This was one of my least favorites in this series. I felt like the story could have had more and I felt like the sex scenes were watered down and not the most amazing.

I love a good May/December romance and I adore Annabeth Alberts so its not shocker that I enjoyed this book as well. There was some angst that I could have done without but as will all of this authors books it was a satisfying read.

4.5 stars

Gahh Bacon!!! I just loved Bacon so freaking much!!! I mean, Spencer too, but, Bacon. I just wanna be best friends with Bacon. He's fun, he's also super serious and committed to his work, and he's so sweet to his mom. What's not to love about him.

I love how Spencer becomes where Bacon can be fully himself and decompress after a hard week. I loved them spending time at Spencer's and not just because of the incredibly hot sexy times. I just loved how vulnerable Bacon let himself be with Spencer and how much Spencer loved taking care of Bacon. Their relationship is just so sweet!!

Their rough patch had me holding my breath waiting for them to figure it out and get back on track. But, it made them stronger and more sure of their relationship than ever and I can't be mad at that.

I adore this series so freaking much!

I really enjoyed "Tight Quarters" by Annabeth Albert. My intro to her writing was via her novella "Knit Tight" and I loved the bisexual representation. So I was even more delighted that we have a pansexual character in "Tight Quarters". Albert hits on the head in terms of angst, longing, and heat. I would like to pick up the rest of the series eventually...and the rest of the Portland Heat series...and I hear her #gaymers series is also great...well you get the idea.

Petty Officer Bacon is a Navy SEAL tasked with escorting an embedded reporter on their latest mission. He's not happy about it, especially he's nervous about maybe spilling info that could incriminate two former SEAL team members, Lowe and Strauss who were the MC's of WHEELS UP. Plus, it's never good to be on-mission, but not a part of it. As a chaperone, Bacon's orders are to bring the reporter back in one piece, even if it means bailing on his team.

Spencer Bryant is out to write another award-winning book to highlight issues with veterans and enlisted personnel not getting the support and care they need. A previous confidante, and friend, for whom Spencer wrote a best-seller, was a retired military man whose PTSD put him over the edge. While on mission, Spencer is humbled by the bravery and camaraderie of the SEAL team--and he's unwillingly attracted to his handler, Petty Officer Bacon, who seems to not have a first name. While running training exercises, Spencer and Bacon develop a camaraderie of their own--tinted with unrequited sexual tension. Their actual mission deep in the terror cells of the South Pacific goes terribly wrong, however, and Spencer struggles with the guilt of Bacon leaving his men in danger to just save him.

The navy shuts down Spencer's access to the SEAL teams as soon as he's brought back to base, yet Bacon knows how to find him before he leaves for the US. They know that the navy won't be happy about any fraternization, even if Spencer's no longer embedded--and yet the need for affirmation adds gasoline to their smoldering attraction. It should only be the one night, but Spencer's thrilled when Bacon reaches out later to tell him that things went better the second time around, and his teammates, though wounded, survived.

This communication brings Bacon and Spencer together in a way each man truly needs--contact that supports, not distracts. On leave, Bacon drives from San Diego to LA to visit Spencer and the sparks are ridiculous. These guys fit together so well, Spencer's far away life providing Bacon with an emo outlet he hasn't had since high school. Still, the story Spencer wants to write, feels compelled to write, centers on suicide and depression of veterans suffering PTSD, and it's a wedge growing between them even as their relationship matures over months from buddies-with-benefits to exclusive boyfriend status. When Bacon finally learns about Spencer's planned book deal he's crushed--the SEALs are his family and this could hurt them--would certainly offend them that Bacon is dating a man who trashes the navy and other armed forces. It's the deal-breaker Spencer expected, but he didn't think he'd fall for Bacon first...

It's a little bittersweet, but a brief separation and some counseling on both sides helps each man find a pathway back. Bacon's connection to an amputee helps him see that PTSD and depression are true killers of his comrades, while a mentor helps Spencer remember that life isn't just a story--it's meant to be lived and savored. I liked how they each make amends, with Spencer being present for Bacon just when he needs him, and Bacon coming out and trusting his team to support his love for Spencer. There is a lot of support for Bacon, and he's happy to life his life in the open. The finale brings the story full-circle with Bacon baring his non-classified secrets and them building a life together.

