Chief's Mess

Anchor Point #3

by L.A. Witt

Anthony Talbot is in Anchor Point to visit family, but after two days of strife, he needs a break. A local gay bar is calling his name.

When Chief Noah Jackson sees that red head stroll into the club, he immediately wants him. They’re perfectly matched, and before long, they’re burning up the sheets. Noah can’t get enough. Anthony can’t stay in Oregon for long, but as soon as he leaves, he’s counting down the days until he can fly back for more. And between his increasingly frequent visits, there’s always phone sex, sexting, webcams… anything they can get.

But Noah’s got a carefully crafted façade, and Anthony can’t help noticing the slowly forming cracks. The scent of alcohol in the middle of the day. The extra drinks at dinner. The hint of red in his eyes. Anthony knows what it means. He doesn’t want to believe it, but he’s seen this before, and there’s no denying it. If Noah doesn’t get his downward spiral under control, he’s going to lose both his career and the first man he’s ever really loved.

This book was previously published.

On-page struggle with alcoholism

Genres: M M Romance, Military Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, LGBT, Contemporary Romance

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2017

About the author

L.A. Witt and her husband have been exiled from Spain and sent to live in Maine because rhymes are fun. She now divides her time between writing, assuring people she is aware that Maine is cold, wondering where to put her next tattoo, and trying to reason with a surly Maine coon. Rumor has it her arch nemesis, Lauren Gallagher, is also somewhere in the wilds of New England, which is why L.A. is also spending a portion of her time training a team of spec ops lobsters.

Authors Ann Gallagher and Lori A. Witt have been asked to assist in lobster training, but they "have books to write" and "need to focus on our careers" and "don't you think this rivalry has gotten a little out of hand?" They're probably just helping Lauren raise her army of squirrels trained to ride moose into battle.

Visit her website at http://www.gallagherwitt.com/.

Reviews

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'm here for the sex! ~ Gigi, June 2017

The premise of Chief's Mess is the same as the first two books in the Anchor Point series; Just Drive and Afraid to Fly. Lots of sex, not a lot of plot and a conflict that separates our heroes for a few weeks.

Anthony is visiting his sister's ex-husband Clint (from Afraid to Fly) in Anchor Point where he meets Chief Noah Jackson at a gay bar. Lots and lots and LOTS of hot gay sex happens during Anthony's week in Anchor Point.

When Anthony returns to Portland, the men pine for the smoking hot chemistry they share and end up texting and Skyping to continue their casual sexual relationship. Pretty soon the boys are visiting each other every other week to further explore their insane chemistry between the sheets and eventually their long-distance-hookups turn to love.





The angst comes when Anthony releases Noah is an alcoholic and decides he can't deal with a man who keeps his head in a bottle. The conflict is short-lived and resolved mostly off page and that worked for me. Angst and I aren't on speaking terms right now.

I really enjoyed this one and it is my favorite of the series so far. The sex was hot, the dirty talk was filthy and the emotional connection that eventually happened was honest and very satisfying.

Fans of the Anchor Point series shouldn't miss this one. Readers who haven't enjoy the series, you should give this one a try. Making an appearance are Clint and Travis from Afraid to Fly, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Galley copy of Chief's Mess (Anchor Point #3) provided by Riptide Publishing via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

This review is also posted at Gay Book Reviews

[Jewel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This pains me to say, but Chief's Mess was a huge miss for me. Not enough plot and MCs I never warmed to make for disappointing reading. Well, at least the sex was plentiful and hot. LA Witt does know her way around a sex scene and the MC's had loads of chemistry in the sheets. But even that did not save this story for me. I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this story because LA Witt + military story is almost always a winner for me.

I wasn't super thrilled with one of the MC's of this book being an alcoholic in denial (Noah), but I knew he was going in and I hoped I would warm to him, eventually. I didn't, though. His part of the plot seemed to only be him hiding his drinking and it didn't seem that there was much more to him than him wanting his next drink and hiding it.

Also, I didn't expect to start off the book absolutely loathing the other MC (Anthony), but...well, I couldn't stand him. I didn't realize, before starting Chief's Mess that Anthony was the ex-brother-in-law of Clint in Afraid to Fly. If I had, I would have waited for some reviews before requesting this one, because I remember not being impressed with Clint's ex's family. At All. I hated how they treated Clint's PTSD so flippantly and blamed him for everything. And Anthony seemed to want Clint to fail in his sobriety just so he could tell his sister I told you so when Clint failed himself and his kids.

Anthony's attitude toward Clint made him super judgy of anyone he thought consumed too much alcohol. And I get that. But all we ever really got of Anthony was sex and judgement. I would have liked to have gotten to know another side of him. Anything, really.

The entire plot seemed to revolve around Anthony suspecting Noah of drinking and then finding evidence for that. And for Noah's part, him wanting his next drink and working out how to seem like he doesn't have a problem. And in between those moments, the MC's have sex, either in person or via Skype. Rinse, repeat. For nearly 300 pages.

There was a lot of sex in Chief's Mess. The one thing that Anthony and Noah really excelled at was sex. And it was hot, no lie. But I need more than that in a story, and I even started skimming the sex scenes because they were too plentiful. I wanted more substance. The writing was repetitive and I really think a fair amount could have been edited out and not missed. And while the story ended with Noah admitting he has a problem and getting help, I felt that whole process was super glossed over and too easy. It wasn't satisfying. But then again, neither was the rest of the story.


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ARC of Chief's Mess was generously provided by the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+++ stars

I'm trying to find my words for this review and failing miserably.

Bear with me because this story affected me on an emotional gut level.

But first, the fun part.
Anthony is on the prowl. It doesn't take him long to set eyes on Noah and reach out for what he wants.

...tell me you bottom, and we can skip all that and get out of here.

And that was the beginning of hot, sexy, vers scene after scene. These men were on fahyere.

Yes, sometimes this kind of thing is 'too much of a good thing'. But in this case, it worked. It worked because these guys had such incredible chemistry. Neither were looking for a relationship. It just sort of developed from their insane chemistry and compatibility.

They fell into a long-distance relationship.

We fit together. We just...we just fit. I knew how to make him crazy, and he knew how to make me crazy, and everything was so perfect and so intense...

If you haven't read the previous book in this series, I recommend you do so. Although this one can be read as a stand-alone, I feel like the background gleaned from the previous book added a whole other dimension to this story.

***Spoilers ahead***
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***Spoiler warning***
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***You've been warned***

Anthony is Clint's ex-brother-in-law. If you've read the previous book, you know Clint's marriage fell apart due to violent alcoholism. Anthony's resentment towards Clint, and what he put his sister through, is huge. Needless to say, Anthony doesn't have a high regard for alcoholics.

