Game of Love

<a href="http://s1340.photobucket.com/user/smkarl/media/GIFS%20Words/Free%20Li%20xB%20by%20sb_zpsamwuwffk.gif.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1416984908ra/12145250.gif" alt=" photo Free Li xB by sb_zpsamwuwffk.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br><b>FREE on Amazon US today (8/26/2015)</b><br><br>Stand-alone book 1.<br><br>BLURB:<br><i><b>Ellie Parker</b> is a master at building walls around her heart. In the twenty-five years she’s been alive, <b>Dex Remington</b> has been the only person who has always believed in her and been there for her. But four years earlier she came to Dex seeking comfort, and then disappeared like a thief in the night, leaving him a broken man. <br><br>Dex Remington is one of the top PC game developers in the U.S. He’s handsome, smart, and numb. So damn numb that he’s not sure he’ll ever find a reason to feel again. <br><br>A chance encounter sparks intense desires in Ellie and Dex. Desires that make her want to run—and make him want to feel. A combination of lust and fear leads these young lovers down a dangerous path. Is it possible to cross a burned bridge or are they destined to be apart forever?</i><br><br><b><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/Game-Love-Bloom-Remingtons-Book-ebook/dp/B00HZ3PEJC/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1440609079&amp;sr=1-6&amp;refinements=p_72%3A1248987011">http://www.amazon.com/Game-Love-Bloom...</a> </b><br><br><br><b>FREEBIES</b> are often good for MORE than one day, I have gathered all my FREEBIES on a special shelf: <b>Kindle-freebies</b> (currently over 460 books)<br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15735368-suebee-bring-me-an-alpha?shelf=kindle-freebie">https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...</a>

<b>Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars</b><br /><br />Ellie Parker has grown up in the “system” since she was five years old. Being bounced around from foster home to foster home and guarding herself from difficult memories has conditioned her to tread carefully with relationships and know when to run. However Dex Remington has been her friend since grade school and together they’ve depended on each other when life delivered some tough blows. <br /><br />Now that they’ve grown, Dex has made his millions in the gaming industry and Ellie finds herself back in New York looking for a teaching job. <br /><br />The last time they saw each other was four years ago when Dex declared his love to her, and she ran away as fast as the wind could take her. Even now, Dex can’t deny how much he loves Ellie, but he struggles to trust her ability to stay when life unsettles her. Ellie is fully aware that her life is chaotic and messy, and the last thing she wants to do is drag Dex down.<br /><br />However, their friendship and attraction is stronger than ever before and when they both find each other after years of separation, they struggle to find a middle ground where trust, passion and true love find a way to keep them together.<br /><br />Overall, I really liked the storyline and pacing of <b>Game of Love</b>. The story took off with little to no lag and despite the constant reminders of how these two fell apart four years prior, Melissa Foster did a good job of building momentum and chemistry into her story.<br /><br />I really liked Dex from the beginning. His openness and honesty was refreshing. I had to give it to him because he definitely showed a ton of patience when dealing with Ellie’s issues. Overall, I also came to care for Ellie quite a bit. She had her reasons for guarding herself, and her flight response to many situations was built as a survival technique, so I completely empathized with this character. I liked how these two came together and worked out their issues. Their story felt real and not overly dramatic.<br /><br /><b>Game of Love</b> is a the perfect story for someone who likes their romance with a small serving of excitement and drama that doesn’t feel overdone or exaggerated. Melissa Foster proves she can make her readers fall for her characters with the right amount of chemistry and passion. Well done!

<img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1439935082ra/15906829.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <br><br>***spoilers ahead***<br><br>Don't get me wrong - <i>Game of Love</i> was sweet and pretty well written... but a girl can only take so much sugar. Dex was like no gamer in the history of ever because he had been moulded into this idealised hero figure. Ellie too was idealised. Before anyone points out the few reviewers who are bitching about her being whiny and having trust issues, umm NO. You lot have no clue. Do you really think people have traumatic childhoods but then turn 18 and go "well that's in the past now." and suddenly drop all their maladaptations and issues and become healthy functioning adults? I digress. Ellie shows some issues but we're always detached enough that we never see too much ugliness inside her head and Dex and his mum always manage to cut her issues short and tie them off with a nice pretty bow. Ellie gets her dream job and she and Dex find a way to make her bright, sparkly ambitions to help disadvantaged children a possibility. His game release goes well and his strict father turns out to be a softy. The book ends with the two of them tucked up in the bosom of his family.* It's all so pretty and feel-good that I'd like to hurl. <br><br>Most people will probably enjoy <i>Game of Love</i>. As for me... well, I'd like to see some more of Regina. That's about it.<br><br>*This being the first in an undoubtedly long line of books about his family, there is loads of info dumping in the first few chapters. Heaven forbid we not get to know every single character in the first book.

