Dewey Belong Together

de Ann Whynot (2021) - Smartypants Romance.

Résumé : Librarian Maxine Peters lives her life behind the scenes. By day, she's a buttoned-up cataloguing whiz in the basement of the Green Valley Public Library. By night, she's secretly dominating in an online role playing game as the legendary Maximus_Damage. Her in-game persona has the skills to back up the hype. But every hero has an enemy; every saga,a villain. And by her own invitation, Maximus’ arch nemesis, Wrath, has just landed in Green Valley.

Jonathan Owen is not at all who Maxine expects when she meets Wrath face to face. Eager to leave the past in the game, Jonathan takes this golden opportunity to win Maxine's heart. There's just one wrench in that plan: he may have, on a few occasions, acted like a bit of a jerk online. And to his puzzlement, she has taken their fun rivalry to the level of epic dislike.

When Jonathan and Maxine are unexpectedly alone for a weekend, secrets are revealed that make love hard and hatred even harder. Jonathan quickly learns fighting his own demons will take more than one elite gamer. And Maxine, who is busy rebooting her life in Green Valley, might not be up to the task.

When real life starts to override the game, can Maxine and Jonathan find a way to make it work ? Or will it be game over for this player versus player adventure ?


gros coup de coeur pour cette romance de geek *_* les deux héros vont très bien ensemble, l'histoire est bien écrite, les personnages secondaires sont supers, les challenges à relever cohérents avec les histoires personnelles de chacun.

J'ai bien aimé le contexte de l'histoire : des geek qui ne se connaissent qu'en virtuel décident de se rencontrer en réel (même si je ne suis pas une accros aux jeux vidéos, on peut se reconnaitre quel que soit son mode de geekage ^^). Un malheureux concours de circonstances fait que Maxine ne va accueillir finalement qu'une seule personne au lieu d'un petit groupe, et cette personne c'est Jonathan aka Wrath, son arch nemésis dans le jeu, le seul du groupe qu'elle peut pas encadrer tellement il la saoule xD. Mais Maxine a caché pendant 10 ans qu'elle était une "elle" alors que son avatar dans le jeu est un mec, et que tous les joueurs n'en ont aucune idée, et encore moins Wrath...

Jonathan a une idée bien précise en tête en venant à Green Valley : rencontrer pour de vrai Maximus_Damage, le joueur à qui il vaut une admiration sans limite, mais également un amour inconditionné. Pour lui c'est l'occasion de déclarer enfin ses sentiments... quelle n'est donc pas sa surprise en découvrant que Maximus est une femme, et qu'elle le déteste xD. Jonathan va en faire sa mission de conquérir sa guerrière, car homme ou femme il s'en fou, c'est la personne qui compte pour lui.

L'ambiance général du livre est très décomplexée, il y a beaucoup d'humour, beaucoup de références geek, et de la répartie dans les dialogues. Mais on y trouve quand même de la gravité avec les vies personnelles de Maxine et Jonathan. Maxine a été agressée et s'est coupée de vie sociale, elle a peu d'amis en vrai, elle ne sort pas, s'occupe de sa mère agoraphobe et le jeu vidéo est son exutoire ; Jonathan, lui souffre de bipolarité et doit faire attention à son traitement, il s'occupe également de sa mère dépressive et de ses soeurs, son meilleur ami et le seul qui connait sa maladie.

La balance est très bien fait entre le gros délire geek et les soucis de la vie réelle, la romance n'est pas too much et on est pas dans un "l'amûûr sauve tout". J'ai passé un bon moment avec ce bouquin, lu en 2 jours !

This geek romance is a favorite *_* the two heroes are good together, the story is well written, the secondary characters are great, the challenges met are consistent with each characer's personal stories.

I really liked the context of the story : geek people who only know each other in virtual reality decide to meet in real life (even if I'm not a video games player, we can recognize our geek self regardless of our geek means ^^). An unfortunate combination of circumstances means that Maxine will welcome only one person instead of a small group, and this person is Jonathan aka Wrath, her arch nemesis in the game, the only one in the group that she can not put up with as he annoys her so much xD. But Maxine has been hiding for 10 years that she was a "she" when her avatar in the game is a guy, all players have no idea, let alone Wrath...

Jonathan has a very specific idea in mind when he comes to Green Valley : to meet Maximus_Damage, the player to whom he has a limitless admiration, but also an unconditional love. For him this is the opportunity to finally declare his feelings... what a surprise it is to discover that Maximus is a woman, and that she hates him xD. Jonathan will make it his mission to conquer his warrior queen, he doesn't care if is she's a man or woman, it is the person who matters to him.

The general atmosphere of the book is very uninhibited, there is a lot of humor, a lot of geek references, and repartee in the dialogues. But there is still some seriousness with the personal lives of Maxine and Jonathan. Maxine has been assaulted and cut herself off from social life, she has few real friends, she does not go out, takes care of her agoraphobic mother and the video game is her outlet ; Jonathan, suffers from bipolar disorder and must be careful with his treatment, he also takes care of his depressed mother and his sisters, his best friend is the only one who knows his illness.

The balance is very well made between the big geek delirium and the worries of real life, the romance is not too much and we are not in a "love saves everything" storyline. I had a good time with this book, read in 2 days !

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