Sweet L.A. Life (Novel Series)

***Sweet L.A. Life*** is a series of adult novels attributed to American author Maryam Wells, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of two different sisters; Layla, a lesbian interior designer and Callie, a straight hairstylist, along with their friends who are members of the LGBT community.

## Synopsis

*Sweet L.A. Life* is set in Los Angeles and focuses on the relationship between Layla McDaniel, a lesbian interior designer, and her younger sister, Callie, a straight hairstylist who is dumped by her fiancé. Also featured are Layla's friends; Ashley Thomas, an TV actress, Ben Michaels, a female-to-male transgender man, Nathan Cross, a gay paramedic who is more of a brother to the McDaniel sisters. The series featured the girls' neighbor, Lexi Sterling, the snobbish bisexual daughter of a wealthy property developer and famous socialite. The interplay of relationships features the trials and tribulations of dating, marriage, divorce, and casual sex; as well as comical key stereotypes of gay and straight culture.

## Main Characters

* Layla McDaniel - The eldest of the McDaniel sisters, Layla is a lesbian woman who works as an interior designer at one of L.A.'s major design firms. She is very precise and obsessive when it comes to certain tasks, especially cleaning, dressing, and decorating. However, Layla does have a very patient and compassionate nature towards those close to her, often to a fault. Layla isn't close with her mother because she doesn't accept her oldest daughter's sexuality. Prior to the start of the series, Layla's relationship with her current girlfriend ends when she moves out of Layla's apartment
* Callie McDaniel - The youngest of the McDaniel sisters, Callie is a polar opposite of her older sister. She is a heterosexual hair stylist and makeup artist who is much more accepting of Layla's sexuality than their mother. She has been there for Layla throughout most of the series. prior to the series, Callie gets engaged to her boyfriend, but on their wedding day, she catches him making out with an ex-girlfriend and she dumps him. Rather than move in with her parents, Callie moves in at Layla's apartment. Throughout the series, Callie has had numerous boyfriends and affairs as her sister. Her long-running relationship in the series is with Ethan Griffins. Callie had a serious storyline in the series where she battled with bulimia. It was revealed that her turbulent relationship with her mother was contributing factor to her illness. Plus, it was also revealed that her battle with bulimia began when she was sixteen.
* Ben Michaels - A female-to-male transgender man who is a musician and computer repairman. In the second arc, a relationship with a gay man led to Ben being involved in a transgender pregnancy storyline when he fell pregnant. Ben eds up giving birth to a daughter, Briana. He spends the rest of the series juggling his love life while raising his daughter. He also dates the snobbish Lexi Sterling in the fourth arc.
* Ashley Thomas - A TV actress who is trying to keep her sexuality under wraps for the sake of her career. She is the series only African-American main character who is a lesbian. She is originally from Bakersfield, California, who moved to L.A. to attend a performing arts college. While there, Ashley discovered she was a lesbian when she began falling for her female classmate. Because her family are church-goers, she keeps her sexuality a secret from them. Ashley has been in relationships with a few secondary characters and three main characters. In the fourth arc, Ashley's relationship with male-to-female transgender fashion model Courtney Lewis led to her falling pregnant. After Courtney made it clear that she chose her career over being there for the baby, Ashley breaks up with her and puts her career on hold to have her son, Devon. The fifth arc sees Ashley get severely injured in a nightclub explosion, but she recovers.
* Nathan Cross - A gay paramedic. He is more of a family figure to Ben, Ashley, and the McDaniel sisters. He becomes godfather to Ben's daughter, Briana in the second arc after he delivers her and to Ashley's son, Devon in the fourth arc because he was there for Ashley during her pregnancy. Nathan was involved in a homosexual domestic violence storyline after beginning a relationship. The storyline escalated to extreme climax when Nathan was attacked by -- and his friend Callie McDaniel interfered to save him, leading her to get thrown on the shelf and seriously injured. Callie was comatose and -- puts the blame on Nathan to save himself. Nathan was put in jail for Callie's attack, which strains his friendship with Layla. However, Callie is awoke from the coma and she tells Layla the truth on what happened. Nathan is released from jail and -- was arrested for assaulting Nathan and putting Callie in the hospital. Still,

## Notes

* The series is described as "Will & Grace" meets "The L Word".
* Sisters Layla and Callie McDaniel were supposed to be 18 months apart but was changed to four years apart. Layla was born in 1977 and Callie in 1980.
* Lexi Sterling was the series most hated character.
* Ben Michaels' pregnancy storyline came from Thomas Beatie, a female-to-male transgender man who became pregnant. After giving birth to daughter, Briana, Ben's storyline changed to him being a transgendered single parent raising his daughter.
* Lexi Sterling became the most hated character in the series due to the character being self-centered, narcissistic, malicious, duplicitous, manipulative, deceiving, cruel, and scheming in the last 3 seasons.
	+ She and Ben had sex in front of Ben's daughter, Briana.
	+ She slept with Alycia Barnett two years before she began dating Ashley Thomas.
		- She also made out with Ashley while she was dating Alyssa.
* The actors playing the characters of Peter and Carrie Fairchild are father-daughter in real life.
* Among the main female characters in the series, Callie is the one who's sexually straight. Similar to character, Chloe Lawrence in the spin-off, Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation.
* The love triangle between Ashley Thomas, Alyssa Gunther, and Lexi Sterling would later be used for the love triangle between Erica Myles, Olivia Davidson, and Lacey Parker in *Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation*.
* The friendship between Nathan Cross and Callie McDaniel was one of the series' memorable friendships in its history.
* Callie McDaniel has kissed three members of the LGBT community in her time in the series. She kissed her gay best friend Nathan, her on and off main squeeze, Ben, and close friend, Paige.
* In season one, episode 5, Callie was wearing a pink sparkly jumpsuit and stated that she looked like a lesbian Power Ranger. Erin Cahill who played Callie had previously played the pink Power Ranger in the Power Ranger series in 2001.