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Bluewater Bay #18
All Wheel Drive
The Bluewater Bay stories can be enjoyed in any order — jump in wherever you'd like!
Healey Holly is battered, depressed, and looking to go to ground in his childhood home. He wants to rent the garage apartment, but it’s Diego Luz’s place now, and the last thing Diego wants is to share it.
Diego is recovering too — from the accident that put him in a wheelchair and the death of his mother shortly after. The garage apartment is where he’s keeping his mother’s things, and as long as they’re up those stairs and he’s down on the ground, there’s no way he can deal with his loss. And that’s just how he likes it.
Healey believes in science. Diego believes in luck. It will take a blend of both, and some prayer thrown in besides, for these two to learn that it’s the journey and the destination that matters.
Word count: 86,400; page count: 346
Healey Holly is battered, depressed, and looking to go to ground in his childhood home. He wants to rent the garage apartment, but it’s Diego Luz’s place now, and the last thing Diego wants is to share it.
Diego is recovering too — from the accident that put him in a wheelchair and the death of his mother shortly after. The garage apartment is where he’s keeping his mother’s things, and as long as they’re up those stairs and he’s down on the ground, there’s no way he can deal with his loss. And that’s just how he likes it.
Healey believes in science. Diego believes in luck. It will take a blend of both, and some prayer thrown in besides, for these two to learn that it’s the journey and the destination that matters.
Word count: 86,400; page count: 346
329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2017
32 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
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December 30, 2019
What's that line about the two porcupines? How do two porcupines make love? Very .... carefully. Well, think of Healey and Diego, the two MCs in All Wheel Drive, as those porcupines. Issues? Yeah, they've got a few.... hundred.
Afer a horrendous car accident caused by his ex Ford, busted-up Healey returns to Bluewater Bay, and in sort of a daze, is drawn to his childhood home, which is now owned by Diego. Diego is in a wheelchair due to .... an accident which is never really explained. Healey's accident at first can't be explained (some sort of gag order from Ford's family) and later even when it's explained .... umm, it's still pretty incomprehensible.
Healey has checked himself out of the hospital against medical advice and gives Diego $3,000 to rent the garage apartment, and then passes out in the apartment which has nothing in it but old boxes. If this sounds weird - I read the darn book and I still can't quite figure out what was going on at this point. Later, Healey and his twin brother Nash (his story is in Hell on Wheels) clean out the boxes in this apartment for Diego. The boxes contain .... umm a bunch of stuff from Diego's mother, who may (or may not) be a famous photographer.... or something. Again, we're not really sure. Diego's mother is dead because .... well again, we don't know ... and Diego is pulling together a book or a documentary or who knows, maybe a PowerPoint ..... again not clear at this point ... about her work and her life.
Diego and Healey seem to be wildly attracted to one another ....or maybe not. Healey has loads of guilt, Diego takes offense at just about everything, and they alternately spar, sorta dislike each other, spar, like each other, become boyfriends (or not) in a rapid succession of scenes. By the time I got to the scene where Healey was comparing his ex Ford to frosting - I think he wanted him to be purple? whereas Diego is yellow-frosting man? - I thought I was totally losing it.
Those that read this book and loved it, gawd bless 'em. While I generally adore Z.A. Maxfield, this book was crazy-making for me. 2 stars.
I received an ARC from Riptide Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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July 13, 2017
At the beginning of the story, is confusing for me to understand what the hell is going on. A lot of circumstances revolving around Healey and Diego's background is not explained clearly. It seems like the author is holding back and trying to divulge it in doses. But it just make me feeling puzzled all over.
Healey and Diego never really show the sparks to me. Even their initially meeting feels pretty lukewarm and I'm not even sure they are both the romantic interest if not for the blurb of the story. One moment they hardly know each other, and then the next they are all over each other. There isn't sufficient build up of sexual tension. Considering that Diego is paralyze waist down, writing the sex is going to be challenge and interesting. There seems to be a lot of maneuvering going on to make things work, but some of it is hard for me to visualize in my head. Healey and Diego both getting off can be counted as success, but I don't feel much emotional connection between them.
Healey and Diego never really show the sparks to me. Even their initially meeting feels pretty lukewarm and I'm not even sure they are both the romantic interest if not for the blurb of the story. One moment they hardly know each other, and then the next they are all over each other. There isn't sufficient build up of sexual tension. Considering that Diego is paralyze waist down, writing the sex is going to be challenge and interesting. There seems to be a lot of maneuvering going on to make things work, but some of it is hard for me to visualize in my head. Healey and Diego both getting off can be counted as success, but I don't feel much emotional connection between them.
