The book starts out well with a charming curmudgeon of a protagonist, and I quite enjoyed the first half, but the story loses itself a bit right around the point where the romance picks up. A.J. is a widowed bookseller, content to spend his days at the bookstore and his nights drinking until he passes out. He's clearly still in mourning for his wife, bitter and apathetic, until something forces a change. A.J.'s passage through grief at this point feels rushed, and the passage of time flies by, skipping years at a time, and I felt a bit cheated by that. The character's are all likeable, and you get a decent feeling for the town and town life, but not enough to really immerse yourself in it. It's thin underneath the charming veneer and runs fairly heavily towards the cliched. On the plus side, it's a very quick read and the author clearly loves books and book people. I did find myself smiling more often than not, for whatever that's worth. :)

This was cute. A little idiosyncratic at times, although that could just be because I'm old, but definitely a lot of fun for anyone involved in either gaming or fandom culture. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone outside of these specific interests, as they make up a significant portion of both character and plot, but the romance genre has room for everything and anyone who has ever fallen in love with a show or a game will happily connect to Tessa and her crew. The obstacles aren't anything new or unique here, but I was impressed with the way they're all resolved in a mature manner and don't slide into the cliche, and the story rides along at a very respectable 3 and a half stars all the way up to the declaration, which is so sweet and fluffy and smile-inducing that I bumped it up to 4. 

Enjoying it so far. Sam's a nicely complicated character and the mystery is building well.