On Point by Annabeth Albert (Out of Uniform #3)

*****

Never fall for your best friend…

Pushing thirty, with his reenlistment looming, decorated navy sniper Maddox Horvat is taking a long look at what he really wants in life. And what he wants is Ben Tovey. It isn’t smart, falling for his best friend and fellow SEAL, but ten years with Ben has forged a bond so intimate Maddox can’t ignore it. He needs Ben by his side forever—heart and soul.

Ben admits he likes what he’s seen—his friend’s full lower lip and the perfect muscles of his ass have proved distracting more than once. But Ben's still reeling from a relationship gone to hell, and he's not about to screw up his friendship with Maddox, too.

Until their next mission throws Ben and Maddox closer together than ever before, with only each other to depend on.

Now, in the lonely, desperate hours awaiting rescue, the real challenge—confronting themselves, their future and their desires—begins. Man to man, friend to friend, lover to lover.

Review:

Ben and Maddox stood out in At Attention.   Best friends and roommates?  Also, both openly gay SEALs.  Yep, we all wanted a story shipping these two.  Fortunately, we got it!

The first chapter sets us up with the knowledge that SOMETHING happened to strain Ben and Maddox’s relationship.   When they end up on a mission that goes terribly wrong, we slowly get their back story and find out what caused their current drama.   But the story doesn’t start and end on their mission.  SPOILER ALERT…..they do make it home.  They both come home with the knowledge of how much the other means to them and what they are and are not willing to do to hold onto each other.  Unfortunately, those things don’t necessarily match up.  Ben is excited to re-up with the Navy and continue to work and live with his BFF.  But Maddox is seriously considering retiring and doing something new.  Yeah, their plans aren’t matching up and Ben has a real issue with it.  What he doesn’t understand is that Maddox has a real issue with unrequited love he’s experiencing right now. 

Friends-to-lovers stories are my absolute favorites.  I know I’ve mentioned it before but that love started with Emma by Jane Austen and it hasn’t waned in the 20 some years since I first read it.  That existing bond that grows even bigger and grander than anything they could have ever imagined?  The fear of losing what they have if they ask for more?  Yeah, total catnip for me.  And the cherry on top of this delicious sundae of a story is that Maddox is a……..total beta hero!  Yep, a SEAL that isn’t an alpha character.  I loved Ben but Maddox made my heart melt.

This story is full of push and pull and the angst that goes with it.  But never so much that I needed to take a break.  On the contrary, I couldn’t put the damn thing down.   I haven’t given five stars in a REALLY long time but this book earned it.  I was instantly immersed in Ben and Maddox’s story.  To the extent that the book hangover I had after this one was epic.   

Do yourself a favor and read this, and while you are at it, read the first two in the series, Off Base and At Attention.

Nat

At Attention by Annabeth Albert (Out of Uniform #2)

****

Lieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more than he can handle. He needs live-in help, and he's lucky a friend's younger brother needs a place to stay. He's surprised to see Dylan all grown up with a college degree…and a college athlete's body. Apollo's widowed heart may still be broken, but Dylan has his blood heating up. 

It's been eight years since the teenage Dylan followed Apollo around like a lovesick puppy, and it's time he showed Lieutenant Hard-to-Please that he's all man now—an adult who's fully capable of choosing responsibility over lust. He can handle Apollo's muscular sex appeal, but Apollo the caring father? Dylan can't afford to fall for that guy. He's determined to hold out for someone who's able to love him back, not someone who only sees him as a kid brother. 

Apollo is shocked by the intensity of his attraction to Dylan. Maybe some no-strings summer fun will bring this former SEAL back to life. But the combination of scorching desire and warm affection is more than he'd expected, and the emotion between them scares him senseless. No fling lasts forever, and Apollo will need to decide what's more important—his past or his future—if he wants to keep Dylan in his life.

Review:

At the end of Off Base, I was crossing all my fingers and toes that Lt. Apollo Floros was going to get his own book.  I’m a sucker for the widower trope.  Give said widower kids and double swoon.  Fortunately, Annabeth Albert knows what the fans want and she didn’t hesitate to deliver. 

