Ask, Tell

Written by E.J. Noyes

Narrated by Abby Craden

Captain Sabine Fleischer is a skilled and dedicated U.S. Army surgeon deployed to a combat hospital in Afghanistan. She is also one of the thousands of troops who are forced to serve in silence because of the military's anti-gay policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)."

Usually driven and focused, Sabine finds that battles raging both inside and outside the perimeter walls are making it more and more difficult for her to deal with her emotions. Dealing with loss and mortality, lack of privacy, sleep deprivation, loneliness, and the isolation forced on her by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are all taking their toll. Plus, her long-term relationship with a civilian back home is quickly becoming another casualty of war.

Colonel Rebecca Keane is an enigmatic career officer who runs the surgical unit like clockwork. Well liked and respected by those who work with and under her, she walks a fine line to preserve the military's chain of command while connecting with those under her care and supervision. Sabine knows the Colonel is way off-limits, but can't help fantasizing about her. Especially when she starts picking up unspoken cues-a stolen glance, a secret smile, an "accidental" brush of hands. Or is it just wishful thinking? After all, Rebecca's wedding ring shines almost as brightly as her deep blue eyes . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541401525

Reviews for Ask, Tell

[Farah Ibrahim · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

" War, what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing "

The only person / party who should be making money from death is The Undertaker (should not be confused with Mark William Calaway)

According to Goodreads, there are 127 reviews written for Ask, Tell. Almost everyone either:
z. loved it
y. captivated by it
x. wanted Sabine / Rebecca / Jana in their lives
w. declared Ms.Noyes, a freaking genius
v. hated one of the most horrible and inhuman policy ever created and applied by these so called humans to these brave individuals who voluntarily left their homes to work under hostile environment in hell on Earth
u. all of the above
There aren't enough F Yous that I can say to convey my feelings towards 'v'. To those who served under it, I dedicate Tina Turner's Simply The Best to all of you.

I have the e-book in my phone and Vader Jr for months but too chicken to read about the conflicts, the Fucked Up DADT, to share the burden carried by Sabine, to feel the hurt of not being able to touch the woman who owns my heart and soul especially when she's right in front of me and to pursue a relationship with her in public. Many thanks to the 127 amazing reviewers and my new interest in audiobooks, for inspiring me to read this and I am now #128.

Ms.Noyes, I would like to thank you for -
1. Not redeeming your 'I am just a newbie as this is my debut so take it easy on me' points.
2. The extensive research and creating the curiosity folder to Ask,Tell readers to make their own research for better understanding / knowledge bank.
3. Allowing Sabine to go clubbing and do the whole nine yards.
4. The most intriguing doorbell in the history of Romance!!! (I heard my own a second after Sabine's and more money went into the SB)
5. Never being a half - arse author
6. T.H.E. sex scenes that will cause more damage to the Ozone layer.
7. Making me cry over scenes that don't involve death.

Since this is a crowd favorite, trivia session?

1. What type of undies was Sabine wearing during her first with Rebecca?
2. The name of Victoria's new / old love interest?
3. What did Rebecca order during her first breakfast with Sabine?
4. Sabine drinks her coffee with?
5. In November, who opened the door and let Rebecca in?

I'm going to wait for Ask Me Again audiobook to be released, meanwhile....

Btw, Abby Craden did so much better than her performance in Paper Love but.. when I heard her Mitch's voice in Ask,Tell, I was wondering what the heck was Uncle Norbert from Paper Love doing in Afghanistan instead of being in Freiburg, Germany.

[YY Cheong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story featuring military life. Just the right amount of heat. And enough details for world setting.

[Fredi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Live it loved it !!!! Best book I have read in this category.

[Ari · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow… all I can say is wow. This is my second favorite book from this author. The first being alone. (I’ve listened to alone 6 times now). I love her ability to humanize her characters and give them substance instead of it just being the fact that they are les. I personally see people as human first and it was lovely having the chance to listen to a book about a female lead in the military. Towards the end of the book it got pretty intense. I was throughly surprised by the description of what was happening. It seems the author did a lot of research. I love this book!

[MabelNataliaNovoaChaves · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good book great story and caracthers. I want a squel

[Uchechi Adiuku · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read a few of military books. This one is outstanding with vivid details. Perfect writing. And the story is absolutely interesting. Can’t wait to start the sequel.

[Alex · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

By far the best writer of lesbian romance. So in love with her writing characters, and story telling. Thank you EJ for these wonderful relationships. ?

[emily · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

okay... i expected to kinda hate this book, ngl.

i've avoided reading it for a while, but at this point, i've read every other e.j. noyes book, and i've gotten on a good roll with them, and wanted to just read them all. i went in going... "you're probably not gonna love it, but it'll probably be enjoyable/fine." and instead, i was pleasently surprised to be wrong!

