Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Native Tongue
SERIES: Desert Heat #2
AUTHOR: Lucy Felthouse
PUBLISHER: Writer Marketing
LENGTH: 93 pages
BLURB:
They may be back on British soil, but the battle isn’t over.
When Captain Hugh Wilkes fell for his Afghan interpreter, Rustam Balkhi, he always knew things would never be easy. After months of complete secrecy, their return to England should have spelt an end to the sneaking around and the insane risks. But it seems there are many obstacles for them to overcome before they can truly be happy together. Can they get past those obstacles, or is this one battle too many for their fledgling relationship?
Author’s note: Although this story does work as a standalone tale, it’s recommended that you read the first instalment of the characters’ journey first—Desert Heat, which is available from all good retailers.
REVIEW:
Back on English soil, life should be easier for Wilkes and Balkhi. They no longer have to keep their relationship a secret and both of them are ready for their lives to move forward. With each other. But being home does not mean everything is smooth sailing. For one, they are not entirely sure how to go about being gay, or, well, being out and gay. For another, Wilkes is becoming increasingly convinced that he needs to tell his family about his big gay secret, as well as introduce them to the man he loves. Life may have got less dangerous, but that doesn’t mean it has gotten any easier, and that means that if they hope to get anything done in this new life they are going to have to do it together.
In a completely unrelated (well sort of) note, that has very little to do with this book, I would like to ask that the person who decided the pronunciation of Leicester Square to stand up so I can smack her/him. Seriously. Every time I see that location in printing I have to spend valuable time going…”where the hell is lie-sester square?” It is annoying. And like I said, it has very little, if nothing to do with this book, or my review, but I just wanted to rant to someone about this outrage.
Ok…in more on-topic news: I did enjoy this book quite a bit. I loved the relationship between Wilkes and Balkhi (even though I have to triple check every time I spell Balkhi’s name) and this book had enough suspense in it to keep it interesting, yet it was sweet (and spicy) enough that I feel very comfortable pronouncing it angst free. And with the way my outside reading is going, that is exactly what I am looking for right now (you can only read so much torture and depravity before you start to beg for cute and fluffy).
This book is low on the angst and high on the sex, but I honestly can’t say I want to complain. Mostly because the sex is pretty hot. And, well, I will never be one to turn down ‘looking’ at dripping wet men getting it on. Part of being a grown up is accepting one’s kinks….and I do love accepting them. 😉
The reason this doesn’t have a slightly higher rating is mostly because some of the dialogue got a bit inform-y. And yeah, that is probably not an actual word. But sometimes the dialogue got a bit “these are my emotions. let me tell you about these emotions. we will now discuss these emotions.” It didn’t bug me too much, but it did throw off the flow of the story when it happened.
As one who skipped the whole ‘you should really read the first book’ warning in the book blurb, I will say that it would have been a good idea to go back and read book one in this series (I meant to, honest, I just ran out of time). I had no problem enjoying this book and these characters without book one being read, but I will agree that it probably would have been better to have read the ‘falling in love’ before the ‘happily ever after.’ Both are no doubt enjoyable, but sometimes it does help to get to know the characters to the best of your ability. So while I do recommend this book, you should totally go back and read book one first.
RATING:
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