Desert Heat & Native Tongue

By: Lucy Felthouse

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Desert Heat: Their love is forbidden by rules, religion, and risk. Yet, still they can't resist. Captain Hugh Wilkes is on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan. The British Army is withdrawing, and Wilkes expects his posting to be event-free. That is, until he meets his Afghan interpreter, Rustam Balkhi, who awakens desires in Wilkes that he'd almost forgotten about, and that won't be ignored.

Native Tongue: They may be back on British soil, but the battle isn't over. When Captain Hugh Wilkes fell for his Afghan interpreter, Rustam Balkhi, he always knew things would never be easy. After months of complete secrecy, their return to England should have spelt an end to the sneaking around and the insane risks. But it seems there are many obstacles for them to overcome before they can truly be happy together. Can they get past those obstacles, or is this one battle too many for their fledgling relationship?

©2015 Lucy Felthouse (P)2016 Lucy Felthouse

Fantastic storyline

Desert heat
This forbidden relationship is hot as hell. I think the fact that it’s not the norm and also frowned upon makes it all that more enjoyable. Great characters with lots of chemistry. Joel is fantastic as usual, lots of accents that show off Joel’s talent.

Native tongue
This book, like the first is about a gay couple coming out into society for the first time. Challenging times for them. Written very well. Fantastic narration from Joel.
#audiobookobsessionreviewer

Low angst read with lots of sex.

Despite what the blurb implies, this is a low angst read focused more on sex than obstacles. Although mentioned in the blurb, I guess for dramatic effect, the story doesn't actually deal much with any conflict their jobs, cultures or religions may cause. In the first book, they don't get together until the end, and the second story picks up after their deployment together has ended, so Hugh really only has to do what he's been doing for years in regards to his career (hiding his sexuality from his homophobic superiors) so that "obstacle" doesn't really materialize. Moreover, any cultural/religious constraints don't really exist since living in London means Rustam does not have to deal with his family knowing.

Even though the story isn't nearly as complex as the blurb implies, I appreciated Hugh's straightforwardness and honest communication, and this was an enjoyable, simple story about making a hidden affair into a real relationship

Top notch M/M romance with expert narration!

Superb narration enhances this romantic and steamy gay love story. What an impressive narrator! Joel Leslie is going on my list of my favorite narrators ever. The Birmingham, England, and Afghan accents of the main characters were perfect and sexy. Evidently, Birmingham is only 80 miles away from Liverpool and this accent sounded like he was Beatle, which I think is very sexy. He was also very good at pacing, conveying emotion, and love scenes. In addition, Joel Leslie was really good at woman's voices. Hugh's mother's voice was perfectly adorable.
I love this romance! It was both sweet in the emotional department and spicy in the bedroom, while still being a realistic contemporary love story. Captain Hugh Wilkes in the British Army has been deployed with his team to a remote part of Afghanistan for 6 months at a time when the British Army is slowly leaving the country. Wilkes' new Afghan interpreter is a pleasant, competent fellow named Ruston Balki. Over the next few months, a friendship slowly grows between them, and these two closeted gay men eventually reveal that they are very attracted to each other. The scene where this happens is so wonderful; it makes me smile just thinking of it.
"Desert Heat" and "Native Tongue" are a pair of either long short stories or short novellas. I am so glad that they were placed together for this audiobook because listening to these two stories together feels like a complete, satisfying romance. The entire audiobook is told in third person perspective only from the view of Captain Wilkes. I think that this perspective choice turned out well because Balki was very vocal with his feelings, and I did not feel like I missed out on what he was thinking. This pair of wonderful guys had great dialogue and just the right amount of it. I love how they were sometimes scared to tell their feelings but they did it anyway. Before they ever had sex the first time they professed that they really liked each other, so the love scenes in this audiobook were not just sex but also filled with intimacy and respect. It was really sweet. Although Hugh and Balki had obstacles with their relationship with both work and society, they forged through their obstacles and grew as people as they grew closer to each other. Aside from having a lot of great steamy sex, this was a fulfilling, beautiful romance with a lovely ending. This is the first book that I have read by Lucy Felthouse, and I was highly impressed by the high quality of the writing and by the expert narration. I will definitely buy books from Lucy Felthouse very soon.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not paid for my review.

delicious heartwarming

4 Blue Roses
4 Blue Flames

Narrator Joel Leslie delivered one of those delicious heartwarming little surprises. Perfect for a boring rainy day. You know,,, when you are looking for something easy and beautiful to listen to. I clicked over this fellow many times, and decided what the fuck let’s give this one a try today. The audiobook was lusciously hot and extremely well written, in terms of people who work, live and love together, but have different religious backgrounds. The mutual respect that is possible when one can overlook those differences and concentrate on the similarities. Joel gave as usual his perfect 10 performance. I love the voices he gave to the two main characters, it made it so much real and sexy of cause.

