Riley Ness is a planner--he has to think about all possibilities before doing things so he can handle whatever comes at him. He is a bit more buttoned up than most people, but that happens after surviving an accident meant to end his life.

Summer Sheridan is a small business owner who is becoming increasingly successful. After surviving an active shooter at her college, she lives her life to the fullest. Summer takes chances and always wants to try new things.

When Riley and Summer end up in each other's orbit, they drive the other crazy. The constantly snip at one another, until one day Summer calls Riley out on how he's too much of a rule follower. One risk of one kiss sends both of their heads spinning. This was a great book!

4 out of 5 stars.

Good writing, interesting characters, steamy and sweet romance, and I enjoy the opposites attract scenario; he’s the rule follower type, she’s the one who is a bit on the wild side. I didn’t care for how much back and forth there was between Riley and Summer; it gets annoying, but they are cute together. I enjoy the steam and banter between them. There’s some fun humor to the story as well. Overall, an entertaining romance.

From the first book in Christi Barth’s Naked Men series I was hooked and with each book I become move invested in these characters and their journey to become the men they are today and after reading Trying It All, I can honestly say that these fictional men have lodge a place in my heart. Friends and teammates since high school, these men went through a traumatic experience that left them all with scars and a deep need to help others in some way. With a heroine determined to live every day like it’s her last and a hero with a need to always prepare for anything, it is easy to say this book is an opposites attract story, but as these two spend time together it become evident they are way more alike than they ever imagined. A story of healing, of understanding, and of learning to face the cold, hard truth that the way you choose to live your life might not be the healthiest way, and that letting go and opening your heart has so many rewards, I loved every minute of Trying It All.

Surviving the bus crash that killed their driver while on a soccer trip in high school, Riley Ness was determined to follow his own path and work for the NTSB and make the roads safer for everyone and he made good on that promise and to say that his work is important to him would be putting it mildly, but more than that Riley finds it necessary to plan and control everything in his life to stave off the panic attacks that once required medication. So it surprises him when he finds that despite the fact Summer Sheridan’s “live life like it’s your last minute” attitude drives him crazy, he can also admit he finds her attractive and the more he gets to know her intriguing.

Summer is happy her friend Chloe found the man of her dreams, but that man comes with four best friends and while she finds most of them endearing Riley Ness grates on her nerves. Uptight doesn’t even begin to describe him in her opinion, and she’ll even admit she enjoys needling him about his incessant need to plan, but it also makes her want to make him loose control. What she doesn’t expect when she challenges him to live a little is for him to grab her and lay on the kiss of a lifetime. Summer soon begins to figure out why Riley is driven to do the things he does and it really surprises her that she find she likes when he wants to make sure she is safe and protected.

I enjoyed the interplay between Summer and Riley and the fact that the tragedies they both endured led them to look at life much differently. It was interesting to see how much they “got” one another and understood the feelings and anxieties they had; there were really quite intuitive in regards to each other. I did get a bit frustrated with them both when they refused to see something was happening between them, but I also understood they were scared and experiencing true feelings and love for the first time and for someone who had to be in control all the time and another who wanted the freedom to live life on her terms they were struggling greatly.

One thing I’ve loved about this series from the start was the camaraderie between the five guys who make up the “Naked Men” and the women who have infiltrated their tight knit group. What I love is that even though the men are pairing off, they still make time for one another and they still are there for one another in all aspects of their lives.

Fun and entertaining yet complicated and emotional, not to mention supremely satisfying, Trying It All is a fantastic addition to Christi Barth’s Naked Men series.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

This is Riley and Summer’s story.

This book was enjoyable and had some very steamy moments. I liked Riley and Summer, but their repetitive issues did get a little annoying. Riley survived a fatal crash with his friends and Summer survived a fatal school shooting with Chloe, and they both chose different ways to cope with those events; Riley needs control and Summer lives life like there’s no tomorrow. Essentially they are similar but completely opposite which started them off rocky but quickly changed to something more.