Noah...drinks.

Anthony rationalizes that everyone drinks. Sometimes people drink a lot. It's a socially acceptable intoxicant. In fact, it is so prevalent that it's hard to be sociable without it.

Yet...Anthony is uncomfortable with excessive drinking. He watched his sister's life fall apart because of it. When he notices that Noah drinks quite a bit more than he does himself, it makes him nervous.

I loved Anthony's courage to address difficult issues with Noah. Even when he was afraid of a conversation going sideways or starting an argument, he never backed off from discussing an issue that worried him.

But this was a long-distance relationship that only allowed them to see each other a couple of weekends a month, at most. Noah could make allowances for Anthony's discomfort with excessive alcohol for the little time they spent together. Anthony was important to Noah, so he did his best to modify his drinking habits when they were together. This helps Anthony put his misgivings aside and not give undue weight to the signs. Those signs are very, very difficult to see in a society that considers drinking alcohol a requirement to having fun. Everybody drinks!

Noah drinks...a lot

What follows is a heartbreaking view of Noah's final slide down into alcoholism. Seeing both men's anguish. Feeling the helplessness that they both felt. It gutted me just as it gutted Noah and Anthony to be in that position.

It was easy to understand both sides of it because L.A. Witt did an excellent job with each viewpoint. The writing and editing is spotless. The theme addresses an important social issue that is mostly ignored in our society.

<<>>

I am not going to pull out my soap box on the subject of alcoholism because this is a book review. I am just grateful that there are authors like L.A. Witt who are not afraid to address serious issues in the tropes they choose for their books.




Review ARC graciously provided by Riptide Publishing via NetGalley

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars – Considering how much I enjoyed the first two books in L.A. Witt’s Anchor Point series, not to mention the other books of hers I have read, I had high hopes that I would enjoy Chief’s Mess in spite of my reservations about the subject matter after reading the blurb. I’m not a big fan of romances where the big conflict deals with alcohol or drug problems. As it turns out, that really wasn’t the problem I had with the book, but I definitely had a problem that kept me from enjoying this title as much as the others I’ve read by this author.

While taking a break from giving moral support to his sister and her kids while they visit her ex-husband, Anthony Talbot hooks up with Navy Chief Noah Jackson in a bar near the naval base in Anchor Point, Oregon. It turns into a week of the best sex both men have had in a long time and neither can easily forget afterward, in spite of Anthony returning to Denver. If you’re a fan of reading dirty and rough (non-BDSM) sex, the hookup sex scenes are scorching hot. So too are the sex scenes when they start visiting one another periodically and the dirty-talking Skype scenes between these visits. Fucking hot!

After their first hookup, which happens before the 10% mark in the book, there is a sex scene in almost every chapter for the remainder of the first half of the book (and there are a lot after that too.) Unfortunately, a couple of other things about the book—a stylistic decision by the author and a characteristic about the two guys—took away from my enjoyment of both this nearly nonstop sexfest and the story as a whole, despite being things that normally don’t cause such a problem for me. First, Anthony and Noah are both vers, meaning they both enjoy topping and bottoming, and they alternate positions right from the start. Yum! Second, like the first two books in the series, Chief’s Mess is written using the alternating first-person point of view (POV). This is normally my preference for romances because when it’s done well, it really gets me into the story.

Like so many choices authors make when writing a book, each of these things can cause problems for the reader if they are not handled carefully. For example, the use of alternating first-person POV carries the risk of reader confusion, particularly in sex scenes of M/M romances, because “me” and “him” are dependent on which character’s POV is being used—there isn’t the easy me/her versus me/him differential like in M/F sex scenes. In addition, a sex-heavy start to a book means not as much time for developing the characters or their voices, so unless the characters have very distinct differences in bed, the whole “I” and “he” thing can be confusing again. Furthermore, the fact that Anthony and Noah are both vers and swap positions often from one sex scene to the next, not to mention that they are both into the same sorts of things in bed, takes away yet another way for the reader to tell the characters apart in this situation.

The bottom line: all I really knew for sure at the halfway point of the book were the simplest characteristics about Anthony and Noah—things that I mainly got from the first two chapters of the book that introduced them individually before they met each other—and the fact that they were fucking. A lot of fucking. Too much fucking where I was confused about who was doing those hot fucking things to whom because I couldn’t distinguish the individual characters’ voices and I wasn’t given enough names during the scene to act as signposts. And outside of the fucking, they really didn’t do much actual talking that wasn’t filled with innuendo and dirty talk to get themselves wound up for the next sex scene. Sure, that was hot too, but it didn’t help with my voice confusion.

My voice confusion quickly cleared up not long after the halfway mark because the not-fucking parts of the story became more important, where Noah’s drinking starts to show as being problematic and where it becomes clear that the guys are falling for each other because we actually get more frequent scenes of them doing things together besides fucking. I wish there had been more of this in the front half of the book. If there had been, I would have been into the incredibly hot sex much more because I would have felt more connected to the characters for the duration of the book instead of the limited amount I ended up feeling during the second half.

What about the alcohol problem part of the story? The resolution was perhaps a little too quick and easy for my tastes, but I’ve certainly read worse. To be honest, there just wasn’t enough time after the fuckfest in the first half of the book for me to be invested in the characters enough to get the big feels that I want when I read romance. It’s a pity, too, because there were some clearly touching moments and great lines in the second half that would have had a much better impact on me if I had just been able to connect to the characters sooner.

It's difficult for me to give this kind of review because L.A. Witt is one of my favorite authors. But almost all of my favorites have one book that just doesn’t work as well for me as the rest. Chief’s Mess is that book for me in this case. That being said, I’ve enjoyed the rest so much that I eagerly look forward to the next one when it comes out.

The author and/or publisher generously provided me a complimentary copy of Chief's Mess in exchange for this fair and honest review.

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[Ele · Rating 3 out of 5]

**2.5 stars**

This could have gone better. I'll keep it short:

The good:

-I found that the "alcoholic in denial" theme was executed pretty accurately. Same goes for the ending and the way it all played out. We don't actually get to see the recovering period but I think this was a wise choice. The few pages that narrated Noah's struggles were realistic and more than enough for me.

-There is a lot of sex. L.A.Witt can sure write some epic steam.

-The setting. I'm coming from a navy town myself, and I can tell that L.A.Witt knows her way around navy/military settings.

The bad:

-There was a lot of sex. Yeah, I know I already said that. You know things are bad when you start skimming sex scenes. Steam is good, but not when it's just a filler. This is a relatively long book, without a lot of plot. As a result, it got repetitive and boring. It was mostly sex, Anthony worrying that Noah is an alcoholic, and Noah being one but trying to hide it.

