Review of Covet thy Neighbor by L.A. Witt

 

by LA Witt

4 stars

 

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.

Start off by saying we love L.A. Witt!  This is a sweet, hot, angsty book between two unlikely men. We were a bit wary of the subject, because really who wants to be talking about God and romance, but we really enjoyed the balance of the two main characters beliefs.   And although this is book 4 in the series, it is the first on we read, so if you want to just pick up one title you can.

We first meet Seth, a tattoo artist who was thrown out of his family home in the name of religion when he came out to his parents.  Years later he still struggles with his faith, being shunned by his family and letting people in who could hurt him.  When his across the hall neighbor moves out, Darren moves in, and it is instant chemistry.  Darren is a new-to-town youth minister who is looking for a new start in a new town.

The chemistry between Darren and Seth is off the page, from the first time they meet, you can feel the pull of attraction between them.  And when they finally give into the lust, it is so hot.  LA Witt never disappoints with the bedroom material, and these boys couldn’t keep their hands off each other.  The sex in the book added so much to the believability that a minster and an Atheist could fall in love.

Now let’s talk the religion portion of this book, we actually enjoyed Seth and Darren’s discussions on their beliefs, and how coming together we could value each other’s view point.  How Seth’s past has put him so scared of getting close to religion again, and Darren’s vocation as a minister always put a strike against him, no matter who he is.  Their back and forth and finally seeing where each other are coming from is refreshing.  But, there is angst.  Seth specifically wrestles with who he believes himself to be as an Atheist and how can he forget what his old church and family did in the name of Jesus.  He struggles. 

In the end this is a really nice story of acceptance, and overcoming fears, and LA Witt delivers.  It is hot, sexy and a really great read.