Second-class petty officers Dalton Taylor and Chris Ingram have been best friends since coxswain’s school. Now they’re stationed together in the Harbor Patrol Unit of NAS Adams. They’re content as friends, but secretly, they both ache for more. Neither makes a move, though; while Dalton is out and proud, Chris is closeted–even from his best friend.Then another coxswain’s negligence nearly drowns … nearly drowns Dalton. After a taste of how easily they could lose each other, neither man can keep his feelings hidden anymore, and it turns out love and sex come easy when you’re falling for your best friend.
Things aren’t just heating up between the friends-turned-lovers, though. The Navy is investigating the accident, and the Harbor Patrol chief isn’t going to let his star coxswain go down for dereliction of duty, even if saving him means throwing Dalton under the bus.
As the threats and gaslighting pile up, Chris and Dalton need each other more than ever–as shipmates, friends, and lovers. But if their chief prevails, the only way they can save their careers is to let each other go.
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Going Overboard was such a great read. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. This is a great book for readers that enjoy a great friends to lovers m/m romance read that can be read as a standalone. I was rooting for Chris and Dalton knowing that Chief Lasby and Anderson would find a way to try and mess things up for them, and put the blame on what happened that night on Dalton and Rhodes. Chief Lasby and Anderson did not deserve their positions and I was finally glad when Dalton finally had enough of the nonsense. After all, he had nothing else to lose. I enjoyed this book a lot and definitely look forward to reading more of this authors work.
The good:
1. Despite being #5 in a series, I read it as a stand-alone (never having read the first four) and didn’t feel as if I was missing background story.
2. The military information was detailed and informed, and I enjoyed how it portrayed the political game that had to be played, and that PTSD and TBI have very real and long lasting consequences.
3. The risk factor was high: Dalton had everything to lose: his career, his retirement, his relationship. His fear and stress came through strong and clear. Witt did an excellent job of building that aspect of the story.
4. I made it to the end. L.A. Witt is a very hit or miss author for me. I’ve never absolutely loved one of her books, and I’ve DNFed quite a few of them, but I can honestly say that Going Overboard was a good, solid read, and it is definitely the best L.A. Witt book I’ve read so far. I am even considering reading the rest of this series.
The not as good:
1. I didn’t think the risk factor was as high for Chris, so that made him a less compelling character for me. Yes, there were threats about his relationship and his career, but they never carried as much weight as the massive ball of shit directed at Dalton.
2. I found it a little hard to believe that both Chris and Dalton were secretly in love with the other and, yet, this had never come up before. How and why did Chris hide his sexuality from his best friend for so long?
3. The sex scenes were frequent enough that they became repetitive to me. Okay, I get it. They are two hot guys, wildly attracted to one another, and they fuck like bunnies, but can we please get back to the story and find out what Dalton’s future holds?
4. Speaking of repetition, some of the dialogue got repetitious as well. I know Chris loves Dalton, I know they find each other totally hot, I know they can’t go to the Chiefs because Chiefs support other Chiefs. Seriously, I don’t need to be told any of the above more than once. Got the message the first time.
Overall:
There’s nothing unexpected or ground shaking, but Going Overboard is a good, entertaining read. The story moves at a decent pace, the characters are likeable and relatable, and the Navy world is well developed and interesting to explore through the eyes of Dalton and Chris.
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