Book 1,014: Find Me Worthy (Safe Harbor #3) – Annabeth Albert

Of the three books in Annabeth Albert’s Safe Harbor trilogy, this one was by far my favorite. I won’t say it’s unfortunate that you need to read the other two to get to this one, because they’re still well written books, but you do have to read the two of them to truly appreciate this book due to the underlying murder mystery that ties them together.

Find Me Worthy is the story of Sam, the slightly younger (I imagine slightly nerdy) do-gooder that idolized Monroe (from Bring Me Home), Holden (from Make Me Stay), and Worth, the other protagonist of this novel who fled as soon as he could after his mother disappeared and buried himself in first an MBA and then a high-stakes finance job that’s come crashing down around him.

There are so many reasons this book is my favorite of the trilogy. It’s another hurt/comfort book like the second in the trilogy. It’s also a first unrequited love, childhood friends to lovers story, which I adore. And it’s a found family story. If you would’ve thrown in a single parent and a sport of some sort I probably would’ve spontaneously combusted.

Albert really shines in this book; her humor is on point.

‘Where in the toxic masculinity MBA handbook does it say you can’t take a bubble bath?’ Sam shook his head and led the way into the house, which, sure enough, he’d left unlocked at some point.
‘I’ll go start the tub. And just for that, you’re getting bubbles and bath oil.’ (Loc. 886)

Especially, when it calls me out:

I’d read gay romance on the sly for years, fantasized about my first time enough to qualify for an Oscar in scriptwriting, and now that I was here with Worth, I wanted it all. I wanted his taste, his scent, his every gasp and moan, and I wanted to be in him, on him, under him, all at once. (Loc. 1,104)

In general, Albert writes wonderfully character driven stories, but she treats this story and these two characters with so much tenderness and love that it shines through in the prose and the story. Worth is so far beneath the lowest he could be, and Sam has so much love to give and support to provide and the maturity to understand that Worth isn’t the person that he idolized for years that they both grow so much in this novel. It just was so well done. Seriously, this one passage stood out to me specifically for this reason:

‘We make a good team,’ I said softly as he dropped his hand. If wanting was enough, I would have won Worth’s heart decades ago, but this adult longing was far more powerful than a crush. I no longer idolized Worth or saw some polished image of him. He was a man, a painfully human one, and I wanted him on levels my teen self never could have imagined. And unlike my obvious adoration back then, I had to mask my desires now. Worth didn’t need any additional pressure or guilt. Standing, I forced myself to adopt a cheerier tone.
‘Enough of the finances. Let’s find some dinner. And no, cookies don’t count.’ (Loc. 958)

And don’t get me started on the sex scenes. I’m still fanning my flaming cheeks and it’s been months since I finished it. Again, Albert brings the tenderness and love alive between these two. What happens isn’t what I thought would happen going into the novel, and especially not with that first quote above and Sam being a virgin, but every scene is beautifully crafted and Albert has a way with the scenes, just wow.

I can’t even complain about the epilogue, which I almost always do, but it was so perfectly sweet that my heart ached as I read it. They all got their family and I’m so glad it ended with Worth being the parental figure most needed, it was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy.

Recommendation: This is the one to read. You have to read the other two, which aren’t bad, but they’re just filler to get to this wonderful novel. Albert’s storytelling and character crafting come alive in this novel. Sam and Worth are perfectly imperfect, and they know this which makes their coming together and growing together so memorable. There are so many details I can only vaguely recall, but for the most part this story was perfect for me. I wouldn’t say it’s Top 5 novels overall, but definitely Top 5 pairings from Albert’s works that I’ve read.

Opening Line: “This was still my tree.”

Closing Line: “We’d found our forever home in Safe Harbor with our forever dads.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Find Me Worthy
“She called me her Eeyore. I’m good at faking it, being Mr. Congeniality, the deal closer, the hard worker, the loyal friend, but it really does feel like I wear this heavy cape of sadness that others don’t have to.” (Loc. 463)

“I loved that he’d corrected his word choice. Making love. That’s what this was. Fucking was all well and good and fine in books and porn and for others who sought that, but I wanted a more immersive, emotionally charged experience. I was remarkably talented at giving myself orgasms, but I couldn’t make love alone.” (Loc. 1,662)