At Any Turn by Brenna Aubrey | Review

At Any Turn (Gaming the System #2) by Brenna Aubrey
Publisher: Silver Griffon Associates
Publication Date: April 28, 2014
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 367
Source: Purchased
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Goodreads Description

So You Want to Be a Hero? 
Millionaire CEO Adam Drake overcame a tortured past to take control of his life and build his own gaming empire. The final piece falls into place with his newfound love for brilliant geek girl blogger, Mia Strong. Now Adam is at the top of his game. 

Your Princess Is in Another Castle. 
Until Mia suddenly breaks things off, leaving Adam in the dark. He senses she needs his help but that she's too stubborn or scared to ask. The more he tries to take control, the further she shies away. This is one problem he can't solve by writing a check or a few clever lines of code. 

He will have to dig deep and put himself at risk...or else risk losing her forever. 

My Thoughts

Just as a heads up before I get into my thoughts about this book, At Any Turn is the second book in this series so this review may contain spoilers for the first book. If you haven't already started the series feel free to check out my review for At Any Price because that is completely spoiler free. Going into At Any Turn I didn't know this book would be told from Adam's prospective. I was confused by this for a little while so that's something to know going into this one.

To be honest I was frustrated the majority of the time I was reading this. While I appreciated being able to see things from Adam's point of view, the switch only made his character flaw more prominent which in turn made him a lot more annoying to me. During At Any Price it is obvious that Adam has a need to be in control of every detail of anything that happens around hm but being in his head was overbearing. Every time a situation came up he approached it logically or looked at the problem like a piece of code and every problem can't be solved that way.

On the other hand, I was annoyed with Mia throughout this book as well. There was one big issue that was the cause of the problems throughout the novel. I understood where Mia was coming from when she was trying to get Adam to understand he couldn't control every part of her life. However, Mia went beyond that and started pushing people away. I already wasn't a big fan of how she lied to her mom and friends in At Any Price but seeing how she acted in this book frustrated me even more. There was obviously something wrong with her but she chose to push everyone important away. I didn't feel Adam or Mia's actions were out of character for either of them but it didn't sit well with me.

I really appreciated that Brenna Aubrey wasn't afraid to take this book to the next level. I wasn't really surprised by one of the major things that we found out towards the end of the book. I was expecting it to happen sooner or later. The second thing that was revealed I wasn't expecting when I started the book. I guessed that it might be something as the story went along but I still wasn't sure. I applaud Brenna for taking that step and giving something I wouldn't usually expect from a new adult contemporary novel.

I had my problems with this book but I wanted things to work out for the two of them so I stuck it out. The last 20% really saved it for me! Mia and Adam are not in a perfect situation but they seem to be heading in the right direction. The way At Any Turn left off I'm not really sure where they're going from this point but I can't wait to see in the next installment of this series.

At Any Price by Brenna Aubrey | Review

At Any Price (Gaming the System #1) by Brenna Aubrey
Publisher: Silver Griffon Associates
Publication Date: January 13, 2014
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 391
Source: Purchased
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

Achievement Unlocked: Geek Virgin

When Mia Strong, proud geek-girl and popular gaming blogger, auctions off her virginity online, she knows she'll make waves. But what she will not be making is a love connection. Her rules are set in stone: One night. No further contact.

It's a desperate step, but it's the only way she can go to medical school and pay her mother's mounting hospital bills.

Difficulty Level: Millionaire CEO 

Adam Drake, the enigmatic auction winner, is a software prodigy who made his first million at seventeen. Now, in his mid-twenties, he's sexy, driven and--as CEO of his own gaming company--he's used to making the rules. Before Mia knows what's happening, he's found the loophole in the rules of her auction. Every stipulation she's made to protect her heart gets tossed by the wayside.

She can't tell if he's playing her...or if he's playing for keeps.

My Thoughts

I have had this book sitting in my Kindle library for over a year before finally picking it up. Honestly, I'm a little sad I waited so long to start this because I had so much fun while reading this book. Usually when I feel myself going into a reading slump I tend to reach for new adult romance novels. While I know that doesn't have anything to do with my opinions, At Any Price was such a good pick to kickstart my reading again.

I'll admit going into this book I was a little nervous. While the concept of the story sounded interesting I wasn't really sure how Brenna Aubrey planned to approach the topic. The way the story unfolded was unexpected and because of that I really enjoyed it. The two main characters, Mia and Adam, are thrown together because of Mia's auction and although we know Mia's motives we have no idea why Adam decided to participate in the auction. As can be expected when Mia and Adam meet they only know the surface level of the other. As the story progresses they open up and start talking to each other about things they haven't confided in a lot of others about.

This book was amazing but there were some things that kept me from absolutely loving it. One of the biggest this that bothered me was how controlling Adam was. He always wanted things to go his way or he would basically lash out or become distant. I understand this is a major flaw he has to work on but I was in shock of have many time he would try to force his way. On the other hand, I din't like how Mia ditched her friends almost completely when Adam came around. Mia would usually find a reason not to be social but when Adam came into the picture it felt like she ditched them completely and I didn't appreciate that.

I would have also love to see more of Mia interacting with her blog and gaming more. These two things were supposed to be really big parts of her life. When Mia wasn't working or studying she was usually doing one of the two and we didn't really get to see her doing a lot of either. Like I said before, At Any Price was such a fun quick read. This falls into the new adult category so there are definitely some steamy moments throughout the book. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read this genre. I enjoyed it so much I have already started on the next book in the series!