Witt, L.A. Starstruck. Riptide Publishing. 2014. $16.99. 291p. PB. 9781626491700.

Tired of being type-cast and hounded by the media, action hero Levi Pritchard has retired to the bucolic logging town of Bluewater Bay on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, only to have Hollywood arrive to film a TV adaption of a popular supernatural novel series Wolf’s Landing. Further complicating his life is the offer of a job in the TV program and his attraction to the popular and fiercely out male lead, Carter Samuels.

Although a connection flashes between the two men almost instantly, Levi is closeted and not ready to step out of that space. He maintains a deep friendship forms with Samuels over movie nights at his house, but the lingering undercurrent of desire is always present. Between the paparazzo’s lens, studio pressure, and Levi’s complicated family history, the deck is stacked against the two men ever being more than just friends: Carter refuses to be Levi’s dirty little secret.

Starstruck is a quick and highly enjoyable read. Levi and Carter make great friends but would be even better lovers. The sexual tension between them is well balanced and drawn out just long enough to not be tiring. Readers will be disappointed with the fast-moving last third of the novel because they don’t want to see the novel end. Fortunately for these readers, Starstruck is the first in the planned Bluewater Bay series which will have ten novels about the area by different authors.

L.A. Witt is a prolific M/M romance author and Starstruck is a solid offering. It will appeal to readers of New Adult titles, a developing genre with protagonists between 18 and 25, although the novel is not strictly in that genre and to readers who enjoy M/M novels that are more focused on relationship development over erotica. It makes an excellent addition to a romance novel collection, particularly as an eBook.

Amy Call, Reference Librarian