Book Reviews

Book Blurb

CEO Maine Braxton and his invaluable assistant, Colby, don’t realize they share a deep secret: they’re in love—with each other. That secret may have never come to light but for a terrifying plane crash in the Cascade Mountains that changes everything.

 

In a struggle for survival, they brave bears, storms, and a life-threatening flood to make it out of the wilderness alive. The proximity to death makes them realize the importance of love over propriety. Confessions emerge. Passions ignite. They escape the wilds renewed and openly in love.

 

When they return to civilization, though, forces are already plotting to snuff out their short-lived romance and ruin everything both have worked so hard to achieve.

 

 

First edition published by Dreamspinner Press, August 2016.

 

Book Review

‘Stranded with Desire’ contains a couple of tropes I like: “personal assistant and boss are secretly in love with each other” is one, and “plane crash victims fight for survival” is the other. But that is not all this novel offers. There is some extra suspense in the form of subterfuge, betrayal, and corporate intrigue. I also really liked the great set of secondary characters: the secretive, loyal Leo who only appears via phone calls, the rugged pilot Gus who likes to be called Rooster, and Maine’s fiancée who remains a nice and decent woman despite the unexpected shock she experiences.
    
Colby is a great assistant. I loved that his background is as a theater actor, and that he was hired for his ability to put up an unflappable front when people challenge his boss, the CEO. It doesn’t hurt that Colby also turns out to be quite bright businesswise and can think on his feet. There is one further ingredient to his dedication, one that he doesn’t intend to share with his boss, Maine – ever. Colby has fallen in love with Maine despite the fact that there is no hope of them ever being together. Maine is, after all, straight and engaged, and Colby is not a homewrecker.

Maine is a hardworking businessman who has weathered many an attempt from people trying to get rid of him so they can take over the family-owned company. Maine tries very hard to be the man his father and his family need him to be, and as such, his own desires never even make it into the equation that describes his life. He loves working with Colby, and if he has begun to fantasize about more, that is his alone to deal with. Maine has decided he can’t be gay, and since his family and business are more important than his own happiness, he will marry Helen and focus on making the company a success.

With these two stubborn men, each intent on protecting the status quo, I don’t think anything short of a major disaster would have been able to shake them up enough to switch on their brains and think about what they were doing to themselves. So when their plane crashes, and they have to face the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains unprotected, a lot of things come to light. Colby opens up, Maine admits his most hidden desires, and they exchange some truths and an incendiary kiss. All of this sets in motion a change in Maine’s attitude that finally allows him to consider his happiness as well as his career and his family’s needs.

If you like self-sacrificing lovers who need a major wake-up call to realize that what they’ve been doing is not going to make them happy, if you believe that two men who work well together deserve love as much as the next guy, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read that is full of suspense, passion, and quite a few surprises and revelations, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 55400 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	30-November-2020
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://ninestarpress.com/product/stranded-with-desire/