I wanted to love it but the issue that popped up between them in the end made it hard to follow, the issue was not new and I thought we had overcome it throughout the book, but I guess not. You have two people who don’t do long term relationships dating, telling their deepest secrets and using boyfriend/girlfriend labels yet they truly don’t agree on the approach to their future so after a terrible accident walk away but are miserable.

It was good read that was a bit too long and had many repetitive conversations between the women then the guys.

And finally Griff and Chloe <3

I see Josh and Annabeth may have their own book ;)

TRYING IT ALL - Christi Barth

#4 in the Naked Men romance series

AN UNLIKELY COUPLE - 4.5 stars

Plot - 4.5 stars - Summer and Riley have always annoyed each other because they are such opposites. Summer finds Riley's total control over every situation to be ridiculously confining. And Riley feels that Summer's lack of commitment makes her flighty and reckless. But when they attend a group weekend getaway, they decide to call a truce.

Writing - 5 stars - Barth draws me right into these stories with her great characters and the charming and funny camaraderie amongst the group. There are also some great home truths shared--about life and friendship. And instead of feeling preachy, it all comes across so naturally. I love this series.

Characters - 5 stars - This is where the story (and this whole series) shines for me. Summer has come across in past books as the flighty, fun-loving, commitment-phobic friend. But here we understand that she is a lot more deep, with way more layers than we originally gave her credit for. The way she has dealt with the life-and-death issue in her past is to live life to the fullest and not settle down. But Riley is making her rethink that attitude. Riley, on the other hand, has decided to control as much of life as he can after the accident. He has learned all sorts of survival skills, makes plans, and is pretty much the exact opposite of Summer. That's the only way he can counteract his panic attacks. But Summer is opening his eyes to loosening up a bit. All of these guys are sexy without having to be alpha. They let their vulnerabilities show, and they're not afraid to share their feelings.

Title - 4 stars - The title is good--referring, I suppose, to the fact that Summer is always trying new things while Riley needs to learn how to let loose and get out of his comfort zone. The title defines the very basic difference between the two of them.

Cover - 3 stars - The pose on the cover is a little odd. I'm not sure why the man is bend over to the side like that, but it doesn't really fit any part of the story or the characters, so it just felt uncomfortable.

Overview - 4.5 stars - It felt great to slip right back into the Naked Men group and revisit with everyone. Barth writes in such a relaxed and fun manner that I felt comfortable right away. The characters are all close to each other, and I now feel like part of the group. It's fascinating that both Summer and Riley lived through dramatic and life-threatening situations in their youth, but they've learned to compensate in completely opposite ways. But that's what makes it so interesting--they both took their own path to become stronger and more competent people. This series offers more than the usual romance because all of these characters are built around the traumatic situation they lived through as youngsters. So they're grown up with more awareness of the world around them as well as of themselves. And the support the guys all provide for each other is admirable and definitely sexy. And the humor keeps things light and fun. I can't wait for Josh's story.

Received an ARC for an honest review.

I really love these pairings that Barth put together. Riley and Summer are complete opposites. He's a stickler for planning for every possibility and she knows how fickle fate can be, so she doesn't like planning. The two drive each other insane, but underneath that is clearly a strong chemistry that can't be kept down.

I loved watching them spar with one another and challenge each other in the best way possible. I also appreciated how they started to see the benefits of thinking a little more like the other. The climax of the story just about broke my heart, but Barth tied it up in this perfect little bow.

I'm glad we got to catch up with the other ACSs but I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. I just found out she's not writing Josh's book and that really put a huge damper on how I felt about this series. It feels incomplete to leave one of them off, especially since the whole point of their friendship is going through the big moments together.

This book was funny and charming and definitely hit all the right spots to make a romance work!

Like all of the others in this series, it had humor, seriousness, and some super sweet moments. It was much the same as the rest, and I was glad that these two characters ended up together. Riley and Summer were the perfect contrasting pair (as Knox so helpfully pointed out). Reserved and carefree, serious and full of life, and all of the sarcasm that couldn't quite truly be contained within the pages made me fall in love with this falling in love story.

