Wet is the fifth title in the Honor Bound series, but only the second one I've read, and this novel was a far better, far hotter, and far more exciting novel than the first, and I'm happy to give it a 5-star rating.
In this novel, the title of which aptly describes the condition you'll be in while reading this story, two Special Forces sergeants, Tait Bommer and his brother-in-arms, Kellen Rush, who is his brother in spirit as well as his best friend, are on the island of Kauai, sent there for R&R after a mission they were on went went south. Tait had messed up badly, primarily because his head hadn't been in the game after he lost the love of his life, Luna, when another earlier op went bad. After a night of heavy drinking, the heroine, Lani, finds them slugging it out on her beach, and the two men are spellbound by her beauty, especially Tait, because she so resembles his lost love.
Lani is doing her best to deal with the two hunky and gorgeous but intoxicated men while also trying to deal with the man who wants to buy her island home out from under her and turn it into a time-share resort, and he doesn't seem to care what he has to do to get Lani to sign the papers making her home his. When he shows up with a number of his goons to force the issue, Tait rises to the bait and another fight begins, Tait getting the worst of it, and then passing out her sofa. Kellan, who is also attracted to the stunning and sassy Lani, is already planning to act on his desire for her, and already committed to helping Lani and her younger brother, Leo, keep their home. There are darker forces at play in the land-grab scenario, which I won't spoil for you.
There is a lot more to his story than first meets the eye, it's well-written, and, quite frankly, I couldn't put it down. The relationship between the three principle characters is scorchingly hot, and definitely for mature readers only, since they include graphic sex, elements of menage, and BDSM power exchange scenes as well. These scenes are more than merely X-rated, they are deeply emotional and moving, as Tait, Kellan and Lani navigate their way through their own issues, their mutual attraction, their own pain, and their own healing. Even Lani's brother Leo has issues and I loved the thoughtful manner in which they were handled. To top it off, there's also a touch of the paranormal included in a scene or two, one of which brought me to tears.
Wet was an unexpectedly addictive read, and although I would have loved there to be an epilogue, I won't downgrade my rating because it wasn't there. This was, quite simply, an excellent, steamy, and exciting read, and I'll be backtracking to the second through fourth novels in this series I missed, and continue following it as the series moves forward.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.