Review: I liked it better than the first book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 21, 2014
WARNING FROM SIRIUS – THERE IS MENTION OF TORTURE. NO GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE ITSELF, WE ONLY SEE THE CONSEQUENCES, BUT IF ANY MENTION OF TORTURE IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU, BEWARE.REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED AT DEAR AUTHOR, BOOK WAS RECEIVED AS ADVANCED REVIEWING COPYReview:Dear Cat Grant and L.A.Witt,I reviewed the first book in this series (hopefully this is the last one) and I liked it pretty well overall, but I think I enjoyed this book even more.As the blurb tells you, we meet David and Josh several months after a difficult injury ended David’s career as a SEAL. He is still recovering and even though he still needs care, David has made vast improvements. David and Josh moved in together at the end of the first book and now they are attempting to build a life together. The main issue these guys face, besides David trying to adjust to civilian life, is that Josh is still being an active SEAL and , a team leader, and David having to worry about Josh coming back in one piece from his the deployment missions.My heart went out to both of them – I am obviously only speaking as a civilian, but I would think it is hard for any military spouse/partner to wait and worry, knowing every time your loved one leaves that they may not come back alive. I would imagine it is ten times harder for somebody who used to be doing those same missions because he knows exactly what *can* happen and knows many more details than the average civilian spouse, with whom those in the military may share as few details as possible. I also felt for Josh, who was going on so many missions that it felt strange for him to come home.But of course people deal with it because they have to – some people deal better, some people deal worse, and I totally understood Josh’s comment about his new understanding of why so many guys on his team stayed single. Again, maybe somebody who knows more about the military than I do will find problematic portrayals, but I could not feel any false notes in this book. Both Josh and David try so very hard to deal with the strain of Josh’s work, and of David trying to find work in a world that is pretty much new to him after being military for years, because they do love each other. But sometimes love is just not enough, and when they questioned themselves about whether they could deal with all of it, it just rang so very true to me. I loved that work was so important to Josh – there are few things that annoy me in m/m romances as much as a grown man being defined only by what kind of lover he is looking for. I also loved, however, that while Josh was hoping never to have to make such a choice, it was made clear in the text that his lover was more important to him than even his beloved work.I really appreciated how this book dealt with PTSD. I mean, I usually detest magic cures of mental illnesses including PTSD, and there is no magical cure or any other type of cure here, really. In previous a romances I’ve read, where I liked how the stories dealt with the similar issues, the characters were getting treated – with therapy, and hopefully with some medications if needed. This book, while acknowledging the need for therapy if PTSD gets so severe that the ability to do the job is impaired also tells us that PTSD eventually becomes a part of their job for many SEALS. Josh at some point thinks about several guys from his team having triggers of different kinds. One man could not handle fireworks, another something else. Obviously those symptoms do not impair them in a significant way, but I kind of liked the idea that the men who have some kind of small or not so small issues do not necessarily have to be portrayed as broken, if that makes sense.I thought that this book made the men deal with their issues in a grown- up way even when they argued – and when they would have a quarrel which lingered a little longer because the stress just got to them and some stuff just needed to be out in the open, it still made sense to me. Of course, even their last quarrel (last in the book, I doubt they won’t find stuff to argue about after the book ends and their relationship will continue in my imagination) did not last for longer than a few days, and that helped me to not be annoyed either.Now that I am thinking about it, I reacted to this book in a really strange way – most of the time the tension between the guys does not go away, so even in their happy moments they always have those unresolved issues between them that they have to deal with. At the same time I personally was not annoyed because all their issues just made so much sense and they still mostly acted like adults to me.There are some exciting action scenes in this book as well, but it does not last as long as it lasted in the first book (or it seemed that way to me). I thought it made sense because the story came back to David and Josh faster. I was very pleased and satisfied with their happy ending; I thought the guys completely earned it.Grade: B/B+