CrabbyPatty's Reviews > At Attention

We first met Apollo Floros near the end of Off Base - the tattooed bad-ass warrior ... with a minivan and twin daughters. In At Attention we get his story and oooh, it's a great read packed with hot dirty mirrored sex (as in “I want to watch you come.” Apollo turned them so that Dylan was sitting facing the mirrored closet doors. “Fuck, you are hot.”) as well as deep emotion as Apollo finally coming to terms with his grief over the death of his husband, Neal.

When Apollo's mother / live-in babysitter goes on a two-month trip to Greece, Apollo's BF Dustin suggests his brother Dylan as the perfect solution to Apollo's child-care problem. Apollo remembers Dylan as a teenager, but is awestruck to meet the adult Dylan (and his awesome ass) in the so-very-attractive flesh: "High. Tight. Round. Attached to muscular legs poking out of board shorts, the kind of legs that suggested a serious investment in a sport or fitness."

Apollo's got issues - his desire to organize and control, his protectiveness for Sophia and Chloe ("he’d probably still be cutting up his girls’ food when they were fifteen"), his fear of letting go of the past - but Dylan is the perfect person to support Apollo as he finally learns to grieve for Neal and begin constructing his future with Dylan.

I gotta admit that I really liked the dynamic between Zack and Pike in Off Base (the first book in the Out of Uniform series) and didn't feel quite the same connection between Apollo and Dylan, but I realize I'm probably in the minority with that opinion. Also I felt there was a lag in the middle of the book, but I liked how the ending pulls everything together. 4 solid stars for At Attention.

I received an ARC from Carina Press, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews