Title: Conduct Unbecoming
Author: L.A. Witt
Genre: Contemporary Military Romance
Length: Novel (381 pages)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (October 23rd 2012)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 1/2 Hearts
Reviewer: Tams & Thommie
Blurb: “As long as no one asks and they don’t tell.”
First class petty officer Eric Randall is less than thrilled about taking orders to Okinawa. Three long, lonely years on a crappy island, that’s thousands of miles from his daughter? Oh. Yeah. Sign him up. But as long as he’s stuck here, he might as well make the best of it, so he discreetly checks out the local gay scene.
Shane nearly drops his drink when the gorgeous, cocky-looking guy strolls into Palace Habu. He buys him a drink, and before long, they’re making out in a booth. Eric is a straight-to-the-point kind of guy and doesn’t want to play games. Since Eric’s idea of not playing games is getting the hell out of there and going back to one of their apartments, Shane is more than happy to go along with it.
What starts as a scorching-hot one-night stand leaves both of them wanting more until Eric finds out Shane doesn’t just outrank him, he’s an officer. DADT may be repealed, but an officer getting involved with an enlisted man falls under conduct unbecoming.
Still, they can’t resist their mutual desire. There’s no reason anyone has to find out. But secrets have a way of outing themselves.
Warning: Contains two military boys who keep forgetting they’re not supposed to be together. Probably because they never have their uniforms on for any length of time.
Purchase Link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/conduct-unbecoming-p-7039.html
Tams Review: 5 ♥♥♥♥♥ Hearts
The backdrop of this story is the beautifully written Okinawa, brought to life superbly in the words Witt uses as descriptives. I was literally transported by her descriptions of the land, islands and castles. I would close my eyes between paragraphs and I was there at Katsuren Castle with Eric and Shane!
Eric is new to the island and not even remotely excited with his latest tour, having left behind his teenage daughter in the states with his ex-wife for the next three years. He is a career military, enlisted MP and he’s gay. Not necessarily openly gay, but he’s not touring Okinawa waving his rainbow flag either. It doesn’t take him long to begin his search for something, or someone, to help him pass the time.
The first thing Eric see’s when he walks into Palace Habu is the sexy, stranger at the end of the bar. Shane almost drops his drink when he lay’s eyes on Eric. The attraction is overwhelming, immediate and mutual. And what should be a one nightstand leaves both men wanting, no aching, for more. Okinawa is not the largest island on the planet, but it takes weeks before these two happen upon each other again. Sparks are soon flying again as these two trip over each other on their way back to the bedroom, quickly agreeing this should become a habit. Then Shane drops the bomb that he’s an Officer. DADT has been removed, but the long-standing rules against Officers and Enlisted in a relationship still stands. This is one rule not likely to change, not even for this Officer and his gentleman.
Not only do these guys have to deal with being gay in the military and all the sideways glances and hushed whispers that come from their narrow-minded fellow soldiers; but Witt delved even deeper by including the forbidden Officer dating Enlisted taboo. Eric and Shane still manage to skirt the boundaries of what they should and shouldn’t do, neither one willing to admit just how emotionally attached they’ve become to one another. As they learn ways around the rules and explore the wonder that is Okinawa, as well as each other, they skirt dangerously close to breaking a rule that could have devastating consequences for both of them.
I’m not certain what I liked more about this story. Watching the slow building love story between Eric and Shane as lust and fire become want and need; or the enthralling backdrop of Okinawa and the picture of perfection Witt was able to capture in this novel. This was the first book by L.A.Witt that I had the pleasure of reading, and have since read four more. I intend to eventually read all her books. She has an ability to pay as much attention to the background of her story as she does to the characters, but not taking any of the interest away from the characters. The exquisite background just made me that much more eager to turn each page.
Thommie’s Review: 3 1/2 – 4 ♥♥♥♥ Hearts
I keep being surprised by Ms. Witt. Such a peculiar writer, kinda fooled me with this one. I expected a somehow action/adventure story, with a fast beat and with lots of agony, but this is not one. Oh the agony was there or maybe it was angst and frustration, it just was not what I expected. But again I’m running ahead of myself.
This is a love story. I’m not certain if it’s fiction or if it’s real, it felt like the most realistic love story I’ve read, like some kind of biography. Eric is a Petty Officer and his orders are to serve 3 years in Okinawa, where this story takes place. The depression and amount of suffocating feeling that accompany him on his flight to the island are quite heavy (I felt them all while reading it) because that means he’s going to be away from his daughter for 3 whole years. Add to that the time difference conspiring to his inability to video chat with her often and he feels like his career is literally killing him. He expects nothing but misery while he’s in Okinawa, wondering how he’s going to manage not to lose his mind. Yet, against all odds, he’s in for a great surprise. Life always deals our best cards when we least expect it and accompanied by a great deal of awful ones too.
Shane is a Navy Officer and he’s already serving in Okinawa for some time. He’s in for a great surprise the night he sees Eric walk in the club. While Eric is hot, sexy, damn gorgeous, with a vibe that sends shivers through all his body, Shane never expected he’d be the best one-night stand of his damn entire life. But a one-night stand he is and he found himself mentally pounding his head on the wall for not asking his number. The fact that he can’t forget about Eric even after two weeks drives him crazy, how can a man get under his skin in the short hours of just one night?
Their elation when they find each other is beyond description. Yes, this is just hooking up, but damn they are so good together they could get used to that. Unfortunately, after yet another night of bone shattering, mind-blowing, send me to heaven or just let me die sex, they find out each other’s rank, And Hell surrounds them. They are not meant to have a relationship, hell they are not meant to even be friends, the regulations are clear enough, an officer getting involved, even as a simple friend, with an enlisted sailor means Military Court, both of their careers dead and the awful line of “Conduct Unbecoming a Gentleman” on their files. They must stop seeing each other; this is definitely not worth it… right?
And Oh My God, but the two men’s dynamic is absolutely fantastic. Jesus, it makes me wonder how does this author manage to convey it so acutely. Everything, everything in the protagonist’s life, from strolling down the streets to taking each other in bed is fueled with a gigantic shot of electricity that I swear traveled from the book to my body while I read it. Perhaps this exactly why it was such a disappointment for me when the plot suddenly flowed elsewhere. The moment one of the two characters was on his way to do his job or anything else, the flow stopped, the fast and intense read that had my brain spinning slowed down to a dull feeling. If you take off the characters interactions all that remains is a travel guide. Yeah I’m not saying that reading about Okinawa was not fascinating, but damn it, it was so detailed that had me almost sleeping after the adrenalin shot I got from Eric and Shane. It was like those train rides that go slowly for a while, then they pick up tremendous speed, and then they slow down again… If you add the fact that the only action the book got was the one and only time they almost got caught which resulted to them breaking out, it was… Well, it was not what I expected from the blurb.
This is a love story, one that you find on your everyday life, no miracles happening, no extreme baddies that make the protagonist’s life hell while they fight for their true love. This is a great love story between two navy guys that by getting together broke the law. It could happen to the guys next door; it could happen to your brother or cousin; it could even happen to you. If this is the kind of story you’re into, I strongly recommend it, it’ will certainly rattle you with the intensity the feeling reveal in the lines and make you remember your own.