From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Love Is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1)

John Wiltshire

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 19, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our early August read!
[close] This will be our early August read!

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Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
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What Members Thought

Jun 07, 2014 Karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, u-k, black-ops-or-spies

The MCs have been soldiers, secret service, black-ops agents, and their actions as such are brutal, abhorrent and performed without regret — just like the politicians and power-holders in this version of our world. Think John le Carré depth and grit, but substitute hot, hard sex scenes for tedious procedural routines. What's not to love?

Ben's beauty is useful as cover, since no one would expect some one so striking to be an agent. Nik's beauty seems to be something that only Ben sees consistentl ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2015 liz rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it

3.5 stars

This book is alternately fantastic and boring. It's a very long book, and the story isn't so long. There's repetitive issues. (You say you're attractive, Ben? To both sexes? Because sexy model man? Noooo, tell me MOAR.) And pacing issues. There are pages about how Ben feeeels, but he's too scared to talk about it with Nikolas. Again with the repetitive. The relationship is less of an arc and more of a loop until we get off the ride at the end. It's long. Then it ENDS. Swear to you, the 3.5 stars

This book is alternately fantastic and boring. It's a very long book, and the story isn't so long. There's repetitive issues. (You say you're attractive, Ben? To both sexes? Because sexy model man? Noooo, tell me MOAR.) And pacing issues. There are pages about how Ben feeeels, but he's too scared to talk about it with Nikolas. Again with the repetitive. The relationship is less of an arc and more of a loop until we get off the ride at the end. It's long. Then it ENDS. Swear to you, the end is just that. End. Nothing sorted. Well, the relationship seems fine. The bigger issues are going to be resolved (hopefully) in the next book. It's an abrupt ending. It's not a cliff-hanger though.

So I started with "fantastic" and then got off the rails a bit. I did really like this. So much so, I immediately got the next book. I haven't started it yet, but I will very soon. The relationship is interesting (despite the utter LACK OF LUBE), and there are some great plot twists. I found the story compelling, and I wanted to keep reading. So that's the fantastic. Maybe I'll understand more why after the next book.

UPDATE: 11/12/15
I can't believe it's been only since January I've read all of these books and I keep wanting more. Eleftheria just read this and her status updates and review so much define how I feel about these books. And we're on opposite sides for the love/hate of it all. I commented on her review, and it so reminded me of how I felt reading this the first time, I decided to quote myself on an update here. (Welcome to the Mind of Liz.)

"It's funny. I completely understand and almost agree with all of your feelings on the book. And still it was 4 stars for me, and I've read every book in the series as quickly as possible. Nik is impossible to understand even many books in, the sex is frequently insane (and the lack of lube is cringe-worthy), Ben never makes more sense in his man-child alpha-ish role. And yet. It just works for me. Totally not a universal kind of book/couple though. All the things I'm addicted to are detractions for many and are for me in other books." ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2014 Jax rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, 3-star

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I found the writing to be really good & I zipped easily through the book. But I didn’t really like these guys or their dynamic as a couple. They both come off as arrogant, have no qualms about committing acts of violence, and there’s a constant power struggle between them, especially in the frequent sex scenes which are usually rough with no mention of lube.

This book was actually more about their relationship than I expected and not very sp ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 12, 2015 Elisa Rolle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

2014 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 24, 2015 Victoria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, m-m-military

3.5

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2015 Eve rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It started really well.... I couldn't put it down. Then not so much. It's action packed and rich in plot, but the theme becomes a bit repetitive. There is also some inconsistency in characterization. Like the author was telling me to think of a character as one thing, but the character didn't really give me that impression.
...more

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