Level Up (Fandom Hearts #1) by Cathy Yardley

Available on
Amazon.com * Amazon.de * Goodreads
Synopsis:

Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?

Review:

Level Up started as a meh read for me, but slowly it turned into a really cute story. By the end I really loved Adam and Tessa and wanted them to figure everything out and live happily ever after. 

Tessa loves working at her video game company, but she wants to be promoted to video game engineer. When she finds out a position will be opening up on the team she knows she will do anything to get that spot. Only she has always kept to herself and has never made friends with anyone. She is a loner and she knows how hard it is to be a woman in the tech field. But she wants this job so much!

Adam is Tessa's roommate and coworker, but he has always seen her as one of the guys. She is a great roommate, she keeps to herself, he never really interacts with her all that much even though they live together. He has the guys over to play video games and she doesn't care. It works. Only when Tessa is told that if she wants the job on the other team maybe she should make an effort to get to know her coworkers and become friends with them and everything changes. Adam has decided he should start dating again and move on from his ex, and Tessa makes some new friends and is a bit more outgoing. 

Tessa's new friends own a bookshop in town, a small place that you might not even know was there as it is in the downstairs of their house. They are not doing to well and could definitely use the publicity that winning an award to have some famous people make an appearance would bring. When Tessa finds out they need help she decides to do whatever she can to make it happen. She comes up with a great video game idea, only they have to have it made and submitted in 2 weeks! So she will need a lot of help. It was cute watching Adam and Tessa slowly start to fall for each other when they are both working hard on completing the game. Now this is where I was a bit iffy on the story - why do they have to have a super amazing clean perfect video game for the contest? I mean you and a few people could put together a simple game in a day or so (I know my husband and his friends have) so why not just do something like that? I didn't quite understand why it had to be a super amazing thing. It seemed like a simple one would have worked as well, but then she wouldn't get to work with the other members of the team she wants to be a part of and show what she is made of. She has a lot of skill, but she never shows it off. She has been standing in her own way and finally she is trying not to. 

Overall it was a really cute read. I am glad things worked out the way they did. Adam and Tessa were so sweet together and I enjoyed reading their story. 

Rating: ★ ★ ★1/2