4/5 Review: Status Update by Annabeth Albert

Adrian Gottlieb is winning at life. He's a successful video game designer with everything a man could ask for, including a warm comfy ride to Denver and a date for his sister's wedding. But he finds himself in need of a total reboot when he's left stranded at a snowy campground in Utah. Holiday plans? Epic fail.

That is until Noah Walters offers him shelter for the night and a reluctant cross-country ride. Nothing about the ultraconservative geoarchaeologist should attract Adrian, but once he discovers Noah's hidden love for video games, the two connect on a new level. Soon, a quiet but undeniable chemistry sparks.

Something doesn't add up, though. As the miles accumulate and time runs out, Noah must face the most difficult choice of his life. Meanwhile, Adrian must decide whether he's ready to level up. Is their relationship status worth fighting for, or has this game ended before it's even begun?

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Noah is a professor at a very religious university.  He is on the road taking a sabbatical while he writes up his research book.  While parked at one of the trailer parks he hears his neighbors.  He realizes that he met one of them while walking his dog Ulysses.  He doesn’t like to be so outspoken or emotional so he has become a lonely man.  He doesn’t talk to his family much and the only time he really speaks out is when he is front of his students.  He hears an argument and realizes that Adrian and his friend are fighting.  Adrian is left at the trailer park with nothing, not even his shoes.  Noah offers to take him in for the night and they begin to get to know each other.  Adrian is seen by his family as the one that always needs to be looked after.  He is impulsive and had the worst luck in men.  He doesn’t think that he deserves to have someone there with him who loves him for him.  Noah sees Adrian as someone who looks after others, and has a selfless heart.  Adrian doesn’t see himself that way, he has let the way he thinks his family sees him to cloud the way he sees himself.  They help each other really see what they are and how much they need each other.  Adrian helps Noah come out of his shell but without completely overwhelming him.  There is one instance where he became separated from Noah but as soon as he realized it, he went looking for him.  He found him with his two nephews playing a video game.  He realizes that he loves the interaction between Noah and his nephews and can imagine him as a father one day.  As Noah and Adrian get closer Noah becomes scared to open himself up more to the possibility of coming out and making his sexuality a known thing.  As he realizes that he can lose something important he begins to see himself as a coward.  He knows that he can’t live his life closed off the way he has been, and must decide if he is going to fight for what is important to him.  I enjoyed this book and will look for other work by this author.  I enjoyed Noah and Adrian’s journey to discovery and love.