Pacific Nights by Lynn Lorenz

Blurb:
On a deserted island in the Pacific, surrounded by the enemy, two very different men learn to rely on each other for survival. Mike is an uneducated rascal, one step ahead of prison and a court-martial. He’s given one chance to redeem himself: if he wants to stay out of jail, he has to keep Professor James Hamilton alive. No matter what.

James is everything Mike isn’t ~ suave, educated, intellectual, and rich. He’s also a conscientious objector and he’s made a deal with the army ~ three months on the island breaking codes as long as he doesn’t have to kill anyone.

Mike is Catholic, the son of immigrants, and has never acted on his desires. James is Jewish, the son of Boston society, and experienced in love between men. During their hazardous stay on the island, they teach each other about life, friendship, and survival. With only them to say what’s right and wrong, the men make a deal: Mike must give himself to James for one day, submit to him completely, and James will allow Mike to take him whenever Mike wants to slake his sexual needs.

But once the war is over, can they keep the promises made on those hot Pacific nights and find one place both of them can call home?

[More naked chests *sigh* but I do like the blue island]

Review:

An interesting but mostly fantasy story about two men stuck on a deserted island and naturally fall in love with each other. Not terribly original but readable without a lot of problems. The story is mostly a fantasy though as the action takes place almost entirely on the island with a thrown on happy ending but no ties in to the real world or even potential problems with being in a homosexual relationship in the 1940s. The characterization was decent and the story line moved swiftly leaving this as a really fast read without much thought needed. If you’re looking for a quick, easy story to immerse yourself in without too much depth, this may fill your needs.

The extended blurb gives a good summary of the plot, which includes half of the book as sexual buildup before Mike can’t take it anymore and needs to have sex, thus giving into James and cementing their relationship. The next half of the book focuses on their various sex acts with a final action scene and tacked on happy ending. The ending almost make it seem as though the two will live happily on a deserted island for the rest of their lives but that can’t possibly be true so it certainly is a romantic story meant for entertainment. Nothing at all wrong with that and this story is like I said, readable and quick so as an afternoon read it’s not bad.

The story is told from Mike’s perspective so you only know James through Mike’s admittedly skewed interpretation. Due to this Mike’s motivations are much more understood than James and James’ emotional connection to Mike seems fast and without much depth or reasoning. James accepts his sexuality and lifestyle easily and gives the impression it’s not a problem for his family and social circle, so again some of the reasons offered for actions don’t entirely make sense. Especially show when James shows Mike the various delights of sex with another man, which has the aggressive and dominant Mike in an unusually submissive position that reads awkward for both men involved.

Mike is clearly an aggressive character harboring insecurity over his upbringing, intelligence, and position both socially and in the military. He resents authority and views James as such for most of the book, yet is willing to have sex with the other man simply to meet his needs. However, the author offers teasing tidbits of past attractions to other men to show that Mike is simply in the closet about his sexuality and thus why he falls for James so fast despite his religion and upbringing. This is becoming a common and almost overused device that increasingly reads false within characters, even as the occurrence is no doubt realistic. So for me, the character of Mike was not entirely successful in showing why he suddenly was accepting a change in sexuality.

Overall, this was a fast read so I certainly didn’t hate the book and it was about average of the stories offered in the field. Not horrible, not stellar. If you’re looking for a fantasy like story that is heavy on the romance of the characters and less on the actual time period, you may enjoy this offering.

Get it HERE!

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