-Anthony (Clint's brother in law in the second book). I really got off on the wrong foot with this guy. In the very first pages, he comes off as a judgemental asshole. I understand that Clint treated his sister very badly, but his attitude towards Clint's PTSD and his lack of sympathy were appalling. I don't care if he came around in the end. He would have never approached Clint if he didn't need his help. Until the end, Anthony was a selfish, judgemental prick in my eyes.

I don't know if I'll stick with the series. I LOVED the first book. The next two...not so much. But I did like Will here, so I might give it a go.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

*** 2.5 Stars ***

For all the as-if-its's-our-last-night-on-earth intensity sex that our main characters have together, Chief's Mess is actually a pretty serious book.

The titular Chief, Noah Jackson, drinks. A lot. When we first meet him, he's in a bar on a weeknight and he's had a few. Okay, more than a few. But he's not slurring his words. He doesn't have blurred vision. He can walk a straight line and carry on a normal conversation. And he can certainly say "hell yes!" when a hot redhead walks into his favourite gin joint and propositions the heck out of him.

It should have just been a one night stand - a sexy memory filed away in their respective spank banks after they'd both come and gone on their merry ways - but it turns out that Noah and Anthony can't get enough of each other. One night turns into a week, and a week turns into a long distance booty call that has both men racking up the Frequent Flyer miles between Denver and Portland. Before they realize it, our guys have caught feels for each other.

But all the while, lurking just barely in the background, is Noah's drinking.

He doesn't have a problem. It's not as if he needs the alcohol to function, he just likes to grab a few drinks with friends to blow off a little steam after a stressful day at work. He likes a few glasses to enjoy while he's Skyping with Anthony in between visits. He just has a few to calm his nerves when he flies. He just has a shot or two to help him sleep at night or to ease the headache he feels the morning after.

You see? No big deal. Noah has everything under control.

Except it is, and he doesn't.

Eventually Anthony starts to see the signs and they aren't something that he can ignore, especially not after his sister's life was torn to shreds by her alcoholic ex-husband (Lieutenant Commander Clint Fraser from Afraid to Fly). So he expresses his concern and draws his line in the sand.

Too bad it doesn't take much for Noah to forget that line ever existed - forget that Anthony ever existed - and ruin one of the best things in his life.

Between Anthony leaving him, and nearly screwing up irreparably at work, Noah has a come to Jesus moment and we start to see him pick himself back up by the bootstraps. Thankfully, his efforts aren't too little too late (that much should be obvious - this is a romance novel after all!).

The book finishes with - what else? - our main characters fucking like bunnies into the sunset.

I can't believe that I'm actually going to say this, but... I think there was too much sex in this book. Noah and Anthony had amazing chemistry on page from the get go, and they burned up the sheets in delicious ways every time they saw each other, but it got a little old after a while. Sometimes I felt as if sex scenes were included at the expense of tightening up the pacing or furthering the intellectual and emotional link between these two characters. Obviously this is a personal preference and many other readers will be extra pleased about all that banging. ;)

Now here's the part where I get a bit of egg on my face:

Early on in the book, I questioned Witt revisiting the theme of alcoholism in the military within the same series (she'd already covered this ground with Clint in the previous book). I felt like it might be a bit of a storytelling crutch - a topic she knew would hit home with a lot of reader and would give her an opportunity for realistic drama later in the story. Put bluntly: something that would sell books to all my fellow angst lovers out there.

In fact, I was so perturbed by this idea that Witt might be (either intentionally or unintentionally) emotionally manipulating me to connect with her book and her characters using a very serious problem, that I did a little research on rates of alcohol abuse in civilian versus military populations. I mean, are military personnel really that much more inclined to substance abuse than the average joe, or is that something we all just assume because the stressful nature of their work seems like it should be difficult to bear up under without some sort of assistance?

Full disclosure: My grandfather fought as part of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. He joined up in 1942, landed on Juno Beach at 9:30 a.m. on D-Day, helped liberate Holland, and then continued on into Germany until the end of the war. He suffered from PTSD his entire life as a result of his four years of service, but he never touched a drop of alcohol.

The first peer reviewed journal article I landed on on a reputable government website stated that:

Although the rates were higher in the military than among civilians, most of the difference was associated with the higher-risk demographic characteristics of military personnel, who are more likely than civilians to be young unmarried males. Results indicate that the rate of alcohol abuse in the military is about the same as in civilian groups with comparable demographic characteristics.

With this study in mind, I was admittedly a little ticked that Witt had used alcoholism for a second time in the same series. It felt a little gross and opportunistic and I expressed that quite clearly in an early status update.

But after seeing my status update, a friend reached out to me and explained some of her personal experiences with men in the Navy - three out of the four of which had (or have) a serious level of dependence on alcohol.

This new information forced me back into research mode. I double checked my first source and, while the evidence still holds up as coming from a reputable source, I realized for the first time how outdated the study was - it was published way back in 1981. Whoops. That was a rather large oversight on my part the first time around.

So I did a little more reading and, according to a mid-2000s study endorsed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicatio...), nearly a third of all young men employed by the DOD admitted to consuming five or more drinks on the same occasion at least once a week in the past 30 days. That compares to only about 18% of young civilian men who do the same.

Those are some pretty shocking – and heartbreaking - statistics.

No wonder Witt revisits alcoholic characters so frequently in her military books!

I won’t apologize for my initial gut reactions to the themes of this book. Given my personal lived experiences, I had every right to be sceptical. But, I will say that I stand entirely corrected. And that I’m thankful that I’m more knowledgeable now than I was before I read Chief’s Mess.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm thinking this ones on me...at least partially

So far I've really enjoyed this series both 'Just Drive' and 'Fear of Flying' were stories that I really enjoyed and I basically knew what this story was about going in to it.

Noah Jackson is a member of Anchor Point's military police. He's got a stressful job and unfortunately his solution for dealing with the stress of his job comes from a bottle and he sees no problem with this. As a matter of fact he's so on board with this that when a problem results from his drinking his solution is to make his life accommodate the drinking...can't drive home because you've had too much to drink...take a cab...problem solved because drinking less or not drinking doesn't even ping his radar as a reasonable solution. Noah is what is known as a functioning alcoholic. Unfortunately he's not as functioning as he believes people like his best friend and superior officer, Senior Chief Will Curtis see what's happening. I'm sure most of us have met or had someone like Noah in their lives at one time or another, I know I have.

