Dewey Belong Together by Ann Whynot [Review]

Dewey Belong Together (Green Valley Library #7) by Ann Whynot
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: February 18, 2021

Green Valley Library
1. Love in Due Time
2. Crime and Periodicals
3. Prose Before Bros
4. Shelf Awareness
5. Carpentry and Cocktails
6. Love In Deed
7. Dewey Belong Together - Paperback | Kindle
8. Hotshot and Hospitality
9. Love in a Pickle
10. Checking You Out
11. Architecture and Artistry

Ann Whynot
| Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

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?

Thoughts on Dewey Belong Together: Max and Jonathan are in two very different mental places when they finally meet and...it doesn't start or end the way either of them imagine. Jonathan's there to meet the person he can't stop thinking about. Max is...sort of dreading the weekend alone with him that's suddenly been thrust upon her.

The idea that they both had such vastly differing experiences (and reasons as to why they felt that way) worked for me. Jonathan wants to see if the chemistry they have online translates into real life. Max literally sees him as her nemesis. Reaching a point where they were both willing to try being friends took doing. Reaching the next step took even more doing.

But they both tried and they got some steamy moments as their reward.

The downside? Jonathan lives in Florida and Max lives in Green Valley. Which means if they want to keep moving forward they'll have to do the long-distance thing. Throw in a curveball in the form of Jonathan's mental health on top of the long-distance thing and Max and Jonathan have a couple of road bumps to get past before they can do the relationship thing.

I adore all things Green Valley and Max and Jonathan worked for me. She's trying to let her true self shine and he's trying to figure out things about himself. They fight and game and love hard and they get to where they need to be eventually.