I can honestly say that I have never laughed so hard while reading a book. I literally woke my husband up from a dead sleep because I was laughing hysterically!

Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark takes a spin on romance and blends it with the gaming world and those who follow it. Katie is a hardcore gamer who while trying to buy a video game at a midnight release (which also included some cosplay) gets the game snatched out of her hands by George who happens to be a guy version of Katie (in my humble opinion).

These are my kind of guys, and I am a girl in a game store. Since I know it won't result in actual violence, I have no problem playing the boob card. -Katie

I loved these characters and the alternating POV! Katie and George are both home from college for their Christmas breaks and with a new game release plan to spend the break beating this game. When the unfortunate turn of events leaves them fighting over the game (Katie won, playing dirty I might add), a very awkward relationship begins. Katie is awesome! She is awkward, never having dated much, but she is very comfortable in her own skin, not seeming to care what others think and an excellent gamer. George is definitely the insecure guy who has never socialized much, if at all, except for those he knows through Xbox live. In addition to the main characters there are some pretty awesome ancillary characters, such as Lanyon, George's best friend who reminds me a lot of a friend of mine growing up. He is constantly coming up with one liner jokes and bless him he doesn't know when to stop.

"Feel my openhanded rage, you petulant nad nibbler," he taunts me. We're educated college students. And this is how we spend our nights. Pretty sweet really. -George

The plot of this story is fairly simple and two-fold. 1) Beat the mega-hidden-boss in new video game and be the first group to do it & 2) Get the girl. If you are not a hardcore gamer, that's ok. You will still understand some of what is happening in this book. If you are a hardcore gamer, you will not only understand what is going on but also get all the hidden jokes and similes which are quite funny. One of my favorite parts is where George, in a sleep-deprived state, decides to write a poem to Katie that basically equates her and his feelings for her to several different games (and I was quite proud of myself that I got them all!) And as a true geek/nerd myself, I think I may have found a new book boyfriend when George crafted Link's heart and gave it to Katie (((sigh)))

Is this your typical women's lit romance? Absolutely NOT!!! However, it is enough of a romance to fall into that category. Will you enjoy it? I did. I loved it! But I am also a geek/nerd/former-gamer myself so the jokes, the guy humor, and the all-out pop-culture references to things like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars I totally got and loved. This book must have been written for me because the authors nailed it, in fact I think this would be hilarious (if the authors were involved that is) on the big screen. Awkward at times and laugh so hard you snort this book is well worth the read.