Just like with all of the books in this series...I adored Renzo and Canaan's story. I will admit that their slow start had me wavering a little at the beginning, but in the end it turned out to be so perfect and enjoyable. Annabeth's talent for these SEALs and their partners is never-ending, and I really hope there are more books to come in this series, as I would read it forever and ever!!

I've enjoyed Annabeth Albert's books in the past and Rough Terrain was no exception. Good story and loved ll the characters, especially Renzo and Canaan. Though I found the story romantic and quite plausible, I did wish it was longer or at least the last portion of the book was more detailed. In the end, I was left with a feeling of wanting more of the blanks being filled in towards the end of the journey.

The whole scenario was fun and an enjoyable diversion from many of the other M/M romances I've ready lately. Albert gives a really nice balance of story, relationship and character development and passion (steamy content) where so many other authors in this genre choose one and leave us questioning. I can't wait to read more of Albert's work.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

I understand this is the last book in this series, but you don't have to read the others in order to enjoy it. A few familiar faces from the other books may show up, but they do not make you feel like you are missing anything if you haven't read them.

I liked the Mcs. Their story has a few tense moments and the author keeps you guessing on how they are going to get their HEA, but they come out the other side once they really open up. The author did a nice job and I recommend this series.

There are minimal proofreading errors, usually just extra or missing words, or even a few wrong words like "than" instead of "that." Nothing too bothersome.

Another good book by Annabeth Albert. This one involved Canaan and Renzo (Rooster) who met when Renzo and his buddies would come into the smoothie shop where Canaan worked. Canaan had been in a band but left when he and his ex, who was also in the band, broke up. When a chance to reconnect with his band friends for a hiking/camping trip comes up, Canaan needs to bring along his "boyfriend" who he had mentioned in order to save face with his friends. Togetherness on the trip, as well as a weather-related incident, cement their bond. Not only that, Renzo has some hangups about sex and Canaan is only too happy to help him work through those.

I really enjoyed this book and their slow progress from friends/hookup to something much more. Renzo wasn't always honest with Canaan about this future plans but, thankfully, there wasn't TOO much angst while they worked this out.

Definitely recommend.

How to describe this story? Hmm. I feel wrapped up in warmth and goodness. Like I received an unexpected gift. Annabeth Albert paints a clear picture of her characters early in the story so readers, like me, can shadow them and experience their joy, their sorrow, their emotional growth, and yes, their love.

Canaan Finley is working the register when his favorite Navy SEAL, the guy his team calls Rooster, comes into his family’s cafe for a smoothie. The hot guy has caught Canaan’s attention each time he comes in but this time, Canaan isn’t going to let the moment pass without making…a pass. He manages to surprise Rooster who is equally attracted to the cute guy making his smoothie just the way he likes it. A cute intro, I like the way the author set the two up so that it’s natural to ask Rooster when Canaan needs a fake boyfriend. He used to be in a rock band that’s just finished a European tour and would like to attend their “reunion” camping trip but won’t go alone. Why? Because his ex and the guy he cheated on Canaan with are both going to be there and Canaan doesn’t want to seem a loser.

Over the course of the trip, which is no simple excursion to the woods, Canaan and Rooster are caught in a canyon during a flash flood. Rooster’s quick thinking and rock-climbing skills save them both and over the course of time, as the two are stranded on a ledge above the canyon, attraction blooms into a solid foundation for a relationship.

The author’s skills in creating two very different characters who complement one another in unusual ways, getting those characters to be important to readers, and then making the characters important to each other is what I love best about her work. These men are flawed, and they have backstories that include good judgment and bad mistakes, but I got so attached to them after a few chapters that I couldn’t go on with my daily routine until I knew more, more, more! Each scene was better than the previous and I simply had to know what came next and whether or not these two could find their way to their HEA. And if a certain couple named Ben and Maddox (On Point) happened to run into them while they were out on a date, and if that run-in led to Rooster finding out about Canaan’s past adventure with the couple, well, all I can say is that was icing on the cake of my happiness.

I very highly recommend this story. In fact, I very highly recommend the entire Out of Uniform series to all MM romance lovers. And if you love SEALs or military men in your romance, this one is super perfect.

This review is based on an advanced copy.

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but it's not at all necessary. Both Canaan and Renzo are very enjoyable characters. They both seem very realistic and it was easy to follow their reasoning for the things they did. Even the choices that you don't agree with make sense. The pacing and writing were both excellent and it was a fun read all around. I will definitely be looking into some of the other books in this series.

I always love Annabeth Albert's books and especially her Out of Uniform-series, so when I saw the chance to read this one in advance, I pounced. And I was not disappointed.

