series is one I would recommend again and again.
Jamie Miller is a gamer. A delivery driver by day, she spends her nights playing Starfighter Training Academy with her two online friends, Lily and MiJamie Miller is a gamer. A delivery driver by day, she spends her nights playing Starfighter Training Academy with her two online friends, Lily and Mia. She loves the action and excitement of the game, as well as the hot and sexy wingman that she customized as her sidekick. Alexius of Velerion is everything she could want in a man and more and, as she watches her avatar engage in a romantic storyline with the handsome warrior, she fantasizes about him being real.
When Jamie completes the final, most dangerous, most difficult mission of the game, she is awarded her Starfighter Badge and jokingly agrees to be “pair bonded” to Alex in an onscreen Starfighter Bonding Ceremony that is afterwards recorded in the Hall of Records at the Citadel. LOL! It’s just a game, right? Wrong.
Imagine Jamie’s surprise when she wakes later that night to find Alexius at her door, ready to whisk her to the Vega star system to fight bad guys, save his planet (and ours), and do all the other things that bonded pairs would do!
I just absolutely fell in love with the premise of this story. It would be my secret wish come true. Jamie has trouble believing that it’s all real and that it’s happening to her. “I’m not special” she keeps saying. What I loved about Jamie is that she rose to the occasion whenever it was required of her. She did not waste the opportunities that arose.
There is more to Alexius, or Alex as Jamie calls him, than the sexy Starfighter wingman portrayed in the “game”. He desperately wants Jamie but he also has a duty to protect his planet from being taken over by the evil Queen Raya and her Scythe fighters. The plot is a perfect balance of sweetly romantic and dangerously devious. This is a fantastic opener for a new series!
This is a sincere review on an ARC version from the author....more
Question: How is this story about a sexy toy quality assurance evaluator similar to boba tea?
Answer: They both look innocent and fun but should come wQuestion: How is this story about a sexy toy quality assurance evaluator similar to boba tea?
Answer: They both look innocent and fun but should come with a warning: Use CAUTION while consuming!
This book had me choking with LAUGHTER. Be prepared for weird looks from bystanders as you laugh out loud, and suspicious glances from your family as you try (unsuccessfully) to wipe the perpetual grin off your face. And, if you are clumsy (like me) you might even spew your food at an inopportune moment. I mean it. This is seriously funny. And raunchy. Definitely, super romantic. Oh! And nerdy, too! Don’t believe me? You’ll see ...
P.S. Even though the main characters’ names are Fanny and Vlad, I fell in love with Monkey and Oracle as well (see below):
I loved this! A robotics professor and an online gamer girl fall in love in a sexy chat room and consider taking the next step, into The Real World. SI loved this! A robotics professor and an online gamer girl fall in love in a sexy chat room and consider taking the next step, into The Real World. So realistically geeky. They may be smart, but navigating a relationship has posed past challenges that burden them into this one. Sometimes I just don’t know what’s the right thing to say, either. Writing down all the different ways a conversation could have been re-worded may seem a little obsessive-compulsive but I actually know people who do this. That’s why I felt true empathy for this sexy couple....more
Worth Any Cost is fun, clever, and satisfying. It is Book 6 of the extremely entertaining Gaming the System series, and ABrenna Aubrey delivers again!
Worth Any Cost is fun, clever, and satisfying. It is Book 6 of the extremely entertaining Gaming the System series, and Adam and Mia's fourth book. This series revolves around two boy geniuses, Adam Drake (a game programmer) and his best friend Jordan Fawkes (a financial whiz) who start their own multiplayer online gaming company and become multi billionaires before the age of thirty. It is flush with gaming references, geeky terms, and an intellectual perspective. Not necessarily the angle one would associate with hot steamy romance! But boy, does Brenna have this niche covered and mastered!
Worth Any Cost is best described as Brenna's gift to her Gaming the System fans. As the blurb states, it's Adam and Mia's wedding book, so definitely not a standalone. You need to know the profound soul-shattering journey they went through in Books 1-3 to thoroughly appreciate this. I loved the many challenges that threatened to get in the way of Adam and Mia's happily ever after, and the new maturity and unity with which they met them. There is also lots of sweetness, and humour, and love. They are one of my favourite book couples ever! Thank you, Brenna Aubrey!
