Patient, devoted readers of this series have finally been gifted with Caleb and Ellie’s story, just in time for the Christmas holidays. Caleb has secretly loved Ellie since he was a teen, even after he learns that she is marrying his best friend, Clint. In the five years since Clint’s death, Caleb has been Ellie’s best friend and her rock, helping her and her daughter, Amelia, in any way he can. Their shared grief and his guilt over his feelings for Ellie have kept him from acting on them until the day she shares her Christmas wishlist. She’s finally decided that she needs to put her grief aside and find a man for her 5 steps to sex. When she asks him to be her first because she feels safe with him, the last thing she expects is to unleash a ravenous animal who is anything but nice and easy. Once the beast is out of the cage, there’s no going back to the comfortable friendship, but can she allow herself to love when the only times she did, she lost? Will Caleb ever feel he can measure up to a good man like Clint? The path to love for the two of them is emotion-packed and sexually-charged, and what a wild ride it is. So worth the wait!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from HQN through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.