Tight Quarters is one of Annabeth's best romances. It's steamy with the right amount of tension and character development. I loved Spencer and Bacon's romance because of their dynamic and how despite being on opposite sides of the fight, they somehow manage to look past that and work on their relationship. This is a series that continues to get better and better with each book.

Annabeth Albert's titles are always satisfying; she's my insta-buy author. Tight Quarters had solid pacing and what I felt was good queer rep.

3.75 Stars

There are some shinning moments in this book that, for me, make it a must read in the series. First, Bacon. Bacon is an absolute gem of a character. His personality jumped off of the page for me, and I wish we could have gotten a lot more of him in the previous books. I know he appears in many — this is simply me being greedy.

While I do appreciate that Albert has given us a pansexual character, when I began this book I worried that sexual identities were becoming a trope in the series. It’s hard to explain, and perhaps this is because I read this book in such close concert with the previous book, featuring an ace character, I was trepidatious about this.

I can’t speak to the accuracy of the depiction of his sexuality as any sort of expert, as I do not identify as pansexual, but I think Albert did a good job here (if not, please feel free to let us know because we are always open to conversation and learning more). I loved Bacon’s backstory and really, really felt for both him and his first love, Jamie; Bacon’s grief felt really well handled to me.

I think that this is one of the books where Albert handles obstacles standing in the characters path to getting together really well. It can be hard with books like this, particularly series books, for this aspect of a plot not to feel repetetive or contrived, but in the case of these two, the things separating them (Spencer’s journalistic integrity and Bacon’s job) were real obstacles. It could be easy to say that Spencer should have just thrown away the story idea for Bacon, but the truth is that in real life, when you aren’t sure where a relationship is going, when you’ve been burned, and when your career has meant everything to you, answers aren’t as black or white as one might hope. I really enjoyed Spencer, and I liked his story arc quite a bit, but I won’t lie, Bacon was my favorite.

The shifts from Bacon the seal to Del the boyfriend was a little hard for me, mostly because we have so many previous books where we know him as Bacon and also because Del somehow just didn’t seem to fit him? It was refreshing to see Del outside of his SEAL idendity, and I do so love a man who will rock eye liner, but it was at times a bit jarring.

One of my absolute favorite aspects of this story was the handling of trauma Del experiences after a particular mission. I think that this element of the story was vital in creating a catalytic moment for both characters in an evaluation of that they needed–not just wanted–for themselves. I really felt for Del here (I actually teared up).

I would definitely recommend this book, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it as a starter or stand alone. I think that an investment in finding out more about Bacon, nurtured in previous books, was a large part of the initial draw for me. Then again, I have read these books in order as the series was written, so I’m biased.

The theme in this book is Pansexual and a bit of a May - December relationship with Spencer being older than Bacon.

Bacon is pansexual and he's always found Journalist/Author Spencer Bryant attractive so when he's assigned to protect Spencer on an assignment, sparks fly and lines get crossed.

I liked these two but compared to the whole series they were a bit forgettable.

3.5 Stars!

Bacon... I was really looking forward to his book. Unfortunately it ended up being the one in the series I liked the least.

Bacon has had a minor injury to his hand that has put him on the side-lines for their next mission. He's not taking it too well since he is use to being the one on the front lines having his teams back. He's especially not happy to be given the job of protecting a reporter who has been embedded into their team for this mission. He has no desire to "baby-sit" this man who is somewhat well known and out and proud. Ever since Strauss and Lowe bowed out the team has been on edge and making some non gay friendly remarks. All he needs is this reporter to hear his team making these off color comments and write about it. He also doesn't need this unwanted attraction he has towards this much older cultured man. Spencer is determined to prove to Bacon that he won't be a hindrance or a distraction on this mission and that he will be able to keep up. He's a stickler for keeping things professional and keeping his record impeccable. So the attraction he feels towards Bacon catches him off guard. Although he keeps his attraction on lock down he can't control the emotional pull he has towards this enigmatic man.

