Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Conduct Unbecoming 
SERIES: Conduct Unbecoming #1
AUTHOR: L.A. Witt
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2017
LENGTH: 9 hours, 57 minutes
BLURB:
First class petty officer Eric Randall is less than thrilled about taking orders to Okinawa. Three long, lonely years on a crappy island that’s thousands of miles from his daughter? Oh. Yeah. Sign him up. But as long as he’s stuck here, he might as well make the best of it, so he discreetly checks out the local gay scene, where he meets Shane Connelly.
What starts as a one night stand leaves both of them wanting more, but then Eric finds out Shane doesn’t just outrank him, he’s an officer. DADT may be repealed, but an enlisted man getting involved with an officer falls under conduct unbecoming a gentleman and could cost both men their careers. They both have kids to take care of, future civilian careers to consider, and retirements on the line.
Still, they can’t resist each other. They discreetly spend nights together, and their mutual desire to explore the beautiful island of Okinawa is a perfect excuse to spend days together. As long as no one asks and they don’t tell, there’s no reason anyone has to find out.
But secrets like this tend to make themselves known…
REVIEW:
Theirs was a forbidden love. One that has the power to destroy them both and everything they have been working for if word of it ever got out.
First class petty officer Eric Randall (and isn’t that a mouthful?) is not happy when he is transferred to Okinawa, a Japanese island so far from his daughter he doesn’t even want to think about it. But for better or worse he’s stuck on the island for the next three years. To make his stay a little less lonely he ventures out to the local gay bar.
Shane Connelly has been on Okinawa for six months. He’s not a stranger to the island or the gay community, or population is more like it, there. When Eric walks into the bar Shane takes instant notice. The attraction between them is immediate, but neither expects anything more than one night of fun. After the initial meet, neither can get the other out of their heads and when they run into each other again they have to admit defeat. And so they start spending time together, exploring the island and each other. But they have to do it in secret, because if they are caught the consequences will be severe.
I’m not at all familiar with the military world or how the ranking works (other than what I’ve read in my romances). I hate that being open with your love is still so stigmatised and forbidden. In this case the “wrongness” of Eric and Shane’s relationship is twofold; they are both men and one outrank the other, a lot. It’s not fair that things like that should matter. That the consequences if they are found out are so harsh, no leeway whatsoever. I mean you can’t help who you fall for. And yet, they stand to lose everything.
Some my favourite parts were when Eric’s daughter Marie came to visit and the three of them spent time together. During the times the three of them spent together, there was no outside lurking, no threat of discharges. It was a genuinely happy times filled with a lot of banter and laughter.
I’m a huge fan of Greg Boudreaux, he is a fantastic narrator and has a beautiful voice. I’ve listened to a bunch of his books and have loved them all. I think I might have said that I’d listen to anything he might say. That said, I do think this might be my least favourite narration of his. I have come to expect so much from him and I know I’ve probably (absolutely) been spoiled by his flawless narrations in the past. That’s why it came as such as a surprise when I had a hard time differentiate between Eric and Shane. Their voices were so similar they might as well have been the same and I often found myself wondering who was narrating, whose head was I in. On the plus side, the emotion and passion was still there in his voice and he brought the story and island to life.
RATING: 
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