July 20, 2017
I haven't read the earlier books in this series and although I liked some things I was also a bit confused at points in this book about exactly what was happening. Both Diego and Healey are complicated, angsty characters that I just didn't feel were fully developed. They seemed to dislike each other and then they were wildly attracted to each other. Diego was easily offended and extremely prickly and Healey came across as a guy who really just wanted to take care of someone whether that was his ex-boyfriend Ford or Diego. I found the sex scenes a bit awkward but then I think that was intentional given Diego's disability. I'm not sure I believed the emotional attachment since Healey was still hung-up on Ford and the final scene between Ford and Healey was just weird. What I did love were the scenes between Healey and Nash and I loved Nash's character so much I will definitely go back and read his book. Although these two characters didn't really work for me I did enjoy this enough that I will read another book in this series.
A copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and my comments here are my honest opinion.
A copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and my comments here are my honest opinion.
July 13, 2017
I'm just about done with this story and I happen to be at a part that's driving me nuts...and not in a good way. About 65% into the book once more Diego and Healey go into a maddening macho male pride bullshit session - its like they're both speaking different languages and can't state their needs clearly (without the other guy misreading him). It happens throughout the entire book (thus far) and I just want to slap both of them upside the head. I love this author (I think Crossing Borders was one of THE best books I've read in this genre - great dialogue) but this constant misunderstanding just is a big turn off for me. Male pride is one of the most unattractive features of some men and yet I know first hand it exists, its a real thing. But I really don't want to read a book that uses it as a staple of the story. And Diego is so touchy (and yeah I understand why) but so over the top with it. This will probably be a DNF.
July 23, 2017
This one's not 'Hell on Wheels' but...
it did take a toll on my heart...
'All Wheel Drive' is book number 18 in the 'Bluewater Bay' series and like the third book, 'Hell on Wheels' it's written by Z. A. Maxfield, an author that I'm kind of partial to. So of course I was all grabby hands for this one because 'Hell on Wheels' is one of my favorite books in this series so far.
If this is a series that you're reading than you'll remember that 'Hell on Wheels' was about Nash Holly and in this book, we get a closer look at Healey Holly, Nash's twin brother and seriously can we talk about that name? Healey, really? I have to admit it just wasn't working for me, but, aside from the name, I really liked Healey. While Nash and Healey may look alike on the outside it's inside where the differences really begin, although both of these men are good and decent people who love their family and are loyal to the extreme with those they care about. Healey is crazy smart and has spent most of his adult life in the world of academia unlike his brother Nash.
The last thing that Healey expects when he knocks on the door of his childhood home broken, battered and bruised on the outside and just wanting to rent the apartment over the garage so that he can let his shattered heart and body heal is to be greeted by a man in a wheelchair who recognizes the look of helpless anxiety that he sees in Healey's eyes after all Diego's seen that same look often enough in the mirror in the days following the accident that put him in a wheelchair and again after losing his mother it's become a familiar sight as he tries to piece his own life back together.
For me 'All Wheel Drive' was as much a book about learning to live with a new reality and forgiving yourself as it was about finding someone to love. Both Healey and Diego have issues…lots and lots of issues.
Healey’s come back to his childhood home in Bluewater Bay more as an emotional reflex reaction to his recent experiences than any kind of practical or even logical decision. He’s hurting physically and emotionally following a car accident and the end of his long-time relationship with ‘Ford’ the man he loved and the man who nearly cost Healey his life.
‘All Wheel Drive’ was for want of a better word at times a bit convoluted. Especially the part that dealt with Healey and the circumstances surrounding his relationship with Ford and why he returned to Bluewater Bay and while I’m not often a fan of stories that twist and turn the way Healey’s does, in this instance I don’t honestly think that there was a direct path to take with his story. His relationship with Ford was complicated to say the least because of Ford’s circumstances and his family. The dynamics between Healey and Ford were…well let’s just say ‘it was complicated’ and truthfully from the information we were given it never really seemed that they were meant to be, but we don’t always get to pick who we love and when that love ends sometimes it takes a while for the heart to understand what the head already knows and this seemed to be part of what Healey had to deal with in letting go of his relationship with Ford.
As well Healey and Diego definitely had issues when it came to communication but given how emotionally fragile both men were…especially Healey. I’m not sure I would have believed anything different. I certainly would have found it a bit of a fairytale if the author had given us an ‘insta-love, all-my-problems-are-solved-now-that-you’re-in-my-life’ kind of story. Healey didn’t even trust himself anymore much less trust someone else and Diego because of his accident believed that there were things in his life that were lost to him forever…especially the physical aspects of an intimate relationship and both men were trying to protect themselves from further heartache…so communication at best between these two was guarded and putting everything out there when neither of them had fully pieced themselves back together was a scary concept and often times done in a very roundabout fashion.