While we weren't introduced to Noah in 'Fear of Flying' we did meet Anthony. Anthony is the supportive brother of Curtis's ex-wife. There was a lot about Anthony's behavior that I understood in regards to his mildly paranoid behavior about how much Noah drank. I got that and I remember being so cautious about people in my life and how much they drank wondering how much and how often they truly drank. Honestly, it's not fun living like that doubting and never fully trusting until you're sure really sure that it's safe to trust that person because they aren't going to crawl into a bottle every chance they get.

Noah and Anthony start out as a hook-up one night of hot sex. But one night becomes a few more until Anthony has to go home. As time passes Anthony and Noah begin texting and then as they get to know each other and each remembers how good the sex had been they decide to take a shot at a long distance relationship.


You see the fact is that while I've known Noah, I've been Anthony...been part of the rubble left behind when the landslide stops. I've lived through the lies, the deceptions and justifications, the heartbreak of knowing you can't fix them. That they're the only person who can fix themselves and not until they're ready to. The frustration of knowing that you've reached the point where the only thing you can do is walk away and save yourself.

The one real issue that I had with Anthony in fact actually goes back to the events of 'Fear of Flying' and Anthony's lack of basic compassion and understanding for his brother-in-law Curtis. Logically I knew where it came from, but, I still can't say I liked it.

The concept for this story was good and while I liked it, I think maybe for me it came just a little to close to a reality that I've known which was a big part of the reason that I didn't enjoy 'Chief's Mess' nearly as much as the first two books. However, I am looking forward to the next book in this series...'Rank & File' is Senior Chief Will Curtis's story and while we did get a bit of Will's background in this book, I'm hoping that 'Rank & File' will give us all of Will's story and a peek at how things are going for the other men of 'Anchor Point'.

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A copy of "Chief's Mess" was graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[L.A. Witt]

July 2017.

[True Loveislovereview · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony and Noah...

This story has two parts the one before and the one after....
The one before is 77% of the story the one after the other 23...

I found it difficult to read. Not in complicated but the content... I knew what was coming and every time I was waiting for the train to crash... so it distracted me...I saw the signs and when it finally crashed, I could concentrate more, on the story, the dealing, the healing...luckily it was good and close to reality....because if it wasn't....i would quit this one...
It was (for me) a mild version of how it can go....

So the parts where I could concentrate :) were hot as hell! Smoking hot. Damn they were eager and hungry for each other. It was really fun to read. The were a passionate couple every time they were together....even online with cam...

Like I said... the figurative train..... it was hard, harsh, ugly and embarrassing. Sweet lovely Anthony i was proud of him how he stands up for his principles. I really want to bow for him....
It's so difficult to make choices in such a situation...
The part of Noah was fortunately mild put down...it could be very ugly and it wasn't....it was hard already but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“For fuck’s sake,” he snapped. “Your drinking doesn’t become a problem the day it makes your life fall apart. Maybe you could stop before that point?”

I was proud of both men because it could be so so bad and they chose the right thing in life.
The things that matters....in healthy circumstances, happiness and love...

Good written story with a lot of steamy hungry encounters. Their personalities were convincing and mostly pleasant... Absolute worth reading.

Kindly received a copy from Riptide Publishing through NetGalley

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

OKAY OKAY, I give! I give! I had a really hard time from about 20% to 60% and I almost DNF'd it because it was just dragging me down but it got better and now I want more and I can't wait for book 4 to come out now and of course, now I get to play the waiting game.

But this one was good! Like 4.5 Stars good. I didn't like it as much as the first one, which I still think is the best of the series, but it was good and I get why everyone loves this book so much. Noah is probably my favorite single Anchor Point character to date. He had a problem. A drinking problem, to be exact. But being a sailor blurred that line between a drinker that can handle his alcohol and an alcoholic who can't handle his problems. It wasn't as though Noah had PTSD or any majorly traumatic event that he needed to drown himself in the bottle to escape, he just... drank to relax. A lot.

Anthony, who happened to be Clint's ex-wife's brother, loved everything about Noah. He loved his hair and his eyes and the way his hands felt on his bare thighs. But there was nothing that could prepare him to handle Noah's secrets. He watched Clint's drinking rip apart his sister's family and he was beyond angry with Clint when he arrived in Anchor point. But familial support and all that, so he was there. From the minute he laid his eyes on Noah he knew that one night would never be enough.

The romance between these two was nearly nonexistent at first. The feelings were there and neither one of them wanted to let the other go, but they were just weekend hookups and who gets that emotional over a hookup? Pfft. Apparently, Anthony and Noah do. They kept flying back and forth between Colorado and Anchor Point to see each other over the weekends and the more time they spent together, the more they wanted to wrap themselves up in a caccoon and just get lost in each other.

I loved the romance between Noah and Anthony because it went from 0 to 100 in probably three pages, because nobody can tell me that buying a ticket to come see that weekend hookup was just "for fun." Nobody spends that kind of money for a hookup, no matter how mindblowing the sex is, unless there are feelings or at least the liklihood that something more was going to come of it. They didn't even have an official, "hey, are we dating?" moment. One minute they were strangers, the next they were licking cum off of each other, and the next they were planning weekend trips to see each other and "boyfriend" slipped in there somehow. It all happened really fast and really slow at the same time.

But the one thing I love the most about this series is that L.A. Witt doesn't try to glorify the military with arm veins and abs of steel. M/M Military books almost always feature that sexy-as-fuck, super ripped, young alpha male but Witt isn't trying to pull any readers in with sexy stereotypes. This book is 100% real and the characters are real and I love that about this series.

This was a great addition to the series. The first book in the Anchor Point series remains my favorite, but this one got really close and I would definitely recommend it. You could read it as a standalone, but you really shouldn't because Clint plays a pretty important role in this book and it was really great knowing his backstory and not hating his face everytime Anthony had something shitty to say about him. So yeah, great series, awesome book, definitely recommended.

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthony nunca pensó que ir a acompañar a su hermana con los niños a que visitaran a su padre en Anchor Point iba a resultar en algo bueno. Resulta que ese viaje lo llevo a conocer a un hombre por el que comenzó a sentir una gran atracción. Pero cuando la relación entre ellos se volvió cada vez mas seria Anthony se comenzó a dar cuenta que le estaba mintiendo, pero como podría encararlo para que confesará? Sería capaz de decirle la verdad y buscar la ayuda que necesita? o Tendrá que terminar su relación con él?

En el caso de este libro, el autor maneja el tema de las personas alcohólicas y lo difícil que es para la persona darse cuenta que tiene un problema, además de las dificultades que enfrentan los que están a su lado, y como esto puede destruir vidas, relaciones y familias.
Sin embargo, creo que el autor se tomo muchas molestias en mostrarnos solo un lado de la ecuación, cuando debimos de conocer mejor el otro lado también. Además de que se mostró muy poco (y de pasada) el proceso por el que paso el prota para rehabilitarse.
En fin, me gusto la trama, mucho romance, sexo y la aparición de personajes de libros anteriores, ahora veamos como sigue la serie y que otros personajes logramos conocer.

