Being treated as an outcast in your own town would drive most people away, but some would stick it out for a number of reasons. Finn's was simply that he has nowhere else to go and he lacked the confident to strike out on his own...so he took all the homophobia and abuse those people will doled out. But another reason for staying was because there are people who care enough to stand by him, no matter what the cost. For Finn, that person is Callan Bale. Callan is managing the family ranch and has been friends with Finn ever since Callan’s father hired and then hired him. Finn's father had left town, but only after nearly beating Finn to death following an incident that occurred the night of Finn's high school graduation. Cal was there for Finn even more. The ranch is going through some unbelievable hardships and is slowly losing everything...livestock dying or injured...water holes poisoned... fences broken, but Cal and Finn refuse to give up. Along comes Rhys, whose friend Frank recommended him to Cal for work during the six months required for his parole. Rhys was a former cop whose partner and lover got involved in selling the safe house location of one of their informants that resulted in the death of the informant and his family, along with two Agents who were guarding them. It was Rhys’ word against his, and Rhys lost. Now, he just wants to finish the six months and then go back to Chicago. These are two men that have been hurt in different, unspeakable ways. Ways that we should hope no one would ever go through. In their town homophobia is an everyday occurrence. I have no tolerance for these folks, neither in person nor in the printed word. Rhys coming into Cal and Finn’s lives is nothing but pure fate. He completes what is missing in these men’s lives. He was determined to make the townspeople see how their homophobia and their small-mindedness had resulted to animosity and chaos. Good luck with that Rhys. The story is high in angst and I become frustrated with most of the character very soon...but it's one of those stories that you have to keep reading hoping that something will work out for them. I liked and disliked the book in equal measures, but I don't think it's a series that I want to continue. ( )

Was nice, good sexual tension and emotional intensity.

There're a remarkable fault regarding the last facts in the story: Rhys had been convicted for assaulting his partner. Then, although Jaxon's proof of Tom's guilt regarding the CI and companions murder, maybe could mitigate the charges, under no circumstances could eliminate them .

Even so, putting aside the above comments, I enjoyed the story. ( )

Very short read. Definitely some insta-love going on with this story, but given this books length, that did not surprise me all that much. I'm excited I moved on to this one and just skipped the last two books in the Escorts series because even though this book wasn't amazing, I liked it more than I was liking those books.

I can see how Sloane Kennedy's writing is getting better but I still don't think she's all the way there yet with this one. The characterization is still I think the strongest part and I think the pacing is the part that needs work. When I read Four Ever by her, I thought the pacing was for the most part pretty good. That book is a lot longer than these older books so I think if she would let herself write books where the plot takes longer to develop, the books would get a lot better.

The characters of Callan, Finn, and Rhys were good in this book. I thought they were interesting individually and I mostly liked them together though I did have some issues with some of their lack of communication. I know I say this most of the romance I've read recently but I do think miscommunication or lack of communication can be used successfully in romance, because talking about your feelings is scary, but most books don't pull it off like that. Rather than just being worried about talking about feelings, its always that someone is just too damaged, or if the love interest finds out about their tragic past they'll reject them, or something like that. It's those sorts of plots that bother me and make me just want to pull out my hair. I also didn't love the idea in this book that Callan not kissing Finn when he was 16 and 12 years younger than Callan somehow ruined Finn and makes Callan a coward. There's a difference between not being afraid to go after what you want and just being reasonable and a good person and realizing that a 28 year old is at a very different point in their life compared to a 16 year old and they probably shouldn't be dating.

I will continue to read this collection of series probably. The books are super quick to get through but I'm probably going to prioritize other books first just because there so many other books I really want to get to. ( )

Trust

Trust, that is hard to find. Three men who had none found each other and had to learn how to trust again. A great story and I hope to see more of Finn, Cal and Rhys. ( )