Maritime Men by Janey Chapel
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Erotic GLBT, M/M
Summary: SEAL candidates Cooper Fitch and Eli Jones are cut off from the outside world and pushed to their physical and mental limits by the demands of the Navy's elite training program. Their reliance on each other takes an unexpected turn after Hell Week, the most grueling stretch of basic conditioning, when Cooper and Eli surrender to passion fueled by fatigue, horniness, and alcohol. Despite the danger of being discovered, their intense attraction begins to feel like a natural extension of living, working, and training side by side, and neither is willing to give it up, no matter the risk.
My Review: For anyone not familiar with the Navy SEAL program—SEAL stands for Sea Air and Land. It is considered one of the most prestigious, yet one of the most grueling training if not the most grueling program that a Navy soldier will ever face. Once a soldier graduates—if he graduates from the program—he will be the elite of the elite among the military.
Eli and Cooper are SEAL recruits who just survived— literally—a training called Hell Week. Knowing of the grueling additional training coming up, they support each other, morally and physically to the point they take physically to the next level. Sexually releasing the pressure they face by engaging in sexual romps with each other in between drills or while on shore leave.
In Maritime Men, author Janey Chapel does a splendid job in describing some of the training exercises that a SEAL recruit goes through, especially parachute jumping. The sex scenes are hot and gripping in that they are spur of the moment and not necessarily in a bedroom but rather in a combat plane, a bathroom etc, anywhere where Eli and Cooper could easily get caught and get thrown out of the SEAL program. For them, they loved the thrill and I also liked that aspect. I rooted for the two in hopes they wouldn’t get caught. Janey showed how much the two characters
felt about each other to take these risks. What also made this intriguing was that Eli and Cooper started out as straight and considering what the SEAL recruits have to go through, and since women aren’t allowed in the SEAL program, it is understandable why Eli and Cooper would turn to each other.
The story flows smoothly from one chapter to another and the two main characters are likable and believable.
Despite a good story, there were several drawbacks that I noticed. One was when Janey Chapel used different acronyms used in the SEAL program, such as OIC and INDOC. Unless a reader was a SEAL or familiar with naval terms, the reader wouldn’t have any idea what this meant. If she would have explained it, it would have drawn the reader more into the story where she could understand what the recruit was going through in the exercise.
The other thing I noticed was, in the first part of the story, Janey shows them where they are bedding females while on shore leave, which indicated that Eli and Cooper were straight. Later Cooper seduces—or at least I thought it was a seduction—Eli. However, up to this point, I thought Eli was straight, but yet, rather than being horrified by Cooper’s seduction, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. In fact, Eli returns the favor to Cooper as if they had been gay or bi all along. However, the author doesn't indicate their sexual orientation, whether it be gay or bi, except when they have sex at a hotel with a female in the beginning of the story. I found this unrealistic.
Rated 2 ½ Delightful Divas by Tony B!
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Erotic GLBT, M/M
Summary: SEAL candidates Cooper Fitch and Eli Jones are cut off from the outside world and pushed to their physical and mental limits by the demands of the Navy's elite training program. Their reliance on each other takes an unexpected turn after Hell Week, the most grueling stretch of basic conditioning, when Cooper and Eli surrender to passion fueled by fatigue, horniness, and alcohol. Despite the danger of being discovered, their intense attraction begins to feel like a natural extension of living, working, and training side by side, and neither is willing to give it up, no matter the risk.
My Review: For anyone not familiar with the Navy SEAL program—SEAL stands for Sea Air and Land. It is considered one of the most prestigious, yet one of the most grueling training if not the most grueling program that a Navy soldier will ever face. Once a soldier graduates—if he graduates from the program—he will be the elite of the elite among the military.
Eli and Cooper are SEAL recruits who just survived— literally—a training called Hell Week. Knowing of the grueling additional training coming up, they support each other, morally and physically to the point they take physically to the next level. Sexually releasing the pressure they face by engaging in sexual romps with each other in between drills or while on shore leave.
In Maritime Men, author Janey Chapel does a splendid job in describing some of the training exercises that a SEAL recruit goes through, especially parachute jumping. The sex scenes are hot and gripping in that they are spur of the moment and not necessarily in a bedroom but rather in a combat plane, a bathroom etc, anywhere where Eli and Cooper could easily get caught and get thrown out of the SEAL program. For them, they loved the thrill and I also liked that aspect. I rooted for the two in hopes they wouldn’t get caught. Janey showed how much the two characters
felt about each other to take these risks. What also made this intriguing was that Eli and Cooper started out as straight and considering what the SEAL recruits have to go through, and since women aren’t allowed in the SEAL program, it is understandable why Eli and Cooper would turn to each other.The story flows smoothly from one chapter to another and the two main characters are likable and believable.
Despite a good story, there were several drawbacks that I noticed. One was when Janey Chapel used different acronyms used in the SEAL program, such as OIC and INDOC. Unless a reader was a SEAL or familiar with naval terms, the reader wouldn’t have any idea what this meant. If she would have explained it, it would have drawn the reader more into the story where she could understand what the recruit was going through in the exercise.
The other thing I noticed was, in the first part of the story, Janey shows them where they are bedding females while on shore leave, which indicated that Eli and Cooper were straight. Later Cooper seduces—or at least I thought it was a seduction—Eli. However, up to this point, I thought Eli was straight, but yet, rather than being horrified by Cooper’s seduction, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. In fact, Eli returns the favor to Cooper as if they had been gay or bi all along. However, the author doesn't indicate their sexual orientation, whether it be gay or bi, except when they have sex at a hotel with a female in the beginning of the story. I found this unrealistic.
Rated 2 ½ Delightful Divas by Tony B!
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1 loved readers said:
Thank you for reading and reviewing my book, Tony! I'm glad you found things to enjoy in it; you've also given me things to think about and work on for the future. :)
Cheers,
Janey Chapel
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