LOOK, i have a hard enough time not getting annoyed, rolling my eyes, gritting my teeth, etc at all the cops in sapphic fiction, the military is a whole 'nother can of worms. i'mmmm.... the opposite of a pro-military person. my family has never been involved, i've always been pretty... anti the whole institution, while very much being like, "vets need all the support they can get". so to see that this was a military focused book was just... not even close to excitement. i WAS very happy that it was just like, about doctors not soldiers, but i was still kinda getting the vibe that... i'm not gonna like this much.

HOWMEST EVER, i really loved sabine!! i've said it more than once, but first person, single pov narration is never my favorite for romance stories. i like first person fine, but i want to get into the povs of all parties involved in a romance, and i think that has been some of the disconnect with me and a few of e.j. noyes other works. BUT!! i think it really worked here, because (to me) this wasn't a romance story. this felt like a wonderful character study that happened to have a love story as part of it, and that's an important distinction. sabine was a wonderful character to spend time with for the most part (there was one line she said early on talking abt her families military history that nearly made me just rage quit the novel from the get go, sort of implying she was proud of her family fighting on the side of the nazis in ww2 germany??? but i was VERY MUCH hoping that i just misunderstood that, bc that vibe was never brought up again and i really can't imagine from this author that that was what it was meant to mean?? either way, it left a bad taste in my mouth when she was joking abt her name meaning the butcher or whatever).

i found rebecca fascinating and i REALLY wanted to get into her head. (and apparently there is abt to be a new book from her pov? so i'm excited abt that!). they're dynamic when they got together was fire. i really liked the friendship between sab and mitch, i ADORED jana, sab's sister. i just... was really happily surprised that i enjoyed this so much. abby craden's performance was as amazing as always, and i really loved her voice for rebecca. the military still sucks, but this story was really good.

[Kayla · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this so much! Noyes is now an auto-read author for me. This love story was beautiful. Now on to book 2!

[H · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this story and narrator.?Can’t wait for the next book. ?

[J.A. Henson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There were a few implausible scenarios and some loose threads at the end (okay, one was pretty major), but the story was okay. Some gore, so if you don’t deal with that, pass this up.

[Jean Chu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Where’s the movies for this?, ughh the feels!, just reminds me how to feel again.

[amcheri-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I finished reading this last night but needed some time to think about what to say about it.

There were a few issues that honestly made me want to quit reading. The near constant use of "running tongue over" either lips or teeth, biting the insides of mouths, and the word "almost" drove me mad. I also understand that this is something that not everyone cares about or even notices. But I do. If the same phrase is used over and over - and particularly when it's used to express an emotion like nervousness or stress - find other ways to express it. Again, not something all readers will have a problem with but enough for me to ding at least half a star for.

So here's the part that took me some time to sort out. How did I end up liking the story so much but still not like Sabine - or her sister - so much? Well here it is... I didn't like their voices. I thought the sister came off as incredibly immature in her dialogue, much more like a petulant adolescent than a grown-up attorney. And Sabine... well, I didn't like her much either. Maybe if it wasn't in first person POV, I wouldn't have been bothered by her as much. I don't know. I liked Rebecca a lot, though.

The non-relationship/Rebecca/Victoria based scenes were fantastic, I thought. Particularly the firefight, I loved. Noyes wrote the action and emotions and interactions superbly and I wanted so much more of if. This is probably the only part of the book where I felt completely engrossed in the story and action. The following scene in the surgical center was equally as good.

I was apprehensive about reading a military-based novel written by someone who hasn't served but those worries were allayed quickly. I was in the Marines before Don't Ask, Don't Tell and understand the scrutiny was even tougher under DADT. The fear of being investigated (I was investigated three times) and dishonorably discharged is very real. Things that may have seemed like over the top in the descriptions of these characters with regard to not talking to even those closest to us, were very accurate. So kudos to Noyes for a job well done!

I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel but I did like Ask, Tell.

[judeinthesky · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. I liked this book from the start but it took me way further than I thought it would.

Edit: I keep thinking I should have said something about the writing so I will: it's one of the things I liked so much about Ask, Tell, how well written it is. I read a lot and most of the books I read are rather well written, but some are way above the rest. This is one of those.

[sheila1957 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sabine is a captain in the Army serving at a hospital on the battlefield in the Middle East. She is attracted to her CO, Rebecca, who is also attracted to her. Both try to fight their attraction but it becomes a losing battle.A good story with a bit of history of the don't tell, don't ask policy in the military. I liked the characters, all of them. The scenes of the battlefield life are realistic. Solutions are sought and the tension is believable between what Sabine wants and what she knows she cannot have. I would read this author again.