<br>Game of Love is a kinda sweet story. Dex and Ellie are friends for ages and then they become a couple. <br><br>Ellie annoyed me too much. She had heaps of trust issues. It was going back and forth. And definitely it is not my cup of tea. I really couldn't enjoy it as the story wasn't really gripping.<br>And her trust issues just made it worse.<br><br><a href="http://s799.photobucket.com/user/79twilightlover/media/tumblr_inline_msid7kVUp81qz4rgp.gif.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1392647247ra/8588900.gif" alt=" photo tumblr_inline_msid7kVUp81qz4rgp.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br>On the other hand, Dex is hot! Such a darling! &lt;3<br><br><a href="http://s799.photobucket.com/user/79twilightlover/media/giphy-4.gif.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1386362041ra/7347721.gif" alt=" photo giphy-4.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br>Overall, I wish I really enjoyed the story. But hope you have a better read out for this book.<br><br><a href="http://s799.photobucket.com/user/79twilightlover/media/tumblr_m6ftisBSFI1rnisa4.gif.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1392648414ra/8589193.gif" alt=" photo tumblr_m6ftisBSFI1rnisa4.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br>Happy reading <br><br>D xo<br><br>**ARC provided for your**

2.5 stars.<br />My first by this author (Kindle Unlimited has me trying out new authors). Writing is quite good and the hero is a sweetie. Heroine Ellie, on the other hand, was a bit messed up and way too needy- she got annoying with her running away schtick. Props to our wonderful hero for putting up with so much!<br /><br />A problem for me was the fact that the hero Dex was a super successful, and rich, developer of online games. They are simply not my thing, so the book spent an inordinate amount of time on this subject as far as I was concerned. (The move into educational software for under-privileged kids towards the end seemed somewhat contrived, as well.) I felt that it was a bit of padding, when we could have explored what might have been a fairly complex relationship. It actually <i>wasn't</i> complex. <br /><br />Although a bit clichéd, it was a pleasant enough read, (even if I did speed-read chunks of the gaming discussions!)

? FREE on Amazon &amp; on iBooks today (8/22/2020)! ?

The grammar wasn't atrocious and I did manage to finish which is probably the last nice things I'll have to say about this book. By the end of the first chapter I was skeptical about my odds of finishing. Dex came off as a jerk and writing felt, stiff I guess is the best way to describe it. I like to try and give books at least 5 chapters before quitting unless they are atrocious. The writing did loosen up and for awhile it rolled along swimmingly, but no part of this worked for me. I don't understand the reviews idolizing Dex. He was a jerk to her. He might not know the specifics but he knew she had a bad childhood. He pushed every button he knew she had and then accused her of running even when she was right there. Loving someone is trusting them. These two were throwing i love yous back and forth non stop but they didn't trust each other. Loving someone doesn't entitle you to every aspect of someone which is something dex didnt't seem to understand that. He had no idea what happened. he had zero therapist training and yet he still ripped on scabs because he decided he felt entitled to do so because...love? But heres's the thing. There's zero development. She comes back and boom love...non stop love and endless sex. But their only romance happened when they were kids and just friends. Even if I buy that they loved each other as very early teenagers despite them never so much as kissing, that doesn't get you to adult forever after love. I was madlyin love as a teenager. Now every time the creep tries to contact me my skin crawls. Who is the same person they were at 13? They go on like three dates the entire book and 2 end badly.<br />Anywho enough about the character/romance problem, lets talk about the writing. Structurally it was fine, though there was too much repetition and too many word of the day calendar words involved. But it took me the entire book to realize why I was annoyed by the whole thing. The book had zero emotional subtlety. It slammed every emotion the characters had in your face like a 2x4. It was the drunk sorority girl screaming about how no one likes her and that girl stole her boyfriend at the party. It just splayed them all out on the page and all without finesse. By the end I was skimming because I couldn't take another 3 page long description of their emotions and it wasn't ilike it was a slowly developing thing. They went straight to love so it was basically the same emotion dump over and over. The author utilized some pretty dark subject matter but with no grace and she always, as another reviewer puts it "cut her issues short and tie them off with a nice pretty bow." It doesn't work that way, use the dark stuff or don't that's your choice as an author but if you put it in there you can't make it all sunshines and rainbow. <br />I could write more but if none of this makes this a no go for you then nothing else I have to say will.<br /><br />TLDR: Pushy hero, 0 romance development, nothing happens plot was, abrupt ending, and the writing needed a ton of refining