My main problem with the book was that I couldn't feel the connection between Spencer and Del (Bacon). It took more than half of the book for me to finally feel the chemistry between these two men. The attraction was there, but it took a long time for the emotional connection to register. There were some really great emotional scene's between these men in the last quarter of the book where I finally started to see that, yes, these men fit together. I'm just disappointed it took so long for them to get to that point.

Happy reading dolls! xx

Don’t give me that look. I know what you’re thinking. “Another gay romance, Andrew? Really?” Well, yeah. And be warned, I have one or two others within my TBR so you will see a few more in the coming few months within my blitz of murder and dragons.

But I wanted a change of pace. And I wasn’t in the mood for anything too heavy. Plus, I wasn’t ready to start my reading of Eragon or Grave Mercy, both first books in the two series I want to read in 2019 and, while looking through my NetGalley eProofs (I have around 60 to be read - a few from when I started on NetGalley. THE SHAME!!! But, am making plans to try and cut down my requesting of eProofs and try to read a good few before I got on a blog break in April/May. I am making plans!), this title catch my eye and went “Ok. I can hammer this out fast. Let’s see where I go with it.” Plus, I did read the previous book in the series, Squared Away, and I did enjoy that hugely at the time (I read it in two days flat).

Petty Officer Bacon, a Navy SEAL, has been asked to in a beta team die to a minor injury and, due to that, been asked to babysit a forty-something journalist, Spencer Bryant, a man who gets Bacon’s blood racing. But when the mission goes sideways, the two men find themselves falling for each other. But keeping a relationship alive in the real world is very different from the front lines - the stakes can be much higher…

So, what did I think of this?

Well, it was fun. I know I don’t read the romance genre much/ever but it was nice to read this and go with these characters and see what happened next, even though we were told from the get-go that this was going to end with a Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happily For Now (HFN). So, we knew what we were getting ourselves into. A gay romance with one character being in armed forces.

Plus, it’s kinda refreshing to read a romance where the age gap wasn’t an issue (Bacon is in his late 20s [29?] and Spencer was in his later 40s {48/49?]). And I liked how the romance/sex scenes were handled (yes, there are sex scenes and no, none are fade to black).

Before I go any further, I’ve seen a few reviews on Goodreads mention trigger warnings such as homophobia, mentions of suicide, gun violence and warefare, serious injury, etc and yes, these are in here so if they affect you, go in with caution or avoid.

This book isn’t perfect. This is me, of course am going to pick at things. While I instantly liked and rooted for Bacon, Spencer took a little longer to like which might annoy some of you guys if you want an instant click. But the main issue that, the more I think about, the more annoyed I get, is the angst and the drama that, of course in a romance novel, causes friction and them to spilt up for a while. Am just going to remind you of Bacon and Spencer’s ages - 29 and 49. Both characters have had serious relationship (hell, Spencer is divorced from first husband as they both were very career driven journalists) and both character are career driven. So when the angst causes them to fight - their first real argument - why do I get the feeling it’s a fight teenagers in a relationship would have? If only they both communicated BEFORE it got to this point, maybe they could have come to a compromise or the blowout wouldn’t have been so bad.

This is a beach read for me, a read I can switch my brain off to while reading and, while I do have plans to read the next book in the series, Rough Terrain (which has a gay porn star as one of the cover models - how I know that I have no idea!), I think I preferred Squared Away out of the two as it was a tad more sugary and the communication issue in that didn’t bother me as much as the communication issue in Tight Quarters is bothering me now.

I love Annabeth Albert’s Out of Uniform series, and after missing books four and five, it was great to be back with Albert’s SEALs for Tight Quarters, the sixth book in the collection. In this book, only one of the MCs is a man in uniform, though. One of the guys is Petty Officer Delbert Lawrence Bacon Junior—just ‘Bacon’ to his fellow SEALs—but the other is award-winning journalist, and one of Pride magazine’s most eligible bachelors, Spencer Bryant.

