Review: A Marine and a Gentleman - Heather Long

Blurb:
Lieutenant Brenden Fitzpatrick is a dedicated Marine, loyal son, and devoted uncle, but he's lonely. When he went Marine, the rule was don't ask, don't tell. His brothers-in-arms pretty much didn't ask and didn't care. Watching so many friends settle into long-term relationships highlighted the absence of someone to come home to in his life. When his unit encourages him to give the 1Night Stand service a try, he asks for the impossible—a night with the one man he almost gave up the Marines for in the first place. A man he called best friend but let time and distance carry away.

Liam Gardiner grew up on the same Boston block as his best friend, Brenden. Unlike Brenden, Liam always accepted that he was gay—a fact he didn't mind flaunting to all the bullies and naysayers in school. It got his ass kicked more than once, but Brenden always had his back, rescuing him time and time again, until the day Brenden left for the Marines. He missed his buddy—the crush he never confessed, lest it cost him the precious friendship—so when Madame Eve's invitation to meet Brenden arrived, Liam faces uncertainty for the first time.

Life made them best friends, can Madame Eve help them become so much more?

Amazon

Review:

Remember that high school crush? Your first unrequited love? The one you held close to your heart for years after because although you never spoke up about your feelings, no one else has ever managed to compare. What if years later, after you’ve tucked all that love into the back recesses of your heart and memories, you are presented with a chance to make that forbidden fantasy come true? Do you take the chance and hold on for dear life, hoping against all hope that you get more than one night? Or do you let the chance pass you by? It is the past after all and you’ve already moved on once before. You can do so again without ever knowing what it would be like.

As a future marine “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” pretty much ruled Brenden’s every day for as long as he could remember. Now with the opportunity to experience one night with the man he left behind. A surprisingly touching story of two men who let others’ preconceived notions of right and wrong to decide their fates for too many years.

As many 1Night Stand stories, A Marine and a Gentleman is s short novella. A novella in which Long has managed to pack a lot of sexy and heartwarming moments longing into. Although an extremely short read, I found that A Marine and a Gentleman was well worth the time to read.