Level Me Up

Gamer Boy, Book 1

De: Lauren Helms

Narrado por: Lacey Gilleran

The last thing Morgan Lawson is looking for when attending Comic Con is love. But even prior to exchanging first words, Morgan is drawn to Dex, a drop-dead sexy gamer boy who lives and breathes video games. Before she realizes it, Morgan finds herself caught up in all things Dex.

Dex Roberts knows from the moment he first sees Morgan, he wants more. He falls hard and fast but isn’t surprised when his job as a professional video gamer takes a toll on their relationship. Once Morgan decides what truly makes her happy, there’s no time to waste. But without warning, life threatens to destroy what both Morgan and Dex want most...each other.

©2017 Lauren Helms (P)2018 Lauren Helms

Cute

The story was okay.

The audible I liked the narrator. I wish there was. More of a break between chapters and if Dex’s POV was a male narrator

This book's game was off...

It's been a full twenty-four hours since I listened to Level Me Up because I wanted to take some time to gather my thoughts before writing this review. Let me say that it's never easy to type out on my keyboard how a book, regardless of its format, failed to click with me. Unfortunately, that's where I find myself with this first in Lauren Helms's Gamer Boy series. I've read and listened to quite a few romances wherein one or both of the main characters happen to be involved in the gaming world. Now, one doesn't have to be a gamer to have an appreciation for gaming as a whole or the individuals who immerse themselves in it. I'm not a gamer, but I get the fascination people have for it and why there are so many who get so into it. I even know a few of them personally.

Helms's story had potential. If it didn't, I wouldn't have bothered to spend almost six hours listening to it. But this was a case of potential not being full met. Main characters Morgan Lawson and Dex Roberts were okay, although the latter had far more charm to him than the former, but I didn't feel as much chemistry as I would have wanted between these two. And goodness, there's only so much insecurity I can take from a female main character, especially since the guy who loved her wasn't giving her any reason to doubt him. I honestly didn't even get why they clicked as much as they were supposed to have clicked. I also felt as if I was waiting for something to happen story-wise, but it was like a weighted pause that led to not much after all. As far as the narration is concerned, I Lacey Gilleran, who is a new-to-me narrator, was good enough. All things considered, Level Me Up gets three stars. ♥

A sweet, straightforward romance

I really enjoyed the story of Dex and Mo. I didn’t quite know what to expect with the “gamer boy” theme, but I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised with the level of emotion that played out. I think one of the helpful parts of the story was that Mo didn’t have any knowledge of the professional gaming scene, so I could relate to her in that regard. Going to SDCC with one of her best friends just for fun and to hang out, only to meet Dex and get immediately swept away. I always enjoy getting both POVs in a romance, and though this one leans more heavily towards her, we get plenty of him to understand where he’s coming from in all of this as well. Overall, it’s not an overly complicated story - which isn’t at all a bad thing. Sometimes the simplicity is enough, and it’s just a nice love story. But there’s always something that pops up, and here it’s more self-induced than anything else, but dramatic nonetheless. That said, it’s pretty clear that they are meant for each other, so as the story unfolds, it’s an enjoyable ride to the end. We also have the development of this incredible group of friends that emerges from the meeting of these two - his friends, the pro gamers/you tubers, and her friends. They seem to seamlessly mesh together into this amazing group that I think anyone would want to be a part of. Outside of the romance, I loved the building of these friendships, and how they support and interact with each other.

Narrator Makes Book Pleasurable

Where does Level Me Up rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'm not going to compare the books but it was an ok listen. I'm on the fence whether I would listen to it again. I think it would depend on how the series develops. Will other books in the series come out in audio?

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't say that I had a favorite character. Without having all the characters the whole story would have changed. But none really stood out above the other.

What does Lacey Gilleran bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ms. Gilleran gives the reader the experience of knowing how young these characters are. If you're thinking of people just graduating college, you don't want to have an "older" narrator reading to you because then you have a hard time imagining what the life these characters may have had. I think she was a great choice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I wouldn't say that I had an extreme reaction to any parts of the book. It does bring back memories of what I went through after I graduated college and the relationship I had with my parents and brothers during that time. Not really into "gaming" so I can't really understand the fascination. Especially since my experience was pinballs.

Any additional comments?

This may be one of those stories that the "older" generation may not find the story interesting. It did have a feeling of being generation specific. In this case when you see the tag "new adult" I would take that seriously. It's not a teen read though. You get the experiences of young love and of young adults just beginning their lives. Experiences are new, mistakes will be made, and emotional and life experiences will be up and down. With the characters being young, I can't say that the ending is happy because we don't know what happens as they age but at least they're happy for now.

Just because this one book was not my cup of tea doesn't mean that I'm going to give up on this author. It's hard to connect with characters when we haven't experienced the same thing. Each generation experiences something different - gaming being one of them. The author does write believable situations and characters. I just can't see this as a book for everyone.

I voluntarily reviewed an Audiobook copy of this book.

A series that shows promise

Uf, this book gave me some mixed feelings. On one side, I did enjoy the audiobook, I liked the narration very much, but I wanted a bigger explosion, and that explosion was left much towards the end.

We have here a team of Call of Battle (hope I got the name right) players who earn their monthly income by doing exactly what they love: playing games. All the books in the series will follow the team members but book one brings us Dex and Morgan – Dex being the player, game player. He is the perfect guy: good looking, friendly, respectful and sexy as sin! She is a nerd. She knows nothing about games, knows nothing about what being a gamer means and on top of that, has her own family issues.

Let’s start with the writing. It was clean, sweet and gentle. We have a dual perspective story that is very useful in many situations towards the book. There are moments in which one character acts in a way that apparently makes no sense, but once we have his or her POV, all clears up. We have family and friendship as main themes. So I can say it’s all ok on this area. The end brings a solution to all problems. It was unexpected, but a bit rushed to my taste.

The characters are not exceptional. They would seem boring, but even boring people have some interesting story. Yes, they are not exceptional (well, Dex kind of is), they are not explosive, but sweet and genuine. I disliked Morgan completely. I tried to find excuses for her behavior in her family issues but her jealousy and refusal to understand or accept Dex’s lifestyle really bothered me. The guy really was sweet!

The narration was great and as I would have imagined. The narrator managed to capture Morgan’s episodes and her frustration and as well as Dex’s inner struggle to understand her and save his relationship, if possible.

So without too much wine and dine, I will go with 3.5 stars for this book, but I can tell you that the series is very promising. The other couples are much more interesting and intriguing. Book two “One More Round” is published already as far as Goodreads shows and I cannot wait to give it a try. I loved Dax, did not like that much Morgan but the book is worth your while big time  Happy Reading/Listening!