Book 690: Off Base (Out of Uniform #1) – Annabeth Albert

Give me a minute to catch my breath . . . haahaa. No, seriously though. I didn’t read this through in one sitting, but I may as well have.

I’ve read two books with characters that would probably be in the Out of Uniform series by Annabeth Albert, Save the Date (with Wendy Qualls) and Connection Error. Both were great reads, but this one cranks it up. I’m not sure if it’s the sheer confidence of Pike, a just starting out college professor, or the hesitation and confusion of closeted virginal Navy Seal Zack.

I’ve said it again and again (and again and again—and I’m sure I’ll say it at least six more times as I read my way through this series) give me a MM romance with a man in uniform and I’m in. And Annabeth Albert knows her audience,

“He could do better, and he reached over, rubbing Zack’s warm, smooth back muscles. God, shirtless in nothing but camo pants, he looked like the cover model on one of his mom’s romantic suspense novels, right down to the broody expression.” (Loc. 1,224)

“Hello, Pot?” “It’s me, Kettle. I just wanted to check in and make sure we’re still black?” “Yup, sounds good. . .” 😀

I mean, we all know people (and specifically, this person) don’t read these novels for their literary aspirations, we read them for the sheer joy of it. That being said, Albert generally has a very strong sense of self awareness and cheekiness in her writing that I haven’t found in many other MM romance authors. She takes the time to include diverse characters and ideas and to frankly discuss sexuality, gender roles, toxic masculinity, you name it. Sometimes it works better than others, but she never gets preachy and she never beats you over the head with it.

“Tourist. The reminder that Zack was most likely an otherwise straight guy who was merely curious shoved all Pike’s adrenaline aside. Pike had had enough tourists to last a lifetime, thank you very much. However, Pike wasn’t sure what Zack was and that bugged the fuck out of him. Even worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to share Zack and wasn’t that a bitch of an emotion to get hit with?” (Loc. 280)

“It’s not a choice. There is no ‘want to.’ If dick turns your crank, if it makes you hard, if you beg someone for it for years, you are not straight. Pan, maybe. Bi, sure. Gay, possibly. But not straight.” (Loc. 1,012)

And on the other side of things, she has the totally eye-roll inducing one liners that depending on how giddy you are when you read them you either sigh at the sheer ludicrousness or you just go “ugh” and keep reading,

“I speak fluent IKEA-ease . . .” (Loc. 771)

“Hello, friend zone, my old pal, how I’ve missed you never.” (Loc. 1,027)

Like okay, IKEA-ease was pretty good, but taken out of context it’s like eye-roll, horrible flirting to the front of the line okay sure.

Albert clearly has talent, because she does all of the above while telling believable (like 80-90% believable) love stories with steamy sex scenes. I think this novel worked really well because this was a first love/coming out story with more longing between the characters and more building of tension within the high risk state of roommates-to-lovers all while the threat of deployment and training accidents with no contact hanging over them Zack and Pike. And y’all, the crisis and then make up actually made me cry when I read this one.

“But you’re not going to fight for me. Not going to keep me. He’d had no idea that a heart could break even as a body exploded with pleasure, but that’s exactly what was happening—the closer he slipped to the edge, the more desperate he felt, chest aching, whole body straining.” (Loc. 2,232)

“‘A friend.’ He had a healthy fear of falling, an innate knowledge of what a bullet could do, but he hadn’t thought a single word could end him. But here he was, dying as his heart walked out of this place with Pike.” (Loc. 2,547)

I’m not sure if I cried because I was already an emotional mess, we’d just watched the Schitt’s Creek finale and the documentary after with the scene of Noah Reid (Patrick) reading the letter from the moms with LGBTQ+ kids group, or if the current global pandemic finally got to me, but either way the ultimate scenes of Zack coming to terms with his love for Pike and everything that ensues was just too much to hold in.

Recommendation: Read this one. I think of all Albert’s books this might be my favorite. There was something about the vulnerability of Zack and the confidence check Pike faced while their relationship developed that struck a chord for me. It doesn’t hurt there’s the whole beefy navy seal thing and nerdy professor gaymer thing going on either, but even if you removed the steamy sex scenes, you’d still have a compelling story to read.

Opening Line: “‘What do you mean they’re not coming?’ Zack tried hard to sound like the badass navy SEAL he was now.”

Closing Line: “Home. This was home. This house. This man. Home.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Other Books in Out of Uniform:

• At Attention (#2)
• On Point (#3)
• Wheels Up (#4)
• Squared Away (#5)
• Tight Quarters (#6)
• Rough Terrain (#7)

Additional Quotes from Off Base
“I just know that I’m so tired of hating myself every second of every day, and when I’m around you, I don’t hate me so much. I’ve spent the last year trying to make sense of me, but when I’m around you, it feels like the answer might actually be out there.” (Loc. 1,259)

“I want to know your story. I want to be more than a footnote to this Chapter of your life. I want to write our story together. Fuck. These urges were not what Pike needed. What he needed was to be realistic. But then Zack smiled at him, a thousand megawatts of pure joy, and Pike knew he was lost.” (Loc. 1,647)

“Roger all over again. Except whatever he felt for Roger had been kitten love—two friends rolling around, Pike building illusions in his head. Zack was real. Hell, he’d insisted just two nights ago that they were real. Pike wasn’t wanting a date to the fucking prom, wanting someone to show off. No, he wanted to build a life together. And that probably wasn’t happening. And that cut.” (Loc. 2,167)