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A review by kaje_harper
Dark Edge of Honor by Aleksandr Voinov
5.0
4.5 stars. This is a military-setting Sci-Fi with some dark moments in it, as invader and resistance fighter meet, have sex, and then find something more developing between them.
Sergei is a man who has always taken to heart the tenets of the Coalition which he serves as an officer. The focus and discipline ground him, and he truly believes in the philosophy. He sees their invasion as bringing the virtues of the Coalition, with its focus on the group over the individual, to the backward world which his forces are trying to subdue.
Mike is a spy for the Alliance. He dislikes the Coalition's motives and methods, and has a healthy respect for the rights and powers of the individual. Given the opportunity to seduce Sergei, and thereby get close to the aide of a Coalition General, he does so. As an opportunity to spy, it's a success, but Mike doesn't expect to find himself falling for the enemy.
Sergei's lack of any kind of romantic or sexual experience beyond anonymous or forced sex, means that his time with Mike feels like a revelation. He falls for Mike fast. But his basic decency, and his open eagerness to give himself to Mike, has Mike also becoming emotionally involved.
Aleks Voinov does really good enemies-to-lovers books. This one is a bit of a twist on that, because at first only one of the two men knows that they are actually on opposite sides of a smoldering war. And yet he falls in love just as fast as his oblivious counterpart. That gives the book an interesting dynamic, with shifts in the power relationship between the MCs occurring several times as the plot developed.
The first chapter was a bit dry and confusing - I didn't feel like I had a handle on the characters or the political and military situation until a couple of chapters in. But by about the first third, this book had grabbed me and I was fully engaged with both the main characters and the world-building. The story is dark, but the relationship is satisfying. There is an understated sweetness in and between these men that keeps showing in glimpses beneath the horrors of war, of prejudice, of military blind obedience and violence. Sergei in particular is an amazing character.
Sergei is a man who has always taken to heart the tenets of the Coalition which he serves as an officer. The focus and discipline ground him, and he truly believes in the philosophy. He sees their invasion as bringing the virtues of the Coalition, with its focus on the group over the individual, to the backward world which his forces are trying to subdue.
Mike is a spy for the Alliance. He dislikes the Coalition's motives and methods, and has a healthy respect for the rights and powers of the individual. Given the opportunity to seduce Sergei, and thereby get close to the aide of a Coalition General, he does so. As an opportunity to spy, it's a success, but Mike doesn't expect to find himself falling for the enemy.
Sergei's lack of any kind of romantic or sexual experience beyond anonymous or forced sex, means that his time with Mike feels like a revelation. He falls for Mike fast. But his basic decency, and his open eagerness to give himself to Mike, has Mike also becoming emotionally involved.
Aleks Voinov does really good enemies-to-lovers books. This one is a bit of a twist on that, because at first only one of the two men knows that they are actually on opposite sides of a smoldering war. And yet he falls in love just as fast as his oblivious counterpart. That gives the book an interesting dynamic, with shifts in the power relationship between the MCs occurring several times as the plot developed.
The first chapter was a bit dry and confusing - I didn't feel like I had a handle on the characters or the political and military situation until a couple of chapters in. But by about the first third, this book had grabbed me and I was fully engaged with both the main characters and the world-building. The story is dark, but the relationship is satisfying. There is an understated sweetness in and between these men that keeps showing in glimpses beneath the horrors of war, of prejudice, of military blind obedience and violence. Sergei in particular is an amazing character.