[ConM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. After #2, I wondered about Noah. Clearly someone in need of help.

Anthony and Noah are perfect together. Hot, and Anthony is what Noah needs. Noah is a sweet heart, while being a bit of a mess...

Substance issues are not a favorite romance topic for me, but LA Witt handled this lightly. It was realistic (albeit overly optimistic, but it's a fictional romance), without being super angsty.

[Simply Love Book Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

L.A. Witt’s Anchor Point series has been a bit hit and miss for me and that is really unusual for me and this author. Honestly, I love that this is set in a small town that is basically supported by the Navy base there, I love the incredibly flawed characters who are at different points in their lives, and I love that their journey to a happily ever after isn’t easy, but worth it. However, in Chief’s Mess I had a very hard time liking either character mainly because I didn’t feel like I really got to know them and while I always appreciate a good sex scene, I felt that for the majority of this book that was all there was between the two main characters. Granted this was a couple dealing with a long distance relationship, so the time they spent together, they were making up for lost time, and while it was stated they had long conversations, we weren’t privy to them so it seemed like they jumped to the “I love you” stage without really knowing one another. While there was no denying the absolute attraction between them and the growing affection, I wanted to see them fall in love, not just f*cking their way through every argument, ever uncomfortable confrontation, and every minute they were together.

While in Anchor Point to give his sister support while she sees her ex-husband, who tanked their marriage with alcohol and violent rages, and his new boyfriend, Anthony Talbot heads out to a bar and meets Chief Noah Jackson whom he picks up for what he believe will be a night of sexy fun. One night turns into several and soon they are spending lots of time flying between Portland and Denver to see one another.

Anthony suspects Noah is more than a casual drinker and there are a few confrontations, but Noah is good at hiding it and since they only see one another every other weekend, it makes it easy. Honestly there is very little plot to this book other than their weekends together, their hot sessions over Skype when apart, Noah spiraling out of control, and Anthony burying his head in the sand a good portion of this book pretending that what he thinks he sees going on with Noah really isn’t happening.

Some of the best moments in this book were between Anthony and his ex-brother in law whom he not only leans on once he figures out Noah’s an alcoholic, but grows to respect when he realizes he judged him unfairly without understanding everything that was going on with him. This is where the real growth took place and I was disappointed that we really didn’t see that between the main characters.

Although this book was completely sexy, it was lacking in plot and character development making is somewhat of a disappointment to me.

ARC provided for an honest and voluntary review.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favourite instalment yet... :|

It touched some serious issues (like alcohol addiction) but it also lacked some getting-to-know-each-other time between the MCs.

Anthony and Noah acted a bit irrationally sometimes and I didn't feel the real chemistry between them.

The scene I actually liked the most took place between Anthony and Clint, the MC from previous instalment, Afraid to Fly. So, that's that.

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in L.A. Witt's Anchor Point series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Anthony, an engineer from Denver, meets Noah in Anchor Point during his visit to support his sister Mandy, Clint's ex-wife from Afraid to Fly. Anthony comes off as a bit of an asshole and has no time for Clint, an alcoholic who put his sister through hell, and after spending the greater part of two days glaring at Clint, visits a gay bar where he runs into Noah:

“[Noah:] Can I buy you a drink?”
[Anthony:] “Yes, you can.” The redhead looked me up and down in the most deliciously lewd way, and met my eyes again. “Or tell me you bottom, and we can skip all that and get out of here.”

Chief's Mess is a bit of a mess, plot-wise, but the sex? Dear gawd, the sex is plentiful and richly described. Anthony and Noah are positively platinum in the bedroom and their sexual chemistry is off the frickin' chart. These two men connect (and connect .... and connect) on a very basic primal level and of the three books in the Anchor Point series, Chief's Mess wins the "Epic Sex" award hands down. Sexy? Ooohhhh, yeah.

However, plot and character development get shoved aside by all that sex. Basically Anthony and Noah have sex, sext, Anthony flies back for a weekend, sexSEXsexSEX, more text and calls, more visits, sex ... rinse, lather, repeat. In a nutshell, the pace of the book is way too slow for the amount of plot and the character development is negligible. Around 75% of the book, Anthony begins to strongly suspect that Noah has a problem with alcohol and while there is a resolution and an epilogue that deals with this, it seems a little too late.

L.A. Witt and a military setting is a great fit, but this book did not work for me. Just Drive is my favorite of the series so far, but I am intrigued by the next book Rank & File, featuring Senior Chief Will Curtis.

I received an ARC from Riptide Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Stop by my new blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio review

Anthony Talbot is climbing the walls during a tense family obligatory visit and takes his sister's blessing to get out for a bit leading to a hot encounter with smoldering Navy Chief Noah Jackson. I enjoyed this latest in the Anchor Point series particularly since, like before in the series, the author touches on a relevant issue for men in the naval service- or pretty much an issue with any relationship.

Chief's Mess is the third of the Anchor Point series. These books loosely tie together so they can be enjoyed in order or standalone. Chief's Mess ties to the previous Afraid to Fly through Anthony being the hostile ex-brother in law to Clint Fraser, hero of the earlier book. For those who loved Clint and Travis, this has some follow-up scenes and for those who are starting at this book, the encounter works fine, too.

Anthony and Noah start out hotter than a firecracker together. I will say this, LA Witt can write some heat. I was hot and bothered only minutes into this book. Whew! The torrid and sizzling sex blew my mind. They definitely had chemistry in the bedroom and that was the foundation of what was to come in their attempt at a long distance relationship. Skype? No this was Porny Skyping between a pair of dirty talking guys who knew how to rev each other past the red line.

At first, I was concerned that the hot bedroom (and non-bedroom) antics were going to be all there was to this one and I did skip of ton of those scenes when they were just lining up like dominoes and I was actually growing numb to it. But, after a time, the pair realized they wanted a relationship and of course, that was also when Anthony stopped denying the hints he was seeing that Noah had a drinking problem. This was when the book started showing its depth and heart for me.

Noah is what in my past we called a functioning alcoholic. He drank a lot and often, but he was staying just sober enough to get through his life. I thought the alcoholism element was handled about right as were all the characters involved. Noah's addiction is the main conflict in the story, but this is not a men's fiction novel so it's in the right balance with the relationship development It wasn't focused on, but I also feel like Anthony had his own demons to deal with. I thought it was interesting that the spotlight was not on Noah only through this, but also Anthony. Like any person in a relationship with a recovering addict, the addict isn't the only one with his life on the precipice. So yes, this book dug deep and really shone when it hit the depth of the conflict for this pair.

