Stranded

Stranded by Eve Vaughn
Published by Samhain

India Powers is at the end of her rope. After dumping her cheating fiancé and having a falling out with her parents, she decides to take a much needed vacation. In route she meets two hunky fellow vacationers in the form of Rafe Santiago and Grant Thompson. Though she’s not looking for love, India sees no harm in a little island flirtation. Rafe and Grant have been friends since they were kids; both from broken homes, all they had were each other. Their closeness leads them to the discovery they enjoy sharing the same women. After surviving a stormy marriage that nearly destroys their friendship, Rafe vows to never let another woman come between them. To celebrate Rafe’s divorce, he and Grant take a vacation in hopes of finding Miss Right along the way. Tragedy strikes when their plane goes down. In a twist of fate, the only survivors are India, Grant and Rafe. Stranded for weeks, their daily fight for survival turns into something much deeper when India falls for both men and they for her. However, when they’re rescued and returned to civilization, they fall under public scrutiny. Can their newfound love survive when outside forces step in to tear them apart?

This is a new to me author that I discovered while searching through the books at Samhain. I have fantasies about being trapped on an island with the man of my dreams, and since India is trapped on an island with two hunks who want to worship her body, I thought that this book would be my thing.

India is a lawyer who grew up in a house with very hateful parents. They were emotionally abusive, and even though India is now an adult, things have not changed. Her parents still treat her with disrespect.

After catching her fiance cheating on her, India decides to take a vacation to clear her head.
In the airport she meets Rafe and Grant. Best friends who each have bad childhood memories as well. There is a spark of interest between the three during their first meeting, but India doesn't plan to let it go anywhere.

Engine troubles cause their plane to crash into the ocean. India, Rafe and Grant are the sole survivors. For over 50 days they are trapped on an island by themselves. They start a menage relationship and make plans to continue it after they are rescued.

Once rescued, India starts to have doubts about their three way relationship working.
After a confrontation with her parents, India decides that she will happy and complete once she is with her men. They move in together, and the epilogue of a year later shows that they are still together and living happily ever after.

Stranded was okay. It was an all right menage book, but after a day or two it wont stand in memory. It's a C.

I found that there were gaps in the story. I felt as if parts of it were rushed or added last minute. As a reader I wish that I had been allowed to watch them fall in love. I know how they felt about their parents and childhood, but we don't know how they felt about each other. Sure, India mentions she is falling more and more in love with the men every day. That was it though. One minute she is freaked out because the men want to have a menage relationship, and then a few pages later she is in love with them. There was no build up to them falling it love. Same goes for the guys. One minute they are lusting after her, and the next they are deeply in love. It just happened with the flip of a page. I even went back to see if I had skipped a chapter or something.

I also would have liked to have known more about the rescue. They see a plane and are excited about it, then on the very next page it's already a week later. Again, I went back to see if I missed some pages. At the end of the book I felt as if I had read only half a story. Even the epilogue did little to tidy up the ending as epilogues tend to do.