Lovin' los libros

A book blog dedicated to young adult and new adult novels

Review: Strong Signal by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell

By 8:00 AM , , , , ,

Strong Signal (Cyberlove #1)
   by: Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell

Publication Date: Feb. 15, 2016
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Source: e-ARC provided via the authors in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind.

That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel.

I never expected to become fixated on someone who'd initially been a rival. And I'd never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn't planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions.

But it did. And now I can't stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it's love at first sight.

Except, like most things in my life, it doesn't go as planned.

 
 
When I first saw Megan was writing this book, I was already in. I love her books, so it was a given that I needed this one. She has combined forces with Santino Hassell and holy hell did these two kill this book. This nerdy gamer girl all kinds of geeked out over the lingo and I found myself torn between wanting to read and going to game! (Kai and Garrett won by the way.) So fangirling and geeking out aside, this book was hella hot. The romance between those two was SO steamy and sexy. However, it's not without its complications. Both Kai and Garrett are navigating their new relationship and trying to fit the other into their life.
 
Garrett has been deployed to Afghanistan and video games are an escape for him. He is ready to be done, but he also has a lot to think about in terms of his future. He doesn't have a wide array of skill sets to work with, so his scope is pretty slim. He is a mechanic in the military and a damn good one, so he hopes to continue that out in the civilian world. He certainly didn't plan on finding and falling for a Twitch gamer, named Kai. However, the two end up forming a friendship and soon Kai is the one bright spot in Garrett's life. They are definitely attracted to one another, but Kai shies away from talk of meeting for reasons that I don't want to spoil.
 
Kai broke my heart a bit. I loved him so much and I hated that he had to deal with the issues he did. Garrett was so good for him and I am glad he was so supportive. Kai doesn't have family like Garrett does and neither have many friends they can call on either. However, Kai does have Shawn and Shawn's mom, who live down the hall, and I was infuriated when someone tried to defile that with ugliness. Garrett's mom and sister ended up being really great, especially when Garrett came clean to them about his being gay. They are not perfect and sometimes say the wrong things, but they love him no matter what and it was refreshing to see.
 
These two were such a good balance for one another. They are quite different, but they mesh so well together and man was their chemistry explosive! I felt both Megan and Santino did such a great job teaming up together to write this series! I can't wait for the next book!
 

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14 comments

  1. YAY I am happy to see you loved this one too, but I am not surprised at all! I adored Garrett & Kai and as I told Megan, they did amazing with Garrett's character. (you know me and military men)

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    1. Yay! I love Megan's books so much! And I agree- they did really well with Garrett's character! :D

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  2. Yay, Jess! I'm so excited to see you loved this one. I mean I had no doubts that this would be an excellent read, but it seems like I'm going to get even more than I asked for. I'm looking forward to meeting Kai and Garrett, and learning their stories!
    Beautiful review! :)

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    1. I can't wait for you to read it chica! I think you'll love it!

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  3. I am loving the sound of this one! The characters sound wonderful and the story does too. Great review!

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    1. They were so amazing! Garrett and Kai were so awesome together!

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  4. Sigh. Considering I quite literally just finished this book I'm still on that "I just read an amazing book" high. But you nailed it all. Ahh Kai. That guy had my heart. I mean they both did but him especially. I already want to read it again. Is it too soon to read it again???

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    1. I can't believe you stayed up all night! (Ok, I totally can, but STILL) I think I liked Garrett a bit more, but Kai really broke my heart. I wanted to cuddle him for days.

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  5. OH man, I want to read this one SO bad! Great review Jessica, definitely going to pick this up! ♥

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    1. Oooh! I hope you love it Eva! It's definitely one that will hit you in the feels!

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  6. I'm so glad you loved this one. I LOVE Megan's m/m novels and I need to read some stuff by Santino. However, I was so excited when I heard about this one too and I think it sounds wonderful. Might have to buy a copy of this later on tonight when I get home!

    -Lauren
    www.letsgetbeyondtolerance.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh I hope you do Lauren! It's definitely worth picking up! I can't wait for more from them!

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  7. I'm really glad you loved this one as much as I did. I thought it was amazing. Not only was it hot AF, but it was a great, realistic and romantic story. I might need to give online gaming a go... Haha. ;)

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    1. OMG. Was it not crazy hot AF?! Shit. And if you ever do seriously do online gaming come to me first. I'll get you set up. LOL.

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