Chief's Mess was narrated by Nick J. Russo. I felt he did an incredible job whether it was taking me right into this horny pair's bedroom scenes or leaving me crushed and teary-eyed when Noah and Anthony hit their lowest. He captured the pace of the story, its elements, and its characters fabulously.

In summation, Chief's Mess delivered a hot pair of lovers and a difficult situation that had me earnestly engaged to see it all end well. Those who enjoy spicy m/m military romance should definitely give this book/series a chance.

My thanks to Riptide Publishing for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Morgan Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I never realized what a “button” alcoholism is for me. The MC Noah spends literally 98% of this in denial that he even has a problem. That was really, really hard to read. After reading how strongly Anthony feels about alcoholics, watching him – also in denial – was hard.

Most of this book is divided into either our MCs having really hot sex or angst about the alcohol issue.

I never warmed up to Noah, found his “conversion” to be laughably easy and not at all reliable, and in the end he never really won me over. Anthony was set up as a jerk in the first book, continued that in the first part of this book and though I warmed to him by the end I can’t really say that I liked either of these guys much even at the end of the book.

For me, this was a total miss. I’ve really enjoyed the other books in the series, with the first being my favorite – but I can’t say that I recommend this one at all.

There are some positive reviews out there, so I’d recommend reading those if the blurb/cover catches your eye. To be sure there is plenty of sex and that can be enough – depending on what you’re after.

The writing was good, but I do think there was an awful lot of words that didn’t do much to further the story.

2.75 rounded to 3 of 5 stars

[Sandi ♥'s way too many M/M books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't wait for this!

[Christi Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Review:
Wow, this book is extremely hot and normally I'm okay with that...and honestly, I was okay with it in this book, too (because it was really sexy), but it seemed like all that sex cut into the actual development of the story on this one. Note: the relationship is a long distance one throughout most of the book...so that did affect their ability to connect in other ways, too.

Okay...so the premise...Anthony is visiting Anchor Point, supporting his sister who's there with her kids to visit her ex who destroyed his marriage with his drinking (who also happens to be a former hero for the series). Noah is a Navy cop, who is a high-functioning alcoholic. No one realizes it and he's in denial.

I do wish there was more development in the relationship besides the hot sex. I remember looking down at 83% thinking there wasn't enough book left to make an HEA believable, just because there was so much not being revealed between the two guys. But the flip side of that...the book was so sexy I almost didn't mind that. These two are incredible together. Tons of chemistry and they really enjoy their reunions...a lot.

So, yeah, this wasn't my favorite book of the series so far, but I didn't regret reading it at all. I do really enjoy this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an impartial review.

Out for a bit of booze and relaxing, Chief Noah Jackson nearly drops his beer when the tall, lanky redhead shows up. But his libido takes over as soon as he asks if he can buy the guy a beer and the man responds with “Yes, you can. Or tell me you bottom, and we can skip all that and get out of here.”

And that pretty much sets the stage for this story, which had three main elements: sex and more sex; travel between Anchor Point, where Chief Jackson is stationed, and Denver, where Anthony works; and alcoholic drinking. About three quarters of the story is the sex; the travel, primarily by air, is necessary to be able to have the sex, and the booze is necessary for Noah to get through the days between the sex. Anthony has an ex-brother-in-law whose alcoholic drinking became daily and rageful and resulted in divorce. We met this man, Clint, in book two, Afraid to Fly, and he becomes important to both Anthony and Noah near the end of this story when the alcoholic drinking becomes the focus.
The two men, who originally only wanted to hook up for a night, become long-distance friends-with-benefits until it becomes evident to both that they are much more involved than they originally thought possible. Along the way, Anthony notices signs of alcohol abuse and addresses some of the symptoms with Noah, who immediately agrees that he won’t drink while with Anthony, and yet he continues to drink to excess to the point where his good friend and boss, Senior Chief Will Curtis, calls him on his behaviors and warns him that he won’t cover for him if he gets in trouble. But like any good alcoholic, Noah becomes more adept at hiding it—even from himself. Until the weekend he forgets about Anthony coming to visit…

This was a good story, with engaging characters, and it was nice to see Clint and his lover, Travis. However, though I never thought I’d say this, there were too many pages devoted to sex in this story. Granted it was highly detailed, hot, and heavy, and I’m sure many readers will enjoy the body-ravaging, biting, marking, dick-pounding scenes. I did. But after a while, I wanted more to this story. More depth of emotion, especially from Noah. More gritty self-analysis for Noah. More research into why his reactions were so painful for Anthony. Each character could have sought and benefitted from outside help.

I was disappointed by the portrayal of Noah’s alcoholic behaviors. I’m intimately familiar with this disease, and it is a disease, not a disorder or a “behavioral problem,” and I kept waiting for that acknowledgement—either from Noah or from Anthony or from Clint. But the impression I’m left with is that Noah’s behaviors got out of control and somewhere along the way he lost the willpower to stop drinking. Unfortunately, all the willpower in the world won’t stop alcoholism. And almost all alcoholics I’ve known and worked with admit that they knew their drinking was out of the norm long before others started to notice. They also tend to suffer from low self-esteem and guilt about being unable to control their drinking. I would have appreciated a deeper exploration of that emotional side when the alternating POV came back around to Noah.

Without going further on this topic, all I can add is that my own beliefs and life experiences obviously influence how much or how little I enjoy any story—this one or others. And I acknowledge that it may just be my own perspectives that kept me from rating this any higher than 3 stars, but that’s the beauty of being human—we are not all the same. Thank heavens.

Now, if you into hot alpha naval officers; sweaty, sheet-pounding sex; web sex; or versatile partners, this one will likely hit the spot for you.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Anthony has flown in to Anchor Point to offer moral support to his sister while she meets up with her ex-husband Clint (from Afraid to Fly, book #2) and his boyfriend. Because of the way things ended between his sister and Clint, Anthony is not of fan of Clint. Sensing his discomfort, his sister tells him to go out and blow off some steam, so he decides to check out a local gay bar. As soon as he heads to the bar he meets Chief Noah Jackson. They have an instant attraction and decide to have a week long fling while Anthony is in town. When Anthony returns to Portland, they decide to continue their arrangement because of their smoking hot chemistry. They end up texting and Skyping to continue their casual sexual relationship. Pretty soon they are visiting each other every other week to further explore their insane chemistry between the sheets and eventually their long-distance-hookups turn to love. Things remain as steamy as ever, but Anthony starts to notice that Noah always has a drink in his hand, or seems like he's sneaking more drinks on the side. He has a feeling that Noah has a drinking problem, but he isn't sure if it's just his imagination.

