Narrated by Greg Boudreaux
Rough Terrain is the seventh and final book in Annabeth Albert’s consistently entertaining Out of Uniform series. It’s always hard to say goodbye to favourite characters and the worlds they inhabit, but it’s a series I revisit regularly in audio as all the books are excellently performed, making it well worth investing the extra time needed to listen as opposed to read them.
We met Renzo “Rooster” (he hates the stupid nickname!) Bianchi in earlier books in the series, and if you’ve read or listened to any of them, you’ll remember he makes fitness videos which have gained him a large online following. He’s good-looking, super fit (well, he’s a SEAL, so I suppose he’d have to be!) and comes from a large, close-knit Italian-American family he loves very much and misses a lot; to that end, he’s recently applied for a posting nearer home, but doesn’t really expect it to happen. His family members all accept his bisexuality, although he knows his mother secretly hopes that when he does eventually settle down it’ll be with a woman so he can get started on giving her (yet more) grandchildren.
But in spite of all the things he’s got going for him, Renzo isn’t particularly confident when it comes to sex and relationships. Sex hasn’t always been a pleasant experience for him (for reasons made clear later on) and he’s been burned more than once by people who were interested more in what he represented – a hot, tough Navy SEAL – than they were in him as a person. But even so, he can’t help thinking about the cute guy at the local smoothie place who suggested that perhaps he’d be interested in them finding “some trouble” together.
Canaan Finley was on the verge of his big break with the rock band of which he was the drummer when he received the news that his grandmother was dying of cancer, and he decided to quit the band’s European tour and fly home to care for her and be with her in her final weeks and months. Canaan now lives near his grandfather, is studying to become a geriatric nurse and works part-time at the smoothie bar on the military base. It’s not the most exciting job but it does at least mean he gets to quietly ogle the guys who come in after their workouts wanting protein shakes ;)
It’ll come as no surprise when I say that Renzo does decide to take Canaan up on his offer of “trouble” – although he’s wary and his insecurities threaten to end their night out before it gets started. He’s worried Canaan is a SEAL chaser (he sort of is, or at least, has been in the past) and tries to keep him a little bit at arm’s length, but that soon proves incredibly difficult. Canaan is funny and charming and incredibly intuitive, somehow sensing what Renzo is comfortable with, and they spend a great evening together. Although Canaan makes it clear he’s definitely open to taking things further, he doesn’t push and is clearly just happy to be with Renzo and to enjoy the night for what it is. Things sour a little however, when he at last gets up the courage to ask Renzo for the favour that’s been hovering in the back of his mind for days. His former bandmates have invited him on an outdoorsy weekend, and he’d really like to go and spend time with them all. The trouble is that they’re all going with their significant others, and his ex – who is a total git – insists that Canaan needs to bring someone with him. After saying he’ll probably go alone over and over, he finally snapped and hinted that he had a boyfriend – a SEAL from the base – which is how he comes to ask Renzo if he’d consider going with him as his (fake) boyfriend. This only confirms Renzo’s worst fears; he really likes Canaan, but the guy has just proved to be yet another someone who wants something from him, and even though Canaan does his best to assure him that he wants to spend time with Renzo regardless of whether he goes on the trip or not, Renzo is hurt.
Well… of course Renzo goes on the trip, but not without telling himself that he’s only going because his superiors have more or less ordered him to take some leave, and that he’s going along as Canaan’s friend and nothing more. The trouble is that Canaan is just too hard to resist; his gentle flirtatiousness, forthright manner and sunny disposition draw Renzo in, and he finds himself loosening up and really talking to him about stuff he’s never discussed with anyone. He’s still mistrustful about the whole fake boyfriend thing though, and doesn’t quite believe in Canaan’s assertions that he’s interested in Renzo beyond the weekend, but when they arrive and he meets the other band mates, he finds himself glad he’s there for Canaan. He hates the way they (especially his douchebag ex), treat Canaan as though he’s somehow losing out while Canaan discovers that Renzo is everything he wants in a real boyfriend, someone caring, protective and supportive of him and his ambitions and life-choices.
The camping-trip-gone-horribly-wrong aspect of this story (as mentioned in the synopsis) is actually quite a small part of it. Their time “trapped in the wilderness” provides the opportunity for both men to talk more and for them – and us – to learn about the events that have shaped them, as well as for the author to strengthen the deep emotional connection she’s already established between them, but I couldn’t help feeling it was a little info-dumpy. What’s more interesting is the way the author then refocuses the story on the real problems that face anyone in a relationship with someone in the military – distance, long absences – and how both men have to juggle their different responsibilities and find compromises that will work for them. Most of all though, I loved the kindness and mutual respect and understanding that developed between them that showed clearly that they were going to make their relationship work.
As I said at the beginning, the Out of Uniform books are all superbly narrated so whichever one of them you pick up (and they all work as standalones), you’re guaranteed an excellent listening experience. The first three books used three different performers, but since Wheels Up (book four) we’ve been treated to awesomeness that is Greg Boudreaux, who has done sterling work in each book in the series he’s narrated. I listen to a lot of audiobooks – some of them for review here and some not – and to a lot of different narrators, many of them extremely good. But even when I’ve listened to something featuring an excellent narrator, I’ll turn to one narrated by Mr. Boudreaux and will find that indefinable “something more” about it that puts him in a class of his own. It’s not just technical ability – with someone this good, that’s a given; it’s the way he gets under the skin of the characters and into their heads to highlight even the smallest emotion, or the fact that his delivery and speech patterns are so natural that they sound exactly the way you imagine they do when you see the words on the page. Whatever that quality is, it’s something that keeps me coming back for more time after time.
Rough Terrain is a beautifully developed, tender, steamy and well-written love story, and a wonderful addition to what’s been a really enjoyable series. I highly recommend it.
Caz
Buy Rough Terrain by Annabeth Albert on Amazon
