Bring Me Home: Safe Harbor, Book 1

Annabeth Albert has great skill in making you see the whole picture of her romances – the setting, the other characters, the quirks and vulnerabilities which all add together into the whole of the story.Her new series opener is no different, we get to see Safe Harbor through the eyes of two men, Monroe and Knox, but we also see the other people who make up the community of this small town, the ones who make it a home not just a place to live.While on the surface this looks like it would be your everyday age-gap, dad’s best friend/best friend’s son kinda romance, it’s more layered than that. It’s about expectations versus realities, about finding your path and being willing to be open to new possibilities.I won’t lie and say I didn’t occasionally struggle with this book, even though I ended up loving it eventually, but there is a fair bit of internalised angsting which really isn’t my favourite thing to read about.Outside tensions are great, people listening to their inner voices about not being worthy etc always ends up annoying me, even when it’s written well. Here both men have things they need to work through, and they’re totally believable, so my niggle didn’t come with that.I just always find it a tad wearying to read about all the why nots instead of seeing a couple working to overcome them. However, this doesn’t last for a long time in the book and both men do realise they’re falling for the other and start wondering how they can make things happen.There’s great chemistry between them and I loved how Annabeth had them exploring together in the bedroom, as neither has ever been a fan of penetrative sex. As their trust goes deeper, both discover an intimacy with the other that allows them to be vulnerable.These are some of the best scenes in the book, not because of the sex, but because of how both Monroe and Knox find strength in letting the other take charge, especially Knox, who has an instinctive need to take care of people.There’s also a secondary plot which is a kind of cosy mystery vibe about what happened to the mother of someone I suspect will be a love interest in the third book, which Monroe is investigating as part of his cold case work for Knox’s dad Rob, who is the Chief of Police.Overall this was another hit from Annabeth and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the series.Holden, a former police officer who was injured on duty and is now a wheelchair user, is up next. He’s now a Professor and runs a podcast looking at mysteries and true crime. He’s going to be butting heads with a former Navy SEAL rescue diver as the investigations into the disappearance of their friend’s mother continues.

L0ved this book and story of how they find what they both want in each other, a few struggles along the way

A beautiful romance from Annabeth Albert. Both Knox and Monroe fall in love so sweetly, it was a joy to read and watch as their relationship developed. Loved the whole story! They’ve quite the connection from the beginning and true love emanates throughout. I loved their relationship. They were adorable together, and once they were all in, I enjoyed how they supported one another. It's a pleasant, lovely and an excellent read. Despite the age difference Knox and Monroe just worked. I liked the setting for the story, as well as liking the secondary characters and the plot of the novel, the mystery was a bonus. I cannot wait to read Holden's story.I received an ARC of this story, which in no way influenced my opinion.

A wonderful tale full of life; mundane, real, sweet and spicy. I adore the characters and their growth both as individuals and as a whole amongst others. A story of personal acceptance and sweet endearing love. And the ducking! Oh the ducking was gloriously hot! Bring on the next installment

I love characters who don’t conform to stereotypes and both Monroe and Knox are this for me. The age gap is always a favourite trope of mine, but what I truly love about this book is the respect and communication between the couple and the honesty/truth in Albert’s writing that not all couples physical intimacy is the same. Absolutely brilliant, barely put it down from beginning to end.

This is the first book in the Safe harbour series and I really enjoyed it.We have Monroe a 40+ navy investigator who has come back to the town he lived in as a boy, his aunt passed away and has left him her very large house that needs so much repair work. He just wants to fix up the house, sell it and move to the city where he’s hoping to get his dream job, only problem is he’s not very good at DIY!! His friend has come up with a solution, if Monroe can house his 23 year old son for the summer then his son will fix up the house in return.Knox loves his home town, his dad is still growing his family and often uses knox when he’s home from college to help care for the triplets In between working at the local building company. Knox loves his family and don’t mind helping them out, but being stuck in the basement of his dads every growing family is not the best situation. So when his dad friend trades work for a room for him and his cat he can’t really say no, all he needs to do is try not fall for his dads best friend!I loved the bond these two had, they had banter and chemistry, they knew that being together may cause problems with Knox’s dad but the feelings they had towards each other was to strong to ignore. I loved the power exchange between them, I like a younger boss in the bedroom! Monroe was used to giving orders but when it come to knox he was happy to hand over control!There’s a detective story that also runs through the book which gave it an another twist, finding out secrets of the town was fun to read. I did think that Knox’s family took him a bit for granted which annoyed me! But overall great age gap, small town read, with a sneaky epilogue of the next characters for the next book in the series.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️🌶️