“At Attention is a story of healing, of hope, of that rush of new attraction, of friendship, trust building, letting go, and realizing that you can’t control your heart even when you have binders and lists to control everything else in your life.” –Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews Lieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more … 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 if he wants to keep Dylan in his life–his past or his future.
Out of Uniform
Book 1: Off Base
Book 2: At Attention
Book 3: On Point
Book 4: Wheels Up
Book 5: Squared Away
Book 6: Tight Quarters
Book 7: Rough Terrain
Also by Annabeth Albert:
Shore Leave
Book 1: Sailor Proof
Book 2: Sink or Swim
Hotshots
Book 1: Burn Zone
Book 2: High Heat
Book 3: Feel the Fire
Book 4: Up in Smoke
more
Annabeth Albert is one of my absolute favorite authors. I’ve enjoyed all her books, but At Attention was my favorite in her Out of Uniform series.
Dylan, a younger man who once had a childhood crush on Apollo, is so sweet that he made the book for me. He loves Apollo, even when he doubts Apollo will ever feel the same — and he’s willing to take whatever he can get with the man. He’s a great nurturer, both to Apollo and to Apollo’s twin daughters that he’s caring for as a manny.
Apollo, a single father who lost his partner years before, is reluctant to love anyone — especially the younger brother of a friend through the service. He’s stubborn and obstinate, but how could he resist Dylan?
It’s an angsty read with some tear-jerker moments, but it delivers an HEA — and it’s hard-won enough to feel real and satisfying. I highly recommend it!
I adore everything Annabeth writes! This book is one of my absolute favorites. Apollo and Dylan are so damn cute it will give you a cavity. When they aren’t getting in their own ways for a happily ever after. I loved Dylan’s determination to go after what he wanted. Apollo with his kids was wonderful. Men who are good with kids is super sexy. Speaking of sexy. The love scenes were so steamy. I give all the stars.
Wow… I have so many emotions running through me while reading this book. I absolutely loved it! I love when a book just surprises you like that!
Apollo and Dylan’s path together was not an easy one. Apollo had a lot to overcome before he could fully give himself to Dylan. And Dylan I felt was perfect for Apollo. He knew just how to handle him and get him somewhat out of his comfort zone.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Apollo parents. Meaning their are a couple of types of parents out there. The let’s go with the flow kind of parents, the strict kind of parents, or the super anal kind.
I would have to put Apollo in the super anal category with some strictness sprinkled in there. LOL
Omg… I get it. I’ve been there with my first child. (I have 3) You are super paranoid about everything! I was super anal with my oldest daughter when she was a baby! But by the time the third one came along. As long as there wasn’t any blood coming out of where they got hurt. It was all good! LOL
That folder Apollo had was pretty crazy! And that text he sent Dylan killed me even more!
Honestly I loved it. His fridge and cupboards! I wish I was that organized!
I had mixed feeling about Apollo. I sympathized with him and felt bad for him because of Neal. But at the same time I wanted to tell him to get his head on straight with Dylan!
I can’t imagine being in his place. It’s like he was permanently stuck in limbo. He was straddling the line between moving on and holding back.
And poor Dylan was caught in the middle of all that.
Dylan’s crush and infatuation with Apollo I felt carried him through all the rough patches he went through with Apollo. He really put up with a lot with him. I was sad and proud of him for really putting himself first when the time came that he knew he needed more from Apollo.
“ .I mean, I want you to choose me for me. Not because I’m good with the girls. Not because I fit in your spare room or your spare time. Not because there’s a hole in your life and I help you forget that for a few hours, but for me. I want you to see me and choose me, and I’m going to hold out for that.”
Apollo’s conversation with Neal broke my heart. But needed to be done. The pressure Apollo must have felt for those years. The pent up Anxiety of facing his reality. Was hard for him to face and let go. He was scared and didn’t know how to deal with it. He was scared of moving on.
The ending of this book was so perfect. Apollo really showed Dylan the grand gesture that he knew Dylan needed in order for them to make it as a couple.
I’m really feeling this series! I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
*ARC provided by Carina Press via Netgalley*
I have been dying to read a MM military book and was thrilled to find At Attention by new to me author Annabeth Albert. Cooper North did a fantastic job narrating this best friends brother trope read. Apollo is an uptight, type A personality, Navy SEAL who after losing his husband tragically 2 years ago has struggled to balance raising his two twin girls as a single dad and continue with his career. Dylan is his best friend Dustin’s younger brother who has had a crush on Apollo since he was in high school. Now circumstances find Dylan living with Apollo and helping him with his girls for the summer. Their chemistry is undeniable and the sexual chemistry is off the charts, but will Apollo be able to let go of the grief that has haunted him since his husbands death and let Dylan love him? Check out At Attention and watch these two men find their HEA.
Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/at-attention-annabeth-albert/
The first book of this saga, Off Base, was one of the first books I reviewed here and I LOVED it! I know is hard to equal or exceed what that first Out of Uniform story meant for me emotionally, so I’m not going to be too harsh with the second book. It doesn’t deserve any kind of venom. The second part is stil very good and I can’t wait to keep reading the series. Well, I will wait… I don’t like getting an overdose with sagas.
This time we meet Apollo, a 34 years old widow with two little girls and a huge house to take care. And we meet Dylan, the twenty something years old and younger brother of Apollo’s best friend. Both of them are openly gay, so we are not in the same Zack and Pike situation. It’s a trickier one, though. Apollo’s mother is about to travel abroad for several weeks and he needs help with the kids and the house. And Dylan needs a place to stay near his new job as summer camp teacher. So Dustin, Dylan’s brother, thinks the best idea is that his brother should live in Apollo’s house; so he can help the Lieutenant. The catch: Apollo’s is still mourning his husband and think his love and sexual life is over. And Dylan has had a long standing crush for his brother’s best friend that needs to take out of his system.
There is a lot of fun flirting coming from Dylan that makes Apollo uncomfortable, at least at first. Sooner rather than later he starts craving his new roommate. It’s a bit sad to see how he struggles with those moments. Somehow Apollo thinks he is being dishonest with Neal, his dead husband. The age difference doesn’t help at all and it’s the hot potato thrown in every single chapter. Maybe the author insists too much about that. It even seems that Dylan only wants to con Apollo into a relationship so that he can feel like a big man. I know that is not what Annabeth wanted to tell us, but sometimes that is what I get… And the soldier is a bit stubborn about that difference, too… It’s not such a big gap!! Stop looking at you as a 60-years-old man!!
That issue is so big during the whole book that I don’t truly believe the happy ending. Maybe that is because the author takes a huge leap with the last chapter. The proposal is totally anticlimatic and waaaaaay too soon. Those two need to talk a lot more before commiting to something like that. That end is the worst part of the book.
One of my favourite parts is the way Apollo finally deals with Neal’s death. There were moments along the book were Annabeth almost makes the mistake to convert Neal in some kind of villain, but thankfully she doesn’t go there full force. That would be sad and wrong. Apollo can fall in love with a new person and still love his former husband… It’s human. We are capable of loving un unlimited amount of people. The way Apollo accepts that, talking with Neal aloud and expressing his feelings… Hands down, that is the best part of the book!!
I’m also have to point out that the sex scenes are really good. When Apollo discovers the power of a mirror… That was a hot read!!
The author also uses this book to introduce the next one: Ben & Maddox. I have the feeling their book is going to be a fun one!! Or maybe I’m totally wrong. I’ll read it sooner or later. This year if everything goes according to plan.
At Attention is the second book in the Out of Uniform series, and we reunite with Lieutenant Apollo Floros, who we met in Zack and Pike’s story. We learn more about his past – how he is a grieving widower with two young twin daughters. He is existing with his life, not living it. When a friend asks him for a favour, he looks for a thousand different ways out of it, before he capitulates ungraciously.
That is the build up to a slow-burning, gut-churning, emotion-packed story that will get you right in the feels. There is no ‘bad guy’ in this, just a young hopeful man, and an older, grieving one, who just can’t move past his pain. I really felt for Dylan, but couldn’t bring myself to hate Apollo either, although I did want to whomp him upside the head a few times.
Saying that, there was plenty of heat in here, more than enough to keep me happy! The story didn’t suffer for the steamy times though. Everything was in the right place, when it needed to be said or done. Kept on tenterhooks right to the end, I adored this book. I also loved the small cameos from Zack and Pike. So nice to see them still in love.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book, or the series, as I am absolutely loving it.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
This is why I love reading Annabeth Albert. Every step of Apollo and Dylan to from first seeing each other in the store to the end of the book was realistically done. Apollo’s pain and guilt were so deeply felt. Even with all that Apollo was going through I still grieved for Dylan as well. In addition to a great story, there were some glimpses of other characters I can’t wait to read more about and some old faces made an appearance as well. I love how this author can have the books in a series so seamlessly flow together yet still stand on their own. I look forward to many more exciting reads from this amazing author.