RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Stranded with Desire' by Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed
Title: Stranded with Desire
Author: Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed
Published: August 1, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Bree Archer
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 228 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Coming Out; Family Drama; HEA
Rick R. Reed is a 2016 GayRomLit Featured Author
BLURB:
When their plane crashed, their desire took flight.
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, the two men 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.
Click Above for Vivien Dean's Guest Post with Exclusive Excerpt
If you enjoy this book you might also enjoy Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
I must say that I found Stranded with Desire, part of Dreamspinner Press’ Dreamspun Desires collection, and co-penned by Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed, to be an engaging, feel good romance.
For those of you who like your love stories with lovable heroes, very little angst, a happily ever after, and no cliffhanger, the Dreamspun Desires collection may just be the ticket for you.
Stranded with Desire took me back to when I was a young teenager and my grandma finally entrusted me to read her coveted Harlequin romances. I would take them home and hide from my parents in my bedroom devouring them like they were some forbidden fruit. Looking back now the sex scenes were a minor taste of what I would eventually embark upon, but at the time, I felt like I had hit the jackpot.
Stranded with Desire is much like your grandma’s Harlequin. And that is totally meant as a compliment!
Yes it is your typical trope: Two men, one out and proud, the other hiding who he truly is from the world. Both carrying a torch for the other. Plunk them into the middle of circumstances where their guards are down, in this case a plane crash in the middle of the mountains, and go from there.
But what is special about Stranded with Desire is the writing. I am always on the hunt for that book that touches all my senses. I want to see, hear, feel, taste, and smell exactly as the characters do.
This book meets all those expectations and more with writing so engaging it just absorbs you, takes you into the characters’ world and surrounds you.
It almost makes me ashamed to admit that I have yet to read a single work from either author, which will be rectified, so I can’t say whose style peaks where. But I can say together, they are superb.
They do such a great job that I was not even highly disappointed that there is little sex between the pages. In fact the sex that does happen is sixty percent into the book and doesn’t end as you would imagine. But you know what, it works for these characters. It is absolutely…..them! Some may find the men not manly, gritty enough. Hey, I admit I like my “guy guys”. Some may believe that gay men wouldn’t be so sappy about their passion. But why not? As a married woman I have seen my husband express deep emotional feeling, so why would I not believe two men would do the same. It’s love for God’s sake. Love is love!
Overall Stranded with Desire might be your standard gay guy falls in love with supposed straight man. It might even be a little “insta-love”, after all it does take place over a four day period. But there is something elegant about it. Something in the way that it is crafted that endears you to Colby and Maine, to their attraction, their story, and makes you yearn for them to be together. As Dreamspinner says of this Dreamspun collection, “they will leave you grinning”; Stranded with Desire did just that!
An advanced reader copy of Stranded with Desire was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, in exchange for our fair and honest opinion.
Vivien Dean is a firm believer that love doesn’t care about gender. That’s why her titles encompass both GLBT and het, erotic and sweet, as well as a wide variety of genres. After growing up in the snowy and isolated Midwest, she went off in search of her creative muse. She performed on stage, wrote and directed indie films in Orlando, then met her British soulmate online. One wedding, two children, and ten addresses later, she resides in the Bay Area where it’s easy to indulge in her favorite pastimes—good theater, great movies, and amazing food.
Vivien is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner and collaborated with Pepper Espinoza to write as Jamie Craig for five years.
E-mail: vivien_dean@yahoo.com
Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue Moon Cafe). He is also a Rainbow Award Winner for both Caregiver and Raining Men. Lambda Literary Review has called him, "a writer that doesn't disappoint." Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever "at work on another novel."
Email: rickrreedbooks@gmail.com
