Genres: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Identities: Gay
Reviewer: Linda
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About the Book:
When the one you love but shouldn’t is taken, you fight like hell to get them back.
Adam DuBois is a true hero—a Navy SEAL dedicated to his team and country. You can see it in everything he does.
That’s what I tell people when they ask me about him.
To me, though, he’s so much more than a hero. More than a SEAL. He’s the love of my life.
I met Adam when we were eighteen and headed to boot camp. Fast forward eight years, and we’re still together—still friends. We’ve been through hell and back, and I fell in love along the way while Adam discovered a love for my…uh…finer assets.
We kept it under wraps. Hid it all from everyone. All because we love the Navy, and DADT said we have to.
But everything changed for me when Adam was captured. Now, all I care about is bringing him home alive.
The Review:
Adam DuBois and Brock Jones met in basic training, and continued together through BUDs. They are on the same team and have become best friends, only Brock wants more. Adam is the love of his life, but Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) kept their friendship from developing into something more. DADT is not the only thing holding Brock back from pursuing Adam. He’s also sure that Adam is straight.
Adam had expected to be the new Team Leader, but it went to Foster Holt instead – a legacy whose father is an Admiral. Adam wasn’t resentful because he liked Foster, and he had no idea that that Foster and his dad would be responsible for saving his life. The last op resulted in Adam being captured, and it was apparently a trap.
Brock and Adam have finally gotten to the point in their relationship where they have a very active sex life, whenever they are able to find time alone, but the word “love” never comes out of Adam’s mouth. With DADT a constant threat, and the fear of being thrown out of the SEALS, which they worked so hard to become part of, it would mean either resigning or breaking up. Unfortunately, the only thing on Brock’s mind now is finding Adam, and praying he is still alive.
Brock and Adam’s teammates understand that their connection is much stronger than just friendship, but they don’t care and are as determined as Brock to bring Adam home. After Adam was taken, the Navy sent the entire team back home, while not mounting a rescue. While Adam is in enemy hands, the higher ups seem to be taking their sweet time on bringing home one of their own.
Adam has been locked in a box, and is brought out to be tortured, waterboarded and electrocuted. He is given little water, other than what he can drink while being dunked over and over, and also very little food, which has severely weakened him. Before he was captured, he was shot a few times and those wounds are open and festering. He has withstood weeks of torture, and all he has ever offered is his name and rank. He’s a hero if ever there was one.
Foster’s father will have to come to the rescue. He has no love for the big shots, those who never served in the field and held other men’s lives in their hands. He discovers that the brass has known where Adam has been held for over a week, and refused to make a move until they gathered more intel. Adam was betrayed by the people for whom he willingly gave his life.
Escape seems impossible, although it’s never far from Adam’s mind. He’s hungry, dehydrated, suffering from infections and extreme pain. He has no weapons and yet is still willing to fight, if given half a chance. His biggest regret is never having told Brock that he loved him, and fearing that now it may be too late.
Brock is afraid he will never see Adam alive again, and will never know if Adam really loved him.
Men fight for their country and put their lives on the line repeatedly, and whether or not they’re gay shouldn’t matter. I have always resented DADT rule. I am a firm believer that we should be able to love who we love without facing recrimination. I also resent the fact that the higher-ups arbitrarily put men in dangerous situations without giving any thought to the damage those orders can cause.
I have read many military books and have seen many military movies, and this one hit all of my emotional buttons. This book is a WOW. Five stars.
This book is part of the Captivated by Romance Collaboration, a multi author series.
The Reviewer:
I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.