‘All Wheel Drive’ is by no means a typical romance story, it was complicated and as I said at the beginning it was often ‘convoluted’, but for me it was also the epitome of second chance stories and finding love when and where you least expect it. There was definitely some sexy times between these two, that on more than one occasion turned out to be funny and messy and so very fragile as both men tried to guard their heart and still be what the other man needed.
Just like real life ‘All Wheel Drive’ was complicated, messy, frustrating, funny, awkward, sexy, full of love and kindness and in the end worth the effort.
*******************
An ARC of 'All Wheel Drive' was graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
it did take a toll on my heart...
'All Wheel Drive' is book number 18 in the 'Bluewater Bay' series and like the third book, 'Hell on Wheels' it's written by Z. A. Maxfield, an author that I'm kind of partial to. So of course I was all grabby hands for this one because 'Hell on Wheels' is one of my favorite books in this series so far.
If this is a series that you're reading than you'll remember that 'Hell on Wheels' was about Nash Holly and in this book, we get a closer look at Healey Holly, Nash's twin brother and seriously can we talk about that name? Healey, really? I have to admit it just wasn't working for me, but, aside from the name, I really liked Healey. While Nash and Healey may look alike on the outside it's inside where the differences really begin, although both of these men are good and decent people who love their family and are loyal to the extreme with those they care about. Healey is crazy smart and has spent most of his adult life in the world of academia unlike his brother Nash.
The last thing that Healey expects when he knocks on the door of his childhood home broken, battered and bruised on the outside and just wanting to rent the apartment over the garage so that he can let his shattered heart and body heal is to be greeted by a man in a wheelchair who recognizes the look of helpless anxiety that he sees in Healey's eyes after all Diego's seen that same look often enough in the mirror in the days following the accident that put him in a wheelchair and again after losing his mother it's become a familiar sight as he tries to piece his own life back together.
For me 'All Wheel Drive' was as much a book about learning to live with a new reality and forgiving yourself as it was about finding someone to love. Both Healey and Diego have issues…lots and lots of issues.
Healey’s come back to his childhood home in Bluewater Bay more as an emotional reflex reaction to his recent experiences than any kind of practical or even logical decision. He’s hurting physically and emotionally following a car accident and the end of his long-time relationship with ‘Ford’ the man he loved and the man who nearly cost Healey his life.
‘All Wheel Drive’ was for want of a better word at times a bit convoluted. Especially the part that dealt with Healey and the circumstances surrounding his relationship with Ford and why he returned to Bluewater Bay and while I’m not often a fan of stories that twist and turn the way Healey’s does, in this instance I don’t honestly think that there was a direct path to take with his story. His relationship with Ford was complicated to say the least because of Ford’s circumstances and his family. The dynamics between Healey and Ford were…well let’s just say ‘it was complicated’ and truthfully from the information we were given it never really seemed that they were meant to be, but we don’t always get to pick who we love and when that love ends sometimes it takes a while for the heart to understand what the head already knows and this seemed to be part of what Healey had to deal with in letting go of his relationship with Ford.
As well Healey and Diego definitely had issues when it came to communication but given how emotionally fragile both men were…especially Healey. I’m not sure I would have believed anything different. I certainly would have found it a bit of a fairytale if the author had given us an ‘insta-love, all-my-problems-are-solved-now-that-you’re-in-my-life’ kind of story. Healey didn’t even trust himself anymore much less trust someone else and Diego because of his accident believed that there were things in his life that were lost to him forever…especially the physical aspects of an intimate relationship and both men were trying to protect themselves from further heartache…so communication at best between these two was guarded and putting everything out there when neither of them had fully pieced themselves back together was a scary concept and often times done in a very roundabout fashion.
‘All Wheel Drive’ is by no means a typical romance story, it was complicated and as I said at the beginning it was often ‘convoluted’, but for me it was also the epitome of second chance stories and finding love when and where you least expect it. There was definitely some sexy times between these two, that on more than one occasion turned out to be funny and messy and so very fragile as both men tried to guard their heart and still be what the other man needed.
Just like real life ‘All Wheel Drive’ was complicated, messy, frustrating, funny, awkward, sexy, full of love and kindness and in the end worth the effort.
*******************
An ARC of 'All Wheel Drive' was graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 20, 2017
Healey Holly’s last relationship crashed and burned…literally. After a life of being told he is special, and coming off of the high of getting his Doctorate, Healy should be flying high. His wings got clipped in a rather abrupt fashion, though, by the car crash that left him in the hospital and his ex cutting cords in the most dramatic way possible. Now, back in Bluewater Bay, Healy hopes going home will help him find his center again. Or at the very least a place where the world isn’t spinning so far out of his control. Only trouble is that “home” ain’t home anymore; at least not for the Holly’s.
