Title: No Place That Far
Series: Distance Between Us, #5
Author: L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov
Genre: Contemporary/ Military
Length: Novel (215 pages)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (January 27th, 2015)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: Sometimes you only get one chance at a second chance.
Still finding his footing after a long-overdue divorce, Marcus is looking forward to some mind-numbing drinking while ogling the grooms at Chris and Julien’s wedding. He never expected his attention to be diverted by the gorgeous best man.
One of Julien’s French Foreign Legion buddies, Timur doesn’t speak much English, but language is no barrier to Marcus understanding exactly what the huge Tartar wants—a one-night stand.
Except that one night turns into two, three, then more, which puts Marcus on edge. After Timur is done house sitting for the honeymooning couple, he’s headed back to the Legion for another five years. Like it or not, once Timur gets on that plane, the fling is over.
Unfortunately, Marcus forgot to tell his heart not to fall in love. And this time, if history repeats and he makes another wrong decision, he may never see his tattooed Legionnaire lover again.
Warning: Contains a soldier who makes up for his lack of English by using his hands to read his lover’s body; a chef-turned-bartender who no longer believes in love; a length of paracord that probably wasn’t meant to be used this way; and a couple of newlyweds who are game for some four-way play.
Product Link: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5316/no-place-that-far
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: Had to call the fire department to put my flames out because this book was seriously sizzling hot (on the plus side, all that firemen goodness made my boo-boos better). Leaving my goofy side…well aside, I loved this book; I believe it might be the hottest yet in this series.
We have a dark and sexy as hell French Legionnaire (sometimes 2 of them at the same time) and one of Wilde’s bartenders (which we know that all bartenders at Wilde’s are eye candy). According to the recipe, if we put them together, add some ice, a bit of absinthe, top it off with a good bit of vodka and shake well, we get ………KABOOOM! That’s exactly how I felt, gob smacked by the chemistry and intensity between them.
Timur is our sexy legionnaires, a very good friend of Julien’s, who comes to stand in as Julien’s best man in the wedding. Timur is very intense and mysterious, and we don’t really find out much about him. He’s currently between tours and is supposed to reenlist with the legion in a month’s time. Meanwhile he spends that month in Seattle, house sitting the cats that Chris and Julien own.
At the wedding, Timur meets Marcus and sparks fly. Timur doesn’t know much English, but what he knows is enough to keep things simple between them, and really, knowing and speaking the same body language is enough for them. So much less time-consuming—going straight from “welcome” to “well, come.”
Marcus is the most recently hired bartender at Wilde’s. He worked as a chef in a five-star restaurant owned by his ex husband up until their recent divorce. Marcus is still hurt by the divorce and while he doesn’t love Ray anymore, he’s bitter and jaded and doesn’t believe in a happily ever after anymore.
The story is told from his POV and let me tell you, he’s funny as hell. The sarcastic and self-deprecating thoughts he has are hilarious and entertained me throughout the book. When he meets Timur he is so attracted to him, he does something he never really does; forgets English.
“I…” Marcus cleared his throat. So he hadn’t imagined how green the best man’s eyes were. Holy Christ. They were even more surprisingly intense because he hadn’t expected that color with almond-shaped eyes. “I’m, uh. Not much of a… I have…” Come on, come on. Speech. English. You know this!
They make small talk and agree to a one-night stand. And their first time together is so hot, it blew my mind. Apparently, Marcus’s mind was blown as well “We can’t…” Breathe? Think? Talk? Fuck. That’s it. We can’t fuck. “We need…we need condoms.” I love L.A Witt because I rarely find a sex scene incredibly hot and funny as hell at the same time. Impressive really.
One nightstand becomes a series of one-night stands because Timur wants to keep seeing Marcus and spend time with him. And that’s what they do. They visit the city and Marcus takes Timur to different tourist attractions, he cooks for him and they have fun together. They really fit and they’re a good match, and Timur is everything Marcus would like in a lover. Too bad, he has to leave soon.
When Chris and Julien return from their honeymoon, the four of them spend some time together. And then the foursome happens *gulp*. I generally am against bringing others to the bedroom when the couple is still relatively new. Chris and Julien just got married and Marcus and Timur only have about 2 weeks under the belt.
Foursomes are messy (no pun intended, heh) and there’s a risk their easy friendship can be destroyed. Marcus is jealous of Timur and Julien, because we know they used to be friends with benefits for years. But the foursome does happen and is the hottest #some I’ve ever seen (felt, heard, tasted…you get the idea, because I swear I felt I was right there between them).
Timur’s time to leave has come and while Marcus really wants him to stay, he can’t accept the idea that Timur has to give up on his life dream, to retire with the legion, for him. He doesn’t want Timur to hate him later on, like Marcus resents his ex husband, and so he lets Timur leave.
I’m not going to tell you what happens next, read it if you want to find out. But I will address a few points that cemented my decision to rate this 4 hearts instead of 5. The foursome….you know, as much as I loved it, I wish it didn’t happen. It seems like all the couples in this series have an open door policy when it comes to the bedroom. And I wish Timur were possessive enough to not want to share. But that is just a ¼ of a star.
What I really wanted to see were the conversations that took place between Timur and Julien. I get that this was Marcus’s POV but they talked in French in the same room with Chris and Marcus, and I really wanted the conversation to be put on page, in French of course. I needed to know more about Timur or get a hint of his feelings and what his thoughts are when it comes to Marcus. And all those filthy things he was telling Marcus, you know the ones that made even Julien blush??? I WANT THEM, DAMN IT!! He said them out loud, so why weren’t they on the page? *pouts and sniffs*
The last thing I kind of wanted to see, but it didn’t affect my rating, is an epilogue. Even a short one to see if they’ve made it and are together, but I hope I’ll get my answer in the next book. I also hope we get to see Ethan and Rhett (I miss them) and Adam and Dale in the next one as well.
I recommend this to anyone and everyone, because this series is amazing and this book was the most intense of them all.