Review: Level Up by Annabeth Albert
SYNOPSIS:
Landon can’t believe he’s let himself get roped into participating in a charity calendar, let alone one that features tastefully photographed nudes. The genius physicist is hardly model material, and he’s dreading the nude part of the photoshoot. Amid his reluctance, the one bright spot is his emails back and forth with the photographer.
However, Bailey turns out to be not exactly what Landon expects, and their first meeting is decidedly awkward. Bailey’s persistent though, and gradually Landon warms to the burly photographer, and they discover they have a shared love of gamer culture.
A tentative friendship is born, but the road from friends to lovers isn’t easy. Landon’s battling past trauma and must decide how much of a risk he’s willing to take. A sexy connection may not be enough to keep them together unless both are willing to put their hearts on the line.
Previously released as part of the EXPOSED anthology, and loosely linked to the #Gaymers universe, this friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort story stands alone with a guaranteed happy ending. Contains a brief mention of a prior assault, but no on-screen violence or flashbacks.
REVIEW:
This read was just okay for me. It was a quick story with an adorable meet-cute misunderstanding. But it just seemed like a lot of back-history baggage to cram into such a short story.
Landon has a lot of trauma, most of which appears he is not working through in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I would suggest his tactic for coping is avoidance. Unfortunately for Landon, he already has growing feelings from Bailey, long before the two meet in person. But the budding friendship turned relationship felt skewed. There were numerous moments where I felt bad for Bailey. Bailey essentially becomes Landon’s verbal punching bag at times.
Otherwise the story flowed rather fast. Since it is formatted as a novella, you miss out on a lot of the emails, calls, and chats the men have. Which really could have helped add a depth and richness to the story that was missing. Just a fast read but not something I would read again.
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