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hemmel_mol's review against another edition
I am really disappointed in this audio. Joel Leslie is in such a hurry you hear him getting winded while reading and he rushes over every emotion and nuance. Both narrators are not always clearly differentiating between quotes and thoughts. And Greg Boudreaux recorded his misreadings on a different date and tried to paste it in the original recording, resulting in several sentences with different ambient sound and volume.
I am not sure whether the performance makes the enjoyment less. The characters are flat and I miss the connection with their inner feelings.
I am not sure whether the performance makes the enjoyment less. The characters are flat and I miss the connection with their inner feelings.
bookishnerdyandcurious's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, my heart. I reread [b:Sailor Proof|56382967|Sailor Proof (Shore Leave #1)|Annabeth Albert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616689060l/56382967._SY75_.jpg|87855668] recently for a quick comfort read and found myself wanting to know more about Calder's story. This was just such a balm to the heart considering the state of the world right now.
Y'all should know by now that I love me a single parent trope. No clue why, but I adore them. However, one thing that's unfortunately all too common is when the kids are just a part of the trope and are forgotten or are written as miniature adults instead of their ages. When a story has them as a major part of our protagonists' growth and writes them well, I am all in. This book did just that.
After an accident on a sub, Calder has been moved to shore duty - behind a desk, the horror! He wins the deed and keys to a cabin in a high-stakes game of cards only to find out that the cabin may not actually belong to him after all, but to a slightly grumpy doctor and his two nieces. And of course, Mother Nature conspires to create a forced proximity situation... by snowing them all in. Being trapped with this cute grump and his two girls might not be the way he imagined spending a weekend, but he doesn't hate it. Not one bit. And all of a sudden, he discovers that this family has made its way into his heart, but he just needs to convince them of that and to convince a certain grump to take a chance with him.
Calder's growth and his need to convince Felix that he's all in and wasn't going anywhere had me hook, line, and sinker. Seeing him with the girls - his nerves and pride at getting things right with them and sincerely wanting what was best for them had me swooning. Seeing Felix swoon over all that also had me swooning - along with Felix finally letting go and enjoying life... complete swoon. This book had some of the sweetest and hottest scenes - those were few, but they were good (and more descriptive than Sailor Proof, perhaps?) and conveyed all the vulnerability and feelings that go into them.
I'm *really* hoping that we get some more in this series, if only so I can get more glimpses of Derrick/Arthur and Calder/Felix (and the girls, natch). I don't know how it could be done, but a girl can want for things, right? Maybe just a novella to give me some more with Calder and Felix? Please?
Y'all should know by now that I love me a single parent trope. No clue why, but I adore them. However, one thing that's unfortunately all too common is when the kids are just a part of the trope and are forgotten or are written as miniature adults instead of their ages. When a story has them as a major part of our protagonists' growth and writes them well, I am all in. This book did just that.
After an accident on a sub, Calder has been moved to shore duty - behind a desk, the horror! He wins the deed and keys to a cabin in a high-stakes game of cards only to find out that the cabin may not actually belong to him after all, but to a slightly grumpy doctor and his two nieces. And of course, Mother Nature conspires to create a forced proximity situation... by snowing them all in. Being trapped with this cute grump and his two girls might not be the way he imagined spending a weekend, but he doesn't hate it. Not one bit. And all of a sudden, he discovers that this family has made its way into his heart, but he just needs to convince them of that and to convince a certain grump to take a chance with him.
Calder's growth and his need to convince Felix that he's all in and wasn't going anywhere had me hook, line, and sinker. Seeing him with the girls - his nerves and pride at getting things right with them and sincerely wanting what was best for them had me swooning. Seeing Felix swoon over all that also had me swooning - along with Felix finally letting go and enjoying life... complete swoon. This book had some of the sweetest and hottest scenes - those were few, but they were good (and more descriptive than Sailor Proof, perhaps?) and conveyed all the vulnerability and feelings that go into them.
I'm *really* hoping that we get some more in this series, if only so I can get more glimpses of Derrick/Arthur and Calder/Felix (and the girls, natch). I don't know how it could be done, but a girl can want for things, right? Maybe just a novella to give me some more with Calder and Felix? Please?
nomomstayandread's review against another edition
3.0
Calder was fairly lonely after the events of Sailor Proof where his best friend and brother hooked up and now are stationed across the country. He wins a cabin in a poker game and it turns out that the actual owner of the cabin has something to say about it. This had a bunch of good things happening. Felix was a single parent raising his nieces and Calder fell into a parental role pretty effortlessly.
Felix just spent the whole book waiting for the other shoe to drop. He reacted to almost everything Calder did like I react when my husband does things in my dreams that I don't like.
