Stevie‘s review of Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert
Contemporary Gay Military Holiday Romance published by Carina Press 12 Nov 18
I’m a great fan of Annabeth Albert’s romance series, particularly her latest set of military romances. For Christmas this year, however, we’re treated to a stand-alone military romance, set not on the southwest coast, but in the northeast of the US – New York State, to be precise. One of our heroes is a native, but the other – the military guy – is more used to warmer climes and is planning a southerly move, once his years of service are up. Not that he actually wants to retire just yet.
Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki had been planning to re-enlist and complete his thirty years, before moving on to a more relaxing second career away from military policing. However, cut-backs mean that everything’s happening two years ahead of schedule. He has a place and a job to go to – with a former colleague who now runs fishing trips in Florida and needs help to buy and crew a second boat. Before Nick can head off, his commanding officer has one last favour to ask him: since her husband is still recovering from a recent heart attack, the local town where he’s played Santa for a number of years needs a stand-in this time around, and Nick is ideally placed to step up to the mark.
On arrival in Mineral Spirits, Nick is greeted by two members of the town’s main family – Teddy, the charity organiser, dressed up as an elf and far more comfortable with the idea than Nick is in his Santa suit, and Teddy’s cousin Rhonda. The pair make their interest in Nick clear, especially Rhonda – until Nick warns her off – but while Nick finds Teddy attractive, the guy is too young and too tied to a part of the country Nick wants to leave as soon as his official time there runs out.
Nick grudgingly goes along with all Teddy’s plans to create publicity for his Christmas charity drive, since that’s what the previous Santa always did, even though that results in him getting trapped in the town overnight after sudden and heavy snow causes Nick’s car to leave the road. Fortunately, Teddy has a place that Nick can stay and an older brother who can fix Nick’s car in the morning. The latter task turns out to be not as simple as Nick had hoped, and he finds himself invited to spend Thanksgiving with Teddy’s family and hopefully can retrieve his fixed car then.
All this spending time together leads to Nick and Teddy becoming close, and not just in the way of the quick fling they originally intended, although Nick refuses to forget the promise he made to his buddy in Florida. Teddy can see Nick’s not ready for a quiet retirement and does his best to drop hints about a better job opportunity right there in Mineral Springs. Nick is a cop, and the town’s police force is heavily understaffed, with a chief who needs little convincing that Nick could fill the vacant post much better than a rookie.
Nick, meanwhile, is wary of getting too involved with Teddy. His one serious relationship was also with a much younger man – and that ended badly – and he’s never been big on family, since his brother’s death as a youngster ripped Nick’s own family apart. Of course, no barrier is insurmountable, but it was a fun ride watching how each was overcome. I particularly liked how Teddy had also lost a sibling and so could offer up his family’s experiences to counter those of Nick’s. I also loved the fact that both Nick’s commanding officer and the Sergeant Major returning to the base to take over from him were both women, one married to a man, the other to a woman. All in all, a delightfully diverse – and diverting – Christmas story, which will certainly stand up to regular rereading.
Grade: A
Summary:
One hard-nosed military police officer.
One overly enthusiastic elf.
One poorly timed snowstorm.
Is it a recipe for disaster? Or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for holiday romance?
Teddy MacNally loves Christmas and everything that goes along with it. When he plays an elf for his charity’s events, he never expects to be paired with a Scrooge masquerading as Santa Claus. His new mission: make the holiday-hating soldier believe he was born to say ho-ho-ho.
Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki doesn’t do Santa, but he’s army to his blood. When his CO asks an unusual favor, Nick of course obliges. The elf to his Kris Kringle? Tempting. Too tempting—Nick’s only in town for another month, and Teddy’s too young, too cheerful and too nice for a one-night stand.
The slow, sexy make-out sessions while Teddy and Nick are alone and snowbound, though, feel like anything but a quick hookup. As a stress-free holiday fling turns into Christmas all year round, Teddy can’t imagine his life without Nick. And Nick’s days on the base may be coming to a close, but he doesn’t plan on leaving anything, or anyone, behind.
No excerpt available.
