Title: Stranded with Desire
Author: Rick R. Reed, Vivien Dean
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: November 30, 2020
Length: 55400
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, businessmen, friends to lovers, plane crash, wilderness survival, slow burn, m/m romance
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Synopsis
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.
Dream or Nightmare?
Exclusive Excerpt from Stranded with Desire by Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed
As if a plane crash weren’t enough of an obstacle to their hidden but ardent love for one another, there are also other forces at work to keep the two men apart, as the following excerpt illustrates.
EXCERPT
They were alone. Somewhere nearby was the sound of a babbling brook. Colby basked in the warmth of Maine’s embrace as he turned his head to peer through the window. It all came rushing back.
They were in a cabin in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The cabin, an A-frame chalet, was all weathered stucco and worn beams of dark fir on the outside. It was barely noticeable, tucked in among the towering trees. Inside, the cabin was rough pine and fieldstone, with the feel of a hunting lodge.
And he and Maine were in the bedroom tucked into the eaves at the top of the dwelling. Nestled like this beneath slanting beamed ceilings, the effect was one of coziness, of being protected and safe from the world.
Colby allowed his head to rest on the two firm pillows of Maine’s pectorals. Each was dusted with coarse salt-and-pepper hair. Colby imagined he could be happy to spend the rest of his days here.
This was perfection.
A cool breeze blew in through the open window, bringing with it the scent of pine and the cold tang of the brook below them. The down comforter covering them lived up to its name.
Colby snuggled closer, if that was even possible, just to let his fingers wander down the firm, flat plank of Maine’s stomach, when the door to the bedroom flew open so hard it banged against the wall behind it, knocking some of the plaster loose.
Colby gasped and looked up with wide eyes to see Maine’s fiancée, Helen Daniels, standing there framed by the doorway, a portrait of rage. Entirely inappropriately for the location, she was dressed in a navy blue suit, crisp white blouse, red and blue Hermes scarf, and navy blue low-heeled pumps. Her blue-green eyes drew in the scene of the two men on the bed. Her mouth was open in a shocked O. She clenched and unclenched her fists.
Colby sat up, heart pounding double time in his chest.
“Helen!” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” she yelled as she advanced toward the bed. “What am I doing here? I should ask you what you’re doing here and how you ended up in bed with my fiancé.”
Colby looked over at Maine, who stared straight ahead, as though he were numb to what was going on around him. Colby’s gaze returned to Helen, who had just about reached him on his side of the bed. Colby, terrified, pressed his back against the massive carved headboard of the four-poster.
“Helen, please,” he gibbered. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
“I think it’s exactly what it looks like!” she shrieked.
And all at once, Helen was no longer Helen. She was a cougar, sleek, muscular, and deadly. One paw rose up to lash out at Colby’s face.
He felt the paw—and its murderous claws—make impact with his cheek.
“I need you, Cole. Wake up!”
***
Colby felt himself drifting from one reality to the next. His eyelids fluttered open, and he stared up into Maine’s face, which was twisted with alarm, confusion, and despair.
When their eyes met, Maine sat back a little on his haunches, looking so grateful Colby wasn’t surprised to see the tears that sprung up in his eyes.
“Oh thank God,” he breathed.
His strong hand reached out to tenderly touch Colby’s cheek. The touch was a balm. It made Colby want to go back to his dream, to the part before Helen arrived. He could allow his subconscious to rewrite the scene, couldn’t he? Make it a wet dream instead of a violent one. Unbidden, he felt his lips turn up in a grin.
“Can you hear, Cole? Can you?”
Maine leaned in close, and Colby wanted to give his response in the form of a kiss but had enough presence of mind to restrain the urge.
Weakly, he nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I can hear you.” Colby was suddenly aware of a sharp pain at the back of his head and an even sharper one behind his eyes. It felt like there was a little demon behind his pupils, driving an ice pick into the soft tissue of his brain. “What happened?”
Maine looked undecided for a moment, his heavy eyebrows coming together with concern. Finally he said, “We crashed. The plane crashed.”
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Real Men. True Love.
Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Entertainment Weekly has described his work as “heartrending and sensitive.” Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…” Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his husband, Bruce, and their fierce Chihuahua/Shiba Inu mix, Kodi.
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Vivien Dean has had a lifetime love affair with stories. A multi-published author, her books have been EPPIE finalists, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Nominees, and readers favorites. After spending her twenties and early thirties traveling, she has finally settled down and currently resides in northern California with her British husband and two children.
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