Operation Get Spencer

by Jambrea Jo Jones

Even if superpowers were real — Benjamin still might not get his man.

Benjamin and Spencer are spending the day at Comi-Con. Spencer is a comic geek and Benjamin would follow him anywhere.

The only problem? Spencer thinks Benjamin is straight and Benjamin just realised he is in love with his best friend. Is a day enough for Benjamin to convince Spencer that his love is more powerful than a locomotive and that it hit him faster than a speeding bullet?

Tune in to find out if Benjamin saves the day.

Reader Advisory: This story has been previously released as part of the Unconventional at Best anthology by Total-E-Bound

Genres: M M Romance, Friends To Lovers, Anthologies, Short Stories, Contemporary

35 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 6, 2013

About the author

Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug.
She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She’s addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime.
from Total-E-Bound's website

Reviews

[Mandy*reads obsessively* · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.45*
Really cute friends to lovers story.
Ben isn't gay, nope, not at all! but...he is sort of gay for Spencer, his best friend.
Spencer is gay and a huge comic book fan, so Ben is sure the place to break his 'I'm so totally in love with you and want to get my gay on with you ' is the comic con they are going to.
Spencer is in shock at Ben's news, he thinks he is messing with him and leaves him alone at the con.
Thankfully it's not a huge drawn out angst fest, it's pretty quickly resolved, because ...wait for it...they actually talk to each other! and then they have sex ! Ha!
It's short and sweet!

[Julesmarie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning to other comic-book-geek lovers or superhero fans: the blurb is a lie!

I was sucked in by the geeky cuteness and was anticipating a fun gfy, friends-to-lovers with some fun references to bits of geekdom (in my head I was picturing a friends-to-lovers version of Taxes and TARDIS, which I loved). The reality was very different.

First of all, the "comic book geek" Spencer is really 6'3", gorgeous, muscular, and defends himself by saying comics were his escape as a kid when his parents fought.

The straight character, Benjamin, is a complete asshole. He claims to be in love with his friend, but he's so ridiculously selfish, oblivious, and self-absorbed that his claims were completely unbelievable. And it`s also completely unbelievable why Spencer would agree to be with someone like him.

I'm geeky enough that I was totally looking forward to accompanying the characters to comicon and seeing what one's like. Perhaps that's why I had such a strong negative reaction to this: Spencer's been waiting at least a year (I forget the exact words, but I think Benjamin even says he's been waiting forever) to get to go to the con and Spencer barely even lets him in the door before bringing up something he should have said at ANY other time.

Not only that, but it seemed like the only things said about the con were to mock the scantily-clad females and to talk about this comic-porn whatever that Benjamin was so proud of himself for having found.

Even when they went back a year later in the epilogue, I was so distracted by Ben's smug self-satisfaction at being such a cool boyfriend that he'd go TWICE to comicon that I don't even remember being told much about it.

I ended the book feeling like the very thing that had been used to hook me into reading had been mocked instead of celebrated. Recommend avoiding it, I wish I had.

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, short, smutty, romantic, geeky read. To quote a line from the book, "Cheesy? Maybe, but I don't care."

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and entertaining, with lots of humor thrown in, this is a short "friends to lovers" story, told from the supposedly straight guy's point of view. Even though we jump right into the heat of the action, so to speak, I found there was enough of an explanation of what was going on in Ben's head to understand the background. While deceptively simple, and with only a few complications, the way this story is told had me smiling almost all the way.

Ben is straight. Or so he thinks. In fact, everyone else thinks the same except for his roommate. Ben's best friend Spencer is gay, but not Ben. Nuh-uh. Ben works hard to maintain his image, but he did remind me of someone who "protests too much". Interestingly, only a few pages in, it turns out even Ben doesn't believe his own assertions any more. Since he's a man of action, he decides to go after Spencer full steam ahead.

What follows is a lot of inept stumbling into relationship territory that has Ben reeling with his own incompetence, and Spencer shocked with the new situation. Where Ben thought he was being smooth by taking Spencer to a comic convention, giving them something fun to do, Spencer doesn't at all react how Ben expected. It takes quite some doing to sort it all out.

If you like stories that will make you laugh, if "friends to lovers" is a plotline you enjoy, and if you’re looking for a short, light read, you may like this book.


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Asynia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Benjamin and Spencer are best friends and while Spencer is out and proud, Benjamin maintains his mantra that he's straight. However, suddenly Ben has realised that he is indeed sexually attracted to Spence and for some reason that has to be revealed at Comi-Con.

I don't believe in the whole "gay-for-you"-thing, if you're attracted to a person of your own sex you're either gay/lesbian or bi, just face the facts. I feel that the GFY-thing is just demeaning, it sounds like the person who claims to be GFY is ashamed of his/her own feelings and tries to "blame" someone else. I do however believe in "out-for-you" and this is what happens here.

So Ben's suddenly both in lust and in love with Spencer and even though they've been friends for years and Spencer's really been looking forward to attending Comi-Con, Ben just has to seduce him right at the premises to convince Spence that Ben's the man for him. And yeah, if you're wondering, it succeeds. Even though Spence misses out on some of the comics he wanted to get...

[m. ✨ On Hiatus ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about Ben, who is straight, realizing he's in love with his best friend, Spencer. He decides to reveal his big news while they attend New York Comic Con (NYCC). Even though the overall story was sweet, I felt like something was lacking, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the story's short length, which led me to feel as though the characters weren't developed enough.

A highlight for me was the mention of NYCC and San Diego Comic Con, both of which I've attended myself. It's always nice to recognize locations in a book. :)

[Lelyana's Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really feeling it. At least not as I expected for a nice cover and good blurb.
And you're really jerking off in a comic con? Is it even exist?
Ugh.

[Gavin Stephenson-Jackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew Comic-Con could be so difficult. When Benjamin tells Spencer that he's in love with him at Comic-Con all hell breaks loose. Spencer's not sure how to react, after all Ben is straight, or at least that's what he's always claimed. Spencer has accepted that he'll never have Ben as anything more than a friend when the bottom drops. Ben's afraid that he's ruined his friendship, Spence is trying to reconcile the new Ben and protect his heart from what he's convinced will happen. Will they find their happy ever after or is it doomed from the start?

[CB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inside "Unconventional At Best Anthology" by Carol Lynne, et al.

[LaShonta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally read in Unconventional At Best Anthology

Oh my goodness. This one was just awesome. I think its my favorite one in the anthology. These 2 were just adorable!!!! I've already re-read it several times!

[Becky Condit · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 3/4 stars!

This is another GFY (Gay For You) story, which normally isn’t my favorite thing. This was a very cute story, though. Told from the PoV of the straight guy, discussing how much he loved his friend and wanted to be with him.

Please see Mr. P's review on February 11, 2013 at http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short and sweet GFY story. It was nice to read the story through the eyes of the "straight" guy.

Read as part of: Unconventional at Best Anthology

[Katy Beth Mckee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin and Spencer. Poor Ben realizes what he wants from Spencer and it all goes wrong. But Spencer comes back and he has to make it right this time.

[Tailtiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in the Unconventional At Best Anthology

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Marlobo ♥ epilogues · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Read as part of Unconventional At Best Anthology.