Send help. I'm lost in the woods for this one.
This was another cute, quick and hot story. Probably a little more lacking in any plot or character development than other works I've enjoyed from the author, but that's likely because it focuses on Sam and Colton's desires after Ethan and Jude had been found enjoying each other. I wouldn't say this short splits the focus between two couples, because nothing really makes them coupley beyond pairing off to hookup while on a camping trip. We get just enough Ethan and Jude to get Sam acting on his curiosity toward Colton. That curiosity is hot and could have been really fun or sweet with more focus.
This is ultimately my least favorite read so far from the author due to the lack of depth and the featuring of a pine tree. Yeah, it sounds sexy to be out in the woods, having fun in the wild, but pine tree bark is actually pretty rough and the resin can get real messy. It's a choice that seems pretty deliberate and I find myself with way too many questions about that than I should have for a quickie. Like I cannot stop thinking about how ants were always all over the pine trees I grew up around. If I let my hand linger on the tree trunk, there would have been at least one ant crawling up my arm within seconds. Is that just an Appalachia thing?
Sadly, no, I could not shut my brain off to just read and enjoy this one. Some details in media just draw my attention and fixate me. For this it was a pine tree. Really? That's what we're going with? No nice, smooth barked beech handy? That would have been a much better choice given the hardwood joke later on. I cannot tell you how much I've edited this review to keep it from being tree talk longer that the story I'm reviewing. I need to stop working on this like an hour ago.
Still, when I can get my thoughts back from the forest, this is still a 3.5 star read that I'm happy to round to 4. I'm really just a sucker for "it’s a delicious feeling being trapped under him like this, pinned down and smothered by his hard, heavy body." That's hot enough to stop me wondering which pine was specifically in these woods that Sam could be pushed against the trunk without any mention of branches in the way. I'd bet ponderosa, which I have only seen images of and it is definitely visually different from the Eastern whites in my childhood backyard. Are the bark and resin also significantly different? ....