Having a random dude show up at his door begging to rent his unused garage apartment is a bad way to start any day. But for Diego Luz, angry and unsure how to cope with his new life–in a wheelchair and grieving his mother, who had always been his constant center–it is an intrusion he doesn’t need, want, or can cope with.
Both men are broken and unsure if all the pieces are even there to be glued back together. They are barely able to hold onto themselves, adding a relationship to the hurricanes they are feeling inside is only a recipe for a disaster on a grand scale. But every time they try to step away they find themselves back to facing each other, wanting to find a home…together.
While I won’t say it is necessary to have read it, I will recommend that if you haven’t got to it yet that you pick up Hell on Wheels, book 3 in the Bluewater Bay Series, before reading this one. It is Z.A. Maxfield’s previous contribution to this Bluewater world, and All Wheel Drive is pretty much the sequel to that book, storywise. But where in Hell we got the story of Nash Holly, here we (finally) get to see his twin brother’s, Healey. I actually didn’t realize that these two books were connected (outside the connection all books in this series share), since it has been so long since I read Maxfield’s previous story, but as I read this book I couldn’t help but feel a desire to go back and do a reread. Not because I felt the story in any way didn’t stand alone, but because all these characters made me remember how much I enjoyed getting to know them that first time.
As for the story itself…well, I think it was good. The characters are truly enjoyable, in a rather frustrating manor. They are both going thru a lot of shit related to their recent (and some not-so-recent) pasts, and as a result they come together and fall apart at rather regular intervals. While that could have been annoying, though, I found it made the story all the better. This book wasn’t just paying lip-service to their grief, anger, depression, and just downright confusion. It makes you live every little bit of it. They snap at each other, push at each other’s wounds; they are not nice…but also terribly in need of each other. Would it have been a more pleasant read if they had their shit together a bit more? Sure. Would it have been a better story? No chance in hell. The broken bits are the good bits of the story and the characters. It made them human and fragile, all the while also showing that putting each other back together is not easy or clean, but worth it.
I really appreciated the real-life take on what it is like to live with an injury like Diego’s. Both for himself, but also for Healey. Granted, I don’t know anyone who has to deal with his particular issue, but I am glad that it went into the detail that it did. Much like Healey, I greatly admire people who are able to take that kind of pain in their lives and force it into iron-willed strength. It is one of the reasons that I will almost always pick up books with characters that deal with disabilities and chronic illness and pain. And where some books really do the characters and situations justice, other times it is treated like a very small obstacle that impacts very little of the character or their lives. Here it isn’t just that Diego can’t walk. It is how being a paraplegic impacts his whole life, and how he has to deal with that now. I can not speak to the medical accuracy, but thematically and emotionally it works really well in this story. You don’t feel sorry for Diego–because he’d hate that–but you understand why he is such an ass at times. You also come to understand the strength that is required to live his life, and just why someone could find that mesmerizing.
There is, however, a rather obvious flaw in this book. In my opinion, at least. There story seems to lack a bit of a resolution to a couple of the major subplots. At least one that left me satisfied. While I really loved–I mean loved–the slow unfolding of the truth about the crash Healey and his ex were involved in, there are no real answers to what happens with the lawsuit that haunts the edges of this book. It left me a bit disappointed, to be honest. I’m glad the confrontation at the end of the book happened, but it felt like there was at least one scene missing from this story. I maybe could have lived with some kind of wrap-up in the Epilogue, but we didn’t even get that. There was also no real pay-off for the whole Bigfoot thing, but that was just a minor annoyance–mostly because I’m not sure why the set up was included in the final draft if there was no resolution.
I would have loved a better ending for this book, something that wrapped it a bit more completely, but the rest of the book was really good. I really liked these characters, even if there was frustration in their actions along the way. It served as a great sequel to Hell on Wheels as well as just a good story about how to move on when your life has been tossed around in every direction.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
Having a random dude show up at his door begging to rent his unused garage apartment is a bad way to start any day. But for Diego Luz, angry and unsure how to cope with his new life–in a wheelchair and grieving his mother, who had always been his constant center–it is an intrusion he doesn’t need, want, or can cope with.
Both men are broken and unsure if all the pieces are even there to be glued back together. They are barely able to hold onto themselves, adding a relationship to the hurricanes they are feeling inside is only a recipe for a disaster on a grand scale. But every time they try to step away they find themselves back to facing each other, wanting to find a home…together.