Felix just spent the whole book waiting for the other shoe to drop. He reacted to almost everything Calder did like I react when my husband does things in my dreams that I don't like.
tsuyoi's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tagoreketabkhane31's review against another edition
2.0
*Actual rating: 2.5/5 stars*
Derrick and Arthur from the first book save the day, as does the rest of the Euler family. And yes, chirren were a plus, and even Calder and Felix grew on me - but my god, what a tremendously boring book. Low conflict, low angst, and very little movement and developments.
Like…..what was the point?
Derrick and Arthur from the first book save the day, as does the rest of the Euler family. And yes, chirren were a plus, and even Calder and Felix grew on me - but my god, what a tremendously boring book. Low conflict, low angst, and very little movement and developments.
Like…..what was the point?
christierenee's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was a great sequel and really made me re-evaluate Calder from the first book.
kaity_b's review against another edition
3.0
3-3.5 stars
Alright… nothing too special. Not worth the $9.99 on my kindle though..
I couldn’t see Calder’s love of gambling or need for winning, I wonder if it’s because I didn’t remember much of book one so that’s why I was a little lost on that..? Also Madeline didn’t feel like a necessary child in the story, Charlotte was the star of the two kids.
There was barely anything in this book to make it seem like a military romance book, since Calder was on base, but we didn’t see any of him doing job… but oh well, kinda how last book felt as well.
Greg Boudreaux and Joel Leslie made this book, like the first one, without their narrations I would have probably DNF’ed..
Alright… nothing too special. Not worth the $9.99 on my kindle though..
I couldn’t see Calder’s love of gambling or need for winning, I wonder if it’s because I didn’t remember much of book one so that’s why I was a little lost on that..? Also Madeline didn’t feel like a necessary child in the story, Charlotte was the star of the two kids.
There was barely anything in this book to make it seem like a military romance book, since Calder was on base, but we didn’t see any of him doing job… but oh well, kinda how last book felt as well.
Greg Boudreaux and Joel Leslie made this book, like the first one, without their narrations I would have probably DNF’ed..
heabooknerd's review
3.0
SINK OR SWIM was a very cute contemporary romance and it nicely hits some favorite tropes like forced proximity and snowed in. When Navy Chief Calder Euler wins a remote cabin in a game of poker he can't believe his luck. That is until he visits the cabin which apparently isn't empty. A sudden snowstorm and an unexpected injury leaves Calder stranded with single dad Felix Sigurd and his two young daughters. Things do not start out well for Felix and Calder and their initial relationship is decidedly prickly but I enjoyed watching these two work things out.
I liked both Felix and Calder and I appreciated how kindly they treated each other. From Calder's understanding over the cabin situation to Felix's compassion toward Calder's needs in bed, these two were just really genuine and sweet guys. While it's never explicitly stated it sounds like Calder might be demisexual or gray ace and I really liked the representation of sex as something other than a race to orgasm. Everyone has different needs, wants, and desires and it was great to see such joy placed on other parts of sex and intimacy like kissing, cuddling, or just touching without the expectation and pressure that it would lead somewhere.
The biggest reason I didn't rate this higher is more of a me thing -- I'm just not reading very much contemporary romance right now so it's a bit hit or miss from me on how much I enjoy it. That being said, if you love forced proximity, single dads, and a gentler romance then you'd probably love this one and I can't recommend Annabeth Albert enough to readers who like M/M romance with lots of tropey goodness.
**ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
Content Warning: difficult divorce; previous concussion and concern about further head injuries; references to the death of a family member resulting in custody of children
I liked both Felix and Calder and I appreciated how kindly they treated each other. From Calder's understanding over the cabin situation to Felix's compassion toward Calder's needs in bed, these two were just really genuine and sweet guys. While it's never explicitly stated it sounds like Calder might be demisexual or gray ace and I really liked the representation of sex as something other than a race to orgasm. Everyone has different needs, wants, and desires and it was great to see such joy placed on other parts of sex and intimacy like kissing, cuddling, or just touching without the expectation and pressure that it would lead somewhere.
The biggest reason I didn't rate this higher is more of a me thing -- I'm just not reading very much contemporary romance right now so it's a bit hit or miss from me on how much I enjoy it. That being said, if you love forced proximity, single dads, and a gentler romance then you'd probably love this one and I can't recommend Annabeth Albert enough to readers who like M/M romance with lots of tropey goodness.
**ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
Content Warning: difficult divorce; previous concussion and concern about further head injuries; references to the death of a family member resulting in custody of children
bookschaosnart's review against another edition
4.0
I was a bit skeptical when I saw that Calder was getting a story after what you saw of him from his brother's book. However, the premise of him winning a cabin that wasn't actually his to win peaked my interest enough to give it a shot. I truly enjoyed the twist of the playboy falling for someone that doesn't want a relationship. Add in the openness and me reading Calder as part of the ace spectrum (this is not on page). and I think i liked it better than the first in this series. That is saying something becuase I'm normally not a fan of romances with childreen involved. There is some discussion of miltary lfe and all that entails, but the focus is very much on the relationships and growing into yourself rather than battles and a huge plot point. Definitely worth a read and