Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Star
SERIES: Charleston Condors, Book 1
AUTHOR: Beth Bolden
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 400 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2023
BLURB:
Tight end Landry Banks knows the score when he signs with the Charleston Condors in a rebuilding year.
New owner. New coach. New players. New rules.
But one rule hasn’t changed: Don’t hook up with your best friend’s little brother.
Rookie quarterback Riley Flynn knows what it takes to make it in the NFL. He’s in Charleston to prove himself—to the world and to his teammates, but mostly to his older brother, who’s never believed he could be a star.
The last thing he expects is for his brother’s best friend Landry to welcome him with open arms and an offer to become roommates.
Riley’s always believed Landry was straight—but the way Landry keeps checking him out leaves him suddenly unsure. And Landry’s hot looks certainly don’t help squash the crush he’s always had on his brother’s best friend.
Revisiting his teenage crush isn’t part of the plan. But as he and Landry fall into a rhythm of thrilling plays on the field and sizzling tension off it, there’s no denying their connection.
Riley isn’t willing to trade becoming the next big NFL superstar for love. But with a man like Landry Banks waiting to catch anything he throws at him, maybe he can have both.
REVIEW:
Beth Bolden’s The Star is the first book in her new Charleston Condors sports romance series, a spinoff of her highly enjoyable Miami Piranhas series. This series further extends Bolden’s fictional NFL football fictional universe featured in the Miami Piranhas series as well as Bolden’s previous series, The Riptide (and also her Food Truck Warriors spinoff series, which bears a loose connection to The Riptide). You do not need to have read those series to read The Star. However, other featured characters from those books make cameos here, and the premise of this series is established in the final books of the Piranhas series, so it is helpful context.
The Star embodies the same vibe as the other books — low-angst, sweet, sexy, heartwarming with a strong found family/ team camaraderie element. The characters, like Riley and Landry (older brother of Logan from Playing the Player, book 2 in the Piranhas series), are likable and relatable, and they have terrific chemistry as a couple. What I like best about these series is the heavy emphasis on the sport itself. Note that this may, conversely, turn you off if you aren’t a football fan. This is a true sports romance, not a romance with sports in the background.
That being said, as much as I enjoyed Riley and Landry, their relationship didn’t feel particularly new. As Landry himself admits early in the book, the scenario here is strikingly similar to his brother Logan’s romance with his now-boyfriend Dylan. We get the added best friend’s brother conflict here, which is effective in a different way than what we typically see from this trope. Overarchingly though, this book feels substantially like a setup for the rest of the series. We meet lots of new characters, along with foreshadowing of relationships that will play out later. It doesn’t detract much from the enjoyment of the story, but it made me feel like this was more a prequel than a book focused on Riley and Landry. I would have liked more depth to their relationship.
The Star is slower-paced than some of Bolden’s books, with less in the way of highs and lows, but it easily kept my attention and I was glad to be back again in this fictional universe with Bolden’s keen football insights and knack for creating endearing characters we root for. Recommended.
RATING: 
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