While I won’t say it is necessary to have read it, I will recommend that if you haven’t got to it yet that you pick up Hell on Wheels, book 3 in the Bluewater Bay Series, before reading this one. It is Z.A. Maxfield’s previous contribution to this Bluewater world, and All Wheel Drive is pretty much the sequel to that book, storywise. But where in Hell we got the story of Nash Holly, here we (finally) get to see his twin brother’s, Healey. I actually didn’t realize that these two books were connected (outside the connection all books in this series share), since it has been so long since I read Maxfield’s previous story, but as I read this book I couldn’t help but feel a desire to go back and do a reread. Not because I felt the story in any way didn’t stand alone, but because all these characters made me remember how much I enjoyed getting to know them that first time.
As for the story itself…well, I think it was good. The characters are truly enjoyable, in a rather frustrating manor. They are both going thru a lot of shit related to their recent (and some not-so-recent) pasts, and as a result they come together and fall apart at rather regular intervals. While that could have been annoying, though, I found it made the story all the better. This book wasn’t just paying lip-service to their grief, anger, depression, and just downright confusion. It makes you live every little bit of it. They snap at each other, push at each other’s wounds; they are not nice…but also terribly in need of each other. Would it have been a more pleasant read if they had their shit together a bit more? Sure. Would it have been a better story? No chance in hell. The broken bits are the good bits of the story and the characters. It made them human and fragile, all the while also showing that putting each other back together is not easy or clean, but worth it.
I really appreciated the real-life take on what it is like to live with an injury like Diego’s. Both for himself, but also for Healey. Granted, I don’t know anyone who has to deal with his particular issue, but I am glad that it went into the detail that it did. Much like Healey, I greatly admire people who are able to take that kind of pain in their lives and force it into iron-willed strength. It is one of the reasons that I will almost always pick up books with characters that deal with disabilities and chronic illness and pain. And where some books really do the characters and situations justice, other times it is treated like a very small obstacle that impacts very little of the character or their lives. Here it isn’t just that Diego can’t walk. It is how being a paraplegic impacts his whole life, and how he has to deal with that now. I can not speak to the medical accuracy, but thematically and emotionally it works really well in this story. You don’t feel sorry for Diego–because he’d hate that–but you understand why he is such an ass at times. You also come to understand the strength that is required to live his life, and just why someone could find that mesmerizing.
There is, however, a rather obvious flaw in this book. In my opinion, at least. There story seems to lack a bit of a resolution to a couple of the major subplots. At least one that left me satisfied. While I really loved–I mean loved–the slow unfolding of the truth about the crash Healey and his ex were involved in, there are no real answers to what happens with the lawsuit that haunts the edges of this book. It left me a bit disappointed, to be honest. I’m glad the confrontation at the end of the book happened, but it felt like there was at least one scene missing from this story. I maybe could have lived with some kind of wrap-up in the Epilogue, but we didn’t even get that. There was also no real pay-off for the whole Bigfoot thing, but that was just a minor annoyance–mostly because I’m not sure why the set up was included in the final draft if there was no resolution.
I would have loved a better ending for this book, something that wrapped it a bit more completely, but the rest of the book was really good. I really liked these characters, even if there was frustration in their actions along the way. It served as a great sequel to Hell on Wheels as well as just a good story about how to move on when your life has been tossed around in every direction.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
October 14, 2017
3.5 Stars
The cover drew me in. It’s gorgeous and the blurb sounded amazing too, but this book just didn’t quite work for me. Diego was not a likable character and although I’m sorry he is paralyzed, for me that doesn’t give you the right to be a complete asshat, and that’s exactly what he was. He seemed to hate Healey on sight and he just rubbed me the wrong way.
While I liked Healey better than I did Diego, I thought he was still too broken after the break up and all the drama between him and his ex, Ford, to be ready to move on and be with Diego.
The storyline and the character’s backstories were interesting and intriguing, but I was missing the chemistry and connection between the characters. The story is well-written and I’m sure others will enjoy it, but it just wasn’t for me.
*copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
July 21, 2017
"Received an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review"
I really enjoyed this! I loved the characters in this story and how they start and engage in a loving relationship. The fears, the hesitation, the mistrust, but also the tenderness and sexiness are so well done. Intimacy and closeness really gain a new meaning through Z. A. Maxfield writing, when kissing, cuddling and making out become an end in itself. The first sex scene was surprising and awesome.
Diego is a delicious grumpy hero. His nerves and anxiety, his vulnerability and fears feel so realistic in a character who says “half my body divorced me”. And emotional and uninhibited Healey is the opposite (“Healey doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, but his funny bone seemed to be tuned to the key of awkward” - loc. 4369).
