Review: Chief’s Mess by L.A. Witt

Title: Chief’s Mess (Anchor Point: Book Three)

Author: L.A. Witt

Length: 291 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Chief’s Mess was not a great read, but not a terrible one either. Fans of the author will probably enjoy it, but I wouldn’t recommend it for new readers.

Reviewed By: Queue

Blurb: Anthony Talbot is in Anchor Point to visit family, but after two days of strife, he needs a break. A local gay bar is calling his name.

When Chief Noah Jackson sees that red head stroll into the club, he immediately wants him. They’re perfectly matched, and before long, they’re burning up the sheets. Noah can’t get enough. Anthony can’t stay in Oregon for long, but as soon as he leaves, he’s counting down the days until he can fly back for more. And between his increasingly frequent visits, there’s always phone sex, sexting, webcams . . . anything they can get.

But Noah’s got a carefully crafted façade, and Anthony can’t help noticing the slowly forming cracks. The scent of alcohol in the middle of the day. The extra drinks at dinner. The hint of red in his eyes. Anthony knows what it means. He doesn’t want to believe it, but he’s seen this before, and there’s no denying it. If Noah doesn’t get his downward spiral under control, he’s going to lose both his career and the first man he’s ever really loved.

Review: My rating for this book changed a lot as I read it. There were times I enjoyed it and times I didn’t. Overall, it was a bit of a mess, disjointed, and L.A. Witt seemed to use sex as filler when it definitely wasn’t needed.

No doubt Witt writes super-hot manly loving, and the first few times Noah and Anthony had sex, I was enthralled. I appreciate the fact that these guys hook up right away, which is realistic though not always what readers like. For lots of gay men, it’s sex first, emotions later.

Noah and Anthony’s relationship is a slow build, mainly because they lived in separate states and had to commit to a long distance relationship. However, for the first two thirds of the books, there is very little conflict, just a lot of sex. A LOT. So much that I started skimming. Not a good thing.

When the conflict finally kicked in, I thought it was coming out of nowhere because I either hadn’t read the blurb, or had forgotten about it. I didn’t know part of the story involved Noah being an alcoholic, so when the issue came up, it was a surprise. However, as it continued I could see the signs Witt had peppered throughout the earlier parts of the book. It was because of those littles things that I increased the rating to three stars.

Chief’s Mess was not a great read, but not a terrible one either. Fans of the author will probably enjoy it, but I wouldn’t recommend it for new readers.

You can buy Chief’s Mess here:
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