Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE: Up All Night

SERIES:  Mount Hope

AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 282 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 28, 2024

BLURB:  

What happened to my predictable life?

I had a stable life as a fire captain in Seattle, married to one of my best friends and raising two awesome kids. Now, my kids are grown, and my marriage is toast. I’m solidly past forty and back in my tiny hometown of Mount Hope, Oregon, filling in as a firefighter. My future is one big question mark keeping me up at night.

Also keeping me up? The short-order cook at Honey’s Hotcake Hut.

Denver might be close to my age, but we’re total opposites. The former rock roadie runs from stability, never puts down roots, and lives for the moment. Point in case, we barely speak before he invites me into his shower.

I’ve never been with a man, but my fresh start has me trying all sorts of new things—including Denver’s shower.

REVIEW:   

Sean is back in his hometown after a divorce from his best friend, mother of his children and climate scientist Maxine.  He’s got two kids who are off on their own and he’s sold his dream house in Seattle and has returned to town.  One of his besties, Eric, has lost his husband recently and is a single dad dealing with a lot.  Sean and his other best friends,  Tony and Jonas are there to support him.  Sean is taking a temporary gig with the fire department since it’s his dad’s last year as Chief and they need a maternity cover.

Denver has been in Mount Hope for a while – thanks to Eric’s deceased husband, the doctor who did his emergency appendectomy.  He doesn’t put down roots, but he’s been happy enough here.  The new ginger fireman does something for him though.  When the opportunity presents itself, he offers the hot new guy a ride home – and a shower.  Well more than a shower 😉  He’s shocked to find out that Sean hasn’t been with a guy before and also that Sean likes to be told what to do a bit.  But he’s not up to be anyone’s experiment.  Except maybe this short term fling isn’t a terrible idea.

Well despite the idea that things will be casual, it seems like feelings do get involved 😀  The more time they spend together, the more the begin to think casual and temporary is not the way this thing is going.  They have plenty of good sex, but it’s way more than that.

This is a strong opening for a new series from Annabeth Albert.   I’ll be honest that I really love her small town Oregon set stories.  Oregon is literally my favorite place in this country 🙂  I also really like to see stories with mature characters who have lived a little bit of life before getting together.  In this case, the lives couldn’t be more different.  Denver has issues for sure given his rather vagabond lifestyle and his past relationship with someone closeted.  Sean is on a new path after his unwelcome divorce and move home from Seattle.  They trip each other’s wire as it were, but there is so much more beneath the surface.  Sean hasn’t acted on his desires in the past – married to his HS sweetheart for a couple of decades and raising kids and moving up the ranks at the Fire Department.  There attraction sort of ignites something in both of them.  It’s not an easy path given Denver’s issues and Sean trying to figure out his future, but as usual with this author, the road to their future feels authentic and realistic.

I loved the secondary characters here – especially Tammy from the diner and Sean’s best friends who have all somehow ended up starting a new path in their lives roughly 20 years after being roommates while at community college.  I loved how those guys came together to support their friend Eric, a recent widower with 4 kids – three of them still teenagers.  The one thing I didn’t see coming was the reaction of Sean’s son to his new relationship – but I’m sure this is not outside the realm of reality.  Kids tend to see their family members a certain way, and when things change (and especially after a divorce) there is bound to be tension.

Lastly I wouldn’t call the epilogue an epilogue really as it’s more of an intro to the next book.  That being said, I’m anxiously awaiting the next book.  I enjoyed this and can’t wait for more stories in Mount Hope.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon