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A review by missawn
Just Drive by L.A. Witt
3.0
In the end, this book did not work for me. The chemistry just wasn't there and the angst felt superficial and forced. This book also treads precariously when it comes to inappropriate relationships ... I had a hard time reconciling the impacts of this on character development and how the story ultimately progressed. If you are bothered in anyway by inappropriate relationships (age/professional), I would probably give this book a pass ...
I also did not understand the connection -- other than both MCs being extremely attractive -- there really didn't seem to be very much else going for them and I struggled to remain emotionally engaged. I enjoyed the dialogue but thought that the inner monolog was tediously overdone. The tone of the inner monolog did not ring true for what you would expect from a Navy CO with an extensive and distinguished military career. Paul seemed quite insecure and lost given his "advanced" age and experience -- and yet, I also resented that mid-forties was considered to be "old" -- especially when they started talking about "heart attack" risks and retirement. Oh my! I know mid-forties is considered "old" for this genre -- but, this really did not help reconcile the age gap by making Paul appear so much older than he actually was. I would think being CO of a Navy base in your 40s is an impressive feat and young esp. someone openly LGBTQ ...
The tension suffered from a heavy-handed approach that leaned heavily on telling vs. showing. I also had concerns about both MCs motivations going into what was obviously an inappropriate relationship to begin with. I found the ending was a hard sell. I think that I'm a little too jaded to buy into the HEA ending without a bit more substance to carry the weight of the circumstances presented ...
I also did not understand the connection -- other than both MCs being extremely attractive -- there really didn't seem to be very much else going for them and I struggled to remain emotionally engaged. I enjoyed the dialogue but thought that the inner monolog was tediously overdone. The tone of the inner monolog did not ring true for what you would expect from a Navy CO with an extensive and distinguished military career. Paul seemed quite insecure and lost given his "advanced" age and experience -- and yet, I also resented that mid-forties was considered to be "old" -- especially when they started talking about "heart attack" risks and retirement. Oh my! I know mid-forties is considered "old" for this genre -- but, this really did not help reconcile the age gap by making Paul appear so much older than he actually was. I would think being CO of a Navy base in your 40s is an impressive feat and young esp. someone openly LGBTQ ...
The tension suffered from a heavy-handed approach that leaned heavily on telling vs. showing. I also had concerns about both MCs motivations going into what was obviously an inappropriate relationship to begin with. I found the ending was a hard sell. I think that I'm a little too jaded to buy into the HEA ending without a bit more substance to carry the weight of the circumstances presented ...