Ultra Meital Reviews: Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) [Levi & Carter] by L.A. Witt

This was a nice start to the series. It felt honest and sweet from both Levi and Carter's POV. It took me a while to get through this one even though it's not long, when I think about it, it's me having hard time concentrating and so reading less, but also though I really did enjoy Levi and Carter, the story was somehow missing. I'm not sure what really, because I really enjoyed the writing and the way Levi and Carter started and the way the relationship progressed.

Levi Pritchard is living in the small town of Bluewater Bay because he is sick and tired of Hollywood. He started doing the thing he loved but after getting a part as an action figure, in a series of movies in which he didn't really have to ACT, he realizes he had enough. Not to mention being in the closet while being in the spot-light doesn't help. Not when he is trying VERY hard to connect with his parents, the ones who can't possibly accept their son being gay. Not now and let's face it - not never. But still he hopes. Hopes he will one day please his parents, hopes the work he does as a director in the local theater would be enough of what he wants, hoping living in the small town would give him the peace of mind he needs. Yet none of it is enough. Something IS missing. Acting, love, being accepted for who he really is..

Carter Samuels is a new star on the rise, his leading part in the new series "Wolf's Landing" is awesome so he doesn't expect it to be even more so when Levi Pritchard is rumored to join the show. Levi had a HUGE impact on Carter's life even though it was done without Levi's knowledge and so for Carter meeting Levi is literally a dream coming true. He can't help himself and he looks for him in the small theater he directs and from there a sweet friendship blooms. At first Carter isn't sure if Levi is gay or not but they both enjoy each other's company so much there is nothing to re-think really. But even before something can happen between the two the production puts a stop to it..

Since Anna the director of the show is openly gay, Carter is openly gay, and the books the show is based on have a sort of homosexual vibe (though nothing actually happens to confirm those vibes), they production doesn't want the show to be considered as one for the LGBT community and so even though it was never confirmed Levi is or isn't gay (Hollywood.. Rumors.. yeah..) the one rule Levi has to agree to when he signs for the part of his life, the one enabling him to actually PLAY a complicated meaningful character, is NOT act openly as being gay. Levi doesn't really have a problem with this request because he has been closeted gay for most of his life. He had a few relationships mostly with Dylan which ended BADLY with Dylan outing him out (though he always denied it), but it always comes down to him unable to do the deed, especially now when his relationship with his parents is somehow getting better..

But meeting Carter changes everything while changes nothing. Levi is SCARED of coming out, for the reasons mentioned above and so even though he wants Carter like he never wanted anyone it can't work between them so they must stay friends and nothing more. Especially since Carter doesn't do one-nights and he is NOT willing to be anyone's dirty little secret. Yet as they spend more time with each other, and when they are finally together in front of the camera it's impossible to keep just being friends. Something, someONE has to give.

I enjoyed both characters, liked how tender the relationship between them was, they had so much in common and so it wasn't a surprise they became best friends, and so it's no wonder Levi couldn't hold himself back. Both Levi and Carter didn't want to give each other up, not with the beautiful friendship they built but the attraction can't be denied forever.

off to the next one.. :)

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 254 pages, 1-6 August 2016 / On GoodReads

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought by collective authors, each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

This series was a way of me getting to know a few unknown to me authors as well as enjoy some authors I've already knew I loved. Generally speaking you can pick any book in this series and read it as a standalone, just know that most of the side characters mentioned have their own book. It means that at times there are quite a lot of "name dropping". It could be fun if you're highly connected to the previous books or annoying when you're not. This is why it's hard for me to give this series an overall review as some books I absolutely LOVED and others I didn't which made the ride quite "bumpy".

That's part of the reason I decided to put this series aside after the 17th installment (with 5 unread books by "hit or miss" authors). I would have stopped a bit earlier truth being told but I DID want to give a chance to authors I already know I enjoyed, but in the end I felt a bit uncomfortable continuing to support this series - or rather its publisher - considering it's recent revealed "shade".

Books:

1. Starstruck By L.A. Witt [Levi Pritchard & Carter Samuels] (Published 3 November 2014) ★★★★
2. There's Something About Ari By L.B. Gregg [Buck Ellis & Ari Valentine] (Published 8 November 2014) ★★★★★
3. Hell on Wheels By Z.A. Maxfield [Nash Holly & Spencer Kepler-Constantine] (Published 29 November 2014) ★★★★★
4. Lone Wolf By Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt [Hunter Easton & Kevin Hussain] (Published 20 December 2014) ★★ (DNF 25%)
5. The Burnt Toast B&B By Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz [Ginsberg Sloan & Derrick Richards] (Published 11 January 2015) ★★★½
6. Lights, Camera, Cupid (Bluewater Bay #6) Valentine's Anthology (Published 7 February 2015) ★★★★
    [ Just Another Day [Levi Pritchard & Carter Samuels] by L.A. Witt ★★★ ]
[ Nascha By Amy Lane  ★★★★★ ]
[ No Easy Way [Cary Teijan & Dylan James] By S.E. Jakes  ★★★★½ ]
[ Helping Hand [Lucas Wilder & Gabriel Savage] by Anne Tenino  ★★★★★ ]
[ I'll Be There [Nash Holly & Spencer Kepler] By Z.A. Maxfield  ★★ ]

7. Wedding Favors By Anne Tenino [Lucas Wilder & Gabriel Savage] (Published 11 April 2015) ★★★★★
8. The Deep of the Sound By Amy Lane [Cal McCorkle & Avery Kennedy] (Published 13 June 2015) ★★★★★
9. When to Hold Them By G.B. Gordon [Doran Callaghan & Xavier Wagner] (Published 15 August 2015) ★★ (DNF 49%)
10. Rain Shadow By L.A. Witt [Jeremy Rose & Scott Fletcher] (Published 17 October 2015) ★★★
11. Stuck Landing By Lauren Gallagher [Anna Maxwell & Natalya Izmaylova] (Published 12 December 2015) ★★ (DNF 38%)
12. How the Cookie Crumbles By Jaime Samms [Frederic Jackson & Blaire Caruthers] (Published 13 February 2016) ★★★¾

13. Selfie By Amy Lane [Connor Montgomery & Noah Dakers] (Published 16 April 2016) ★★★ (DNF 51%)
14. All the Wrong Places By Ann Gallagher [Brennan Cross & Zafir Hamady] (Published 12 June 2016) ★★★½
15. Bluewater Blues By G. B. Gordon [Jack Daley & Mark Keao] (Published 15 October 2016) ★★★★★
16. No Small Parts By Ally Blue [Nat Horn & Rafael Cortez] (Published 19 December 2016) ★★