In His Sights by Rie Warren

 Can two enemies overcome the battles within and the war without to find love? Or will the revolution destroy their chance at happiness?
At the outset of the revolution against the oppressive Company regime, Hawke is a freedom fighter on a mission. Infiltrate Alpha Territory, kick some Corps ass, and stay alive. His plans unravel when he’s captured by the enemy on his first sortie. Prepared for death by the soldier sworn to kill him, all his training couldn’t have prepared him for what happens next.

A corporal in the Company’s military branch, Mayce is a hard-liner intent on ridding his city of the insurgent threat. Yet one look at the gorgeous Freelander named Hawke and years of yearning and unrealized desires change his course permanently. If discovered, he’ll be branded a traitor and a homosexual—and sentenced to death.

Mayce and Hawke act on their intense and immediate attraction. But amid the escalating revolution their dangerous trysts come at the risk of their own lives, as Hawke soon finds out.

In His Sights is a spinoff novella from the Don’t Tell Series.  I will be honest with you, I have not read the first book, In His Command, but after this novella I certainly intend to.  The beginning of the book was a bit confusing for me so let me give you a little background that was provided at the end of the book.  The year is 2070 and the world had been annihilated by catastrophic environmental events.  There were two groups fighting for power and control, the first group the Freelanders, also called Nomad and the second group was called the Alpha, also known as the Corps. 

Mayce was a leader in the Corps, he had been taught that the Nomads were vermin and should be gathered and killed.  One day during a raid he came across Timothy who was a young man that really had no business being in any military and his leader Hawke.  When he had the chance to kill them he decided to take Tim instead.  Hawke stood up and negotiated that he would go with Mayce instead, saving Tim from certain death.  Once Mayce had Hawke alone he discovered that Hawke was indeed a homosexual.  The Corps rule was all homosexuals were to be killed so their kind wouldn’t be allowed to spread across the country. 

Hawke refused to hide who he was and once he admitted that yes he was gay he became aware that Mayce was exploring his gay side.  Not having been with a man before Mayce and Hawke began a journey that would lead them to falling in love.  The rest of this story was about how they pretended to be bitter enemies and then secretly find each other for a few hours of comfort and love before strapping on the weapons and going back to war. When that wasn’t enough for them they had to decide if one would be willing to leave what they grew up believing and join the other across the battle lines.  Living in fear regarding the safety of each other was beginning to wear them down and making them not as sharp as they needed to be for their own survival.

What I loved about this story was the message it brought to light.  Just as in society homosexuals are still seen as a disease that can be cured, while there is another whole group of people going to war to dispel that belief. When the time came that Mayce and Hawke had to trust in their love enough to break the traditional rules, it was going to take a lot of courage and trust that the other side would accept the new comer.  Would the group of people be willing to allow this stranger who fought and killed for the enemy into their lives all because of the happiness of one of their members? 

The writing style was wonderful, while there were a lot of military jargon it wasn’t overdone and to advance for the reader to understand.  The characters were so well developed and realistic it was easy for the reader to put themselves in those shoes and feel the heart agonizing decisions that was going to have to be made.  The torment that one will see the other go through was written so well, it felt like I needed to leave because I couldn’t stand to see so much pain and helplessness.  I certainly need to get the first book in this series now along with her other books that she has out.  If you read this book, please allow yourself to fully invest in this story and look around your world to see what you can do to help bridge the gap in our society.  This book doesn’t come to only entertain, it comes to serve a message that there is more all of us can do to encourage peace and get rid of the false beliefs that destroy others.    

Forbidden love. Mayce is a soldier for the Company. Hawke is a warrior for the Freelanders. They’re on opposite sides of the Revolution. And homosexuality is a death sentence for those living under to Company’s rule. That’s never been an issue for Mayce, until he captures Hawke and desires he kept hidden from himself are unleashed as he finds himself drawn to Hawke like he’s never been drawn to anyone before. But they’re in the middle of a war fighting on opposite sides, yet they risk everything to connect with one another emotionally and physically. Mayce and Hawke are two alpha males who are also soldiers, so they can get quite physical and the resulting sex scenes are scorching. As one would expect in a tale of forbidden love, there comes a point when Mayce must decide between the life he’s always known with the Company or leaving it all behind to take a chance on life and love with Hawke among the Freelanders. You’ll have to read In His Sights to find out. I doubt you’ll be disappointed as Ms. Warren weaves a good tale and I look forward to checking out more of her work.