Tag: ZA Maxfield

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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Blog Tour Book Spotlight (+ 2 Giveaways!): Lost and Found by ZA Maxfield

Posted December 6, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Lost and Found Blurb:

Lost: one dog and two men in need of each other. Found: love.

RV resort security chief Ringo never believed in love at first sight . . . until he saw Gavin playing his sax on the beach for the tourists. But their on-again, off-again affair—even counting all the great makeup sex—doesn’t come close to the relationship he wants. All he really wants for Christmas is a commitment from Gavin.

Instead he discovers that Gavin has had surgery without telling him, so he lays down a relationship ultimatum while Gavin recuperates. Complicating matters even more, Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away, and Gavin blames Ringo for the disappearance.

While Ringo throws every resource he has into finding Bird, he learns deeper truths about Gavin—how hard it is for him to trust and how little faith he has in love. Maybe if Ringo can find Bird, he can salvage Gavin’s faith. Maybe this Christmas, they can all find each other.

You can read an excerpt or purchase Lost and Found HERE. Remember, when you purchase Lost and Found in either ebook format, which you can find HERE or in the print anthology format, which you can find HERE, you’re helping to support the mission of the Ali Forney Center. 

Author Bio:
About Z. A. Maxfield: ZAM started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. Three things reverberate throughout all her stories: Unconditional love, redemption, and the belief that miracles happen when we least expect them.If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four can find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”

Readers can visit ZAM at her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. 

Lost and Found contest details:

To recap, you can find all the blog tour information you need at the Riptide Website, HERE. Be sure you attend all the stops and follow the Rafflecopter instructions for the chance to win a $20.00 Riptide Publishing Gift Certificate and all the songs on my Lost and Found Playlist! (Winner to be drawn on December 8th at 5pm EST. Contest is valid worldwide.)
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Riptide contest details:

Enter your details in the Rafflecopter below to gain entry in the Home for the Holidays giveaway! This week of the tour closes at midnight, EST, on December 6th. Then, one grand prize winner will be contacted at the end of the Home for the Holidays tour on December 16th. Contest is valid worldwide.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Review: Lost and Found by ZA Maxfield

Posted December 5, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

RV resort security chief Ringo never believed in love at first sight . . . until he saw Gavin playing his sax on the beach for the tourists. But their on-again, off-again affair—even counting all the great makeup sex—doesn’t come close to the relationship he wants. All he really wants for Christmas is a commitment from Gavin.

Instead he discovers that Gavin has had surgery without telling him, so he lays down a relationship ultimatum while Gavin recuperates. Complicating matters even more, Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away, and Gavin blames Ringo for the disappearance.

While Ringo throws every resource he has into finding Bird, he learns deeper truths about Gavin—how hard it is for him to trust and how little faith he has in love. Maybe if Ringo can find Bird, he can salvage Gavin’s faith. Maybe this Christmas, they can all find each other.

Gavin is a musician who lives at a RV resort year round. He loves his music and his dog Bird. Besides that he can’t seem to be bothered to be nice to anyone else – including his on again off again lover, Ringo.

Ringo is the security chief at the RV resort and is totally in love with Gavin. He seems to take a lot of shit from Gavin but he keeps coming back. He finally decides one day to change things between himself and Gavin and refers to it as the New World Order. Ringo knows that Gavin has a temper and lashes out at him but Ringo has decided that as much as he loves Gavin if he can’t get his shit together then he’ll have to move on.

When Gavin’s dog, Bird, goes missing Gavin is beside himself but Ringo is determined to find the dog for him. While this is happening Ringo is making the changes in his life that will hopefully bring Gavin to see that they belong together forever.

Oh what a great story. Ringo and Gavin’s story brought a smile to my face and made my heart hurt all at once. As Maxfield does so well, she took two very different men and brought them together in a love story that was very touching.

I have to say that I didn’t really care for Gavin all that much at first. He was verbally abusive to Ringo and I thought Ringo could do a lot better. But as the story went on I realized that Gavin was hiding behind his temper to hide his emotions and his fear. He grew so much in the story and I really loved him by the end of the book.

