Book Review: Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell! (@SantinoHassell @MeganErickson_)

Strong Signal (Cyberlove #1)
Authors: Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
Publication Date: February 15, 2016
Published: Megtino Press

My Rating:

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.

Strong Signal is a standalone, full-length novel with no cliffhanger

Long time ago, maybe 2 years, I had a character on Secondlife. It was all I did when I came home from work and on the weekends. I guess that’s what drew me to Strong Signal. Maybe it was the idea of two people connecting online. Or it could have been the hotness that is Garrett and Kai. But what sold it was the fact that two of my favorite authors came together and made an awesome bookbaby.

Garrett Reid is away on deployment and his only enjoyment is either messing around with other straight soldiers or playing Fallen World Online, which is kinda like a World of Warcraft RPG game. One time I signed up for World of Warcraft. I think I was a fairy of some sort and was too confused by it all. Anyway, when he gets his ass handed to him by a more experienced player in the game, Garrett becomes obsessed with taking this dude down. What he doesn’t expect is becoming obsessed in a different way. 

Kai is a professional gamer, who makes his living playing video games shirtless online for people to watch him. It’s okay for Kai because he doesn’t have to leave his protective bubble that he’s grown accustom to. But when he gets a message from the army guy he beat to a pulp, his nerves are frayed. When an unexpected friendship builds, kai becomes more unnerved by the thought of leaving his apartment.

There were so many things I loved about this one. The easy flow into friendship started between Garrett and Kai felt effortless. Garrett felt believable in his sometimes stoic army guy role and Kai balanced that would with his eccentric personality. No relationship is without problems, and one that begins through a screen sometimes can be rougher than most. What I loved was that Megan and Santino kept it realistic yet hopeful. I’ve fallen for many people I’ve RPG’d with and all of the concerns that Garrett and Reid faced, I’ve identified with.

Garrett and Kai were one of the best ying and yang relationships I’ve read in a long time. I believe Megan and Santino’s writing partnership is reflected in that. You want to laugh, swoon and clutch your pearls during the naughty skype sessions, put the controller down and dive right into this one.