So, Canaan is a smoothie-blending-loyal-soon-to-be-a-nurse-ex-band-member who is so sweet and awesome. He's understanding and caring and has no problem communicating - seriously, I loooove characters who are able to communicate how they feel and avoid misunderstandings (another plus in like every one of Albert's books).
Renzo is a heavy-lifting-family-driven-guilty-and-sweet-SEAL who also a great guy, but with his hero-complex-issues standing in the way. It's not easy being a perfectionist in all areas of life. The two of them together is sweet, hot and sexy. Canaan is funny, Renzo is caring.

If I have to pick one thing to not like about Albert's books, it's the constant repeating of worries - we are reading the book, so we know the worries quite well. It's not necessary to write them out every time - hinting is okay. Also, sometimes the conversations feel forced and unrealistic.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for making it possible to read this ARC. This review is all my own.

I enjoyed this entry in the series. I will be sorry to see it end and look forward to reading Annabeth’s new series next year.

I’ve read every book (and I think every novellas) in the Out of Uniform series and I still love it.

I didn’t remember much from either guy from the previous books, but it could easily have been a stand alone.

I really enjoyed both main characters. Canaan is flirty, outspoken, and know what he wants but respects the Ren’s boundaries. I like that dynamic, Canaan the barista, being so careful with Renzo the SEAL who has some intimacy issues. And it leads to some steamy scenes I really enjoyed.

I don’t know how Annabeth Albert keeps it fresh and new in every story but she does. It certainly helps that she changed the settings – in this one, they spend very little time on base. I love all their wandering, around the city, in the amusement park or on the camping trip. It makes it feel like a road trip or and adventure. The camping trip had some memorable scenes with the flash flood, the band mates and Canaan’s awful ex.

I love how Renzo and Canaan are both family oriented, both with very real family difficulties everybody can relate to in some ways. The reactions of Renzo’s family, especially his mom’s well meaning awkwardness, felt true. There was a bit of angst at the end but it was low key and resolved without too much silliness.

Is it really the last book of this series? I could read a dozen more if they were as good.

Canaan is a breath of fresh air to me. He has no filter. Renzo was burned once before and he protects his heart because of it. But, he is not match for Canaan’s resolve to make Renzo his.

A fab book!

I wasn't a very big fan of Canaan in the last book though to be honest it wasn't really his fault- more the problems he stood for. Still, I was a bit worried how I would deal with a book about him. 

Turns out, I love the guy :) He's really lovable and he changes a lot in the course of this book. Lots of that is thanks to Renzo of course who we've also know for part of this series. These two are so cute together and I could have read about their banter and first get togethers forever. 

I have read somewhere that this is the last book of the series. If that's really true it at least ends with a really good one so we get to say goodbye on a more than happy note.

📚I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harlequin-Carina Press as the publisher in exchange for an honest review📚

Book title : Rough Terrain

Author : Annabeth Albert

Release Date : 14 January 2019

“Why does sex have to be so freaking complicated?”

“It’s not. Or at least doesn’t have to be. I mean, I’ll be the first one to admit that emotions can be a bitch and they can complicate sex, sure. But sex itself? Not complicated. Two or more bodies doing what bodies do best. It’s fucking glorious.”

Forget those romance with CEO, millionaire and billionaire thing for a while! Let’s go for a story which is more exhilarating…unique and sweet!  

Meet Canaan Finley and Renzo “Rooster” Bianchi in Annabeth Albert’s last series of the Out of Uniform “Rough Terrain.” The book is a MM novel which offers sweet romance between a Navy SEAL sexy hunky and a former drummer in a popular band who is now in school to become a nurse while working as a smoothie barista. Canaan is one who almost had a threesome with Ben and Maddox in On Point. He is so flirty in nature and so fun. Renzo is more serious and it is probably because he is oppressed by his family to be the best SEAL ever! Yet he is very devoted to his works.

Renzo and Canaan meets and feels the immediate attraction. They decide to have a little bit of fun but their sexual attraction leads them to a friendship and later also leads them to something more emotional…more engaging. However, as Renzo carries a burden from his family’s expectation, he feels insecure and has trust issues when it comes to a relationship.

“Trust. Such a powerful word. His chest felt heavy and full, as if the fear of disappointing Renzo was a palpable thing. For the first time, he wanted more than just to show Renzo a good time – he wanted to earn that trust, wanted to give Renzo a reason to wan a repeat. Wanted this to maybe be the start.”

He later also tries to put off any relationship and to get away from Canaan by willingly being mutated elsewhere. In my personal opinion, Annabeth is so brilliant in writing the farewell plot as this is a problem that most gay couple’s often face in the real life. They decide to run away from their love because of the oppression from family and society or simply feeling insecure about themselves. And this is my favourite part of the story tho!

