Tag: Casey Cameron

Perfect Game by Casey Cameron

Title: Perfect Game

Series: Legendary Pairs, 01

Author: Casey Cameron

Genre: Contemporary

Length:  Novella (112pgs) 12 chapters, plus page stuffing back matter with 5 different excerpts

Publisher: Casey Cameron

Heat Level: Low – Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥ 1 Heart

Blurb: “Hate the player, love the game…or was that the other way around?” 

Research biologist Neil Parkinson had to give up a lot in pursuit of his Ph.D–his friends, his music, his home town–but the one thing he managed to hang on to was Legendary Pairs, the hyper-competitive collectible card game that has propelled so many nerds just like him to fame and fortune. With a new job in a new city, loneliness drives him out of his apartment and into The Ogre’s Den–a haven for local players, amateur and pro alike. Neil never aspired to be a professional gamer, but that was before he met Robin. 

“Why even play, if you don’t play to win?” 

Robin Abboud is cocky, brash, argumentative…and absolutely gorgeous. He may be a lowly caterer with a crappy car, but this game is the one place where he’s a top dog, and boy does he know it. Robin’s end-game goal is to play in the Legendary Pairs Pro Tour; he’s got the skill to do it, and from the moment he meets Neil, he’s convinced Neil does too. His flirty bravado gets under Neil’s skin like nothing else, but he runs so hot-and-cold that Neil can’t figure out if the two of them are competitors, friends…or something more. 

“Don’t tell me this is just a game to you. I know better.” 

When Robin convinces Neil to join him on a road trip to a major tournament, there’s more on the line than just the cash prize. Even as the two of them clash on the field of the tournament, Neil’s feelings for Robin are growing impossible to ignore. But could Robin ever feel the same way? The longer they spend together, the more Neil risks showing his whole hand. Is a perfect match in the cards for these two, or will their in-game rivalry tear them apart? 

Perfect Game is a 25,000 word stand-alone romance novella with lots of heat, deliciously nerdy sweetness, and a happily-ever-after ending with no cliffhangers.

ISBN: n/a – ASIN: B01N7NQGWO

Product Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK 

Reviewer: Napoleon A. Chase

Review: I chose this book because I’m a nerd and because I’m forever chasing that rare black-haired, brown-eyed protagonist.

This book instantly hits the problem many books hit when describing someone of a race that is not your own: “He looked ambiguously ethnic in a faintly Middle Eastern way, with deep olive-tan skin, dark hair and eyes, and a hint of a hook nose that drew the eye naturally…”
“Ethnic” is a poorly named grocery aisle, not a human being.

That said: mixed race Middle Eastern guy. Go on.

Chemistry is established immediately, which I dig. Gamer dynamic is accurate. Neil’s your typical stuffed-in-lockers variety of nerd; Robin comes off as a little Gary-Stuish since we pan into him Evil Masterminding a win against another competent player with no suggestion that there’s some element of chance to a card game.

Robin’s showing off strikes the right chords. I might have enjoyed this novel more if it had been written from his perspective.

Neil could be rewritten easily into a cis straight girl, which was disappointing but par for the course.
If you enjoy the smell of fandom tropes, this author has the cologne for you.

There were parts I enjoyed that I‘ve been robbed of due to layers of racism that just get worse and worse as the book goes on.

[SPOILERS]
It was super creepy to have the one PoC painted as a guy without any real prospects, just one – and then sees that wiped out by the random white guy he brings along. Then we get to see him have an absolutely childish tantrum while Neil plays the Arbiter of Rationality White Guy role that all too often happens whenever an argument, no matter how valid, occurs between PoC and white people who can’t even agree that grass is usually green.

This particular brand of “stupid and childish” is one that gets thrown at Middle Eastern guys almost as often as it gets thrown at black guys.

I ended up reading reviews to see if there was any hint of it coming back from this. There wasn’t. Gave up reading in the beginning of the make-up sex scene in which Robin is made to grovel for being a bad little boy.

His Alpha's Alpha by Casey Cameron

casey-cameron-his-alphas-alpha-coverTitle: His Alpha’s Alpha

Author: Casey Cameron

Genre: Gay Erotic Romance, Other Paranormal, Ménage 

Length: Novella (111 Pages)

Publisher: Casey Cameron (September 8, 2016)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3.5 Hearts

Blurb: Ethan has been flirting with Nick, the hot alpha photographer who visits his coffee shop, for a few weeks when they make an accidental connection that throws Ethan into an early heat. With an alpha at his side, dealing with his heat should be a simple matter, but there’s just one problem: arrogant alpha Corey Masters, real estate heir, reality TV star, tabloid regular…and Nick’s boyfriend. 

Nick wants Ethan, and Ethan wants Nick. Corey wants nothing to do with omegas, but there’s no way in hell he’s going to leave his lover alone with a stranger. Could there be a future for the three of them, or will two alphas be too many for Ethan to handle? 

ISBN: B01LWA4EAF

Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/His-Alphas-Alpha-Menage-Romance-ebook/dp/B01LWA4EAF

Reviewer: Lisa

Review:  This is a non-shifter romance with knotting, male pregnancy and a hot ménage. Now the first thing I am going to say is that I do wish I had read that part first. What a disappointment it was to find out that they were not shifters, but had the benefits that shifters have.  

Nick and Corey are two alpha’s who are in love with each other. They have known who they are and that they were to be together since they met as teens. The problem was that they were missing one vital part, an omega. Nick has always wanted one, but Corey hated anything omega. That is until Nick brought Ethan home with him.  

Now the story itself was a fun read, but it was a bit off. Here you have alphas, betas, omegas that belong in the shifter world but are not shifters. They get off on scents, they bond through biting and knotting and mate just like shifters. For me that was a disadvantage because I am all about paranormals. It is even better when one gets pregnant, however in another universe maybe. So I can’t say if I liked the book or not. Then there was the connection between these three and I have to say that I didn’t see it with Corey and Ethan even after they were getting it on. Also the ending sucked royally. I was at least hoping to see if Ethan had twins, and whether girl or boy. You don’t get that, you get a story that is cut off right at the good part.  

The book had great potential but I wished there had been more to it, more into the relationship of these guys and a bit more meat to it. There was not a lot of depth to it and it just seemed off to me. Then there is the fact in the beginning Nick didn’t bother telling Ethan about Corey, and vice versa. It came off as Nick betraying Corey and Ethan to me. The story felt very rushed and not well thought out. There was no connection and yet it was instant love which is another down point. 

So here we have a story with potential but no true ending for me. There is no mention of another book to give me those answers, so I am in a major funk about it. I am not sure if this book is for me or not, but we will see what this author has planned. For now I am up in the wings about it.