Covet Thy Neighbor (A Tucker Springs story) by @GallagherWitt | Tams 5 Star Audiobook Review {@CharlieDavid

Covet Thy Neighbor
Series: Tucker Springs
Narrator: Charlie David
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Length: 4 hours and 39 minutes
Release date: 04/05/2016

Tattoo artist Seth Wheeler thinks he’s struck gold when Darren Romero rents the apartment across the hall. The new guy is gorgeous, witty, and single, plus he’s just the right blend of bold and flirtatious. Perfect.

Except then Darren reveals that he moved to Tucker Springs to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church. Seth is not only an atheist, but was thrown out by his ultra-religious family when he came out. He tends to avoid believers, not out of judgment but out of self-preservation.

But Darren doesn’t give up easily, and he steadily chips away at Seth’s defenses. Darren is everything Seth wants in a man . . . except for that one massive detail he just can’t overlook. Is Darren’s religion the real problem, or is it just a convenient smokescreen to keep him from facing deeper fears? It’s either see the light, or risk pushing Darren away forever.

Buy links: Amazon audio | Audible | Riptide Publishing

E-book review April 2013 (5 Stars)

LA Witt is an author who’s work I will grab regardless, I have yet to read a book by this author that I did not like. Witt has a keen eye for details and possess the ability to transform the reader directly into her world. Likeable characters, realistic situations and some of the steamiest sex scenes I’ve ever read!

For those of you that read book 1 in this series, Where Nerves End, you will immediately recognize Seth. The openly gay, laid back tattoo artist hasn’t always had an easy life. Shunned by his fanatical family when he came out to them in college, he had to learn to make his own way in life quickly when all communication and funding for college were abruptly cut off. He has a good life now with a good job, an apartment and a fantastic close knit group of friends.

When sex on a stick Darren moves into the apartment across the hall, the animalistic attraction between the two is instantaneous. Darren wastes no time getting Seth into his bed. When Seth learns that Darren is a minister he immediately withdraws from him. The pain of his past hasn’t faded and he subconsciously groups Darren in the same class with his family. But he can’t stop thinking about the minister with his dark hair and eyes and a dry, witty sense of humor that makes Seth laugh.

Seth tries very hard not to want Darren, but the fact that the two of them can’t be around each other for very long without ending up in bed doesn’t help his flimsy resistance. Unlike Seth, Darren knows exactly what he wants and what he wants is Seth. When Darren approaches the subject of taking their relationship beyond just the bedroom, Seth’s self preservation mode kicks in. Will the harsh words he says create a rift between the pair that can’t be undone? Or will Darren forgive the man he’s fallen in love with, the man that’s also fallen in love with him, but won’t admit it, not even to himself.

The story flows effortlessly and before I knew it I was at the end. The characters are both flawed and carry some pretty serious baggage, but this only makes them more believable and likeable in the end. The sex is sensual, steamy and well conveyed by the author. This is a must read for any M/M fans.

Audio review May 2016 (5 Stars)

This was already a favorite read of mine, now with Charlie David's narration I love the story just that much more. David is not so much a narrator as a story teller. His changes in tone, nuance and inflection are slight from one character to the next, but he still does a great job of making sure the reader/listener is aware of who's voice they are hearing. Listening to Seth and Darren's story actually brought things to the forefront that I missed when I read the book. The struggle Seth had with his attraction to Darren coupled with his disdain for Darren's profession had more impact when I was listening to their conversations. As I stated 3 years ago after reading the book, these guys are inexplicably drawn to each other to spite their differences, both having some baggage that they automatically bring into the relationship. It's Seth that really has to examine who he is and who he wants to be before the two of them can make a go at it.

Definitely worth the read or the listen, both even. I think that you will get something different from each version as I did, and both are well worth your time. A passionate love story about how opposites not only attract, they can make it work.

Excerpt...

