But another Albert book ticked off my list from her back catalog 😀 It didn’t detract from the series, but it also didn’t add much so it’s a take-it-or-leave-it for me. it’s not as strong as the first two books, and because it’s a novella didn’t have the depth and breadth of emotions her full-length works usually have. Recommendation: This was an okay addition to Albert’s Rainbow Cove series. I wonder if she started this one realized it wasn’t going to work, tied it up succinctly, and then put the series on hold for two years and then finished Hope on the Rocks. They’re definitely mentioned and hinted at, but they just didn’t have the richness and depth that Albert’s characters and ultimately works usually have. There wasn’t a lot about Cam and Johnny to absorb, their backstories, their plans for the future. Where the novella fell short, and why I think Albert left it as a novella, was in character development. Rope might be his deal, but I wouldn’t mind him lashing me to one of the wooden pillars in his great room with that strip of leather. My gaze caught on that thick belt of his. He looked like my lumberjack fantasies come to life again-blue plaid shirt that accentuated his eyes, sleeves rolled up to show off his meaty forearms, work boots and broken-in jeans. Albert did a great job describing these various scenes especially after giving a taste of this in Tender with a Twist, and the primary sex scene was really well done (as expected from Albert. The story takes place pretty quickly when they go from meeting to Johnny tying up Cam within a week, in a sex way, not a serial killer way.

Cam mistakes Johnny for a stripper his best friend might’ve sent after a bad day, and the story takes off from there. Lumber Jacked features Johnny, the wood-providing lumberjack mentioned as a friend of Curtis in Tender with a Twist, and Cam, a makeup vlogger who returned to Rainbow Cove to help out his grandmother. I knew it would be a quick read, but I didn’t realize it was a novella even though it says it on the cover. I snuck this one in on the flight home from Florida.

Lumber Jacked by Annabeth Albert