Colby LaSalle is an out gay man in his mid 20s. He’s the executive assistant to Maine Braxton, CEO of Braxton Enterprises, a sexy engaged man in his late 30s. Despite Maine being engaged to a beautiful woman, Colby pines a bit for Maine. Their few years of close acquaintance has kindled a burning flame Colby can’t put out. They are in Seattle for a business trip when Maine is warned about some espionage being planned back in Chicago. He instructs Colby to make plans to immediately return home, using their corporate jet, but to not tell anyone.

When the plane goes down in the Cascades a couple of hours later Colby and Maine believe they are truly alone, with no one knowing they need a rescue. Two days on a mountainside with heavy rains and little food or shelter is all Maine needs to confess his closeted sexuality and deep love for Colby—who’s both excited and agonized. While he’s overjoyed that his affection is returned, Colby is less than convinced that Maine will both break off his engagement and come out of the closet.

And, with the threat of exposure further compromising Maine’s stewardship of his family business, Colby is sure his only options might be as a secret side piece. But, Maine’s a decent man, and he knows that Colby is worth loving out loud. I liked the tension that existed between these two positions, especially when we get to meet Maine’s fiancé, who truly is a great lady. Maine and Colby are both so sweet, and good men. It was easy to root for them connecting and making a path forward together, especially following the danger of their ordeal in the mountains.

I liked this story a lot. I had a few issues with continuity, which I think may stem from two thing. First, I’m a native Chicagoan and have lots of experience with the commutes in and around O’Hare—a bit of the driving stuff made me shake my head. Second, I wondered about some details of time being a bit off, in terms of word choice, where it seemed Colby’s employment was only two…or a few…years, give or take. Beyond that, it’s an engaging survival romance, with a sassy coming out storyline. Happy endings all around.

I've gotten to read a few books by Reed now, so I was excited to read his latest effort, and this is my first by co-author Dean. The story follows two men who end up on a business trip from hell when their plane crashes. During their fight to survive, they finally uncover their buried feelings. There are some pretty gripping action scenes in the beginning, but the story quickly gives way to the burgeoning romance. The adventure works, yet I wish there had been more character development or scenes to show why these two are meant to be. We get told a bit more than we are shown and since it is the major plot line, it made for an uneven ride at times.

I liked this book a lot. It was a very light read. There was definitely some angst but not too much and it was mostly resolved quickly. The writing was good, the story was interesting and well-paced and I liked the characters. There was mutual pining, a bit of push-and-pull, the sex scenes were hot and I felt that the characters had a really good connection. I thought Colby could have been developed a bit more, compared to Maine, but I enjoyed the two of them together. A big plus for me was the portrayal of Maine's fiancée. I thought she was a very positive character, very realistic and I liked that she wasn't villainised. Speaking of villains, the villain of this story was definitely a bit of a caricature, but he didn't have a lot of on-page time so it didn't bother me that much. And I definitely wanted to know more about Rooster. All in all, it was a sexy, feel-good book and I'll probably reread it sometime.

Actual rating: 3.5🌟

This story is a boss-employee 'falling in love' trope. As the synopsis stated, things changed when Maine and his assistant Colby experienced a plane crash and ended up in a forest somewhere.

When I was browsing Netgalley, this one caught my attention because of the cover and then eventually the synopsis.

It was an okay read but due to not that much information or scenes with Maine and Colby before the plane crash, I wasn't that much concern about them post-crash. I feel disconnected while they were trying to survive. ✌

The parts about their dream/fantasy towards each other is a bit long and I feel that they didn't add that much on the story. Though they are okay and kinda helped establish the chemistry between the two.

Hart and Helen doesn't make sense to me. Again not that much scenes with them for the characters to be sufficiently established. They somehow ended up one dimensional for me.

I hope the book was longer to know more of the characters. Still an okay and fast read.👍

***Thanks to NineStar Press, LLC for granting me access of this book via Netgalley for an honest review.***

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a sweet, short read. While I liked it overall there were a things that could be improved. I think the characters could have been a little more fleshed out and a few of their heart to hearts felt a bit formal.
I was also a little disappointed that at the end of the day Maine cheated on his fiancee instead of breaking it of with her first. While I understand it was supposed to show how invested he was in the relationship with Colby and he ended the engagement right the next morning it still felt wrong. I don't think waiting one more night would have hurt the story overall.