Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Need You Close
SERIES: Second Chance Ranch
AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 237 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2026
BLURB:
Friends don’t let friends fall for each other.
Two of my closest friends have recently paired off with partners of their own, and I need a new friend in the worst way. I’m busy carrying on my father’s large-animal veterinary practice and our family legacy, but the loneliness is getting to me.
Carson Jennings might be my friend’s younger brother, but we hit it off immediately upon his return to Lovelorn, Colorado. Our mutual army background gives me a great deal of empathy for Carson’s recent injuries in the line of duty.
As our friendship grows through visits to a veterans’ support group to truck shopping to dealing with a sick rescue horse, our time together fills long-ignored holes in my life. The problem? My love life is one of those empty spaces.
My attraction to Carson is undeniable, especially once I discover that Carson shares my interest. One kiss tumbles into a passion neither of us has known before. I’m scared and worried because I don’t want to ruin this wonderful thing we’re building.
However, Carson is far braver than me. He won’t wait forever for me to leap from friends to the sort of love that lasts a lifetime. Can I heal my wounded heart before it’s too late?
Need You Close is book three in beloved author Annabeth Albert’s small-town Colorado cowboy romance series with Yellowstone meets Schitt’s Creek vibes. This return to the ranch features an unlikely friendship between a highly capable horse veterinarian and a newly injured military vet turned ranch hand. Hurt/comfort, new friends-to-lovers, mature main characters, disability rep, mental health rep, found family, and big feels with a standalone HEA guaranteed!
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series. While technically it can be read as a standalone, I think the first book sets a lot of context with the ranch and the previous couples, so there are spoilers for those books.
Carson is the younger brother of Colt, the MC from the first book who is married to Maverick, the owner of Second Chance Ranch. Mav and Colt are now married and living on the ranch with Colt’s teenage daughter and Mav’s niece. He’s been in the military but was injured and shipped back stateside. Not only did he have physical injuries, but he suffered a traumatic brain injury. He’s had to learn to do everything all over again. He’s struggling with speech, but he’s really chafing under the protective care and hovering of his family. He needs to get back to being a responsible adult. He’s got experience with horses, so he takes a job at the ranch. He’s still struggling but working with the horses and in the barn help his confidence.
He soon meets Jude, the local large animal vet. Well re-meets him. Jude is also a local who went into the military and then came back home to go to vet school and eventually take over his father’s vet practice. He has a partner in the business, but he’s very busy with his job. He also is still dealing with the grief of his parents death. He works long hours and hasn’t really tried to dated, despite being out as pan. He’s not convinced anyone would put up with his work/life balance. He’s the one person who doesn’t assume that Carson can’t do things – which Carson greatly appreciates.
Carson is good with the horses – especially the new rescues. He enjoys working with the horse and with Jude. Jude convinces him to join him for a veterans group meeting in Durango. They seem to have a lot on common and a friendship begins to grow. Jude is careful to not push Carson – who he isn’t even sure is interested. But Carson is interested, despite not being out. Both men have some relationship baggage that means they aren’t eager to jump into anything and they stay in the friendzone for a while.
Eventually their relationship moves on to a physical one. Carson and Jude have some obstacles to overcome though with Jude’s assumptions and Carson’s ongoing recovery and being open about their relationship.
I enjoyed this story of these two guys who really deserved their HEA. There was some miscommunication 0r sort of lack of communication at one point, but luckily they were adults about it and fairly quickly got their acts together. I liked that Grayson and Adler and Mav and Colt did not overtake the story. This truly is Carson and Jude’s path to love. Despite some heavy issues here, this is still a pretty low angst story where two good men find happiness and comfort in each other. Their friendship was solid and they were able to see the potential for more. Recommended.
RATING: 
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