Better Not Pout

By: Annabeth Albert

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

One hard-nosed military police officer. One overly enthusiastic elf. One poorly timed snowstorm.

Is it a recipe for disaster? Or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for holiday romance?

Teddy MacNally loves Christmas and everything that goes along with it. When he plays an elf for his charity’s events, he never expects to be paired with a Scrooge masquerading as Santa Claus. His new mission: make the holiday-hating soldier believe he was born to say ho ho ho.

Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki doesn’t do Santa, but he’s army to his blood. When his CO asks an unusual favor, Nick of course obliges. The elf to his Kris Kringle? Tempting. Too tempting - Nick’s only in town for another month, and Teddy’s too young, too cheerful, and too nice for a one-night stand.

The slow, sexy make-out sessions while Teddy and Nick are alone and snowbound, though, feel like anything but a quick hookup. As a stress-free holiday fling turns into Christmas all year round, Teddy can’t imagine his life without Nick. And Nick’s days on the base may be coming to a close, but he doesn’t plan on leaving anything, or anyone, behind.

This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

©2018 Annabeth Albert (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Jaw dropping

I love absolutely everything about this! They narrator’s different tones and the way the story just seems to flow! It’s incredible and I just wanna reread it already !!

Unexpected love

Two sensitive men find each other in unusual circumstances, and when a fling turns into more, sparks fly. One is sensitive with an internal knowing, the other, older but not necessarily wiser when it comes to affairs of the heart. Good heat that's not over done. Narrator was very good, and he has a nice deep voice.

So entertaining

Between Annabeth Albert’s words and Sean Crisden’s performance I can’t say enough how much I loved this!! Every character had their own voice and depth, the performance making it so easy to fall into their world. I laughed, I sighed, I absolutely loved every second of it and never wanted it to end.

Sweet

So sweet, but just the right amount of sweet. And hot and funny..
And very enjoyable narrated, highly recommendable.

Sweet and loving

Great book that was sweet and hot with low angst. These two make a great couple! Fast movingwith a quick realization of love.

Totally packed an emotional punch, in a good way.

I went into this one expecting it to be more lighthearted from the premise, but as the story progressed, it was anything but. And that’s totally fine too, because the range of emotions was as exquisite as it was bittersweet—and since the description states there’s a HEA, I don’t feel it’s spoilers to say that obviously yes everything ends up in a good spot. But getting there made me FEEL, a lot. This is the second of Annabeth Albert’s books, and once again its emotional depth and feeling has me literally tearing up. This one was a solid 4/4.5 stars for me at the beginning, but by the end, it had totally won me over for a full 5 stars.

Spectacular, Sean Crisden at His All Time Best!

Wow, the best holiday read of the 2018 Holiday Season. This was a truly wonderful story, complete with all the romance, humor, and hot, sweaty lovin' Annabeth Albert does so well.

Also, I made the very wise decision to enjoy Better Not Pout in audio narrated by Sean Crisden. I usually depend on him for an excellent performance, but this was absolutely spectacular. His voices for the two MCs were great, and he brought a great variety in all the extra supporting characters too.

Annabeth Albert always writes a crazy sexy love scene, but narrated by Sean Crisden? Well I thought my earbuds were going to melt. Gah, it was awesome :)

I fell hard for gruff and grouchy Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki, he was so ready for some love - and sweet, chipper Teddy is the perfect solution. They're adorable together and smokin' hot chemistry!

I'm happy to say the ending was absolutely perfect.

Sweet holiday story - with spice.

Annabeth Albert is a master
Storyteller. Her character profiles are solid. The story is engaging. This is romance with enough angst to feel realistic without being overdone. It is good to find a book with two decent characters who seem surprised to find someone, even when they’ve mostly given up. Makes it worth the struggles to find their Happy Ever After. Sean Crisden adds his own layer to the narration, and makes certain this will be worth more than one listen.

heading

Cute sexy story and incredible narration as always from Sean Crisden. Made my day.

Great Christmas Read!

I was looking for a Christmas M/M romantic story and by the grass of God, I found this gem. I love Nick and Teddy so much. The cute elf and his sexy Santa made my day. Thank you Annebeth Albert for a great holiday read and Sean Crisswn for the phenomenal narrating. I’m looking forward to reading more of your works Annabeth Albert.