Spencer is well known for his thought-provoking newspaper articles and features in news magazines as well as a couple of books, including one about veterans. It’s the book on vets that helped get him picked to embed with Bacon’s SEAL team, which is about to be deployed for a mission. The bummer part for Bacon—aside from the fact that NOBODY on the team is happy about having a damn journalist with them, slowing them down—is that, because of an injury, he is the one who is assigned babysitting duty and has to hang with Spencer. This isn’t Spencer’s first rodeo, though, and he’s hardly just some aging journalist. While they’re training for their mission, Bacon finds out that his charge is not simply some burden he’s stuck with but is a totally capable, strong, and self-sufficient guy. Oh, and he’s also hot. And, on top of that, he’s a good guy. It’s obvious pretty much immediately that Bacon is screwed.

They do get deployed, but the mission goes south. Bacon and Spencer end up running into some danger when they’re headed to the rendezvous point, and Bacon has to shoot three men to save Spencer. Suddenly, Bacon’s normal position as the main sniper on Team Alpha is no longer just an abstract bit of knowledge to Spencer. He now has a first-hand account of where Bacon needs to be mentally in order to do his job on a mission. I thought Albert did a great job portraying the emotions both Bacon and Spencer went through when that happened. I loved that they talked about it and that Spencer cared so much about what Bacon needed afterward, and that he even got that he would need some space and TLC.

After that first phase of the mission is over and Spencer gets sent back stateside, the book takes on a bit of a different tone. The action settles down, except for some quick glances at Bacon in the field, and we see the relationship start to build and develop between the MCs. I enjoyed the author’s use of emails, and the snippets of time they got to be together when Bacon was on leave between deployments. I loved the picture Albert painted of the domestic routine they got into while spending that time together. I loved how being with Spencer calmed Bacon, allowed him to just let go of everything else and quieted his mind.

There were a lot of things I really felt like the author got right with this story. One of which was with regard to Bacon’s sexual orientation. Bacon is pansexual. He’s out to his best friend, Curly, but not to anyone else on the team. It was interesting that Albert chose to have a pansexual MC. It’s good to see so many different kinds of representation happening in the genre, and I liked the way she handled the discussion. Spencer sort of questions Bacon when he comes out to him as pan, commenting that it’s pretty uncommon to meet people who identify that way. It allowed Bacon to tell his story—specifically about falling in love with Jamie, his genderfluid best friend in high school—and it felt like a very genuine and realistic conversation.

I ended up enjoying this one a ton. While I loved Spencer from his first appearance, it took a bit of time for Bacon to truly grow on me. But, I wound up really, really adoring him. In fact, the story itself got better and better as it went on, and I totally loved the end. I’m sure I’ll end up going back and checking out the books I missed, but I’m so glad I picked this one up anyway. I couldn’t resist the May-December romance between these guys. And, thank goodness, too, because they were sexy as hell. And now I also can’t wait for Rooster’s book, which is coming up next!!

Reviewed by Jules

I was so excited to get Bacon's HEA. It was definitely hard won and a long time coming. He's been there on the sidelines as his friends and brothers found their other halves. He was past due.

I loved getting a look at his past and his life beyond his SEAL team. This book may have had the most SEAL action out of all of them so far, and I loved that even more. Seeing Bacon in his element was the best.

And seeing the two sides of Bacon was even better than the best. He's a badass SEAL sniper, but with Spencer, he's also incredibly sweet, romantic and able to rock hair glitter.

Spencer was pretty awesome in his own right. I thought his profession was really interesting and liked how Annabeth Albert worked his journalism background into the story.

Luckily, we were introduced to a few new team members in this book, so I'm hoping this isn't the end of this awesome series.

Every book in the Out Of Uniform series has hooked me from the start, but Tight Quarters had a depth unlike the others. From temptation to battle to coming home, the development of these characters brings you so close to the action you can almost feel that first fall.

Then every single one that comes after, physical AND emotional. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Spencer Bryant at first, or the age gap, but he quickly won me over and I loved the interactions between him and Bacon.

Bacon is such a different kind of hero and I enjoyed every minute with him. His strong sense of self made the age-gap easier to understand. You never feel like he’s being taken advantage of. But there are times you see his youth has him more willing to take chances. Strong enough to go after what he wants.

