Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Service Before Self
SERIES: Standalone
AUTHOR: JL Gribble
PUBLISHER: Limani Press
LENGTH: 264 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2024
BLURB:
The biggest threat to their love story isn’t just military regulations. It’s their own history.
As Alex counts down the days to a massive promotion, he hopes it will allow him to improve the life he shares with his sister and finally make up for her sacrifices during his childhood. The two of them have lost enough to know they are the only family they need.
Falling for an officer might screw up all his carefully laid plans.
A year after leaving his ex, Finn still struggles to live life on his terms. One unexpected hookup changes everything. Seeing the sergeant in uniform the morning after should have been the end of it, but their tentative friendship soon turns into something more.
That Alex sees the best in everything may be a feature, not a bug, but Finn has been burned by military relationships before. When Finn’s ex-husband discovers their connection and threatens their future together, they’re forced to decide whether their growing bond is worth upending the lives they’ve worked so hard to build.
Alex already has one foot out the door, and Finn is trapped by his past.
They’ll have to challenge family, uncertainty, and the U.S. Air Force to make this work.
Service Before Self is an M/M contemporary romance featuring grumpy/sunshine vibes, a forbidden(ish) relationship, and unconventional heroes—because the other 99% of the military deserves love, too. This is a standalone novel with a happily ever after and no cliffhanger.
REVIEW:
Like many dates, the one between Finn and Alex began with an App. Unfortunately, after they discovered their compatibility was fire, the day job came into force and burned a possible forever. But embers remained – all they needed was fanning.
Service Before Self was a sweet story with lovely men that I enjoyed, but one that I also felt a bit cheated on. The blurb says that this is a military story – and technically it is, but it was more of a background feature, using the uniform, rules, and regs rather than life and maneuvers.
The story is told in the third person with alternating chapters from the viewpoints of Finn and Alex. The first 20% provides background information on the characters, which, although pertinent to the tale, the volume of it tempted me to skim-read. Any character’s history is often best spread through the narrative and doesn’t need to be restricted to the opening chapters. While the blurb says that Finn and Alex’s history plays a big part in the narrative, it could have been presented better. Also, the blurb uttered that drool-worthy word, military, and I wanted the boys in uniform – which I had to wait for.
The blurb doesn’t mention Alex and Finn’s profession other than Air Force. I understand that many worthy professions are within the military infrastructure, manned by huge-hearted, loyal men and women proud to serve their country. However (and I’m getting into broken record territory), when any blurb says military, I – probably wrongly but tough – expect a pilot, SEAL, Marine, etc., and some uniformed action. Neither was there a pilot nor action. Despite these expectations, a military story deserves military action, e.g. I loved M.A.S.H. It can highlight the essential service these awesome people provide.
Finn is a nurse embroiled in a messy divorce from an absolute piece of work of an ex who uses smarmy gestures, and veiled threats to influence an outcome. Finn is also restoring his house to a home. Understandably, given his history, he fears what else he could lose and how others could be affected, and acts accordingly. Alex is an IT specialist with a huge heart and a hopeful outlook, willing to do anything for those he loves. He’s a man who would give away his last Rolo. Together, they must battle temptation vs reason and reframe emotions to navigate their way to their HEA. With that goal – whatever happens between Finn and Alex, there always seems to be a, but – yes, I mean but, not butt – which made for some interesting reading. Towards the end, there was more military inclusion, which was wonderful. However, up to that point, I found the events were somewhat typical for the genre and could have been set in other government agencies.
To reiterate my earlier words, Service Before Self was a sweet read with lovely characters, but the story used the military as a uniform and convenient set of rules, which is why I felt cheated.
RATING: 
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