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Three Wrong Turns in the Desert (Have Body, Will Guard, #1)

Neil S. Plakcy

Start date: May 1, 2011

Finish date: May 31, 2011

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Apr 18, 2011 Emanuela ~plastic duck~ rated it really liked it

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

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book!

First of all, I think the setting is wonderful. The author made me really feel like I was in the busy streets of Tunis, in the sandy trails in the desert, running or walking, on a bus or riding a camel. The book has the flavor of the adventure books I liked to read when I was a child, I lost myself in the pages and I read the story in a blur to see where the characters would take me and what would happen to them.

The main characters are both very fasci I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book!

First of all, I think the setting is wonderful. The author made me really feel like I was in the busy streets of Tunis, in the sandy trails in the desert, running or walking, on a bus or riding a camel. The book has the flavor of the adventure books I liked to read when I was a child, I lost myself in the pages and I read the story in a blur to see where the characters would take me and what would happen to them.

The main characters are both very fascinating. Liam is an ex-Navy SEAL who got branded in my brain the first time I caught a glimpse of him showering outdoors in a backyard, skin gleaming and nipple rings sparkling under the sun. And I know what you're doing right now! You're buying the book! It's easy to fall in love with Liam because he's really impressive and I am so shallow and I can't resist hotness.

Aidan, the English teacher who fled to Tunis after the end of a relationship, grows on the reader page after page. The story is told mainly in his point of view and at the beginning Liam overshadows him for his sheer physical appearance and because Aidan has a low self-esteem and he can't see his qualities. It takes a while for Aidan to realize he is much better than his ex made him think of being and the brattier side of him slowly emerges, making him maybe more interesting than Liam in the long run. It was good to see how resourceful Aidan was and even if he insisted on following Liam in the most dangerous situations, he knew how not to make things worse. He was brave but not reckless. At the end of the book, Liam - ex Naby SEAL, big, butch and trained - seemed a bit dumb in comparison to Aidan and I don't like to think of one of the main characters like this.

The chemistry between the two is incredible and when they are together, they are sizzling. As I said before, I was a bit blinded by Liam at the beginning - probably by the jockstrap, mmmm - but I loved to see the way Aidan was able to manipulate Liam to get things his own way. The exotic locations of the book gave everything an even more sensual edge and I liked that the author was able to make this spill in every aspect of the book.

I have a pet peeve. I like when the point of view switches between the main characters with a rhythm that makes me expect to hear from the other character. But I also like books with a single point of view. In this book the point of view is mainly Aidan's with a few switches to Liam's. I wish we had had nothing from Liam's or significantly more, because otherwise I am left with the feeling that the author had the intention of writing a single point of view, but couldn't work around certain situations easily without changing it.

I have a few reservations about the ending. I wasn't really convinced about the Tuareg tribe problem turning to an anti-terrorism operation with anthrax, etc. It suddenly became this big thing and even if I am very good at suspending my disbelief, this turning of the events took me out of the story. Another thing that I didn't really like was the re-appearance of the ex, which seemed a bit out of character for what I knew about Blake - or not sufficiently explained, or wrapped up too quickly. I don't know if the author was already planning of writing a sequel, but I would have kept this reunion for a later book.

Apart from this, it was an incredibly fascinating and exciting story. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, because I really want to see how Liam and Aidan's relationship evolves in their next adventures. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2012 SueM rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m, romance, mystery-suspense-thriller, military-mercs, ipad-stanza, teacher

3.5 stars

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Apr 18, 2011 Sylvia rated it really liked it

Great scenery and lovable characters. Definitely going to read the next one!

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May 07, 2011 Lora rated it it was amazing

Well written, draws you in and holds your attention. The characters were easy to like and believeable. I'll be looking to buy more books written by Mr. Plakcy in the near future! ...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Cally73 rated it liked it

Feb 15, 2011 SusieQ marked it as to-read

Shelves: own-it, gbc-books

Mar 12, 2011 Noughty marked it as 2

Shelves: lenght-long, g-contemporary, g-mystery, g-action, g-adventure, q

Apr 23, 2011 Jordan Lombard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: a-own, g-romance-m-m, bom-jl-group, a-favorites, a-own-print, g-crime, t-military, y-2011read

May 12, 2011 Anne Tenino rated it liked it

May 14, 2011 k_b marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 14, 2011 Krazykt rated it really liked it

May 15, 2011 Fehu rated it it was amazing

May 16, 2011 Calathea rated it liked it

Shelves: m-m, contemporary, adventure-action-journey

May 21, 2011 Cheryl added it

Shelves: dnf

May 23, 2011 Mtsnow13 marked it as to-read

Shelves: m-m, erotica, seal-covert-or-black-ops, bodyguard

May 28, 2011 itmfiddler marked it as to-read

Shelves: m-m, zz_publisher-loose-id

Jun 12, 2011 Lasha rated it really liked it

Shelves: jessewave

Jun 23, 2011 Sagajo rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, m-m, action-adventure

Jul 18, 2011 Anja marked it as to-read

Shelves: m-m, c, w-bn, w-fw

Aug 02, 2011 Mary rated it really liked it

Mar 04, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it

Apr 17, 2012 Pwnn rated it really liked it

Shelves: mm-gay, military-soldier-warrior, educators-scholars, private-eyes-security, action-adventure

May 07, 2012 Kyra rated it really liked it

Jun 27, 2012 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: ongoing-series, 2009, neil-plakcy

Oct 16, 2012 Anna marked it as mm-to-read

Shelves: m-m, military, mm-cops-fbi-pis-bodyguards

Dec 18, 2012 Cerulean marked it as to-read

Shelves: owned-tbr, kindle

Jan 17, 2013 LJ rated it it was ok

Jan 03, 2014 Shadowspawn marked it as to-read

Jun 02, 2016 Christina marked it as to-read

Aug 15, 2017 Venecia rated it really liked it

Shelves: part-of-a-series, already-lent-out, reads-3-5-stars, y-teacher-professor, y-ex-military, y-bodyguard, romance, mm-romance, contemporary, adventure

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