Interlude: First Noel (The Executive Office #3.5) by Tal Bauer

Interlude: First Noel (Tal Bauer)

SUMMARY

Before Ethan returns to DC…
Before he becomes Jack’s first gentleman…
Jack and Ethan share their first Christmas together.

Step back to Jack and Ethan’s first Christmas season and the tentative early months of their relationship under the world’s spotlight.

Three months into Ethan’s transfer-in-exile in Des Moines, Iowa, the pressures of dating Jack, the president of the United States, start to wear Ethan down. His weeks are measured by the days he works in Iowa, chasing counterfeiters and financial crimes, and the weekends he manages to steal with Jack back in DC. The media stalks his every move, he’s isolated by his coworkers, and loneliness hammers at his heart.

In DC, Jack tries to piece together a global alliance to take down the Caliphate, while the world seems focused on tearing apart his personal life. Hostility surrounds him from all corners of the globe, but a surprise offer from President Sergey Puchkov may pave the way for a tentative alliance…and perhaps the beginning of a friendship.

As Ethan finds himself in the middle of an investigation that rubs too deeply against his soul and Jack tries to balance leading the free world and keeping his and Ethan’s relationship going, the two men must face what their love has become…and where they are heading together. 

MY REVIEW

The book answers the following crucial question: 
How a man (with burning passion and love) can survive the facts that 
1. he has a long distance relationship and 
2. his boyfriend is the President of the United States.

Well, Ethan is in trouble for sure in this book. 
After the events of “Enemies of the State”, he has been transferred to Des Moines, Iowa chasing counterfeiters and financial crimes.
The press is after him, his coworkers are avoiding him, and his new boss makes his life miserable – although he is the most experienced agent.
Jack is in Washington, far far away. Skype, phone calls and texts are the only ways of communication.

The thing is that I was really, truly wondering what Ethan is doing in Iowa. He is obviously depressed and he is not having fun. His cases are given to other agents, because the publicity has to be avoided. His friends are in DC, his love of his life is there. And Ethan keeps going back to this hole in the middle of nowhere because he does not want to be treated differently and he has the sense of duty.

When Shepherd, his boss tells him:

“Why do you even bother coming in? Why do you put up the pretense of being an agent? You’d make it easier for everyone if you just stop pretending!”

Adding

“I don’t give a shit what you do. Come to work. Don’t come to work. Go on vacation for the entire month of December. Run away with the president and get drunk on some beach. I don’t give a shit. Just stop wasting my time, okay?”...

...I think he is just honest, not mean. He really does not know what to do with Ethan.

Of course Ethan has to be treated differently. He is the President’s partner. Everybody knows that - even if they don’t like it. His home is with Jack. He has to be protected every step of the way. He is not like the other agents. He is not like the other civilians. 
Thankfully Ethan will realize it in the next book.

Moreover, Ethan seems to be the most unsure about their common future and their relationship. He does not feel he is good enough for Jack. He does not want to ruin Jack’s career. Maybe Jack will forget Ethan now that he works that far away and they only meet during weekends. Maybe Jack wants family and children. 

The main issue is that the book to the greatest extent shows Ethan’s point of view. Jack obviously has similar insecurities but they don’t show that strongly.

On the bright side, it is Christmas. Time for holidays. Ethan and Jack exchange heartwarming gifts and they exist in their sweet love bubble. The world and its problems fade away and they literally live one on top of the other for every available second.

“J, all my hours and all my minutes now belong to you.” 
(Deep sigh by me…)

Finally, Jack and Ethan express their love in front of the cameras and they go public. They dance together, they touch each other, they kiss and hug without feeling embarrassed.

This book definitely smooths a lot the beginning of the “Enemy of my Enemy”, when Ethan suddenly decides to join Jack in the While House.