Level One: Headshot

Level Up Series, Book 1

By: Alexa Sommers

Narrated by: Sharmila Devar

Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

You have the hands of a rogue, the mouth of a bard, and I’m pretty sure you’re at least half-cleric because you have me ready to scream. Oh, God!

Dillon Strands is not your typical college co-ed. While other’s are chasing down parties and partners, living out their dreams of debauchery, Dillon and his friends are studying, gaming, and stuck in a rut, their social lives hanging by a thread.

After a semester of continued promises to step out of their comfort zone, the five friends find themselves exactly where they started. Enter Suzanne Andrews, a gamer girl with a plan. Dillon may be at the top of his class, but when it comes to the art of pleasure, Suzie Andrews is an A+ student.

Author's note: This book is the first in a number of novella-length serials. As such, it does not have a traditional ending and is not intended to be listened to as a stand-alone book.

©2020 Wycked Press (P)2020 Wycked Press

Fight through the awkward!

I am not a fan of humor or situations in my media that make me feel awkward. People that enjoy the Office or Parks and Rec... well I'm not one of those people. Sometimes realism is very painful and you can't get away from it. I want my media to get away from it.

Double down on the fact that I am a gamer, a geek, and a Tupac fan.

The first five chapters of Level Up: Level One - Headshot landed critical blows on every one of my various awkwardness triggers to the point that the combination mindsets of Dylan and Jason made me think of the meme "I'm in this picture and I don't' like it" and felt I was being personally attacked by the relatable content.

Then chapter 6 started and started to stretch my disbelief and it dawned on me.

I'm listening to an erotic story.

I should have had my disbelief stretched and shattered from the beginning.

You can't walk into erotica with the same mindset as other books because of the nature of the beast. It allows situations to transpire that in many cases wouldn't, and you felt that with the reactions of the main character in Chapter 6 because even they were like "What's going on here?!?!"

So relistening to the story from the beginning made me look at the whole thing with different eyes and a different perspective. With the new outlook, my only breaking of the suspension fo disbelief was the size of the game theory class. Honestly, this is a tale of a character that decided to do the right thing and is getting rewarded for it. I'm so am predicting heartbreak and sadness and other shenanigans in the future books but this was a well-crafted tale from beginning to end.

Alexa, like any DM or storyteller, is playing the long game with her series, and like any player who occasionally dabbles in DMing, it is wonderful to see someone who is invested in the craft and make sure everyone enjoys themselves.

Sharmila Devar did a wonderful job with the cast of characters presented. When things got hot it came through in a sultry, smoky voice that fit the motif of everything that was going on, even when the characters weren't sure exactly what was happening. She was able to take the character awkwardness and keep everything sexy so it didn't detract from the scenes themselves. The excitement and nervousness from the male characters she portrayed were top notch and I really felt what the characters Jason and Dylan were feeling during the story. Her portrayal of Suzy, Stacy, June, Dani, Janie brought out the depth of the writing to each of the characters' distinct personalities.

This is a wonderful first edition of the audio series and I can't wait to listen to more.

Great fun for the adult feeks

This book is a great story that features geeks who laugh, enjoy each other in a female sex positive manner.

So when is the next book being released?

Gerks and Gaming.

What a fun geeky, gamey, erotic listen. I was gifted an Audible version of this book from the author through Story Origin. So glad I found her.
My favorite thing in books is snappy dialogue. This one had me chuckling throughout. I'm not into gaming, so I learned a few things, but some of it was lost on me. Still I really enjoyed these characters. I want more.
The narrator did a fine job of presenting this book. 5 stars for her, too.

erotic gamer listen

While I generally like a gamer story, this one did not flow well for me...it either dragged on at the beginning or seemed to speed up when things heated up. The narration was okay but not great and while I liked the heat level and overall storyline I just felt there could have been more character development and plot development. This book to me felt more like a porn clip in written / listener form. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad I just wasn't able to connect with it.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I voluntarily provided this review.

Exceptional story!

And here I thought I was going to read a story about some freshmen geeks who spend all their time gaming, rather than hitting every fraternity and sorority party on campus. Boy, was I wrong! These college freshmen might be geeks, but virtual is not the kind of gaming they play. They are enrolled in Introduction to Game Theory class where the guys have their sights on the eligible women in the room. There's a running joke that they're out of luck with a social life because they're only seen as nerds, but they're about to find out that the nerds have their day in paradise! Dillon is a most affable guy, a sweet attitude and the way he deals with others is beyond mature. He's becoming the center of attention with the "gaming girls" who all take a run at him. Fascinating and highly sensual, but I am holding out hope that he's going to find his "ONE." 
The narration is wonderfully done by Sharmila Devar. Her dynamic voice and consistent pace bring all of the characters to life! 

WOW

Level up, is an amazing listen. The story is hot and the characters pull you in. I am just sad i don't get to be in their world longer.

If you like TTRPG gaming and sex, this is for you.

Characters are geek culture relatable. Sex scenes are hot. Plot seems to miss obvious initial conflict oportunity with the protagonist and his best friend being interested in different girls. But I suspect that there will be some future love triangle conflict as the series progresses, if only for purposes of introducing the threesomes. I am also looking forward to the interactions between this fantasy role playing game group's in-game character interactions and how these affect their real world reltionships. But this first book only covered the game setup session zero.

3.5

Meh, it was OK. I actually really liked all the main characters and thought the geekery was really well done. I admit I don't have quite enough geek-cred to get all the references, but I certainly snickered and smiled more than once. I appreciate that the guys got the girls, so to speak, while managing not to be at all sleazy. Dillian's confusion in the face of bliss were my favorite parts. But I thought the villain (for lack of a better description) exceedingly cliched. Similarly, the introduction of female characters only to have them become sex kittens that throw themselves at the main character on meeting him was disappointingly cliched, dare I say boring in it's predictability. I get that this is more erotica than romance, but it was still worth an eye roll.

The writing was pretty sharp, though even in audio I caught a couple probable editing errors "gouge her response," instead of gauge, for example. Hard to tell where to lay blame for that in an audio book though. And lastly, I thought there was some inconsistency in the POVs. All in all, not a bad read (or listen) but a better NA humorous romance than a erotic romp. I rather wish the author had stayed the course, though it's my understanding that she is known as an erotic writer so...

I received a free Audible code for this book. I chose to listen and review it.

Erotica

Short erotica story, that could easily transfer to a romance book. Some well done sexy scenes. Liked the characters were uniquely themselves, with their own quirks and desires. I am interested in the subsequent books in the series. Narration was good.

I received a free copy of this audiobook, and am voluntarily leaving my review.

10,000/10

Finally getting around to being able to listen to these, and I must say if you enjoy reading you 10,000% must get the physical books as well, they have a permanent spot on my bookshelves. I will never not love these books, how week they’re written, how well the characters flow and feel and interact, and now how they’ve been brought even more to life by the incredible talent of the wonderful, and I hope I spell this right, Sharmma Deval (pretty sure that’s wrong 😂).