Reviewed by Alexander
TITLE: Covet Thy Neighbor
SERIES: Tucker Springs
AUTHOR: L.A. Witt
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 4 hours, 39 minutes
NARRATOR: Charlie David
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.
REVIEW:
For a short novel, Covet Thy Neighbor sure did take on a lot of topics, such as the different interpretations of scripture, HIV concerns in the tattoo industry, to transgendered teens. What I suspect Witt was trying to do was to add a certain amount of depth to the story by showing that all is not black and white, and that the world we live in is full of controversy and the unexpected, but also of kindness and understanding.
Now I am not a religious person, even though I attended catholic school for many years. As such, I could see the two sides of the coin, the various ways that the bible can be interpreted, and how those interpretations can affect people. I won’t get too detailed about this part of the story, although it is important, except to say that I feel that Witt dealt with the topic respectfully and with a interesting slant.
I felt that both Seth and Darren were both well developed characters, and their courtship, for lack of a better term felt right, there was the right amount of push and pull, attraction and doubt to make it feel authentic. What I was on the fence about was Darren’s behavior, which Seth also had concerns about, that didn’t feel right. I do think that the small added touches mentioned above (HIV concerns in the tattoo industry, to transgendered teens) were good for the world building, but their introduction and short-lived presence in the story did leave me wanting.
I will admit that David is a good narrator, but found that his character differentiation was a little lacking, and so at times, if I wasn’t told who was speaking, I had to figure it out because there was really only one voice for most of the story. That being said, the pace and tone of his narration was perfect and was overall an enjoyable listen.
STORY RATING: 
AUDIO RATING: 
BUY LINKS: