Review: Great beginning
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2014
I was pleasantly surprised when I began 'Conduct Unbecoming' by L.A. Witt, book one in her series by the same name, that the main characters were older than I thought they'd be. This meant I was bound to get a very good story that involved two men who have lived and have life experiences and wisdom versus younger men. Not that I have anything against younger men (not at all!), but the serious nature of the storyline of this book felt more real to me when seen through the eyes of maturity. As I have always enjoyed this author's works, I knew this would be no different.Eric is a Master at Arms, a combination of cop, detective, and investigator, and the Navy has just shipped him to Okinawa for a three-year duty posting. He's devastated at leaving his daughter who is in the middle of her junior year in high school. It's not as if he's never been posted outside of the United States before, Eric's done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but something about the three years is really depressing him. In Palace Habu, a gay club located near base, Eric meets Shane. Shane spotted Eric the minute he walked in and can't believe his good fortune as Eric is smoking hot and has just the right mixture of laid-back and arrogance Shane likes. When both of them realize that “Hallelujah, this guy is just as aggressive as I am”, it's game on and I swear they melted the ice in my drink just making out at the club. Their night of passion was almost enough for me to need a cold shower.Weeks go by with each of them trying to forget their night of incredible sex and wishing, maybe, that they'd exchanged phone numbers. Then they run into each other again and they can't deny how much they want each other. Until they're done, the sheets are still smoking and they discover that Eric is enlisted and Shane is an officer. Uh. Oh. A huge no-no of fraternization. Forget being with another guy. Enlisted and officers do not rub elbows together, much less anything else. Ever. This could ruin their respective careers. A less than honorable discharge due to conduct unbecoming a gentleman wasn't something Eric or Shane wanted to put on a résumé. Crap! Now what? Both men have given up a lot for their careers. Both are desperately missing their children who live stateside. And both of them can't seem to keep thoughts of the other away, so that leads them to decide to continue a clandestine and secret affair.I've got to say I'm sorely impressed that the author didn't make this story predictable. I'm not elaborating about that, you've got to read the book to find out. I very much liked both Eric and Shane. Plus, there were interesting and fun dynamics between Eric and his daughter and a little extra drama with Shane, his ex-wife, and his kids. All in all, this was a very good read that I can wholeheartedly recommend.NOTE: This book was provided by Samhain Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews