Title: Covet Thy Neighbor
Series: Tucker Springs 04
Author: L.A. Witt
Narrator: Charlie David
Genre: Contemporary
Length:4 hrs. 39 minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (4th May 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Blurb: Opposites attract, but heaven help these two.
Tattoo artist Seth Wheeler thinks he’s struck gold when Darren Romero rents the apartment across the hall. The new guy is gorgeous, witty, and single, plus he’s just the right blend of bold and flirtatious. Perfect.
Except then Darren reveals that he moved to Tucker Springs to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church. Seth is not only an atheist, but was thrown out by his ultra-religious family when he came out. He tends to avoid believers, not out of judgment but out of self-preservation.
But Darren doesn’t give up easily, and he steadily chips away at Seth’s defenses. Darren is everything Seth wants in a man…except for that one massive detail he just can’t overlook. Is Darren’s religion the real problem, or is it just a convenient smoke screen to keep him from facing deeper fears? It’s either see the light, or risk pushing Darren away forever.
Product Link: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Covet-Thy-Neighbor-Audiobook/B01DTHCYWC
Reviewer: Cat & Tams
Cat’s Review: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
This is a book four of the series but stands alone perfectly. Each book is a standalone set in Tucker Springs.
Seth is a tattoo artist has been single for several years and is an Atheist. He lives above his tattoo shop.
Darren is a minister that moved from Oklahoma across from Seth. Sparks fly immediately between the two men, but Seth has a very hard time dealing with his attraction to Darren. Partially because Darren is a minister which could cause all sorts of issues since ministers don’t do casual sex. Seth doesn’t do relationships and the biggest thing is the religious issue. But Darren is unlike any other minister or man he has met.
I have been eagerly awaiting Seth’s story and was not disappointed. Who would be a better match for the Atheist Seth than a minister? I loved both Darren and Seth. I loved the dynamics of their relationship. My only issue with the story is that they kept going back and forth over the same issues. I wish there had been a bit more to the story, just a little more action.
Charlie David did a good job telling the story. he showed great excitement and I loved how he conveyed Seth’s inner conflict. I do wish he had changed the voices of Seth and Darren a bit more. However, the story is written well enough and he narrates well enough you could follow along quite well.
If you like ministers, tattoo artists, good contemporary romance and some fairly hot man-sex you should love this. I also highly recommend this entire series.
Tams’ Review: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
E-book review April 2013
LA Witt is an author whose work I will grab regardless, I have yet to read a book by this author that I did not like. Witt has a keen eye for details and possess the ability to transform the reader directly into her world. Likeable characters, realistic situations and some of the steamiest sex scenes I’ve ever read!
For those of you that read book 1 in this series, Where Nerves End, you will immediately recognize Seth. The openly gay, laid back tattoo artist hasn’t always had an easy life. Shunned by his fanatical family when he came out to them in college, he had to learn to make his own way in life quickly when all communication and funding for college were abruptly cut off. He has a good life now with a good job, an apartment and a fantastic close knit group of friends.
When sex on a stick Darren moves into the apartment across the hall, the animalistic attraction between the two is instantaneous. Darren wastes no time getting Seth into his bed. When Seth learns that Darren is a minister he immediately withdraws from him. The pain of his past hasn’t faded and he subconsciously groups Darren in the same class with his family. But he can’t stop thinking about the minister with his dark hair and eyes and a dry, witty sense of humor that makes Seth laugh.
Seth tries very hard not to want Darren, but the fact that the two of them can’t be around each other for very long without ending up in bed doesn’t help his flimsy resistance. Unlike Seth, Darren knows exactly what he wants and what he wants is Seth. When Darren approaches the subject of taking their relationship beyond just the bedroom, Seth’s self-preservation mode kicks in. Will the harsh words he says create a rift between the pair that can’t be undone? Or will Darren forgive the man he’s fallen in love with, the man that’s also fallen in love with him, but won’t admit it, not even to himself.
The story flows effortlessly and before I knew it I was at the end. The characters are both flawed and carry some pretty serious baggage, but this only makes them more believable and likeable in the end. The sex is sensual, steamy and well conveyed by the author. This is a must read for any M/M fans.
Audio review May 2016
This story was already a favorite read of mine, now with Charlie David’s narration I love the story just that much more. David is not so much a narrator as a story teller. His changes in tone, nuance and inflection are slight from one character to the next, but he still does a great job of making sure the reader/listener is aware of whose voice they are hearing. Listening to Seth and Darren’s story actually brought things to the forefront that I missed when I read the book. The struggle Seth had with his attraction to Darren coupled with his disdain for Darren’s profession had more impact when I was listening to their conversations. As I stated 3 years ago after reading the book, these guys are inexplicably drawn to each other to spite their differences, both having some baggage that they automatically bring into the relationship. It’s Seth that really has to examine who he is and who he wants to be before the two of them can make a go at it.
Definitely worth the read or the listen, both even. I think that you will get something different from each version as I did, and both are well worth your time. A passionate love story about how opposites not only attract, they can make it work.