Three ex-military men get close in this adult novel which alternates between a claustrophobically snowed-in cabin in upstate NY and the jungle rescue missions they undertake as mercenaries.

Fifth in the Men of Honor series, which focuses on military romances, BOUND FOR KEEPS brings young Shane stumbling through snow to a lit cabin just before Christmas. The two occupants, Reed and Keith, are used to having the place mistaken for an inn but there isn't another house for miles. They take in Shane and treat him for hypothermia, which, this being a gay novel, involves them both stripping off and lying beside him in the bed. They are loving partners who have been together for years. Shane's also on a warm saline drip as Reed is a doctor and they take good care of the younger man. As soon as Shane is able to walk he tries to sneak away because he is being trailed by an enemy and has no wish to draw trouble to the two men's door. But he's unable to get far and ends up ill for weeks with pneumonia.

Shane watches the rough and tumble relationship between the two older men and longs to be part of it, but when he admits to being gay they don't pressure him into anything. He had a partner who was shot and killed in action, and he gets flashbacks and PTSD. Shane is not admitting that he used to be in the CIA and the other two only give him details of their work as it arises: Keith, an ex-Marine, is helicoptered out and rescues a kidnapped woman and child from a jungle compound, and Reed later goes after gun- runners. Gradually the three men get to trust one another and a physical relationship develops between them. But the motto of 'safe, sane and consensual' isn't enough to keep them alive when Guthrie, Shane's former CIA boss, tracks him down to the cabin....

SE Jakes has written an intensely physical romance which, even for non-gay people, still contains enough plot and character building to keep us reading. I would have liked to see a female appear in the story for more than a few paragraphs, even a kindly neighbour or postmistress, but maybe that's not what the target market would prefer. A well-crafted book with strong language, BOUND TO YOU could appeal to women who like reading about hot alpha males and can get their heads around the fact that these particular males prefer men to women.