Holy cow, these two have some explosive chemistry! There is no shortage of steamy scenes in this one. I loved the chemistry between the two of them. The sex scenes were super steamy and they had some great dirty talk. I also really like how the feelings between the two of them grew gradually and didn't happen overnight.

While I did really love the steamy scenes, I did wish for a little more of a plot to this one. I wanted a little more substance. The "big issue" of the story is obviously Noah's issues with alcohol, but I feel like it wasn't dealt with much until the very end. The issue is brought up fairly early but then we don't hear much about it for a while. I would have liked to see him getting help for it earlier, and maybe see him going through some of the struggle of staying sober. It's sort of glossed over and I think it was too important to be pushed aside.

I'm a little torn about this one because I think these two probably had the best chemistry out of all the couples in the series, but I was a little let down with the plot. If you are looking for a super steamy read, then this one is definitely for you. But if you are looking for something with deeper meaning or lots of angst, then this one probably isn't for you. I am a huge fan of L.A. Witt's books, so I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.

*I received an ARC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. *

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oct 2023 - pushed up to 4.5 stars on a re-listen.

Yes, this one is sex heavy in the first half, but it works, because the chemistry between Anthony and Noah is incendiary and the author does a great job of showing how their relationship morphs from just hooking up to an actual emotional investment in each other. The reasons behind Anthony's discomfort with drinking to excess are well articulated and perfectly reasonable, and his slow realisation as to what Noah is doing, and later, his anger at himself for not wanting to believe the evidence of his own eyes feel very realistic.

LAW does a brilliant job of showing us just how problematic Noah's drinking is and how he is more concerned with figuring out how not to get caught than he is with trying not to drink. Listening to his constant excuses and inability to understand face the truth about himself is frustrating and heartbreaking at the same time.

The abundance of sex scenes means this one is a bit longer than perhaps it needed to be - but the excellent narration by Nick J. Russo means the listen didn't really feel that way. He's one of the best romance narrators around, and this shows why - he's great at conveying the personalities of the characters, supremely confident in the sex scenes, and does a great job with the really emotional moments in the story. So yeah, all in all, I liked this one a bit more second time around.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 full review to follow soonish...

It's been a while since I first read this one...

and while I enjoyed revisiting the story on audio...because...Nick J. Russo! This is a narrator who consistently delivers and is one of my top 5 narrators. Without fail I can rely on his narrating to make a good story great and to make a not so good story better and he's even made some that were less than tolerable into something tolerable. Simply put as a narrator Nick J. Russo consistently delivers.

Now onto what it was that he delivered...'Chief's Mess' is the third story in L. A. Witt's naval series "Anchor Point" and while I liked the story it wasn't quite on the same level for me as the first two and while I think that might be a very tiny bit the story, I know that it's more of a personal issue for me...so yes, it's not the story it's me.

I was fairly certain before I started this audio book that I probably wasn't going to enjoy it quite as much as the first two audio books...one because I read the book so I knew what I was getting and two because I read the book and it also wasn't my favorite but I'm ok with this. Not every book has to be an over the moon I love it read/listen for me and I'm just one of those people who likes to read/listen to all of the books in a series whether or not I'm going to give them all rave reviews or not. For me it's about having all the info so that I can more readily make connections between characters and events and my other half will tell you it's really just my book OCD kicking in...whatever, it is what it is.

Ok, so back to Noah and Anthony why didn't they enchant me the way other couples in this series have...well, it's not broke so I'm not going to try and fix it...

Noah Jackson is a member of Anchor Point's military police. He's got a stressful job and unfortunately his solution for dealing with the stress of his job comes from a bottle and he sees no problem with this. As a matter of fact he's so on board with this that when a problem results from his drinking his solution is to make his life accommodate the drinking...can't drive home because you've had too much to drink...take a cab...problem solved because drinking less or not drinking doesn't even ping his radar as a reasonable solution. Noah is what is known as a functioning alcoholic. Unfortunately he's not as functioning as he believes people like his best friend and superior officer, Senior Chief Will Curtis see what's happening. I'm sure most of us have met or had someone like Noah in their lives at one time or another, I know I have.

While we weren't introduced to Noah in 'Fear of Flying' we did meet Anthony. Anthony is the supportive brother of Curtis's ex-wife. There was a lot about Anthony's behavior that I understood in regards to his mildly paranoid behavior about how much Noah drank. I got that and I remember being so cautious about people in my life and how much they drank wondering how much and how often they truly drank. Honestly, it's not fun living like that doubting and never fully trusting until you're sure really sure that it's safe to trust that person because they aren't going to crawl into a bottle every chance they get.

You see the fact is that while I've known Noah, I've been Anthony...been part of the rubble left behind when the landslide stops. I've lived through the lies, the deceptions and justifications, the heartbreak of knowing you can't fix them. That they're the only person who can fix themselves and not until they're ready to. The frustration of knowing that you've reached the point where the only thing you can do is walk away and save yourself.

The concept for this story was good and while I liked it, I think maybe for me it came just a little to close to a reality that I've known which was a big part of the reason that I didn't enjoy 'Chief's Mess' as much as the first two books.

So that's basically where the fail came in between me and this story not a bad thing not a good thing it just was what it was and I knew that going into it and while each of these stories could stand on their own for me a part of the enjoyment of each story comes from the complete picture that reading them all gives to me.

At the end of it all I'm leaving this one at 3 stars even though I did actually enjoy the audio a bit more than just reading the story and I'm moving on the 'Rank and File' to see if Senior Chief Will Curtis is as good at sorting out his own love life as he seems to have been with his friends.

*************************

An audio book of "Chief's Mess" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sexy, steamy, and sensitive!

Once again we head back to Anchor Point and this time Witt delves into the choices, struggles, and fallouts of alcohol addiction and reminds us that sometimes we find what we want and need when we least expect it.

The writing is sultry. The characters are sympathetic, sincere, and committed. And the plot, which has a little less depth than the previous novels in the series is ultimately about military life, friendship, alcoholism, acceptance, support, desire, and explosive chemistry.

Overall, I have to say this is a deliciously erotic novel written in alternating points of view that allow a genuine look at all the unfolding dynamics, relationship drama, emotion, and salacious scenes through each man's eyes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Riptide Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Dreamer80 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

[Vallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Not my favourite in the series but I’m on a Witt kick these days and enjoyed the hot sex and the hint of angst offered here.

[Liz (Bugetta) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. I enjoyed this and I liked the MCs, but there was so much sex in it, it got old pretty fast.