Behind me, the front door opened, and I caught the last part of my landlord’s sentence: “. . . can meet Seth. He lives in the apartment across the hall from the one you’re interested in, and he owns this shop.”

Over my shoulder, I said, “Be right with you, Al.”

“Take your time, son.”

I took my foot off the pedal and, as the needle’s buzzing subsided, looked at the mirror above my workstation. This gave me a discreet vantage point from which to catch a glimpse of my potential new neigh—

Oh, fuck.

I’d joked with my buddy Michael for the last couple of weeks about all the different kinds of nightmarish neighbors who might take Robyn’s place. Drunks who’d come home from benders and puke on the shared stairs. Horndogs who didn’t realize how thin the walls were. Moochers. Serial killers. Drummers with insomnia.

But what had I not considered? The worst possible kind of neighbor.

Smoking hot eye candy.

With a goddamned boyfriend.

I didn’t know which one was the neighbor, which one was the boyfriend, or if they were both moving in. Didn’t matter, because they were both fucking hot.

Especially the slightly shorter one. They were both ridiculously fuckable. Like, “Don’t even bother buying me a drink, I don’t care what your name is, just drop trou and let’s go” fuckable. But that second one, the one who was currently craning his neck to check out some of the art along the top of the wall, needed to spend some serious time bent over my bed. Even from here, his smile alone was enough that all that breathing and blood-flow bullshit was suddenly not happening the way it was supposed to. Intense, dark eyes. A short, perfectly trimmed beard framing his lips. Sharp cheekbones and jaw. If he had half a brain and a sense of humor, I was a dead man.

A cute twink with a devilish grin could turn me into putty, but this kind of guy? The fit, laid-back type who was effortlessly sexy even in a parka and with wind-messed, rain-dampened hair? Kryptonite-tipped arrow in my goddamned Achilles heel. Fuck.

I turned to my client. “Would you excuse me for just a second?”

She exhaled. “I could use a break for a few minutes anyway.”

I smiled. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

While she rested her head against the chair and took some slow, deep breaths, I set the gun aside and peeled off my gloves. Then I headed toward the front of my shop to say hello to my landlord and the hotness that I hoped was moving in next door. Maybe I couldn’t touch, but I could sure as hell take in the eye candy.

“Ah, here he is,” Al said.

As the three men faced me, I extended my hand and even managed to choke out my name. “Seth Wheeler.”

The shorter one looked me right in the goddamned eye as he shook my hand. “Darren Romero.” Then he let me go and added, “This is my brother, Chris.”

Brother? Well. That changed everything, didn’t it?

As I shook hands with Chris, Darren gestured around the shop. “So you’re an artist.”

Chris didn’t make a sound, but as he let go of my hand, a flicker of distaste crossed his expression. A slight curl to his lips, one eyebrow lifting in the slightest, briefest arch. Oh well. Fuck him.

I shrugged. “Artist. Skin defiler.” I glanced at the girl who was still breathing deeply at my workstation. “College student mutilator. Really depends on who you ask.”

Darren laughed when Chris rolled his eyes. “Oh, relax.”

Chris glared at him. “You really think living in this part of town, on top of a tattoo shop, is such a good idea?”

The humor instantly vacated Darren’s expression, and he said through his teeth, “We’ll discuss this later.”

The whole shop was suddenly tense. Even the girls who’d started chatting while Lane worked on one of their tattoos fell quiet.

“Anyway.” Darren turned to me again and smiled, and the tension broke.

The girls resumed chattering. The tattoo needle buzzed back to life. Chris scowled and found something other than me or his brother to focus on.

I muffled a cough. “Uh, before I forget, there’s a move-in discount.” I nodded toward the artwork on the wall. “First tattoo is on the house.”

Darren grimaced. “Oh. No. I don’t do needles.”

“Or tattoos,” Chris grumbled.

Darren eyed him. “The needle kinda negates that part.”

To read the entire excerpt, learn more about the series or the Authors, visit Riptide!

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

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