Review for No Man's Land by Courtney W. Dixon

Title: No Man's Land

Series: Ohana Surfing Series

Author: Courtney W. Dixon

Release: May 31, 2023

Genre: M/M Romance

Tropes: student/advisor, college romance, daddy/boy, big age gap

★★★★★ Amazon Review - “Beautiful story of life after trauma”

★★★★★ Amazon Review - “Worth Every Last Day I Waited!”

There’s only one man I will allow to know me. My mind, heart, and soul are my gifts to Mr. Carter.

Levi

I used to joke with my found family that I had daddy issues as a deflection from my problems. I didn’t want anyone to know that side of me. I had a classic case of it, keeping me from relating to young men my age. All because of my abusive father. At seventeen, I started college and developed an obsession with my advisor, Mr. Ashton Carter. He was everything I could ever want, and I knew deep down he could fulfill my needs that I couldn’t find with anyone else. But I was too young and had to wait until I turned eighteen and play my cards right. Would he want someone with my issues that no one else knew about other than my therapist? And I thought I left my past behind, only to discover that it's trying to claim me once more.

Ash

Levi Dawson was barely seventeen when he first came to me. His brilliant mind struggled to find direction, and I did my best to guide him. The more time we spent together the more he flirted. I knew he had developed feelings for me, but he was too young, and I could lose my job at the university if we acted on them. When I stumbled upon Levi as the victim of a brutal attack, I saved him. Since then, he has desperately clung to me. Could I hold back my growing feelings for the young man? He was too hard to resist.

There are a lot of triggers in this book. CW: Abuse of a child, mentions of molestation/rape, child prostitution, homophobia, bullying, big age gap (18/37), co-dependency, Stockholm Syndrome, attempted rape, explicit language, violence, and sex.

This was a brand new author for us and we really enjoyed our first read by them. This was a beautifully written heartbreaking read filled with raw emotion. I don't know how many times I felt like crying throughout the story as my heart went out to Levi for all he endured as a child.

I will say even though Levi was so young he always felt so much older part of that came from his intelligence being off the charts but,  for someone who was put into the position he was at such a young age grows up quick and it is all about survival.

As Levi spilled his story you could not hear it and not be heartbroken but, seeing his vulnerability was our undoing but, we loved that he had enough trust in Ash to be vulnerable in the first place.

Ash and Levi's chemistry was beautiful and had the bdsm elements to it but, those are more for Levi's benefit and what he needs sexually we are guessing some of that comes from trauma and abuse but, also he gets to shut off that big beautiful brain of his and live in the moment. 

Overall this was a compelling heartfelt read filled with a ton of emotion. The age gap between him and Ash might give the ick factor to some but, once you get to really know the characters Levi would never be in any kind of relationship with someone his own age ever. He and Ash were perfect for each other each had qualities in each of them the other loved and also this connection of being wounded and broken. Loved that connection it could be used to heal one another and we loved Levi's family his foster family was always so supportive and loving.

The story took some twists and turns but, some closure came from that too but, most of all we felt the author did an amazing job with taking you through the paces of Levi's healing mentally and physically being empath toward one or more abusers and what the world looks like through Levi's eyes and him expressing his insecurities he has mentally from the abuse he has endured.

Courtney W. Dixon is solely an MM author as of January 2023, who loves to write steamy romance, but in each story, she gives her characters challenges and struggles. She loves to add variety and multiple tropes in her stories. And she writes her characters as having flaws, imperfections, and who don't always do the right thing, sometimes stupid things. Humans are never perfect and make a lot of mistakes in their lives. It gives her pleasure to challenge her characters, making them achieve their HEAs so much better.

You can find Courtney working in Central Texas with her husband, two boys, two crazy dogs and two cats, none of whom know how to knock on a door while she's working.

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