I also loved how the author portrayed Diego’s disability and the writing style. The prose is beautiful, for example, when depicting Healey’s attraction to Diego’s “lovely, masculine feet”, and the eroticism of those “big, velvety, silent paws” (loc. 2847).
The conflict, the setting and the secondary characters are well done too, as well as the realistic depiction of Diego’s previous job as a photojournalist, all of these making an engaging read until the end.
I'm grateful to the publisher, Riptide Publishing, and NetGalley for providing a free copy
I really enjoyed this! I loved the characters in this story and how they start and engage in a loving relationship. The fears, the hesitation, the mistrust, but also the tenderness and sexiness are so well done. Intimacy and closeness really gain a new meaning through Z. A. Maxfield writing, when kissing, cuddling and making out become an end in itself. The first sex scene was surprising and awesome.
Diego is a delicious grumpy hero. His nerves and anxiety, his vulnerability and fears feel so realistic in a character who says “half my body divorced me”. And emotional and uninhibited Healey is the opposite (“Healey doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, but his funny bone seemed to be tuned to the key of awkward” - loc. 4369).
I also loved how the author portrayed Diego’s disability and the writing style. The prose is beautiful, for example, when depicting Healey’s attraction to Diego’s “lovely, masculine feet”, and the eroticism of those “big, velvety, silent paws” (loc. 2847).
The conflict, the setting and the secondary characters are well done too, as well as the realistic depiction of Diego’s previous job as a photojournalist, all of these making an engaging read until the end.
I'm grateful to the publisher, Riptide Publishing, and NetGalley for providing a free copy
July 14, 2017
3.5! Set in the Bluewater Bay world, Healey is the twin brother of Nash from book 3, Hell on Wheels. i have not read all of this series, I tend to dip in and out on occasion but I don't think that matters as each book reads well as a standalone.
Healey has made his way home after being in a serious accident with his ex? boyfriend but his home is no longer his, it was sold to Diego Luz who is in a wheelchair having been in a serious accident himself.
The relationship between these two is rocky from the start, Diego is determined to push Healey away and Healey is just as determined not to go. There is a lot of misunderstandings between the two which could have been solve by a candid conversation but it was maybe understandable as they've both been let down before and are afraid to trust again. One little niggle, I thought the impending court case thread was left unfinished and since it was such a large part of the story that I found that a bit unsatisfying. An ok addition to an ongoing story.
*Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Healey has made his way home after being in a serious accident with his ex? boyfriend but his home is no longer his, it was sold to Diego Luz who is in a wheelchair having been in a serious accident himself.
The relationship between these two is rocky from the start, Diego is determined to push Healey away and Healey is just as determined not to go. There is a lot of misunderstandings between the two which could have been solve by a candid conversation but it was maybe understandable as they've both been let down before and are afraid to trust again. One little niggle, I thought the impending court case thread was left unfinished and since it was such a large part of the story that I found that a bit unsatisfying. An ok addition to an ongoing story.
*Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
July 22, 2017
DNF at 48%. Reading this was Sisyphean.
Didn't hate it with the fire of 1000 firey suns, hence the two stars, but it was a clunking drag with characters I didn't warm to and didn't want to read any more about. It never seemed to get to the point, although there clearly was one?
Didn't hate it with the fire of 1000 firey suns, hence the two stars, but it was a clunking drag with characters I didn't warm to and didn't want to read any more about. It never seemed to get to the point, although there clearly was one?
July 25, 2017
This book wasn't just a story: it was a whole world.
July 22, 2017
ARC provided by the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an impartial review.
Nash Holly’s genius twin brother, Healey, is finally finished with his doctorate in physics, but instead of taking a position in industry or academia, he’s come home to heal—physically, spiritually, and emotionally. He was a passenger in a high-speed collision with his long-term college boyfriend, Ford, and the mystery surrounding the crash comes home with him. Ford’s wealthy family has managed to secure a gag order on all concerned with the accident, which according to news reports involved road rage. Ford suffers from Bipolar Disorder and only Healey knows just how bad he’s been lately in complying with his meds.
Healey comes back to the place he always called home—his brother’s and dad’s garage and apartment (Hell on Wheels), but it’s now owned by a new guy—a paraplegic with an attitude. When Healey tries to buy his way into renting the upstairs apartment with a ridiculously large lump sum of cash, the guy can’t resist. But the apartment his twin brother always called home is filled with boxes from the landlord’s recently deceased mother, and in Healey’s exhausted and injured condition he’s happy to collapse among them, using his backpack as a pillow. Needless to say, this doesn’t last long and Healey ends up at the The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) where Nash eventually finds him.
