Annabeth Albert

Spencer and Bacon meet during a Seals op - Spencer is a journalist chasing a story about the effects of the work on military operatives. Bacon is assigned as his minder.

I've been thinking about the lingo of the Romance genre lately.

I suppose the way Albert has her characters meet is still called a meet-cute, because we are still in the category of Romance, but without the rom-com, it doesn't feel like a very satisfactory word here.

The interest between the MCs is there from the start, but Spencer is a professional through and through and keeps his personal distance.

But as unlikely a match as they are, the sophisticated, former ballet dancer Spencer, and the rough and ready Seal whose job rubs against his sensitive, thinking-man interior, are a symphony together. Hyperbole? No. They have the makings of a great love affair if they get their priorities right, which is their journey in Tight Quarters.

Another Annabeth Albert novel that digs into the soul. Sure there is what the Romance community calls 'smut', which in this context means sexually explicit scenes (not obscenity/filth/indecent material as is the meaning in the wider community). But I don't find this meaningless voyeurism, quite the contrary.

Decided to look up what the traditional and current meanings of smut are, and this is something I haven't seen before. In the Urban Dictionary someone has contributed the following, referring to reader fandom:
SMUT
s: sexual
m: maturity
u: under
t: text
"wait, you read smut too?"
"yes of course, it satisfies my needs."

That's a clever refinement of the Romance definition.

The timbre of Greg Boudreux's voice is perfect for these MCs - a well chosen narrator.

Rating: 4.25

(Later) Great comments arthistorychick - thank you. I see we are on the same page.… (lisätietoja)

I'm rather sad that this is our final visit to the small Oregon town of Safe Harbor. It's the last book in what has been an amazing trilogy. Finally, we have the story of the couple who have been in the background of the previous two books, Sam Bookman, and his coffee shop, The Blessed Bean, who is, in many ways, the heart of the Safe Harbor community, and Worth Stapleton, who hasn’t been back to his hometown in decades, but we have seen parts of his story reflected in the other two books also. The murder of his mother, the blame that he and the rest of the town placed on his father. It helped to somewhat already know that things would end well for him eventually. Now he has returned, but we find that his life is crumbling about his ears. Anxiety, and depression his constant companion...he feels anything but "Worthy". I’ve been looking forward to his and Sam's story... to watch Worth come home and find his place in this small world. Sam finally getting the man of his dreams, the boy/man that he has loved since childhood...and we know who that is. Annabeth Albert always tells a wonderful story but has really done an above average job with this deeply emotional story about grief, loss and sadness, and the struggle to find a way back to the light. This trilogy absolutely must be read in order, otherwise you will miss meeting and learning about the wonderful residents of Safe Harbor, how their lives blend together, and seeing the stage being set for Worth's homecoming and his and Sam's "Happy Ever After". You are going to have to go to some great lengths to top this one Ms. Albert.… (lisätietoja)

Annabeth Albert is one of my favourite authors, but this book ... is so full of angst, and fear and desolation and loneliness - the full nine yards of negativity.

This is my 13th book by Albert and only the second one I've awarded less than 4 stars.

Quill, a park ranger in Alaska, is a brick wall, a grumpy immoveable fearful man, damaged by his past of dysfunctional family and relationship. He's a man who has no idea what it's like to look on the bright side - have fun - till Owen.

Owen has been through it all, with a cancer scare that's changed everything in his life. But he's a vital young man in his 30s and has pulled his life together better than most would.

For some reason I don't think Albert explains fully - unless it's that Owen sees a kindred damaged person, although comes from a happy family - Owen persists with everything he is to make a relationship with Quill.

The novel is hard going, and it's 10.5 hours of audiobook. Narrated by Iggy Toma, he does his best with the slog - too much time spent inching up hill to the HEA, and then the trope of a near-death accident to get us there.

I am being harsh, as there are some beautiful moments when the two characters connect.… (lisätietoja)