Level Me Up by Lauren Helms
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Level Me Up is the first in the Gamer Boy series and I received a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Morgan gets a free trip to ComicCom in San Diego when her best friend's brother cannot attend at the last minute. She finds that being able to see some of the actors she likes is interesting and is all set to get in line to swoon over one in particular but stands in line for the COB table to get autograph's from the leading gamers for this game when she takes notice of Dex. Dex is like the top player of COB and all gamers, guys and girls alike love him. It just so happens so does Morgan who is a bit goofy when they arrive at Dex's spot to get his autograph and it turns out that Dex has noticed Morgan too and the weirdest flirt has the friends of both Dex and Morgan totally entertained.

Morgan and Dex spend time together when they arrive back in Chicago and grow as close as two people can in a few weeks. But, obviously, they have not spent enough time together to get to know each other well enough to build trust and learn about each other's weaknesses and fears. This is a point of breakdown for some of the strongest relationships where people have been together for years. It is no wonder the first sign of another potential love interest for either of them would cause the cracks to start to show along with insecurities and miscommunications. When tragedy hits this is where people usually find out whether there really is anything to the relationship and that is no different in Level Me Up and Morgan's relationship with Dex is not the only one with major cracks.

I love it when people travel across the country and meet someone who lives in the same city as they do. I met people from the city I group in the U.S. in Milan, Italy which is crazy given I most likely would never have met them back in the U.S. I will admit that I am surprised that most of the story was told from Morgan's point of view given it the series title of Gamer Boy. Some of the gaming terminology and the professional gaming world was interesting. I have to admit that voice for the reader for this audiobook did not fit for me. Obviously, when insecurities show up it annoys those that have to hear about and watch it happen so this is no different when reading a book versus seeing it in real-life so no surprises there. But, Morgan's insecurities did seem a bit over the top, but, given she had only 2 major romantic relationships both of which ended with her either being betrayed or massively hurt. In addition, the most important relationship with a male, her father, has been going poorly since she was a teenager so there is some understanding of her insecurities, however, the overreaction was a bit of a surprise. It didn't stop me from enjoying the book and hoping for the best, but, it does make Morgan a harder character to relate to because of course, we all forget how insecure we might have been with earlier relationships from our 20's. Level Me Up is a strong start to a new series and an entertaining story.