Review: Interesting Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2013
An American hero has only a few weeks of rest and relaxation before he is sent back into battle. What does he do to make the most of his time? He contacts Madame Eve to help arrange his lifelong dream date.Brenden Fitzpatrick has known what he wanted his entire life. He was made to become a Marine. All-American, driven, generous and kind, he was the guy everyone always admired. Unfortunately for Brenden, his dreams required him to hide one very crucial fact. Brenden is gay.Liam Gardiner was Brenden’s best childhood friend. Openly gay, Liam was the man Brenden protected, befriended, and confided in. Although Liam had a crush on Brenden since they’d met, he also knew Brenden was straight, so he had to settle for a close friendship instead of romance.I’ll admit I’m not a normal reader of M/M stories, and this is the first I’d made through. What I like best about this tale is within the first few pages, it was no longer a story about two men, but two old friends who wanted to reconnect and perhaps rekindle an old attraction. The friendship and love between Liam and Brenden was very natural and believable, one couldn’t help but root for them from the start.I will say it was a bit confusing to keep them straight with dialogue and point of view, since the same pronoun was used, but that could be more my unfamiliarity with male/male stories than it is the fault of the author. I do wish we had seen a little more of the two after they finally coupled since the bulk of the story was the build up, but what we were given was beautiful and very heart-felt.It was a pleasant surprise to get a sneak peek of many of the characters from previous editions of the Always a Marine series. Ms. Long has a wonderful way of showing the connection between characters, and it was wonderful to know they had all stayed together and were making their relationships work. Hopefully Brenden and Liam will join that group.Whether you enjoy gay stories or have never experienced them before, this is one to try because bottom line, it is a love story, and that’s what we are all looking for.Originally posted at Long and Short Reviews