This was a well-written story that sucked me in from the beginning. It had great backstory, and the characters didn't just suddenly fall in love after a whole one week of knowing each other. I loved the buildup for the characters and their romance.

I really enjoyed reading this one and it was the perfect book for a mental break.

This Nake Men series by Barth just keeps getting better. I loved this installment between the straight and narrow Riley and fun and flirty Summer.

Riley and Summer are literally like oil and water, they shouldn't mix. Riley life trauma makes him Mr. Prepared for everything with five ways to save the day with stats to back up why. Summer doesn't believe in the future, so be fearless and live life to the fullest is her motto. Despite trying to fight their attraction and fighting like two year olds when ever they are around, they want each other. With the help of the other ACS Riley realizes that life is better with the person you love.

I adore the Naked Men series and hope that Josh will get his happily ever after.

I've been enjoying the Naked Men series, and this fourth title in the series was every bit as enjoyable as the others I've read, and it also gets a 4-star rating.

This title centers around Riley and Summer, both of whom we've met in the previous novels in the series, and while this book can be read as a standalone, I'd recommend starting at the beginning of the series with Risking it All, as it will give you a greater understanding of why the Naked Men are the way they are, and how they got that way.

At its heart, Trying It All is an opposites attract story. Both Riley and Summer appear to be as opposite as a man and a woman can be. Both characters' personalities were molded by traumatic events in their pasts. If you've been been following the series you already know that the Naked Men were involved in a horrific bus accident in the Swiss Alps years ago, were injured when their soccer team's tour bus crashed over the side of a cliff--an accident that killed their driver, and that they were without proper clothing or a way to call for help for 3 long days and nights. Already friends and team-mates, that experience turned these friends into brothers, a bond that has been unbreakable since then.

Riley blamed himself for distracting the bus driver and the driver's death, although his friends chalk it up to fate. But while hoping to be rescued, Riley felt out of control, and it changed him into a man who wants to control each and every facet of his and everyone else's existence. He now works at the National Transportation and Safety Board, and his obsession with always preparing for every possibility and imagining every way any situation can go wrong makes him difficult to live with, but his friends know and accept that this is the result of the PTSD they all suffered on that fateful day..

Summer is also a survivor of severe trauma. When she was in college, there was a nightmarish mass shooting at her college and she was shot three times, even dying on the operating table before they got her heart started again. That event changed her into someone who realizes that you can't plan ahead for the future because the future can't be guaranteed. She doesn't do relationships at all, preferring to jump from man to man with no emotional involvement. She wants to experience everything while she can and she'll try anything, any sport, any challenge, from jaywalking without looking both ways to parasailing, to anything that will keep her in the present. She runs her own chic fashion business, and needless to say, when her best friend, Chloe, finds the man of her dreams among the Naked Men, she and Riley are like oil and water and can't stand being around one another, and they've been that way for the past two years--constantly bickering.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Riley and Summer are constantly thrown together as there's a wedding in the group of friends, and familiarity doesn't always breed contempt, sometimes, especially in this series, it breeds a lot of steamy sex, some outrageously funny conversations (you're going to love the one about whether scallops blink), a group of characters I've come to truly appreciate, and an altogether charming and entertaining read. If you're not already reading this series, I suggest you start now. Personally, I'm looking forward to Naked Men, #5.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

The culmination of the Naked Men series was an emotional roller coaster ride for me. I enjoyed the first three books telling Griffin, Knox, and Logan's stories...Riley's story was especially touching in that his need for complete control over all aspects of his life, stemming from the accident the four were involved in during high school, is missing out in so much of life because of his overly cautious nature. Summer was his direct opposite in that following her own tragedy, is living life to its fullest, flying by the seat of her pants...which drives Riley crazy...they spend more time bickering than not.