Ringo…wow. He was awesome. A wonderful man with so many great qualities. He was so patient and kind to everyone and even when Gavin was being such a bastard he never really lost it. He figured out what was wrong in their relationship, made a plan as to how he was gonna fix it and then went for it. You gotta love a man of action. Ringo really made this story.

Again, this was a great story that I very much enjoyed reading it from beginning to end. This is one Christmas story you don’t want to miss.

Rating: 4 out of 5

ZA Maxfield

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What I Read Last Week

Posted December 2, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hidee Ho Neighbors!

How the hell are ya? I’m doing well today. As much as I love my job I really hate coming back to work after having 4 wonderful days off, ya know? That alarm going off in the morning is like a gavel to the head! lol

There was good news this past week. My broken toe is healing well and there is no surgery in my future! Woohoo! I’m off the crutches now for the most part. I’m walking very slowly because it hurts to put pressure on my foot but hey, I’m walking without assistance – that’s good news as far as I’m concerned!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family and I went up to my in-laws which is about and hour and 15 min. away from us. We got to spend it with my in-laws, brother in-law, sister in-law, 6 nieces and nephews, a couple of their girlfriends and my sister in-laws father. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. I love it when we’re all together as the kids just have so much fun together, no matter how old they get. That day was also the birthday of one of my nephews and my in-laws anniversary so it was a pretty big party. I really missed my family as they are ALL out of state now but it was still good. 🙂 Here’s a picture of the family that celebrated together (yes, we’re the “shorty’s” of the family):

 In other news…Timitra was the winner of the Fall In Love With Forever giveaway – congratulations Timitra!

Now on to what I read this past week:

I started off the week with a novella called Leased by a Wolf by Cherie Nicholls. The story is about a human woman mechanic who has it bad for the Alpha of the local pack. She gets a makeover and tries to seduce him – and it works. But as much fun as they have in bed he believes that she’s not strong enough to help him lead as he thinks she’s been pampered by her family her whole life. The story was a good one but really had so many misconstrued sentences in it it started to get told. 3 out of 5

Next up was Full Throttle by Erin McCarthy. Shawn Hamby needs to get married in order to inherit the track that she and her now deceased grandfather ran together. Rhett is a great guy who is intense and serious in and out of the bedroom. Can a marriage of convenience work for them? You can read my review on this one here. 3.5 out of 5 

To Bring Her Wolf aka Make Her Howl by Michelle Fox is about a woman who was born of wolf shifter parents but has never shifted. Now she’s 25 and being kicked out because she’s considered a null and doesn’t belong in their town. Jackson is from another pack and was brought in to be the next alpha. He is not only attracted to Chloe but knows that he can “bring her wolf” out. This was a pretty hot little short story if a little odd at times. 3 out of 5

The Alpha’s Mate by Michelle Fox is the follow up story to To Bring Her Wolf. The story continues just 2 weeks after Chloe’s first shift and now she’s mated to Jackson. Not everyone is the town sees her as a wolf though and there are a couple of them that are downright nasty. When a rogue wolf gets into town and then Jackson’s kind-of adopted sister turns up and hangs all over Jackson Chloe is in big trouble – and so is everyone else. This showed Chloe’s strength as a wolf and seemed to cement the relationship between Chloe and Jackson but there was still a lot of doubt in there. A good 2nd book for the series. 3.5 out of 5

Her Soundtrack by R. Matthews was the story of Ella who falls in love but then breaks up with the guy even though she still loves him. She finds out she’s pregnant but plans to raise the baby alone and not tell the father but then her ex comes on the scene and offers to pass the baby off as his but then he turns out to be a monster but she’s eventually saved by the man she loves. Wow. That wore me out just typing it! This book was good but the heroine drove me a bit batty. Strong then not. Intelligent, then not. I really wanted her to make up her mind. The story was good but definitely dragged in places. 3 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Next was Nine Days in December by Suzie Dawson. This was a 30 page story about a woman who was sleeping with her boss but stopped so he fired her. It then goes on to have her arrested, her mother move in with her and her meeting a new man. It was cute but so freaking short it could really only be considered “ok” IMHO. 2 out of 5

Lost and Found by ZA Maxfield was my next read. Ringo and Gavin are on again off again lovers but Ringo wants more. Gavin has trust issues and keeps pushing Ringo away. This is their story. Definitely a good one. I’ll post my review of this on Thursday. 4 out of 5

