Welcome back to the Smut Vault! I’ve been flapping my jaws (figuratively) around here, hogging whole series and authors for myself. It’s time to give an erotic series the group effort approach and I’m sounding the bell for this hot five parter. Book one will be from your ol’buddy Matt, but let’s hand it off to the kids once we’re through with this one. Teamwork makes the dream work here at the Smut Vault y’all!
Level Up: Level One: Headshot is the first in a five volume romance erotica series by Alexa Sommers. Focusing on a group of nerdy friends at college studying Game Theory, the immediate vibe is a slice-of-life genre with a touch of budding romance. I realize that’s not what’s being sold here, but going into the series blind I genuinely felt like this was starting off as a slow burn as I met these characters. A few boys and a “one of the guys” sort of girl are pretty much inseparable and run their social and romantic lives through each other as a functional and amusing brain trust. Inside jokes and pop culture references ping pong back and forth in a very real exchange as I can imagine some friends of mine acting and talking just like this group. Something that might just shake up this pack of super friends: Suzanne fucking Andrews. Hot as all get out, alt, and armed with a nerdy disposition, Suzanne could become the straw the stirs the drink with this group, but what might happen if everyone starts listening to their feelings?
The writing style is entertaining if not entirely inclusive. Best marks out of ten my nerd scale is around a 6, so while most of the references and jokes were picked up, I’m quite sure I missed out on a few of them. The other major hurdle to clear is how inside baseball the narrative is when it comes to gaming. Most of book one’s narrative revolves around a role playing paper/pencil game involving the story’s main crew and some theater nerd friends introduced by Suzanne. Frankly, I felt as lost as I did while trying to play one those games in real life. Still, it’s not for me to complain, I can tell the nerd wisdom here is genuine, and I can vibe off that energy as the story progresses. Say, it’s been a lot of story so far..where’s all the se-……OH THERE IT IS.
The sexual content takes a long time to show up for a book of this genre, but damn if doesn’t make up for lost time once it arrives! There’s probably some sort of commentary here about theater nerds being more down to screw, but the sex scenes are realistic, enjoyable, and hot as fuck. What first looked like a classic “will they or won’t they” young romance morphs into something a great deal more complex. Not a love triangle if you consider all the details, it’s more of a sex rhombus. Knowing there’s four more books yet to come in our reading, I’m invested nearly as much as the characters themselves are, and I want to be right along side them for this adventure.
Verdict: Level Up: Headshot by Alexa Sommers is a wholly enjoyable college age erotic romance hybrid that builds a lovely narrative while still capable of bringing the heat when it’s warranted. This series has all the makings of a well crafted prime-time television sexy drama, but with properly built characters and sex drives to bring the whole operation together. So long as the average reader is ok missing a few of the many many (many) pop culture nerd references, you’re going to have yourself a lovely time getting to know these friends and their unique quirks. I’m stoked to keep reading this series, but you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got a steamy college D&D campaign to find, GAME ON!
Special thanks to Alexa Sommers for providing a review copy of the Level Up series to TehBen.com. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Author’s Twitter: @AlexaSommers
Purchase Link: Amazon
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