Spencer and Bacon meet during a Seals op - Spencer is a journalist chasing a story about the effects of the work on military operatives. Bacon is assigned as his minder.

I've been thinking about the lingo of the Romance genre lately.

I suppose the way Albert has her characters meet is still called a meet-cute, because we are still in the category of Romance, but without the rom-com, it doesn't feel like a very satisfactory word here.

The interest between the MCs is there from the start, but Spencer is a professional through and through and keeps his personal distance.

But as unlikely a match as they are, the sophisticated, former ballet dancer Spencer, and the rough and ready Seal whose job rubs against his sensitive, thinking-man interior, are a symphony together. Hyperbole? No. They have the makings of a great love affair if they get their priorities right, which is their journey in Tight Quarters.

Another Annabeth Albert novel that digs into the soul. Sure there is what the Romance community calls 'smut', which in this context means sexually explicit scenes (not obscenity/filth/indecent material as is the meaning in the wider community). But I don't find this meaningless voyeurism, quite the contrary.

Decided to look up what the traditional and current meanings of smut are, and this is something I haven't seen before. In the Urban Dictionary someone has contributed the following, referring to reader fandom:
SMUT
s: sexual
m: maturity
u: under
t: text
"wait, you read smut too?"
"yes of course, it satisfies my needs."

That's a clever refinement of the Romance definition.

The timbre of Greg Boudreux's voice is perfect for these MCs - a well chosen narrator.

Rating: 4.25

(Later) Great comments arthistorychick - thank you. I see we are on the same page. ( )

Kept me entertained throughout. Both MCs were likable, and the hurdle to their relationship was legit, instead of some trumped up non-issue just to give them one, which I appreciate. ( )

4.5 stars ( )

3.5 stars ( )

Tight Quarters by Annabeth Albert
Book #6: Out of Uniform Series
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4½/5 stars

Spencer Bryant has finally gotten his dream assignment, being embedded with a SEAL team. As an award-winning journalist, this is the assignment he was wanted and waited patiently for, for a very long time. Thanks to a very personal and tragic experience, Spencer feels obligated to complete this assignment and produce a piece that not only honors the service of military members, but also brings attention to the care, or lack thereof they receive following grievous injuries and separation from service. Spencer has no intention of ruining anyone’s life or exposing information that could hurt the teams or the Navy, but he is committed to telling this story.

As bad luck would have it, Bacon gets stuck with the reporter being embedded with his team. Though Bacon knows Spencer’s work and even admires it, Bacon isn’t interested in an outsider poking around and potentially harming the men he serves with all. Bacon sees Spencer’s presence as a nuisance at best, and a potentially hazardous situation at worst. On top of every other emotion Bacon is feeling toward Spencer, there is also the intense attraction which just makes Bacon angry. The final straw, Spencer is a genuinely nice man who makes his intentions clear from the very beginning; Spencer may be attracted to Bacon, but he has a code of ethics that won’t allow him to engage sexually or personally with a source.

And then everything goes ass over tea kettle . . . .

With a terrible and simultaneously fortunate turn of luck, Spencer and Bacon find themselves in a position where they can, in fact be together. On so many levels, Spencer and Bacon as a couple are simply perfect. They are both dominant personalities that instinctually know when to let the other take the lead. Spencer understands Bacon’s post-mission mentality and knows how to help him decompress while Bacon knows how to support Spencer in his life and career. The sex is amazing, and the feelings, despite each’s best efforts, are beginning to grow. Unfortunately, there are some serious problems, and most of them, Bacon knows nothing about until it’s just too late.

The Bottom Line: Let me tell you what! I went into this book suspecting I wouldn’t particularly enjoy it, but I was absolutely and quite pleasantly surprised. In general, I greatly dislike reporter characters, but Spencer proved to be a cat of a different color. With the exception of one big misstep, which he absolutely regrets and fixes, Spencer proves himself to be a decent and honorable man. Bacon, apart from one scene/event, is equally likeable to Spencer and I simply loved his devotion to both his career and Spencer. While I’m generally all about the characters, I found the plot the real winner in this book. I expected this book to one thing all the way through and I got something completely different. That completely different was exactly what I wanted and didn’t even know it 😊 Finally, I love it when an author I’ve read for quite some time can still surprise and delight me and that is certainly true for Annabeth Albert and her Out of Uniform series. ( )