Because of both men—and the extraordinary talent of Annabeth Albert—this is truly a love story not only worth reading, but worth diving into again. Definitely a five star read for me!

There have been some really great installments in this series, but this felt like a recycled and repackaged book made from plots of previous novels. I couldn't get into this one, and I hope that Albert branches out and tries different plots other than adopted children for any future installments.

I’ve really enjoyed the Out of Uniform series from Anabeth Albert. I had enjoyed Bacon when he was introduced previously and looked forward to his story. I was intrigued by Spencer, and the interaction between the pair in the beginning was definitely a dance of sorts. Both are fighting an attraction, with Bacon seeming almost angry about it at times though much of that was in relation to how his team members were acting. There were moments that if I’m honest the story dragged for me, but ultimately I came back around to so many feelings. Albert wrecked me at times with Spencer and Bacon’s conflict. Their fight to be together at the end was so moving. While I can’t say it was my favorite of the series, I’m really happy with the outcome.

While I enjoyed many of the previous titles in this book, this particular one in the series didn't really captivate me all that much. I don't quite know if it was the way the extreme hot and cold between the two characters went, or the fact that I felt like the pacing was skewed by it. I wished it was a little bit more heated because there is a lot more of these military MM romance stories out now, they read rather similarly. There was nothing all that unique about Bacon or Spencer and their story, which made me a little bit sad,

However, I did appreciate the sweet and tender moments as a stark and harsh contrast to the world they were both living in when their relationship developed. I just wish there was more fire in the story and more dynamic differences in the character personalities to offset the story type.

A decent read overall, just hard to get into and finish.

Tight Quarters is another solid addition to the Out of Uniform series.


This certainly can be read as a standalone, but it features couples (briefly) from Wheels Up and Squared Away. Pansexual Petty Officer Bacon (Bacon's first name finally revealed inside) has been a solid side character. I was a little unsure how I'd feel about Bacon getting a starring role. But I shouldn't be surprised, this author gave him an interesting enough back story and a solid romance to boot.


Ginger haired Bacon is 28 years old and enjoys being a 'lifer'. Granted, everyone around seems to be coupled up. He hasn't even come out to his team other than a trusted friend. But he's satisfied...enough. He's dedicated to his SEAL career. And to his dismay, he's assigned to watch over a journalist embedded with his SEAL team. And it's the last thing he needs. Especially since he's a fan of the handsome silver haired out 43 year old author, Spencer Bryant. Bacon isn't sure Spencer will make any new fans with his team since there are a few homophobes on his team.


Spencer and Bacon do start off a little rough. Bacon just thinks the out and proud journalist is going to dig into everyone's business. It takes a mission for the two to form a bond and mutual understanding after sharing their pasts. The sexual chemistry was palpable.


Bacon and Spencer try to deny themselves, especially since Spencer would never start a personal relationship with a source. Once Spencer is off from being embedded with the SEAL team, the two start something that became bigger than they ever expected.


I like Spencer for Bacon a lot. He knew how to read his desires and was just about perfect as his match. The way how they dived into feelings...I'm mostly on board with it. The further I read along, the more favorable I became to the two being a couple.


The author added tidbits of daily life to help move the plot along. It was an easy read. There was a good amount of sex as well: big guy bottoming, rimming and dirty talk.


The two struggle with career choices as Spencer plans on writing book that focuses on the military. But as per usual with this author, the two figure it out with a satisfying HEA.


The last chapter was my favorite.


Sexy, sweet story with a some mission action and solid leads. It's not my favorite from the series but I'd recommend to readers who enjoy age gaps, sexual tension that goes somewhere and a couple that learns the importance of communication.

I enjoyed this story about Bacon and Spencer. Spencer has been given permission to embed with a SEAL team and Bacon is responsible for him. Sparks don't fly immediately but they have a slow burn romance that I really enjoyed. I have loved this series.

I really love Annabeth Albert's work, and her Out of Uniform series is just phenomenal. It's the gold standard by which I judge other M/M romances I read. As I was expecting, Tight Quarters did not disappoint: well-developed characters I cared about, a realistic plot that still managed to have a happy ending, and hotness galore. Highly recommended!

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.