Advanced Review by Nicole: On Point, by Annabeth Albert

On Point, by Annabeth Albert
Series: Out of Uniform #3
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: June 5, 2017

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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.

M/M Pairing
Gay Characters
Contemporary Romance
Military
Friends to Lovers

It isn’t often that you read a romance where both characters are just as fully fleshed out, both of their sets of concerns as reasonable as the other’s–even at the same time as they are miscommunicating and hurting themselves and each other–leading into a Happily For Now, that is quite so satisfying as it is in this novel.

Maddox is a sweetheart who we have seen in the background of the other books in this series so far– Off Base and At Attention. He lives with Ben and, maybe predictably, has had the world’s biggest crush on the guy for the past 12 years. However, he doesn’t really believe that Ben is the sort to want to settle down with him, which is what Maddox really wants with someone he’s in a relationship with.

Ben has insecurities the size of the world where it comes to people abandoning him. His mum did it, and his ex did it, complete with stealing all his money and his dogs. This is something he’s carried around for years since the break up, and since childhood really, creating a barrier between himself and the rest of the world where buries himself in meaningless shags and doesn’t notice his feelings for Maddox are more than those he should have with a friend.

Then the two of them are in the middle of a SEAL op and almost die together. It’s sweet, if a little bit long-winded, between the present with their near death experience, and the flashbacks towards the first time they actually acknowledged that the two of them were attracted to each other six months ago.

After their stay in hospital for recuperation, though, that’s where the book gets really good for me. Having laid all this ground work with both characters, Annabeth then proceeds to milk it for all its worth. We don’t get the predictable plot line of Ben running away because dating is actually too hard. No, it’s the opposite, where he goes in 110% despite his fears, because if he’s going to make a go of this with Maddox, he’s really going to make a go of this.

Ben is obviously a really strong personality. Which is why Maddox doesn’t feel he can share everything with him. Which is all I am going to say without spoiling the rest. It’s fantastic, the resolution and the character growth that these two go through. Easily my favourite in an already fantastic series thus far.

Frequent tweeter, professional grammar nerd, and obsessive reader, Annabeth Albert is also a Pacific Northwest romance writer in a variety of subgenres.

Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two toddlers.

Website: http://www.annabethalbert.com
Twitter: @AnnabethAlbert

You can pre-order On Point from:

Carina Press
Amazon
iTunes
Kobo
Barnes & Noble

Or add it to Goodreads

I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.