“Well, I’m going to remember you forever. Remember that you made me want to take that chance. And remember that I did the right thing, letting you be free to have your best future.”

“Ren,” he begged. “Don’t do this.”

“Let me. Please.” Renzo gave him a soft, fleeting kiss. “Let me love you enough to let you go. Please.”

I cannot even find any flaws in this book except for the conflict that is written shortly. It is simply because Annabeth’s story seems like portraying the real life of a gay couple out there. I can simply relate myself to the feeling, the love-denial, and the burden that this couple has to go through. What makes it different from the real life gay couple’s story (which often ends up tragically), Annabeth offers me with a sweet fairy tale of Renzo and Canaan here

“I love you because of everything you are – everything. And the military is a huge part of that. I am not gonna waste my time trying to wish that part of you away, not when it makes up the guy I love too fast. I know my heart, I am not ready to let you go either. Maybe not ever!”

Those highlights should be a reminder that one should read this cute story to sweeten their romance. Ah, could I have this couple, Annabeth? Like for ever and after?

Full review is available at https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/rough-terrain-by-annabeth-albert/

I enjoyed this latest installment of the Out of Uniform series. We've met both of the MC's in previous books albeit briefly. Renzo (aka Rooster) is on Bacon's team and Caanan was the guy who had the threesome kind of thing with Ben and Maddox in their book. (and I might be a little jealous of Caanan for that)

The overall plot was entertaining and I really liked Caanan. His grandfather was also awesome. Renzo on the other hand got on my nerves. He was always worrying and fretting and kind of a downer. I also didn't like his mother at all and I struggled with his devotion to his family (which probably makes me a terrible person). His issues with sex were interesting though and a unique plotline that I haven't read before. I love that about this author. You never know what you're going to get in her books.

Overall I enjoyed this but it seemed a bit long and drug in places. This was not one of my favorites in the series but also not one of my least favorites (I'm looking at you Apollo). Just a nice middle of the road story.


*ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Annabeth Albert is always a must read for me as is this series. Renzo aka Rooster has been burned before by someone using him to make his ex jealous. Cannan is figuring out his life but doesn't want to face his past alone. A road trip and camping turns into to much more while both men figure out what they need going forward. Both characters were totally engaging. Renzo is so guided by guilt from his family and Cannan is guided by his fears. Watching both men grow from their relatioship with each other makes you root for them individually and as a couple. Albert always writes multi-layered complex characters with emotional language. This book is no exception. Highly recommend.

ROUGH TERRAIN by Annabeth Albert is an action packed romance. Renzo is a Navy SEAL and Canaan is the former Drummer for a popular band, now in school to become a Nurse. Both have close family ties. It's a great story, I enjoyed reading it!

This was a disappointing book for me. I have really, thoroughly, enjoyed this series so having this one just not work on so many levels was sad for me. This is the last one in the series and I'm sad that for me it ended on this book. I don't want to leave this world of sensitive, queer, tough-as-fuck SEALs and the men they fall for.

What I specifically found disappointing in this one was mostly the main character, Renzo. He has not been my favorite side character and really I probably would have skipped this if I had known this was going to be his book. He's very much the slicked hair, overly muscled kind of man that I just don't really care for. There's nothing wrong with the character it's just not for me.

The other like giant elephant in the room throughout the book was Renzo's family and they way they treat him and his very clear body dysmorphia. Renzo's family demands he be perfect and he sends them most of his money and there is just a lot of guilt based familial interactions that really rubbed me the wrong way. It's one thing to take care of your family, it's another thing to have that family refer to you as their hero and imply that without you giving over all of your money and self that you're a terrible son. And then with his body Renzo talks about how he was pudgy and then he started working out and now he watches what he eats. The reader is subjected to multiple accounts of Renzo not eating something because of the caloric intake. He's a fucking SEAL he burns enough calories. If it had been presented as he needed to eat x amount of protein and less starch or something along those lines I would have been more forgiving of it, but he's clearly got an eating disorder and no one cares.

Outside of that I can admit that the romance and the short survivalist parts are good, but they're way too short. I would have liked more of him being a badass survivalists, but he does behave in a way that is consistent in how he should have behaved (in that in the situation they were in staying put was the best thing to do) but I wanted a bit more action.

