Guest Review: Honky Tonk Hellion by ZA Maxfield

Posted February 27, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Honky Tonk Hellion by ZA MaxfieldReviewer: Tracy
Honky Tonk Hellion by Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: February 20th 2018
Format: eARC
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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three-stars

An impulsive decision as a teenager forced Andi Chandler to put her dream of being a Nashville star on hold. Motherhood and a marriage of convenience have tied her down to the small town of Bitterroot, Texas. But now that her son is older and her husband is living life out of the closet, Andi’s ready to spread her wings and take another shot at the country music scene. Men, however, are a different story…

Malcolm never intended to catch Andi’s eye all those years ago at the rodeo. There were a million reasons it wouldn’t work—the age difference for one. He knew he should have stopped Andi from making a rash decision, but he didn’t and has lived with the shame ever since. Now that she’s a grown woman they can finally explore all those unanswered what-ifs—and just maybe, have a shot at a second chance at happiness.

Andi lives with her son and husband, and her husband’s boyfriend.  It’s a sticky situation but it works for them…until it doesn’t.  Andi always had a crush on Malcolm but he’s 7 years older than her.  When she was 15 she tried to get him to sleep with her and when he turned her down flat (of course, she was way too young) she went and slept with someone else trying to spite Malcolm.  She ended up pregnant and then she married her gay best friend.  That was fine until he found a love of his own.

Now Andi is in a band trying to make it as a singer but it’s not really working.  When a big Nashville star asks her to head to Georgia with him to record some stuff she’s thrilled.  That is until she realizes Malcolm is there too.  The situation in Georgia is fraught with tension and Andi is soon back home, but not until she sleeps with Malcolm.  Now she has to figure out what she wants in life and who she wants to be with.

While I’ve loved almost everything that Maxfield has written in the m/m genre, this one was just ok for me.  I found Andi to be super indecisive, as a normal 21-year-old is (at least the ones I know).  She was a good mother and she wanted what was best for her family, but the girl changed her mind about a thousand times during the course of the book.  She was also constantly thinking or spouting quotes and clichés and that got really old, really fast.

Malcolm apparently had a thing for Andi when she was just 12 years old.  I found that creepy as he would have been 19 at the time.  Luckily he didn’t act on his feelings until she was 21.  My problem with their relationship was that it was never discussed.  They had been good friends but then hadn’t seen each other for years (she was still mad at him for turning down sex with her when she was just 15) but after they sleep together they’re just…together.  No talking about what it means, they just…are.  I guess I expected more as that’s what Maxfield normally gives us.  She does emotion so very well but this book didn’t have a whole lot of it and that was disappointing.

Overall it was an ok book but not one I can really recommend.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars


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