Rough Terrain
(Out of Uniform #7)
by Annabeth Albert
Publisher: Carina Press
Publisher Date: Jan. 14, 2019
Genre: M/M Romance
Rating:
The camping trip from hell may be the first stop on the road to happily-ever-after.
Navy SEAL Renzo Bianchi has a soft spot for Canaan Finley, and not only because the man makes a mean smoothie. He’s the first guy to get Renzo’s motor revving in a long time. But when he agrees to Canaan’s insane charade—one all-access fake boyfriend, coming right up—he never expects more than a fling.
Creating a hot Italian SEAL boyfriend to save face seemed like a good idea…until his friends called Canaan’s bluff. Now he’s setting off into the woods with the very man who inspired his deception, and Canaan is not the outdoorsy type. The sparks are already flying when a flash flood separates them from their group, leaving Renzo and Canaan very much trapped…very much alone in the wilderness.
Working together to come up with a plan for survival is sexier than either of them expects. But back in the real world, being a couple is bringing its own set of hazards…
Rough Terrain is the story between a SEAL chaser and a SEAL. It also mixes in the love trope of a fake relationship since Canaan needs a boyfriend for trip coming up or he’ll have to admit that he made the whole thing up. Lucky for him, the SEAL he’s had his eye on accepts his invitation to go camping and plays along to help Canaan out. However, like all good fake relationship tropes, pretty soon these two find themselves no longer acting a part.
This was a good read but I will be honest that it wasn’t my favorite from the series. I think it had to do with Canaan’s character. Canaan has had a thing for the sexy men who serve our country. There’s never a short supply of them since he works at a juice bar on base. However, the ones that really catch his eye are the Navy SEALs. He’s had one in particular on his mind lately. On their first outing together, Canaan came on way too strong. Immediately talking about hooking up and just seemed way too eager to mark another notch on his bedpost. As the book progresses Canaan either toned it down a lot, or I just got used to it. However, his pushiness to get in bed with Renzo just left me feeling weird. I’m all for being open and honest, but sometimes you need to keep things to yourself for a little bit. You don’t blurt out that you’d love to blow a guy within the first hour of actually hanging out with them. If a guy did that to me, he’d get kicked in the balls real quick.
Renzo’s character was a lot more laid back. In all honesty, he balanced out Canaan. He was a lot more subtle in his approach, a lot more reserved, and just really leveled out the playing field. He likes Canaan, but isn’t sure if he’s being used or if there’s something really there with Canaan. It doesn’t help that Canaan’s ex jokes about him being a SEAL chaser, and then later they bump into fellow SEAL buddies of his and it turns out Canaan slept with them in a threesome. So yeah, he wasn’t quick to give his heart away to Canaan. Renzo also has a lot riding on his shoulders with his family back home. He’s been on the other side of the country from them since he entered the military and he’s ready to get back to the east coast to spend more time with them. So, their relationship had a lot of obstacles to overcome.
Which is one thing that I love about this series. Each couple in the series has something pretty big, but also pretty normal, that they have to face in order to move forward. Whether it’s fraternization, or getting ostracized by a team that you need to know has your back 110%, to just the basic uncertainty of being in the military. I loved that there wasn’t any crazy unnecessary drama. Being in the military and having a relationship is hard enough as it is. I just really appreciated that the author didn’t go adding some weird stuff in just to make a story seem more interesting.
Rough Terrain is the last book in the series and it was nice to see Rooster (Renzo) get a HEA. Over the course of the series you meet these guys, go on missions with these guys, and it’s just so hard not to become attached to them and want to see them happy. So, I’m glad that Renzo got his moment in the spotlight.
Previous reviews from Out of Uniform
Wheels Up
Squared Away
Tight Quarters
I don’t like overly pushy characters who come on too strong either.
I’ve had my favorites in this series and there were a few meh ones but I’m going to miss it.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I really loved this series; definitely loved some books more than others, but I’m still sad it’s over. I liked Rough Terrain but it’s not my favorite in the whole series. I do really love Renzo though. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net