At Attention starts out with Apollo getting caught checking out a young guy’s ass at the grocery store.  What he doesn’t find out until later that day is that the young guy from the grocery store is his best friend’s little brother, Dylan.  Yep, Dylan’s not so little anymore.  And Dylan is finally old enough to hit on the guy he’s crushed on since he was a teenager.  Yep, not only do we have the widower trope, we also have the age-gap and best friend’s younger brother tropes.  Seriously.  It’s like this book was written just for me.

As you can guess, there is some angst in this story.  Apollo’s main hang up about dating anyone, let alone Dylan, is that he’s still grieving the loss of his husband.  Not that he will admit that to himself or anyone else.   On top of his grief, he has more than a bit of OCD (I’m envious of his orderly kitchen and weekly meal plans) and an old injury is making him a bit cranky.  And then all of a sudden he has a super hot young guy living in his house and taking care of him and the kids.  A hot guy that he considers completely off limits.  He just cannot deal.

I’m surprised that I was so attracted to Apollo simply because Dylan is basically the beta hero of my dreams.   This attests to Albert’s ability to write amazing characters.  The fact that an Alpha former SEAL can compete with my adoration of the steady beta hero is pretty amazing.  Don’t get me wrong.  I loved Dylan too.  His willingness/desire to be part of Apollo’s ready-made family and to insert himself in ways that Apollo didn’t know he needed was heartwarming.  And his insistence on doing what was right for HIM was inspiring.   

So yeah, another hit from Annabeth Albert.  I’m fairly confident there isn’t anything she can’t write.  If you love your Alpha heroes and your military romance then this book is definitely for you.  And if you like your “forever boys” then At Attention is for you too. 

Nat

Off Base (Out of Uniform #1) by Annabeth Albert

* * * *

After trading the barracks for a fixer-upper rental, navy SEAL Zack Nelson wants peace, not a roommate—especially not Pike, who sees things about Zack he most wants to hide. Pike's flirting puts virgin Zack on edge. And the questions Pike's arrival would spark from Zack's teammates about his own sexuality? Nope. Not going there. But Zack can't refuse.

Pike Reynolds knows there won't be a warm welcome in his new home. What can he say? He's an acquired taste. But he needs this chance to get his life together. Also, teasing the uptight SEAL will be hella fun. Still, Pike has to tread carefully; he's had his fill of tourists in the past, and he can't risk his heart on another, not even one as hot, as built—and, okay, yeah, as adorable—as Zack.

Living with Pike crumbles Zack's restraint and fuels his curiosity. He discovers how well they fit together in bed…in the shower…in the hallway… He needs Pike more than he could have imagined, yet he doesn't know how to be the man Pike deserves.

Review:

If you’ve read Albert’s Connection Error, you are probably familiar with Zack Nelson.  The kid with the broken leg that Ryan met in the hospital.  We knew Zack had a story the minute he reacted to Ryan’s relationship with Josiah.  In Off Base, we see exactly why Zack reacted the way he did and why he lives life the way he does. 

Zack has fast tracked his way into becoming a SEAL.  He is uber focused and determined to be successful. But success may not be possible with the continued harassment he has experienced from one of the guys on his team.  Determined to remove himself from the situation without causing any waves, Zack moves off base.  Which is awesome until his gay best friend’s gay friend needles his way into a roommate situation.    

Reading Zack’s struggles with his teammate was heartbreaking.  Here is a young guy who can’t even see the door to the closet he’s hiding in and he has one of the people that he’s supposed to depend upon in literal life and death situations secretly harassing and blackmailing him.   To top it off he’s falling hard and fast for his roommate.  An out roommate that deserves way more than a guy who is unwilling to be honest about who he is.  

Pike was one of those characters that is always fun to read.  He is irreverent on the outside but a pretty complicated guy on the inside.  One of those people that is so much more than what they choose to let the world see.   People’s initial reaction to Pike is that he doesn’t have much in the way of empathy or feelings of his own.  But nothing could be further from the truth.

Yes, there is some definite angst.  Your heart will likely break for these guys a couple times while reading their story.  But, as in all Annabeth Albert’s books, the angst is never so heavy that you can’t recover after the promised happy ever after.  Don’t hesitate to jump into the Out of Uniform series. Not only will you love it, you won’t have to wait long to read more.  Book two is already out and book three is due out next month!