Title: On Point

Series: Out of Uniform #3

Author: Annabeth Albert

Genre: Military, Contemporary

Length: Novel (296pgs)

Publisher: Carina Press (June 5th 2017)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4.5 hearts

Blurb: 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.

ISBN: 9781488022630

Product Link: Carina Press | Amazon | Kobo

Reviewer: Aerin

Review: On Point is the story of the infamous duo Maddox and Ben. We’ve heard about Maddox and Ben in Apollo’s book and we know all about Maddox’s quiet pining for his best friend and all about Ben’s whorish ways. On Point lets us learn the WHY of Ben’s behavior, which I greatly appreciated, even though I wanted to whack the bastard across the head a few times.

Ben and Maddox are SEALS who have served together and have been best friends since the beginning of their careers. Their friendship and a constant significant other in their lives prevented the two from acknowledging the attraction and chemistry between them, but that all changes after Ben moves in with Maddox following his divorce. The two are so different from each other, I still can’t wrap my head around them as a couple (but I’m slowly getting there).

Ben’s career as a SEAL is the thing he’s most passionate about in life, and he lives for the adrenaline he gets when on missions. Ben’s father and his stepmother both support Ben unconditionally and I loved them as secondary characters; Ben has many mommy issues however, and we learn that his mother leaving has Ben questioning anyone’s commitment. Ben is a player and a manwhore who spends his free time in clubs chasing new men he can fuck.

Maddox is a soft-hearted man who’s career as a SEAL doesn’t match his dreams and hopes in life. His family cut ties with Maddox the day they found him kissing his boyfriend when Maddox was just 17 years old. In a desperate attempt to make his father proud, he joined the Navy, but he soon learned that his family’s love is conditional. Maddox doesn’t hate his job, and he definitely loves being at Ben’s side, but Maddox is not happy and yearns for a change. Maddox dreams about opening a bakery, dreams about Ben as more than a friend, he just dreams ….until the last mission they go on goes wrong, and Maddox realizes that life is too short and decides to make his dreams a reality.

Being trapped together when their mission goes wrong, both Maddox and Ben are hurt, but Maddox is by far worse. Cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder doesn’t stop Ben from carrying his best friend to safety, and the following weeks of recovery make Ben realize he doesn’t even want to imagine a life where Maddox is not by his side. What follows is an awkward courtship dance that was painful to watch in how out of character it was for Ben (but sweet and entertaining just the same).

On point is a great friends-to-lovers story that’s going to delight the readers who love that trope. This book is angsty and gritty for the most part, but Maddox and Ben get their HEA, so hang in there. I can’t wait for the next book in this wonderful series!

Title: Off Base

Series: Out of Uniform #1

Author: Annabeth Albert

Genre: Military, Contemporary

Length: Novel (304 pages)

Publisher: Carina Press (Jan 9 2017)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 hearts

Blurb: 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.

ISBN: B01LLPCCMG

Product Link: Amazon | Carina Press

Reviewer: Aerin

Review: A spin-off of the gaymers series with military men? Yes please!!! 

So I’m going to go as far as saying this is probably one of the best books Albert has written so far. It has a ton of intensity and chemistry, the writing is beautiful, the characters are young, inexperienced and sometimes overwhelmed by adulting, but they’re not immature. 

I would’ve given it 5 stars in a heartbeat, if it wasn’t for the soul-sucking homophobia present throughout this whole book. We know from the blurb that Zack is a SEAL and we know from day-to-day life that while DADT has been repelled, not all military personnel embrace LGBT people. But the sheer amount of homophobia and homophobic slurs was overwhelming to me. The people that Zack works with every day, the ones that are supposed to have his back in a life or death situation are verbally abusing him any chance they get. Zack’s parents, the people that are supposed to love him for who he is are religious nuts that can’t even accept the fact that Zack has gay friends, never mind accepting their gay son. 

Zack felt like a lonely person and my heart broke for him; at times I hated his internalized homophobia and his fight to deny who he really is: a gay man. But I couldn’t help feel pity for him and for his fear and unwillingness to accept himself.

Pike on the other hand is out and proud, a love them and leave them type. Pike sees Zack for who he is and he knows better than getting involved with a man who can’t even accept he’s gay. Been there, done that, with nothing to show for it but a broken heart. So Pike contends himself with flirting shamelessly with Zack every chance he gets because he loves to see the man blush and loves to get a rise out of him. 

When circumstances and fate work against them and Pike and Zack find themselves alone in a club, the chemistry between them proves too much to ignore. This is the start of a one-sided relationship that kinda broke my heart as much as I enjoyed seeing it become more. I hurt for Pike and I hated that he chose to accept a relationship on Zack’s terms, but knowing this will lead to a HEA made it easier to keep going. I lived for the moments when Zack’s feelings for Pike came through, when despite his unwillingness to accept Pike as a boyfriend, Zack made Pike feel like he matters, like what was happening between them meant EVERYTHING to him. 

Of course my favorite subject in this whole book is Zack’s sexual education. A virgin SEAL? Good lord dump ice water on me now! A red-head, experienced flirt to educate the innocent SEAL? HELL YES!!! Zack’s sexual education was so fucking hot! It was dirty and flirty and intense! It was enthusiastic blow jobs, and filthy rimming and passionate sex! I admit Pike is a wonderful professor and Zack is an accelerated student! Whew! The only thing missing out of Zack’s education is bottoming, and I was dying to see that! Dying I tell you! *pouts*

So you see, this book has both bad and good parts to balance each other out, but what I loved the most are the FEELS! When Zack and Pike fall, they fall hard! I loved that their feelings for each other were shown more than spoken. While they both were reluctant to verbalize their feelings, the intensity of their emotions were shown by the author in a way that made me feel them in my gut and left me breathless.

“Kissing Pike always felt like breathing— necessary, important and vital to his well-being— but right then it felt more like a sacrament . Or like super glue instantly sealing their bond together. And that’s what this was— a bond.”
“Zack kissed him back, and Pike swore he could taste his fear and need and underneath it all, his unwavering affection. Somehow this complicated, confused man had managed to see past all Pike’s jokes and flirtation and see who Pike was inside. Why did it have to be you?
“You like me, don’t you?” Pike whispered against his lips.
“More than,” Zack whispered back. “You. This. Us. It’s everything.”
Pike didn’t trust himself to speak, so he kissed him again, harder this time, biting and sucking at Zack’s lips.” 

I loved this book, it kept me fully invested from the beginning to the end. But there was just too much homophobia and it took forever for Zack to grow a spine and stand up for himself. I am however so excited about this new series and can’t wait to read more! I’m also dying for a chance to read Apollo’s story and hopefully get a new happy ending for him and his kids.