Book Reviews

Book Blurb

When Army Golden Knight Derek is assigned to tandem jump with an old flame, he tries to get out of the assignment. Former CIA operative Kane is nothing but trouble, after all. Now an activist for the environment, Kane knows a man can change. Can he convince Derek to take a new leap of faith?

 

 

 

First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2013.

 

Book Review

Sometimes opposites don’t attract, they repel each other. Such is the case for ex-lovers Derek, a career Army man, and Kane, an ex-CIA agent who is now a lobbyist for clean water. Huh? How did that happen? That little detail alone had me fascinated and pulled right into the story.

So, on the one hand there is Derek, a man who has dedicated his life to the army. He's a parachute jumper and part of an elite group, part of whose duty it is to take VIPs on tandem jumps. When he exploded because he had to take an ex-lover on a jump, was wondering what the big deal was. I mean, seeing as how professional Derek was the rest of the time, what could be bad enough to get him so riled up? Yes, the guy left him, but that was years ago. It made me wonder how deeply Derek had been hurt and if there might still be feelings left… His commanding officer doesn’t buy it either (not that Derek tells him the whole truth), so Derek has to bite the bullet and jump with Kane.

Kane, once he enters the classroom to obtain his safety training from Derek, is far less upset than Derek, but it's clear they are not the best of friends. Ahem. They go into confrontational mode almost automatically, but manage to keep it civil. It's only when their co-jumper has a serious problem with his VIP that Kane suddenly realizes there may be an opportunity for him to change Derek's mind.

While this is a super-short story, the underlying tension between the two men as it changes from anger and regret to clearly sexual, came through loud and clear. Not much happens on the surface, it's all in a few memory flashes and the subtext – very well done! If you like stories about ex-lovers meeting after a long time only to discover they may not be as ex as they thought, if you enjoy reading about military men and those who love them, and if you're looking for a short story with lots of "sizzle between the lines", then you will probably like this short story.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Short Story, 15 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	10-September-2017
Price	$0.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075J891YN