I have only one problem with the audiobook, which is that it was way too short. The ending felt a little rushed to me and I was hoping to hear more about Rustam’s career and the fact that he had to bring his parents over to England. Other than that, I found the sex scenes extremely hot. I loved how they perused the gay community and was at first thought to be two straight guy’s and recommended they go somewhere else. And of cause, when that is not the case, they were welcomed open arms an inducted to the gay side and given a quick survival course. I found that very funny, and so true.

Yip, I recommend this audiobook. I will give more books done by this author a chance. As I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of writing and the very yummy sex scenes.

Happy Listening

Loved the narrator, really liked the story.

Loved listening to the story, I felt I was listening to real conversations. Joel Leslie is a great performer. I was totally immersed in the book.

I love a good M/M

This was a short story, but was very well written. This book had good flow, and a great story line. There is mild angst, but the steamy times had me fanning myself!!! Joel Leslie is AMAZING!!!!! #audiobookobsession

Such a great story with wonderful narration

I’m not sure of the timeline, but I’m assuming that given the degree to which these guys hid their feelings, it was a bit earlier in time. That combined with the location and the ethnicity of where they were stationed forced Balkhi and Hugh to hide their burgeoning love for one another for most of the time they’re stationed together. It’s only near the end of their tour that they were able to give in to their feelings and only once they moved back to England were they able to be out in public.

Once in England the trouble between them becomes how to organize their lives so they actually get to spend time together, but they find that their love is enough to overcome any obstacle.

**

Despite it’s length, this was a very slow burn romance. Almost all of book one was taken up with getting these guys to admit their feelings. Surprisingly, they took some amazing risks to be together that I thought were going to back fire – but amazingly – didn’t.

I really liked how deep their feelings for one another grew and how unafraid they were of speaking of them. Especially Balkhi.

I enjoyed watching these guys learning about being together and being "out". It was sweet, sexy and fun.
I really enjoyed these books and would look for more from this author in the future. I found the look at the British army as well as the conundrum for the interpreters to be fascinating.

I really enjoyed it and would look for more from this author in the future. I found the look at the British army as well as the conundrum for the interpreters to be fascinating.

Story 4.5 of 5 stars

Audio

Joel Leslie did a SUPERB job with his narration. He gave Hugh and all the various folks from the UK unique and believable accents as well as Balkhi’s more stilted English. I really enjoyed listening to this and found it made me feel more immersed in the story.

Narration 5 of 5 stars

For both the story and the narration 4.75 of 5 stars

Best Desert love story ever

What made the experience of listening to Desert Heat & Native Tongue the most enjoyable?

Joel's voice. His characters came to life for me through his voice.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the whole story. But maybe the visit to Hugh's parents house was the funniest.

Which character – as performed by Joel Leslie – was your favorite?

Hugh. I loved his compassion.

Who was the most memorable character of Desert Heat & Native Tongue and why?

Hugh of course. His compassion and caring. Having to hide how you feel about someone in a hostile environment where your life could be ended just for who you love.

Any additional comments?

Definitely one of the best books I've listened to this year. Would recommend to any MM reader or listener. Joel did an outstanding job, again. Will listen to this one again. I was gifted this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Different Kind of Love Story

What made the experience of listening to Desert Heat & Native Tongue the most enjoyable?

This is two books in one. The MCs are a British soldier and an Afghan translator. Felthouse does a magnificent job with the characters and the story. You can feel the heat between the MCs as they admit their attraction to each other. Totally HEA.

What does Joel Leslie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joel Leslie does such a good job with the character dialiect. I expected him to be a middle-aged large British gentleman. When I met him at a conference, he's a young, attractive, all-
American guy. He nailed the accents, and brought both characters to life. Magnificent narration!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I've not read a cross-cultural M/M romance, so wasn't sure how I would react. The tenderness between the two MCs totally throws differences out the window. The only clue is the accents expertly spoken by Joel Leslie. This is a love story that made me sigh with happiness.

Any additional comments?

This is a quick listen. Great diversion for a road-trip or to listen to while jogging. You'll want more from Lucy Felthouse and more narrations by Joel Leslie.

Sexy Story

I liked these stories, they were hot and fun. I didn't realize this audiobook had 2 short stories, but it worked out great because second story picked up right where the first story left off. I liked both characters, closeted British Captain and sexy Tadzhik Rustam. This book was less about the conflicts of war and different cultures and more about 2 men exploring their sexuality in a very hot and steamy way. Narrator did a great job as always. His voices were entertaining, accents pleasant, and performance amazing.
🎧AudiobookObsession