Dex Remington has always guarded his heart as if he was wearing a protective shield. Ever since he was a teenager, he’s had feelings for Ellie Parker. But Ellie has always been one to run away when times got tough. Growing up in different foster homes, Ellie has learned to close off her feelings and not let people in. Despite Dex’s attempt at breaking through the walls Ellie has built up, she would always take off before he was successfully able to do so. Four years ago, Dex professed his love to Ellie, only for her to leave again without saying goodbye. You can imagine his surprise when he sees her at a bar. She was still the same, pretty girl who wore the all too familiar worried look on her face. But despite all of the silent warnings going off in Dex’s head, he couldn’t stop himself from making his way over to her.<br /><br />Back in New York, Ellie was looking for a new start. She wanted to leave her old life, and all of the bad memories, back in Maryland. But it didn’t take long for chaos to find her and for Dex’s feelings for her to come rushing back. But would Ellie stick around this time? Or would she leave again without so much as a goodbye like she has done twice to Dex in the past?<br /><br />As a foster parent, I could relate to how Ellie felt with the stigma that foster children tend to carry around with them. The feeling of being different, unwanted and not having a family or home to call their own. The author did a brilliant job expressing the feelings that foster children not only have while in the system, but that they carry throughout their lives. This book had such pure, raw emotions and characters that felt so real. I found myself rooting for Ellie’s happiness and hoping that she finds love in Dex’s arms. I love, love, love this book. It is a definite, must read! <br />

This book was packed with all the feels. I found the narrators did an amazing job bringing these characters to life. My heart was pulled in so many ways for the two characters and what an emotional ride this was. This one is definitely going into my re-read/re-listen pile.

4 hours of my life that I can't get back!<br />Sorry to say this, but I just don't where all these stellar reviews come from. I'm just glad it was only a waste of time and not a waste of money as well since it was for free on Amazon.<br /><br />The Story:<br />Dex is a computer game developer who has only ever loved one girl, Ellie ( ugh I even had trouble remembering her name).<br />She grew up in foster care in his neighborhood and they became best friends with her climbing into his bedroom for comfort every night.<br />When Ellie had to change foster families she left without saying goodbye to the one person who has always been there for her. History repeated a couple of years after that and left poor Dex even more heartbroken. <br />The main story begins when Ellie and Dex coincidentally meet again.<br /><br /><br />So here is what I absolutely didn't like about the book:<br />Ellie. Simple as that. I could not stand that girl. All she ever did was whine. She cried about her upbringing and her current situation. While being put into foster care, because her parents were no good, most definitely wasn't her fault, the situations she put herself in and her attitude towards them were. I'm sure growing up in foster care is not what I would consider a happy childhood (although I deem it possible) and I'm sorry to say this but sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal with it. As so well and truefully said in The Lion King: The past can hurt. You can either run from it or learn from it. Well, Ellie chose to run from it Ever.Single.Time! Breaking this amazing guy's heart twice in the process. And instead of dealing with it, working on her problems and apologising for leaving Dex twice without as much as a goodbye, she expects him to give her everything she needs (without having to say it of course), stay by her side and trust her and if that's not enough she expects everyone not to judge her for her actions. Yeah right...<br />It also aggrevated me that every person in this book seemed to think that she was such a String person! If she was such a strong person, why was her first urge to run away when the going got rough instead of facing her Problems?!<br /><br />Maybe I didn't get the point of the story or whatever. This book just didn't do it for me and I found myself skipping through it.<br /><br /><br />