Review: Squared Away by Annabeth Albert
SYNOPSIS:
In the wake of tragedy, SEAL Mark Whitley rushed stateside to act as guardian to his sister’s three young children. But a conflicting will could give custody to someone else—someone Mark remembers as a too young, too hot, wild party boy. Even after six years, Mark can’t shake the memory of his close encounter with Isaiah James, or face up to what it says about his own sexuality.
Isaiah’s totally over the crush that made him proposition Mark all those years ago. In fact, he’s done with crushing on the wrong men altogether. For now, he’s throwing himself into proving he’s the best person to care for his cousin’s kids. But there’s no denying there’s something sexy about a big, tough military man with a baby in his arms.
As the legal details get sorted out, their long-buried attraction resurfaces, leading to intimate evenings after the kids are tucked in. A forever future is within reach for all of them, if only Mark can find the courage he needs to trust Isaiah with his secrets—and his heart.
REVIEW:
I have a lot of mixed feeling about this story. I finished it days ago and have been struggling to write my review. The longer I reflect, the more I think I didn’t like it. As individual characters, I enjoyed Isaiah and Mark, but together they were kinda a mess.
So let me dive in deeper to why this book was a miss for me. Isaiah is devoted to these kids. It was endearing to see his heart and determination. But, he also has a reputation for getting around and his party boy ways. When Mark arrives back after hearing about the accident, him and Isaiah begin a temporary cohabitation. This was awkward for so many reasons, but mostly because Mark has spent years avoiding Isaiah. So they move past that hurdle, but yet they never really found solid ground.
Throughout the story their were numerous miscommunications and I found myself rolling my eyes because of how annoying they were. Not only were they constantly not saying anything meaningful, Mark was a judgy, snob toward Isaiah. But even past the communication issues were the sexual issues. They went from simmering to boiling over to the ice age. The majority of the story was just a lot of make-out scenes and I didn’t really buy that these characters had any actual chemistry.
The biggest cringe though was the conclusion of this story. The book went from endless drama and in the matter of a chapter everything was resolved in the most cliche, over-the-top way possible. I was as blindsided as Isaiah felt. And even then, at the end of the day, these two had no chemistry and nothing in common but their love for the kids.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon |Barnes & Noble
