I guess I must be a sucker for lover-priest stories, because I liked Mark of Cain too. But it's not a kink that draws me to these stories, it's the surprise and pleasure at seeing a character involved with religion that's not a stereotype: the fundamentalist, homophobic villain. I'm sure there are a lot of them out there in rl, but in m/m they're usually flat characters created by a certain kind of politically committed but, in this regard, lazy writer (some of my favorites too, Amy Lane, Heidi Cullinen).But this book we meet Darren, a smart, attractive and out Protestant priest who is experienced and hot in bed (yes - not a guilt ridden virgin). He smokes dope with the other mc on a roof top - in a really great scene describing a sociable high. His main job is running a drop-in center for lgtb teens. OK, I was really taken with this priest, and did I mention the really hot sex?The other mc, Seth, is almost as good, a counterweight to Darren's presence who has just as much integrity but who was rejected by his fundamentalist parents in college. The story is told from his point of view, so we know how important it is to him, and to the storyline, to resolve his conflict between attraction and fear.This is a different kind of conflict between attraction and fear than the tired trope of genre romance. The usual conflict is based on the emotional vulnerability of falling in love, which makes me impatient with lazy writers and with characters I want to slap. But this is something a little more thoughtful on the part of the writer and a little more mature and self-confident on the part of the character. So we get these well-drawn and realistic characters who are mightily attracted to each other, and because they have integrity, they discuss their religious differences. That was another reason I loved this book - how often do you get that in genre m/m? Of course this story has a HEA ending that's well-timed and makes sense. OK, maybe there's a tiny bit of implausibility, but I was able to ignore it because to the writer it seemed like nothing much. Maybe that's what it takes to write a good fantasy - if you believe it, so will everybody else. Or maybe I just trusted them by then.So read this book. If you're like me, you'll love it. OK, I'm a firm non believer when it comes to Religion and don't usually like books of that theme and sure don't want to read it in conjunction with my erotica. Having said that, this was a very well done story. I really liked Seth and more importantly I liked Darren.I thought the author did a fantastic job or writing a story that was,in my opinion, fair to both points of view. It would have been easy to make Darren and his beliefs out to be the big bad evil, when in reality there are all kinds of grey areas in both views.
What do You think about Covet Thy Neighbor (2013)?
Oh how I loved this one. I havent met a L.A. Witt book I didnt like but this one WOW!!!!
—lauren
An extra star for the author's courage in tackling such a controversial topic.
—silveredging
Down to $2.99 through Oct. 23 at Riptide, 10-20-14
—mei
