Book Details
Title: Wheels Up
Series: Out of Uniform #4
Author: Annabeth Albert
Genre: MM Romance
Length: 295 pages
Publication Date: Nov 6, 2017
Format Read: Kindle
This book was not provided free
Review
Warning! This review will contain spoilers!
This one really did it for me y’all. After the first three books in this series; each one getting better and better. Wheels Up finally hit that itch of romance with steam and story that made me tingle inside.
LT. Dustin is Dylan’s older brother from At Attention (Book #2). And he is lonely. He’s been talking to a guy on a gay hookup app for the last six months, and the guy wants to meet. Well they meet, and they are both nervous, and it is sweet and sexy. Turns out, that guy Dustin is meeting? Also a Navy SEAL.
Wes is a demolition expert on a SEAL Team on the East Coast, while Dustin is based on the West Coast. Wes is transferred to Dustin’s team. That is a problem. The hookup in DC, and the added six months of talking and sexy times, blows up in their faces. Dustin is now Wes’ team XO, and in the military, an officer and an enlisted having a relationship is a big NO-NO.
This story navigates their love and feelings for each other while trying to remain secret from their team. This is the big conflict of the book. As it progresses, they get more careless, and eventually some rumors spread. So now they have to stop – but their feelings for each other don’t.
While the book doesn’t explicitly end with a HEA, they have some hurdles to overcome.
Scoring
Characters: 5 / 5
I was happy how the characters progressed. Even though they knew they couldn’t really be together, it didn’t stop them. They followed their heart through and through, and that’s what I live for. They worked as a team, both literally on the SEALs, and in love.
Story: 5 / 5
A big trope in conflict for romance stories I find, is communication. While this story may have had a little bit, it wasn’t the big issue of stories past. I can’t tell you how easy it could have been for the characters just to go back and forth changing their feelings for each other from wanting to not wanting, because of the fraternization policy. Instead, they kept their feelings, and tried to work out how to stay together.
The conflict arises from when another teammate gets suspicious as says something to their commanding officer. Which brought both MC’s into the office and made to understand that nothing can ever happen between the two.
I thought the author navigated the conflict with the story well.
Writing: 5 / 5
As always, Annabeth Albert’s writing is excellent at keeping me engaged in the story. With chapters being an ideal length, and captive descriptions. Can’t go wrong.
Romance: 5 / 5
This one got me going a bit. The story started out right into a first date. They’ve had months of sexting, but nothing “real.” And their love never really wavered throughout the book. Yes, they were thrown through some loops, like finding out that they both lied to each other about who they really were, when they were forced to find out by being put on the same team. Not only that, Dustin is the XO, an officer, and Wes came in as an enlisted. But while they had to act like they didn’t know each other, or had feelings for each other. They would still talk in private.
When they had external issues, like with Wes’ sister, they both would take care of each other. Mainly Wes going to Dustin’s house for company, as Wes still lived on base and Dustin didn’t. Even when they were “caught”, they still wanted to figure it out and work on it. Other books, and even the authors earlier books, my first thought would that they would try to hurt each other so they could stay away. But no, their love conquered all.
Steam: 🍵🍵🍵🍵
We start right at the beginning. What I loved about this book was the slight Dom/sub kink. Dustin may have been the officer on the team, Wes took charge in the bedroom. And it was HOT. It wasn’t some over the top domination stuff. It was soft, and caring, while still authoritative. You could really tell Wes wanted what was best for them.
Overall: 5 / 5
I don’t count the steam level in my final score, because how graphic and detailed sex scenes don’t determine how much I like the book.
Final Thoughts
This has been my favorite book from Annabeth Albert so far, but as of this review, my journey into her writing is only four books long. I thought there was the perfect amount of love, story progression, conflict, and steam to carry it through.
Dustin and Wes have a journey ahead of them, at the end they both leave (or will leave) the team and go into private security work. They still keep their relationship quiet for the fear of being recalled and sanctioned for fraternization, however the likelihood is diminished by the time of the epilogue.
They also are moving back to the East Coast, to be near Wes’ family. Which has me worried for the rest of the series, at least for these two. In the other books, couples from previous books make brief appearances, but with them moving away, I’m scared we may never see them again.
Tea Suggestion
A Ginger Mint tea will do. A spicy yet sweet taste that also helps sooth the stomach. Trying to calm the anxiety of wondering if the sweet couple will get caught doing all that sneaking around, trying to fall further in love, while not jeopardizing their careers.
Thanks!
Thanks for reading my review of Wheels Up by Annabeth Albert. If my review inspires you to read it, let me know! If you have read the book, leave me a comment below or on any of my socials letting me know what YOU thought of it.
Until next time, enjoy a book and a drink.
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