What he can’t get past, besides the injury and emotional loss of Ford, is his crazy attraction for Diego, the guy who now owns the garage, so he goes back again and again, making attempts to befriend the sexy guy, and when that doesn’t work, his attempts turn to pleas for being friends with benefits. Yes, Diego can have sex, but it involves prep and can’t be spur of the moment as many relationships are, so he had despaired of ever having anything long term. But he’s willing to try with Healey, and the two have an amazing night together, though Diego doesn’t allow Healey to spend the full night in his bed. Over time, though, the two begin to know each other as no one else can, and without even realizing it’s happening, they both begin to heal from their past emotional damage.
I liked the premise of this story, but it was difficult to warm to either character until the second half. Healey was sweet but at times he didn’t seem real. When I read Hell on Wheels, Nash’s story, I identified much faster with Nash, and though Healey was mentioned, he didn’t really appear in that one, so this book is the first time we get to really meet him. He was a bit too flaky and couldn’t seem to make up his mind if he wanted a relationship with Diego or if it was too soon after Ford. Then he spent time spinning about how he might still feel about Ford. Add to that the fact that Diego wasn’t sure he wanted, or could even have, a relationship with Healey, and his gruffness and bad attitude made it difficult for readers to get close to him. As I said, it wasn’t until the latter part of the book that readers could establish that yes indeed they were together and they were now apparently willing to commit to being together for more than a casual fling.
I did, however, appreciate the research that went into the medical issues surrounding Diego’s SCI and the psych issues related to Healey’s ex-boyfriend, Ford. Neither issue was glossed over and both issues were treated respectfully.
Another character I really liked more in this story than in the first was Healey’s dad. He was much more endearing and was very supportive of Healey, whereas my impression of him from the first book was that he was somewhat of a scatterbrain and absent-minded professor. Diego’s habit of comparing both Healey and his dad to American Staffordshire Terriers was an excellent descriptor and really helped me picture the characters more clearly.
And last, but not least, I loved their well-earned and well-deserved HEA when it finally came, though the scenes with Ford were spooky and felt unfinished. Maybe he’ll show up in a future story? I honestly hope so.
I love this series, and even though the authors change with each book, there’s still an underlying common theme and some might sweet MM romance. I highly recommend this one. It’s definitely got some very interesting MCs and very nice-to-see-again secondary characters as well.
Nash Holly’s genius twin brother, Healey, is finally finished with his doctorate in physics, but instead of taking a position in industry or academia, he’s come home to heal—physically, spiritually, and emotionally. He was a passenger in a high-speed collision with his long-term college boyfriend, Ford, and the mystery surrounding the crash comes home with him. Ford’s wealthy family has managed to secure a gag order on all concerned with the accident, which according to news reports involved road rage. Ford suffers from Bipolar Disorder and only Healey knows just how bad he’s been lately in complying with his meds.
Healey comes back to the place he always called home—his brother’s and dad’s garage and apartment (Hell on Wheels), but it’s now owned by a new guy—a paraplegic with an attitude. When Healey tries to buy his way into renting the upstairs apartment with a ridiculously large lump sum of cash, the guy can’t resist. But the apartment his twin brother always called home is filled with boxes from the landlord’s recently deceased mother, and in Healey’s exhausted and injured condition he’s happy to collapse among them, using his backpack as a pillow. Needless to say, this doesn’t last long and Healey ends up at the The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) where Nash eventually finds him.
What he can’t get past, besides the injury and emotional loss of Ford, is his crazy attraction for Diego, the guy who now owns the garage, so he goes back again and again, making attempts to befriend the sexy guy, and when that doesn’t work, his attempts turn to pleas for being friends with benefits. Yes, Diego can have sex, but it involves prep and can’t be spur of the moment as many relationships are, so he had despaired of ever having anything long term. But he’s willing to try with Healey, and the two have an amazing night together, though Diego doesn’t allow Healey to spend the full night in his bed. Over time, though, the two begin to know each other as no one else can, and without even realizing it’s happening, they both begin to heal from their past emotional damage.
I liked the premise of this story, but it was difficult to warm to either character until the second half. Healey was sweet but at times he didn’t seem real. When I read Hell on Wheels, Nash’s story, I identified much faster with Nash, and though Healey was mentioned, he didn’t really appear in that one, so this book is the first time we get to really meet him. He was a bit too flaky and couldn’t seem to make up his mind if he wanted a relationship with Diego or if it was too soon after Ford. Then he spent time spinning about how he might still feel about Ford. Add to that the fact that Diego wasn’t sure he wanted, or could even have, a relationship with Healey, and his gruffness and bad attitude made it difficult for readers to get close to him. As I said, it wasn’t until the latter part of the book that readers could establish that yes indeed they were together and they were now apparently willing to commit to being together for more than a casual fling.
