A-
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Starstruck is a geek-friendly contemporary m/m with characters who feel absolutely authentic. I adored it. It’s sweet, it’s sexy, and it feels very realistic with the exception that both protagonists have way more time on their hands than they would in real life.
The plot is pretty simple. Once upon a time, Levi was a huge action star. He quit making movies and moved to the quiet town of Bluewater Bay to escape typecasting and attention from the tabloids. As an action star with a conservative family, he experienced huge pressure to stay in the closet. When Bluewater Bay becomes the filming site for the TV show Wolf’s Landing, Levi is offered a part that breaks the typecasting he’s been trapped in for years. This only increases the pressure for Levi to stay in the closet, because the studio is specifically interested in Levi being on the show because they think he’s straight. The star of the show, Carter, is openly gay and the show’s producer is openly lesbian and the studio is worried about the show being “too gay.”
Levi has a huge attraction to Carter, but he can’t afford to come out of the closet. Meanwhile, Carter has a crush on Levi. As they get to know each other, Carter and Levi fall in love. Levi is terrified to come out, and Carter refuses to be a secret boyfriend. Guess they’ll just have to be friends, right? I’m sure no complications or frustrations will ensure. </sarcasm>
The best thing about this book is that it gives the characters plenty of time to develop a relationship. They spend a ton of time being friends and just hanging out. True, this is incredibly unrealistic given the fact that Levi directs community theater and is in the last two weeks of rehersals, which in my experience would really mean that he’d be pulling all-nighters at the theater and wouldn’t have time to do anything other than wave at Carter in passing. But other than that, the friendship builds in a realistic and sweet fashion. They bond over a love of movies and progress from shyly watching movies together to talking for hours. They go fishing in what is a hilarious sequence. Carter gets to know Levi’s cats. By the way, Levi has two Maine Coon cats. I hear that these cats inspire deep affection in their owners – but all I know about the breed is that they are beautiful and large. Here is your daily required Internet cat photo:
This isn’t a science fiction book, but it’s geek-friendly in that Wolf’s Landing has paranormal elements and there are a lot of affectionate references to fan conventions including but not limited to San Diego Comic-Con. Also, Carter and Levi geek out over movies of every genre – their enthusiasm for films both popular and obscure is adorable. They both have careers that require them to present a certain cool facade to the world, but when presented with the right DVD, all that falls away leaving only excitement, enthusiasm, and a great passion for detail – the true hallmarks of a geek.
I adored this book because it was so sweet and above all it felt so authentic. Even the sex seems authentic – it’s passionate and earth shaking, but it’s also awkward and clumsy sometimes a little embarrassing and messy. They are real people having great sex, not porn stars in a movie. Not much happens plot-wise, but the book takes its time and the payoff is that the story feel intimate and realistic.
The challenge feels like a real challenge – Levi really does have a lot to lose by coming out, and it would be truly miserable to be his secret boyfriend (given how often the pair are stalked by paparazzi it would probably also be impossible). Carter and Anna are refreshingly angst-free, and they provide a nice counter-point to Levi, showing that different perspectives and approaches to being out in a homophobic industry are possible, but Levi’s predicament is never trivialized and the outcome isn’t sugar-coated.
Overall, this is a lovely relaxed and relaxing m/m that featured likable characters who I totally rooted for. This is a part of a series of stand-alone m/m romances by different authors in the same setting (Bluewater Bay). Just don’t look at the covers – they are awful. I’m positive that Carter does not look so much like Justin Beiber. Honestly.
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Thanks!
I didn’t like this one quite as much as you did – I don’t remember why, I think it just felt a little light weight. But I enjoyed it – I’ve read several of the Bluewater Bay books and (of the ones I’ve read) this one had the most about the actual show and that was a lot of fun.
LA Witt is hit or miss for me, but she’s also one of my most reliable regular authors.
Sounds like something I’ll absolutely put on my list for when I want a lazy afternoon read. I love when you guys review books like this. Sometimes you want a big sweeping epic or something with tons of tense drama, other times you want characters being cute that you can coo over and squeal when they get together. (I am really in the mood for that sort of thing lately and I honestly couldn’t tell you why!)
On a semi-related note, and this is no way an attack on the author of this book or any other woman who writes m/m, but can anyone recommend a m/m romance that’s actually written by a guy? I just feel like the vast majority of m/m I see is written by women, and while that’s fine, I’d be interested in comparing it to m/m fiction written by a gay male. It makes me wonder if there’d be a noticeable difference in the way they were written, what they focused on, etc, sort of like how most Yaoi is actually written/drawn by and for women instead of the dudes it depicts.
@Leah: Steve Kluger wrote “Almost Like Being In Love”, which is light and funny but also deeply romantic and will give you that “omg they are sooo cute! *squee*” feeling. Damon Suede is a popular male m/m author (Hot Head has some excellent reviews), and I think Josh Lanyon is a male author (rather than a pen name for a female author).
@Leah: GoodReads has a list of over 1000 m/m books by male authors. Happy reading! http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5173.M_M_Books_Written_By_Men
@Leah – a few more recommendations:
Sean Kennedy – I like his Tigers and Devils series (Australian set, jock/art geek pairing, lots of snark)
Alexis Hall – he writes both m/m and f/f and both contemporary and steampunk/pnr
Dani Alexander – crazy sauce contemporary
EE Ottoman – transgender steampunk
Aleksandr Voinov – I think Voinov is one of the most interesting m/m authors I read – he has a huge range and I like his writing style. He and LA Witt have collaborated a lot.
I’m sure I’ll think of more.
@Leah, Ken O’Neill wrote The Marrying Kind, which was a sweet romance about a couple who want to get married and go to great lengths to protest the fact that they’re not allowed to. It was released in 2012, and while same sex marriage is now legal in the United States, I think the book is still relevant given the global struggle for equal rights. Lest you be put off by the seriousness of the issues addressed in the book, let me clarify that it is, in fact a comedy, and quite a funny one.
Andrew Grey is a male author writing m/m.
Brandon Witt, Edmond Manning, Kade Boehme, Rick R. Reed, and Neil S. Plakcy are a few more men who write m/m.
I agree with Leah…I feel the need to read some m/m written by men. Thanks to all who sent in suggestions!
I read and enjoyed Starstruck also. It was fun to read your review.
I believe Sean Kennedy is a woman from Australia. I remember being surprised. Her books are fabulous. Maybe you meant Sean Michaels?
Thanks everyone! This is awesome! I’ll definitely check these books out. I love how SBTB reviews books for everyone!
@Leah – I second Dread Pirate Rachel’s recommendation of the O’Neill book. I laughed so hard on the train I got stared at. I reviewed it and gave it an A-.
@HollyG – I meant Sean Kennedy (although I’ve read Sean Michaels too) – I’m sure he’s male because he uses male pronouns on his website and identifies as male on Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1120780.Sean_Kennedy
For another geeky M/M romance novel, I’d highly recommend “Bad Idea” by Damon Suede. M/M written by a man. Nerdy comic book artist falls in love with an FX makeup creator in New York City.