Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

Collin inherited his father’s outdoor excursion company upon his dad’s death. Collin remembers the beautiful land fondly from when he was a child, but life took a different turn and he ended up a married teacher in England. Now, he is alone after his husband left him, with a failing company, and things are looking bleak. This tour will be Collin’s last before he sells the land, and so he is hoping it is a good one. Unfortunately, the small group rafting trip ends up crumbling, leaving him with only two guests: Spencer, who is sweet, but terrified by just about everything and woefully unprepared for the trip; and Max, a grumpy guy who just ended things with his boyfriend.

Collin is trying to make the best of the trip, but Spencer and Max are constantly at odds with one another. Max can’t seem to help pushing Spencer’s buttons and the two can’t stop bickering. Things take a turn for the worse when a sudden flash flood leaves the guys stranded, but fortunately Collin’s cabin is not far and they have some shelter.

As the men are trapped in the cabin together, slowly the ice thaws between Spencer and Max. The guys begin to get to know one another, and there is a clear attraction among them all that they begin to explore. But Max, Spencer, and Collin are three very different men at different places in the lives. None of them think this can be any more than a short fling as they ride out the storm. But despite their plans to move on after the trip is over, the three men may just find they have built a connection worth keeping.

So one story by three authors I just love; you can bet I was eager to grab this one. While I am a big fan of all three authors, I’ll admit I was really curious to see how a three-way collaboration would go, given it is something I have never read. I worried the book would read choppy or the authors’ styles wouldn’t integrate, but I am pleased to say this one reads really seamlessly. Even being familiar with each author, I really couldn’t tell the individual contributions, and instead this just reads like one engaging story.

The first portion of the book focuses on the guys getting to know one another as they hike through the woods. We get introduced to each of the characters (who each have their own POV chapters) and learn their backstories and what has brought them to this point. There is also a lot of conflict between Max and Spencer. While Spencer is definitely in over his head (he is really not the outdoorsman), there is no denying that Max is kind of an ass to him. He just can’t stop mocking Spencer and giving him a hard time. While I understand why Max was struggling himself, and therefore taking it out on Spencer, it didn’t really endear him to me to see him behaving so meanly. But I did enjoy this aspect of the story as we learn about the men and see their hiking adventure.

The story then takes a turn when they are all stranded in the cabin. This is sort of the rainy equivalent of a snowbound story (one of my favorite tropes), as the guys are stuck together with no power and must make the best of it. Once they get to the cabin, it is like the switch is thrown and suddenly the men are acting on their simmering attraction. I wish I had a better sense of what made Max suddenly turn around and not only be kind to Spencer, but appear to really like him. But I did really enjoy watching these guys fall into bed together in various combinations. This portion is pretty sex heavy, but we also get to see each of the men open up to the others and share more about themselves. Each man is interested in the other two, but they all assume the other two guys would be better off without them. There is also some fun sweetness here with some animal hijinks, including Collin’s one-eyed, three-legged pet goat Robert.

Things come together fairly fast for the guys, but I think it all worked. I love forced proximity stories and I really enjoyed the way the authors brought these three very different men together. Each was lonely and they all had sort of given up, so it is rewarding to see them all come together so happily. If you enjoy menage stories with a bit of enemies to lovers thrown in, plus a rainstorm, cute animals, and only one bed(!), definitely check this one out.