I am so saddened that this is the last book in this series :(. I loved that there was no unnecessary drama or misunderstandings in this book. The sex was by far the hottest I have read in a very long time. We have a story of two guys who are attracted to each other but are carrying some baggage. There were times that I want to smack the crap out of Renzo as he was was carrying some misplaced guilt for an unfortunate accident that was of no fault of his from years ago. And his mother just appeared to be dumping so much pressure on him that I wanted to smack her too. Canaan talks Renzo into being his fake boyfriend for a weekend as he is meeting with his old band mates. But the fake portion doesn’t last very long and they rapidly become more. Renzo has issues with sex as he is rather well endowed and has had issues in the past. Canaan shows him that there is more things to enjoy and again some of the hottest sexy scenes ensue. The epilogue was perfect and I was happy to see these two happy together. I am so glad that Ms. Albert wrote this series and she gives us a glimpse to a new series at the end of this book and I can’t wait for it.

Fanatic addition to this series. I’ve been waiting for “Rooster” (who I can no longer think of as Rooster) since he was previously mentioned. Canaan has also been previously mentioned so it was a real treat to read. It has all the “usual suspects” of this series; SEAL aspects, family foundation, and of course sexy times!
I find it impossible to read other SEAL stories bc they don’t compare to her authenticity!
Bravo!

A definite 3.5 stars...!!!

The Out of Uniform series has been so much fun to read, especially considering the unique challenges that the characters face due to being part of the lgbtq+ community while also being from the armed forces. This book is obviously bittersweet because it’s the end of the series, but I was so happy to have been able to get the review copy.

Canaan is a nursing student working as a smoothie barista and also a former drummer. Despite missing his bandmates, he doesn’t really miss touring anymore and is very confident about his chosen path. He also enjoys ogling at the SEALS and it took some time for me to figure out out that he is the one who had an almost threesome with Ben and Maddox in On Point. I particularly liked his flirty nature and very open communication.

Renzo carries a lot of guilt from a childhood incident and also feels burdened by the expectations of his family. He is also very insecure about sex and certain bad experiences have put him off any relationships. However, he is wonderful at his job and also very devoted towards his fitness regimen; it was actually quite interesting to see a character who is sort of a social media fitness icon.

The attraction between Canaan and Renzo was almost immediate but I loved the development of their friendship first. They have such open and honest conversations, especially about Ren’s sexual hangups and it was very refreshing to read. There are lot of very sexy and sweet moments and it was a delight to see the progression of their love. Even when they are threatened by separation due to the nature of the job, each of them only thinks what’s best for the other and they made me cry a bit. I absolutely loved the resolution and the HEA.

There was a lot of importance given to family bonding in the book and I think it was done really well. Despite both of them having to make life changing decisions due to family issues, they are never resentful and their relationships are depicted beautifully. There are a few good friendships too but we don’t see them developed a lot, except Canaan’s ex who is definitely a douche. And that little awkward cameo of Ben and Maddox was a wonderful surprise.

Even though the first two books in this series will always be special, this book is definitely a nice addition and I liked that the author decided to end it on such a sweet note. Definitely recommend if you like Annabeth Albert’s adorable love stories.

3.5 stars

After two years, Annabeth Albert’s Out of Uniform is ending with book seven, Rough Terrain, featuring Canaan Finley and Navy SEAL Renzo Bianchi.

The main conflict of this book can be summed up to this: Renzo doesn’t trust Canaan enough – Canaan is a bit of a player before meeting Renzo, plus there’s joke that Canaan is a SEAL chaser. On top of that, Renzo is planning to get a permanent change of station to East Coast, closer to his family. Therefore, having perpetual relationship with Canaan is out of the question…

In between that, there’s this Renzo’s ‘issue’ with sex – apparently, his dick is monster size, so sex has not always been an enjoyable one.

I’m afraid that the numerous sex scenes bored me. Renzo’s issue is interesting at first, but in the end, it wasn’t something I particularly have interest with. Thus, Renzo keep having doubts and Canaan trying to convince him that sex with Canaan can be fun becomes repetitive after a while, and I ended up skimming.

My favorite times of this book is the one that has nothing to do with sex talks – like when Renzo and Canaan are trapped after flash flood during their camping trip and Renzo talks about his family and his reason for joining Navy. Or when Renzo’s family is visiting and Canaan making good connection with them. Or when Renzo meeting Canaan’s grandfather. THOSE are the highlights of this book for me, and I feel like I understand them better because of it.

I liked Canaan better than Renzo, though. I think his uninhibited attitude towards sex is positive. I adore Canaan’s relationship with his grandfather. Plus, Canaan is the one making Renzo sees that there’s more to their relationship. Renzo … well, he’s kind of needing that slap on the hand, in my opinion.

It's still a good one to end the series, not my top favorite (that will be Ben and Maddox's story, On Point) but not a complete let down. I did wish to see more cameos from previous couples, though.