Strong Signal (Cyberlove #1) by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell [REVIEW]

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.

5 Strong Stars

Strong Signal is a standalone and is part of the Cyberlove series. Here is my stance on MM reads. I’ve read a handful of them. Mostly one didn’t work out and the other was smut. I think after that I just felt like the genre wasn’t there for me. HOWEVER, I’ve been drawn to a few MM books lately and I wanted to dip my toes back into the pool.

Strong Signal was suggested to me and because of the summary, I was really interested.

I devoured this book like crazy. I read it in one sitting and not only did I laugh so hard, but it’s was wicked hot, like mega lava hot. I’m a MM fan now and I hope I can convert you too.

Garrett is in the army and he’s on his last tour. He doesn’t get into the action even though he’s overseas. He mostly stays on base and services the vehicles. He has nine months left until he goes home and he spends mostly his days playing video games.

Kai is a gamer. Do you have a gamer in your life? My husband plays video games. You know the husbands that drinks beer and watches sports? Well mine is that except you turn sports into games and that’s what basically fills up his free time. So Kai games hard, he does it for a living. He plays it on-line and people watch him and give him money. This is actually a real thing (my husband showed me the site) and so you know this whole storyline really got me interested.

I found the storyline really cute and funny. I loved that Garrett is a solider and he finds Kai and starts to get an attraction towards him. Garrett is like this tough big guy in the army, but he’s lonely and lost. He’s also very kind and thoughtful. I also liked that he wasn’t confused on his sexuality. He knew he was gay.

Kai is adorable. He’s the awkward guy that has major issues. He’s recluse and can’t leave his apartment. In three years he has only left his place a handful of times and each time was a big deal. He’s the opposite of Garrett and I felt like Kai matched Garrett perfectly. Kai playfully flirts with Garrett on-line because it’s safe.

Soon Garrett will out of the army and back on land. He wants to see Kai badly, this leaves Kai all twisted inside.

The writing style, the storyline and the characters had me with this book. I was completely shocked and surprised how much I liked it. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the book is so steamy. You just can’t beat a MM steamy scene.

So, if you haven’t read an MM read, try this one, if you have, you will not be disappointed with this one.

AMAZON



Megan Erickson

Megan worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction.

She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. When she's not tapping away on her laptop, she's probably listening to the characters in her head who won't stop talking.
http://meganerickson.org

Santino Hassell

Santino Hassell was raised by a conservative family, but he was anything but traditional. He grew up to be a smart-mouthed, school cutting grunge kid, then a transient twenty-something, and eventually transformed into an unlikely romance author.

Santino writes queer romance that is heavily influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, his belief that human relationships are complex and flawed, and his own life experiences.
http://www.santinohassell.com/