Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Sailor Proof
SERIES: (Shore Leave #1)
AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux and Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Audio
LENGTH: 8 hrs and 17 mins
RELEASE DATE: September 28, 2021
BLURB:
The sexy Navy chief and his best friend’s adorkable little brother….
It’s petty, but Naval Chief Derrick Fox wishes he could exact a little revenge on his ex by showing off a rebound fling. His submarine is due to return to its Bremerton, Washington, home base soon and Derrick knows all too well there won’t be anyone waiting with a big, showy welcome.
Enter one ill-advised plan….
Arthur Euler is the guy you go to in a pinch – he’s excellent at out-of-the-box solutions. It’s what the genius music-slash-computer nerd is known for. So when he finds out Derrick needs a favor, he’s happy to help. He can muster the sort of welcome a Naval Chief deserves, no problem at all.
Except it is a problem. A very big problem.
When Arthur’s homecoming welcome is a little too convincing, when a video of their gangplank smooch goes enormously viral, they’re caught between a dock and a hard place. Neither of them ever expected a temporary fake relationship to look – or feel – so real. And Arthur certainly never considered he’d be fighting for a very much not-fake forever with a military man.
REVIEW:
Derrick Fox lost his parents as a child and was raised by his now-dead grandmother. He has made the U.S. Navy his surrogate family and is now a capable and highly respected chief petty officer serving on submarines. While
Arthur Euler was raised as a Navy brat, the youngest in a family where he never quite felt at home with the continual competition that his father and brothers seem to thrive in. He’s a loner and a gifted musician and the one thing that he’s resolved is to never get involved with a navy man like his father or his eldest brother.
The text version of this was already reviewed by Valerie when it was released back in 2021. But as they say in those disclaimers “individual mileage may vary” and I enjoyed the audiobook version much more than she did the text version.
It’s a light-hearted story about a career U.S. Navy chief plotting some gang-way revenge by having his best mate’s kid brother (now a 20-something musician with a master’s degree and a hunky body) greet him with a kiss when the sailors debark. Seems that the chief broke up with his ex when the ex admitted to cheating with an officer on the chief’s own sub.
Problem is… the kid is adorkable and the fake boyfriend set-up quickly becomes real. Take one welcome home kiss going viral, add in being spotted by kid brother’s parents, and follow that with an invite to the family reunion. Our chief soon finds himself sharing a tiny cabin in the woods with a very hot fake boyfriend who’s crushed on him for years.
I found their chemistry sweet and their predicament very enjoyable. Arthur is somehow a 20-something virgin. The Chief is understandably afraid of being seen as despoiling his best friend’s “kid brother ” So… no actual sex occurs until quite late in the book. While it IS there, it’s not particularly graphic. (After all, there are children around) It’s primarily used as a means of furthering the plot and the developing seriousness of their relationship.
Voice veterans Greg Boudreaux and Joel Leslie ably narrate this audiobook. Greg reads the chapters that are from Derrick’s (the Navy Chief’s) POV. Joel Leslie does the honor of voicing those of slightly younger Arthur. Their voices really fit the dialog of these characters and add some extra depth to their character’s development. The narration of the prose parts is clear and this adaptation really adds to the overall experience. The many supporting characters (including a number of children, aunts, uncles, parents, and sailor buddies) all make this a richer overall experience.
It’s also available to listen to for free on HOOPLA.
RATING: 
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