The opposites attract aspect of the story between Riley and Summer causes a large amount of frustration for him and is very palpable. I especially enjoy the continued camaraderie amongst the four friends that is the forefront to their continued successes in their life podcasts, but the drive Riley has launched to focus on greater safety measures in buses adds to his complexity and shows how the accident is still such a driving force in his life.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

3 stars
I am at a loss how to really rate this book. One, I wish I read the other books in this series. Since I was late to the part, I fell like I missed something that made me not like this book as much as I could have. I hate jumping into things and feeling lost.

Riley and Summer have a love/hate relationship. I wanted to like Summer more than I did, but I couldn't . She was a little immature.

Riley Ness, an employee for the Federal Government, is a stickler for rules. He never jay walks, would never throw trash on the ground, in other words, he can be a pain in the ass. The only time he's relaxed is around his close friends. Except Summer Sheridan, her best friend is engaged to Riley's best friend, so he sees a lot of her. Why does she have to be so damm sexy and drive him crazy at the same time.
Summer doesn't get Riley! He's got to be the most annoying man she's ever met, but why is he on her mind constantly. It could be all,that sexiness he exudes. Lately they have been seeing a lot of each other. Could they possibly come to a truce, and throw in some sexy times. She would be so onboard with that, but can she make Riley see her in a different light.
I love, love this series, they are fun and filled with so much hotness!

I love this series so far! It was a little slow starting but once it got into it then I was a goner! Another great story for an awesome series. Loved it!

A fantastic story of friendship, love and endurance. Sure, there are plenty of books out there that tackle the traumatic incident for the hero or heroine to overcome. This story weaves two people who are each searching for a better way to function and find love.

There was the perfect amount of spice and I loved how all the characters from her other stories appeared. While this was the first book in the series I've read, it was easy to follow as a standalone.

I can't wait to read other books in this series!

This Naked Men book is Riley and Summer’s story. You may remember Riley from other books in the series as the serious NTSB worker who acts as the Naked Men planner. He is dedicated to ensuring that others are kept safe in ways he and the ACSs weren’t when they were injured in the Alps. Summer is his complete opposite. She is focused on being spontaneous, adventurous, and avoids planning for the future at all costs. Summer is best friends with Griffin’s girlfriend, and she and Riley clash vociferously when around each other. This tension inevitably leads to some steamy encounters between Riley and Summer and they begin to open up to each other little by little. These two stubborn headed characters will keep you enthralled throughout the book, and there’s a great sub-plot thrown in for fun!

Of course, as expected, you get to see and visit with the other Naked Men and their significant others, as their group expands and evolves. Great installment to the series. I can’t wait for the next one to come out … although I admit I’m going to have trouble when this series ends!

Fourth in Christi Barth's Naked Men series, Trying It All is Riley's story. Summer and Riley both live their lives in response to awful experiences in their past. For Riley it's all about being prepared for disaster as a result of the guilt he feels about a bus crash he and three of his fellow Naked Men were involved as teenagers. For Summer it's about living in the moment and being spontaneous after she nearly died in a shooting while she was in college. With philosophies on life that are polar opposites these two don't seem to have even the remotest chance of succeeding as a couple yet Christi Barth has cleverly woven a story which allows each to confront their fears and commit to a relationship. I loved these two. I loved their story and I am very much looking forward to reading the Naked Men story.

Trying It All – Book 4 in the Naked Men Series
I admit it, I am shallow sometimes. I chose this book based on the cover alone and I am so glad I did. It’s the first book I’ve read by Christi Barth and definitely not the last.

The way Christi Barth writes is perfect for a reader like me. There is detail when needed but not painstakingly so. She doesn’t use an abundance of words and phrases to up the word count in her book. This book was set at the perfect pace and allowed me, the reader, to fill in blanks when needed. While it’s not a “fade to black” style of writing, there is enough detail to make it hot but not so much detail that the sex scenes become repetitive. I also appreciated the ability to “feel” the men’s feelings. So often writers only write about the woman’s feelings while glossing over the guys friendships, Ms. Barth writes about The Naked Men’s feelings AND emotions AND bond. It was very refreshing.

While this is book 4 in a series, Trying It All did not make me feel like had missed something yet allowed me to know that there is more goodness where this story comes from. I absolutely will be the rest of the series.