BONUS: For Canadian fans, like myself, who felt the warm glow of attention in For the Win (Book 4) when Jordan and April visited Vancouver, BC, here's a heads-up. At the conclusion of Worth Any Cost, we are set up for Kat's story, so expect more Canadiana from Brenna. Can't wait!...more
Loved it! Brenna Aubrey is a genius at writing romance with a different perspective. This time we glimpse what it might be like to experience the inscLoved it! Brenna Aubrey is a genius at writing romance with a different perspective. This time we glimpse what it might be like to experience the inscrutability of love through the eyes of a concrete, literal-thinker like William Drake, who has Asperger's Syndrome. Aubrey does this without condescension, portraying his innocence and masculinity in equal measures. I was cheering William the whole way, hoping he would be able to win over the woman who had already "stolen his heart". This is a great series and now we can all look forward to Adam and Mia's wedding. Yay!...more
A wonderful and emotionally satisfying third installment of this trilogy. Aubrey tackles some very heavy topics and also treats us to some meaningful A wonderful and emotionally satisfying third installment of this trilogy. Aubrey tackles some very heavy topics and also treats us to some meaningful and insightful gaming metaphors. Hang in there for the ending. It's well worth it!...more
This is a captivating and sophisticated romance series, thoroughly enjoyable. But this middle installment suffers from second book syndrome. Emilia anThis is a captivating and sophisticated romance series, thoroughly enjoyable. But this middle installment suffers from second book syndrome. Emilia and Adam encounter some very real challenges but their biggest challenge is that of their own doing. Or rather, it may be Mia's own doing since in true soap opera fashion she side steps every opportunity to come clean with Adam regarding her big bad secret. Brenna Aubrey really takes you through the ringer in this one!...more
I picked up this free book thinking to indulge in the guilty pleasure of another light-hearted fluffy romance. Oh, was I ever wThis is a gem! A steal!
I picked up this free book thinking to indulge in the guilty pleasure of another light-hearted fluffy romance. Oh, was I ever wrong! These characters are so intriguing and contradictory, so enticing and yet frustrating. Mia is a twenty two year old pre-med student, who is passionate about on-line gaming and writes a successful gaming blog under the handle of "Girl Geek". She's intelligent and immature at the same time, and principled yet misguided, insightful when she is blogging but completely clueless when it comes to relationships.
I was so drawn into Mia and Adam's developing relationship that I couldn't put it down and read right through the first three books of Gaming the System in three days straight. This is one of the most cerebral romances I have read in awhile. Brenna Aubrey doesn't shy away from very heavy topics of women's rights over their own bodies, addiction, and life-threatening illness. Powerful and compelling! Thank you, Brenna, for an amazing reading experience.
(P.S. The sex scenes were fantastic too! Mia and Adam have such chemistry, even through all they had to go through.)...more
I have been looking forward to For The Win since reading and loving the first three books of Brenna Aubrey's Gaming the System series. This is truly aI have been looking forward to For The Win since reading and loving the first three books of Brenna Aubrey's Gaming the System series. This is truly a 5 star experience once again (and as an avid romance reader, I usually give 3's and 4's)!
Jordan Fawkes is twenty-five and the CFO of a successful video gaming company that he started from the ground up with his best friend Adam Drake. He's been burned in love before and claims he doesn't have a heart to lose anymore. Amber Weiss is a twenty-two year-old intern in his office hoping to get a good commendation for business school. A child of divorced parents, she sees herself as a social chameleon, always blending in but never standing up for herself. Jordan and Amber are attracted to each other but both are determined to maintain a professional detachment. Unfortunately they are linked together by an unorthodox event. Unbeknownst to them, an anonymous sex video is inadvertently released on the Internet. This doesn't stay secret for long. Facing this, and additional challenges, makes for a sometimes steamy, sometimes hilarious love story.
While I shook my head at the initial ridiculousness of their dilemma, it wasn't long before I became drawn in by the characters, which is why I admire Brenna's writing and what gives this book 5 stars. Her characters are multidimensional, tangible, and brilliantly realized. They are more sympathetic than than their appearances would suggest. Jordan might be an arrogant hot-shot financial genius womanizer, but it turns out he's afraid to fall in love again. Amber may be a pampered rich girl who hangs with the "mean girls", but she's actually a lonely bookworm with self-esteem issues. Brenna invests the time to develop each character's cleverness, their vulnerabilities and their charm. The romance is lovingly crafted the same way. I felt butterflies in my stomach whenever Amber and Jordan were together even though they were trying not to like each other. It was like vicariously falling in love all over again. This kind of romance is so intoxicating!
I would read this again and I hope Brenna continues to write more stories in this series....more
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