[Cee Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

¸.•´¸★*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.★¨*.¸¸.•`★¤Cleaning up the Chief's mess...¤★¨*.¸¸.*ˑ˞★

Welcome back to military port Anchor Point, where anything can happen and almost always will.

Book three takes on the I-can-have-a-few-and-be-okay, Chief Noah. Noah was someone described as a skilled alcoholic and he most certainly was. He was what I called a functioning alcoholic, and that is putting it mildly. The other main character was the sexy copper haired Anthony, an engineer living in Denver, who had come to Anchor Point to hold his sister's hand as she reintroduced her children to Clint from book two, Afraid to Fly. Anthony was a b!tch at first, but you could understand where he was coming from.

"You've raised the bar, you know that?"

The chemistry between these two...OH. MY. GAWD! Palpable. I refused to move from in front of my fan, and it wasn't even due to the outside heat. L.A. Witt knows erotica and she infused more heat into this book than anything. She also tackled what many people may be up in arms about. Long distance romance, never an easy thing. And the biggy, alcoholism. There was no way the latter was not a huge part of this book and it was handle with realism and scary good. I applaude Ms. Witt for Noah's take on everything, from denial to actually being so cocky that he had survived not being caught. And I twisted my hands when Anthony, who had already been through it before, tried to erase what was right before his eyes until it was too late.

Now onto the characters.

Anthony, oh how I could wax lyrics about this guy. A ginger, not afraid to go after what he wanted and not afraid to be blunt with it. His first words to Noah was ingenious! He fell, and he fell hard for Noah, even though theirs was a friends with benefits relationship.

Noah. I wanted to hold his hands frequently and tell him it was going to be alright. When you have a person who can not see the hand in front of their face, you know it is going to hurt; because when they hit that fourth corner they were gonna crash...HARD! There was only so much suffering a person could take before reality settled in. Rock bottom is hard, but I was pleased at how it was handled.

For me, this was the best in the series so far. Take out the sex, and reality made it feel like an everyday situation. I connected from the first sentence and could not wait to see what was in store for these men. Today was all about Anthony and Noah and their path to find happiness, whether it was together or apart.

I look forward to seeing where their journey takes them...might be happily ever after. For now, they were happy.

I voluntarily and honestly reviewed this book without bias or persuasion from Riptide Publishing.
Reviewed by Cee from Alpha Book Club

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The men of ‘Anchor Point’ are definitely worth getting to know. I have greatly enjoyed the two previous books in this series, so I was happy to see the author releasing this third installment. Even better was discovering that Anthony is Clint’s ex-brother-in-law, who has no love for Clint and is more than fully acquainted with alcoholism, as he watched Clint ruin his sister’s life. I was really looking forward to Noah’s story as I knew there had to be more to him than I'd seen so far. And I knew the author was going to bring me complex characters, real life issues, seriously hot sex, and a fabulous ending. Why wouldn't I be excited?

There have been a couple of times in my life where my drinking consumption straddled the possibility of becoming an alcoholic. Luckily it never got that far, but I can understand, and empathize, with someone like Noah. Seventeen years in the Navy, barely surviving DADT, and never having a relationship strong enough to help him weather all of the storms, has certainly contributed to where he is in life, and in his career, currently. Unfortunately, Noah doesn't see his drinking as being a problem - much like most alcoholics.

I'm not going to talk about the intense heat these two men generated or how it went from a few days, to going back and forth every other weekend. I'll just leave it at: Noah and Anthony have got some serious flames and the possibility of having so much more, if they can maneuver through Noah’s drinking and both of their issues. I did love the way the author wrote their burgeoning relationship. It was lovely to see the slow, scary, slide into love. She also did a fantastic job handling Noah’s alcoholism and all the little tricks he did in hopes no one will discover his secret.

“Either the booze goes, or I do.”
Rage boiled in my gut. “So you think that since we’re dating, you can dictate how I run my life?”
“No.” He shrugged. “You can live your life however you want. So can I. And I choose not to live it with someone who’s controlled by a fucking bottle.”
“Then get out.”

Definitely an intense ending, even though it turned out to be happy for both men. I really enjoyed this novel, although to some degree, I kind of felt as if Noah never really got to rock bottom, not that that matters in the long run, since he accepted he had a problem and then worked hard to get through it. I would have liked to have seen more of Noah’s struggle, especially in the beginning after Anthony walked out, but being friends with recovering addicts has shown me plenty of hardship, tears, and remorse. I really hope this isn't the final book because I really think Will needs his own story (hint, hint).

NOTE: This book was provided by Riptide Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

[Jacque · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raise your hand if you read the previous book and found yourself disappointed that there little to no sex. Cheer up, Chief's Mess makes up for it and then some. If you want a book with sex you got it. Yup, plenty of sex. The MC could give bunnies lessons on having a lot of sex. Have I mentioned that was a lot of sex? Okay, I'm done beating the dead horse - for now - but I can't guarantee I won't bring it up again.

Here is the plot of the story. Anthony travels with his sister to meet up with her ex. The ex-hubs had a few issues (Read the previous book Afraid to Fly to find out what) and now she wants to make sure their kids will be okay to stay with their dad. Anthony has had enough and escapes out a local gay bar where he meets Noah. They hook up, have hot and heavy sex. Lots of it. Anthony has to head back home but they agree to get together again and in the meantime, there is plenty of phone sex, sexting, webcams. Between the hot weekend trips and equally hot long-distance convos, a real relationship begins to grow between Anthony and Noah. Unfortunately, Anthony begins to suspect Noah has a drinking problem. So bad stuff goes down, Anthony calls him out on it, deny deny, break-up and then.... I think you get the picture.

Despite the excessive amount of sex that goes on, Chief's Mess actually was a good read. The progression from bumping uglies to something more was pretty good. Anthony suspecting Noah has a drinking problem and the process he went through to come to the point was well thought out and presented in a way you couldn't help but feel you are part of the story. Was he imagining it? What should he do? Yes, we are able to see it from Anthony's POV very well. Noah's side was good but really I feel this story goes to Anthony. The ending did get a bit predictable, however, the HEA was a nice one.

Big bonus points to the secondary characters of Clint and Will. Clint is part of the series' past. I just love getting updates of previous characters. Will get his own story in the next title. Both equally interesting characters that just when you think they are in it to help the plot move along, they are vital to the story.

The first book in the series was stellar and had a good balance to it. The second was emotion-heavy, the third sex-heavy. I'm really hoping the fourth will find that balance that I enjoyed when I first started the Anchor Point series. Knowing what I do now, I still would read the book, and I may yet recommend it. Just with a cautionary note of the content.


I received this book from The JeepDiva prior to release with the express purpose of an honest review. The opinions, contents, and rating of this review are solely mine
Stars - 3.5, Flames - 5