Strong Signal

[b:Strong Signal 28561501 Strong Signal (Cyberlove, #1) Megan Erickson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452874221s/28561501.jpg 48722063] is the first in a series about how we live now: online gaming, text messaging, dating apps etc. are our preferred modes of communication and pretending otherwise is foolish. Luckily [a:Megan Erickson 6879435 Megan Erickson https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391471662p2/6879435.jpg] and [a:Santino Hassell 4942228 Santino Hassell https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445991731p2/4942228.jpg] jump in with both feet and the results are fantastic.Garrett is on the last months of his deployment in Afghanistan, bored, fed up (mostly because he's a grump) and anxious about what his post-army life will be. His go to chill-out is playing Fallen World Online where he “meets” Kai, one of the top Twitch streamers. This is a story of how a relationship develops via messages, email, Skype and finally IRL which may sound cold or perhaps detached but HELL no! This story is all out Romantic and Hot.While Garrett is trying to figure out what his post army life will be and figuring out how to escape Rickston, his run down home town, while not abandoning his mom and sister; Kai has trouble stepping foot outside his own apartment. It was wonderful to see these two navigate their individual and common issues and all the support they find from sometimes unexpected quarters: Nicole, Shawn and all of Chat I'm talking about you!The authors make the connection between these two palpable and fierce. They bring out the best in each other:“People wer lucky to get a “good morning” out of me in person, but online? It was turning out real different. Words flowed easier. Words flowed easier. I shared confidences like I hadn't spent years clutching them to my vest. And I didn't know why. Was it because I didn't have to look someone in the eye and do all this talking? Because words formed easier when I was typing them? Or was it because ... in the billions of people in this shitty planet that I'd never be able to meet in person , the Internet had handed me one person who seemed to be absolutely perfect for me?”“Garrett got the Real Kai. Or at least, the best version of me.”I love how both guys are willing to go the extra mile for the other, Garrett being respectful of Kai's boundaries and endlessly patient and Kai really stepping out of his comfort zone to be with Garrett.Totally recommended. I added the audio for this and while [a:Eric London 15436852 Eric London https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] who does Kai's POV chapters is great [a:Guy Locke 14318696 Guy Locke https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] who does Garrett's POV is a bit of an acquired taste. I would've preferred the one narrator Eric London for the whole thing. I'm certain he would've done an excellent job.