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!

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 4 of 4 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 26, 2014 Ije the Devourer of Books rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a great book and I really enjoyed it. It is a spook story about secret Govt operatives, men who operate in the shadows. But what happens when two of these shadowy men find love with each other?

The two men in this story become lovers but despite this intimacy they are still in many ways strangers to each other and as they work together and fall deeper and deeper in love the many shadowy layers begin to peel away and each of them finds that they have to know a new dimension both within the This is a great book and I really enjoyed it. It is a spook story about secret Govt operatives, men who operate in the shadows. But what happens when two of these shadowy men find love with each other?

The two men in this story become lovers but despite this intimacy they are still in many ways strangers to each other and as they work together and fall deeper and deeper in love the many shadowy layers begin to peel away and each of them finds that they have to know a new dimension both within themselves and of each other.

It was a fascinating story because apart from the two men with their many layered, secretive lies there is also the nature of their work and their clandestine activities and how they negotiate this. These men are ruthless and not afraid to kill or torture.

As the many layers of the men are revealed the ethical complexity and danger of their work is also revealed and the facades of their work and their lives evolve and change in the same way their personal life does.

I loved this story. I think fans of Marshall Thornton and Josh Lanyon will enjoy this. It has the same gritty, dusk feeling of men who operate at twilight and in the quiet hours before dawn. Men who exist on the edge. And that's the feel the story gives. It takes you to the edge with many twists and turns and pretty much holds you there until the end.

And it gave me a great satisfying and complete read which was thoroughly engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable.
The only thing I didn't like was the frequency of the sex scenes. I felt there were a few too many and towards the end of the story these dragged a bit for me and didn't add anything to the story, but they didn't detract from the story either.

As the story develops and the lives of the two men are revealed we are left wondering about their future. Will the men be able to make it together now they are beginning to realise the truths about themselves and about each other? Thankfully there is already a second book in the sequel and a third to come so this exciting and mysterious journey continues.

I hope Ben and Nikkolas will become permanent fixtures in my reading life and I welcome their edgy tales to my bookshelf.

Fab!
...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2015 Arch Bala rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: celebrity, favorites, on-top, 5-stars, omg, military, book-boyfriend, best-series, child-abuse, billionaire

When I was reading the first few pages of this story, I was almost sure that it’s not going to work for me. I could just feel it and the blurb doesn’t even offer that much due to its vagueness. Little did I know that I’ll be drawn to the world of Nikolas Mikkelsen and Benjamin Ryder so deep that I’d end up buying the whole bulk available from the series.

Just one bit of warning about the story and the main couple, one should be ready for a roller coaster of secrets after secrets especially about ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 01, 2014 Lenore rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bdsm, great-britain-my-love, mystery, rec-by-gr-friend, sex-to-the-nth-degree, buddy-read, freebies, meh, m-m, military

2.5 stars rounded up.

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 30, 2014 John rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: gay, fiction, mystery, gay-mens-fiction

Yes, quite a pleasure, this. Though it shouldn't be, it's a novel pleasure to read characters who aren't overwhelmed by their author. Mr Wiltshire has a gift for dialogue and through it reveals characters with the sturdiness to assert themselves - with humour or by force - as the story requires. And it's so amusing that the main characters' dog, Radulf is so like them: "...a sticky, he can't be rehomed."

My pleasure in the novel does depend on knowing that this is part one of a multi-volume story ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2015 Emanuela ~plastic duck~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: glbt, rainbow-gay, action-crime-suspense

I am a Special Forces orphan. I don't really want to compare the two series, but there's something addictive about this series too. I like how co-dependent the guys are and I like the feeling that nothing is quite as it seems. I feel that sometimes the writing was too naked, too raw, I don't really know how to explain it, and sometimes it was quite beautiful, I mean staring-numbly-at-the-wall beautiful. For example this:

Perhaps the wait and the scrutiny had made the other man even more sensitive ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2015 k reads rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: queer, read-2015

Very entertaining. Very sexy. Very tough guy. Pretty fun.
It's always exciting to discover a new series and realize there are already numerous books published. No having to wait to get on to the next adventure. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2015 Tamela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, adventure, mid-size, series, recommended, military-soldier-spy, out-of-left-field

I can't just review this one book because I just couldn't stop and had to finish the rest of them.

This series is one of the best. The MC's are so complex and interesting that I didn't care WHAT the rest of the book was like. But the rest of the book(s) were just as good.

These two men have me wanting more, so I may have to pull out another of my favorite series to keep me entertained until either another book in the series comes out or I break down and re-read these again.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 24, 2014 Ari added it · review of another edition

Shelves: mm-romance, dnf

I've tried...
after a royal affair, guess John's writing wasn't my liking, sorry... ...more

Like · see review

Jul 11, 2014 LJ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 12, 2014 Bex marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Oct 21, 2014 Pwnn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-suspense, mm-gay, military-soldier-warrior, spies, action-adventure, forty-plus

Nov 30, 2014 Arch Bala marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 03, 2014 Anna marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 23, 2014 Chris, the Dalek King marked it as not-read-but-owned-glbtqia · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-ebook-or-audio

Dec 23, 2014 Mtsnow13 marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: less-than-300-pages, m-m, suspense, series-read, romance, own-to-read, military, free-read, mlr-press, spy-undercover

Dec 24, 2014 Lisa ~ Books Are My Drugs ~ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: freebie, m-m, 200-499-pages, from-mlr-books

Dec 30, 2014 Denise marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 02, 2015 Cerulean marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: maybe

Jan 19, 2015 Stephanie marked it as on-my-kindle · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-com, 2014, military

Jan 30, 2015 Vinga rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

1 like · Like

Jan 30, 2015 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Jul 26, 2017 Lee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Aug 21, 2015 Anna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, amazing, 4-stars, smokin-hot-guys, awesome-couples, i-own-mobi, mm-seriously-adorable, military, wayyyyyy-too-much-sex, possessive-jealous-hero

1 like · Like