Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Once a Marine
AUTHOR: Cat Grant
PUBLISHER: Cat Grant Books
LENGTH: 214 Pages
BLURB:
Separated from service under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, former Marine major Cole Hammond is trying to reinvent himself, but twelve years in the corps – and near-crippling PTSD – makes reintegration into civilian life hard. Add in poor law school grades and his homophobic ex-Marine father’s rejection, and Cole’s nearly at the end of his rope.
That is, until he meets Marc Sullivan, waiter by day, romance writer by night. Marc’s always had a thing for guys in uniform, so when Cole walks into the diner one rainy afternoon, his sweet, sexy smile and Carolina drawl pull Marc in like a magnet. But Marc’s been down this road with hot Marines before, and it always leads to heartbreak.
With Marc’s help, Cole seeks therapy for his PTSD, and a happy life together no longer seems impossible. But if they can’t conquer their fears – Cole’s fear of coming out, Marc’s fear of being abandoned – love might not be enough to save them.
REVIEW:
I have to start this review by saying that this isn’t my favorite Cat Grant book. In fact I would say it is my least favorite. I’ve enjoyed all the other books by her that I’ve read, but something left me flat this time with this one.
There were some technical issues which seemed to me to not work as well as she hoped. For example the constant changes in the point of view. I have no issue with books that are written with two main characters having different chapters, or even sub-chapters in their own point of view. But in this one, it seemed like Mark’s story was told in in first person and Cole’s was told in third person. To be clear, one character telling the story with “I” and the other character’s storylines being addressed as “Cole” didn’t work for me.
I was extremely disappointed with the book for other reasons as well. Having been forced out of the military myself for my “homosexual tendencies” I particularly looked forward to how that whole piece would play into the story. I remember all these years later my personal anger, hurt and betrayal when it happened to me. Frankly, I thought it could have had a bigger part in this story, and that Cole, in real life, would not be so lackadaisical about the subject. Other than a mention of the event, and then Cole seeing the guy who outed him at Starbucks, it is pretty much ignored. I know personally if I ever lay my eyes on the guy who outed me to the U.S. Navy, he and I will be having words…if you know what I mean. I also thought the sections on PTSD and how it was handled were a little lacking in this one. It just seemed like it went away somewhere after seeing the therapist the first time and we didn’t hear about it again.
All in all, I just couldn’t connect with this one. I’d say it was good or average. Cat has some books that make this one pale by comparison. My advice, skip this one and read the Bannon’s Gym series or ICON men.
RATING: 
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