Last for the week was Foolish Games by Tracy Solheim. Julianne and Will have a one night stand. She gets pregnant but doesn’t tell him. Now the baby is sick and needs Will’s blood so he’s now in their lives. Not only that but Will wants a marriage of convenience so that he can get to know his son. Really good story – I’ll post my review on Wednesday. 4 out of 5

 

My Book Binge reviews that posted:
crickets

Happy Reading!!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 17, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 4 Comments

Hey there!
No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth, I’m still here – lucky you. Just a stressful weekend, unfortunately. Things are better now, though. 🙂
How are you all? Doing well, I hope. Read any good books lately?
Giveaway Update:
A new winner was chosen for the Daisy Harris Player and the Prude giveaway since we never heard from Gigi. Chris is the new winner! Congrats!
Also – new DFRAT giveaway winners for Mary Hughes and Lynda Bailey since I never heard from the original winners.
So the new winner of Mary Hughes’s The Bite of Silence is Donna Fisk and the new winner of Fulfilled by Lynda Bailey is Yvette. Congrats!
On to what I read last week:
First up was Drawn Together by ZA Maxfield. This is the story of Rory who is so completely taken with a graphic artist that he basically quits his job in New Orleans to drive to California to meet her. He has dreams that they will immediately hit it off, fall in love and live happily ever after. When he gets to CA though he discovers that his woman Yamane is actually a man. They become friends and eventually lovers while their running for their lives from Yamane’s crazy stalker. Good story. I did have some issues with it but for the most part I really liked it. 4 out of 5
Next up was Player and the Prude by Daisy Harris about two men who are really quite opposite falling in love. You can read my review here. Good book! 4.25/4.5 out of 5
The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane is the story of a woman who is trying to save her child’s life by having a private investigation team search for her supposedly dead boyfriend. You can read my full review here. 3.25 out of 5
Next was Deadly Dreams by Victor J. Banis. This is book 3 in the Deadly series and gives us Tom and Stanley trying to work out their relationship now that they’ve moved in together. They are also haunted by Stanley’s brother that they had no idea even existed. This was a really good story. I was pissed at Tom, then I wasn’t. I was pissed at Stanley, then I wasn’t. Any book that can bring that kind of emotion out of me is definitely a keeper. lol 4 out of 5
The Omegas by Annie Nicholas is the story of a nerdy pack of werewolves who hire a vampire to train them to fight. The “leader” of the Omegas has been challenged by a local pack who wants to absorb them and they want to fight it. The vampire ends up falling in love with the Omega’s next door neighbor but she’s a bit freaked by the whole paranormal aspect of it all. This was actually a pretty good story that kept me entertained. The vampire was pretty funny and I liked the injection of humor. 3.75 out of 5
The Alpha by Annie Nicholas is book 2 in the Vanguards series and has the “leader” from the previous book, Eric, falling in love with twin sister of his best friend. He’s getting flack from his pack because the female wolves of the pack want him and don’t want an intruder hittin on “their” man. It was a pretty good story. I had some issues with timeline confusion and then the sex in front of the entire pack was a bit much for me but other than that I liked it. 3.5 out of 5
Along Came a Duke by Elizabeth Boyle I read for Book Binge. This story had a penniless orphan living with her aunt and uncle and working as a slave. She finds out that she’s inherited a boatload of money but she has to marry a certain person before she turns 25 which is in a month. She heads to London to meet the lucky groom but before she gets there she meets Christopher Preston – a Duke and a rake – and falls in love with him. The problem is that while Preston and Tabitha are in love she HAS to marry this other guy – who she doesn’t like. It was a very good story and I really liked the ins and outs of figuring it all out. Watching Preston fall in love was wonderful as well. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was Deadly Slumber by Victor J. Banis. This story had Tom and Stanley looking into some mischief that has been going on in a local, well-known mortuary. Stanley ends up staying at the mortuary to try to look in to things more closely and of course chaos reigns, as it does when Stanley gets involved. It was a really good mystery (although I had it all figured out really early on so I just waited for them to get their too. lol) and I liked the guys as well. They always have their issues but work it out in the end. I kind of wish they’d stop having issue that have to be worked out but maybe in the next book. lol 4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!

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