I did, however, appreciate the research that went into the medical issues surrounding Diego’s SCI and the psych issues related to Healey’s ex-boyfriend, Ford. Neither issue was glossed over and both issues were treated respectfully.
Another character I really liked more in this story than in the first was Healey’s dad. He was much more endearing and was very supportive of Healey, whereas my impression of him from the first book was that he was somewhat of a scatterbrain and absent-minded professor. Diego’s habit of comparing both Healey and his dad to American Staffordshire Terriers was an excellent descriptor and really helped me picture the characters more clearly.
And last, but not least, I loved their well-earned and well-deserved HEA when it finally came, though the scenes with Ford were spooky and felt unfinished. Maybe he’ll show up in a future story? I honestly hope so.
I love this series, and even though the authors change with each book, there’s still an underlying common theme and some might sweet MM romance. I highly recommend this one. It’s definitely got some very interesting MCs and very nice-to-see-again secondary characters as well.
July 10, 2017
My Review:
Wow, if you like angst and broken characters, then this is the book for you. Going into this book, my heart simply ached for both these men. But because of the two different personalities of the men, I did find myself much more empathetic to Healey. I loved the way that ZA Maxfield wrote him as such a broken, but still incredibly strong character. He has moments of vulnerability where I simply wanted to crawl into the pages of the book and hold him. Gah...he broke my heart.
Then there's Diego...also broken in his own way. He's dealing with paraplegia, and although he seems okay and very adapted, his is a bundle of self doubts about what it means to be in a relationship with him. He can't see anyone wanting to deal with those kinds of difficulties for the longterm. But Healey has a sister who had a spinal cord injury. Out of anyone, he's very aware of what that means for Diego's life.
I loved how much Healey was into Diego. Healey is brilliant, and a mental mess, but he's so sweet and honest in how attracted he is to Diego...seriously I fell for this character...HARD. He's just the perfect mix of awkward and gorgeous and perfect and a mess.
But for how vulnerable and sad Healey is, Diego is prickley and rude...but for Diego that's simply a defense mechanism. He doesn't know how to relate to people with his new normal in his life. And he hates to think of someone feeling sorry or being sickly fascinated with him.
Note: There were moments reading this book that it felt like it maybe needed a stronger editing hand on the details of the story. I felt a disconnect with the story line with Diego's mother, and it felt like that story fell by the wayside. There were mentions of him being to blame for her death, but that was never fully fleshed out and I also never really understood just exactly who she was supposed to be to the world that it was so important for them to share the full scope of her story. I wish that had been fleshed out better in the end, because I was fascinated with the bits and pieces we got of that aspect of the story. I wanted to see Diego's finished project, plus I think he needed that done to finish that part of his mental healing... and it just wasn't quite there on the page. Also, we never found out the outcome with Ford and the possible legal issues happening there.
This book was everything I love in a romance...high angst, high emotional turmoil, high conflct, but it just felt a bit unfinished to me. No, those little unfinished bits didn't really matter in the long run for the romance, but I hate it when a book ends with loose threads hanging everywhere. I would have liked to really know what happened with all those stories, because I was emotionally involved with their outcomes. This book would have had a 5* rating otherwise.
But even as it is, I still recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Wow, if you like angst and broken characters, then this is the book for you. Going into this book, my heart simply ached for both these men. But because of the two different personalities of the men, I did find myself much more empathetic to Healey. I loved the way that ZA Maxfield wrote him as such a broken, but still incredibly strong character. He has moments of vulnerability where I simply wanted to crawl into the pages of the book and hold him. Gah...he broke my heart.
Then there's Diego...also broken in his own way. He's dealing with paraplegia, and although he seems okay and very adapted, his is a bundle of self doubts about what it means to be in a relationship with him. He can't see anyone wanting to deal with those kinds of difficulties for the longterm. But Healey has a sister who had a spinal cord injury. Out of anyone, he's very aware of what that means for Diego's life.
I loved how much Healey was into Diego. Healey is brilliant, and a mental mess, but he's so sweet and honest in how attracted he is to Diego...seriously I fell for this character...HARD. He's just the perfect mix of awkward and gorgeous and perfect and a mess.
But for how vulnerable and sad Healey is, Diego is prickley and rude...but for Diego that's simply a defense mechanism. He doesn't know how to relate to people with his new normal in his life. And he hates to think of someone feeling sorry or being sickly fascinated with him.
Note: There were moments reading this book that it felt like it maybe needed a stronger editing hand on the details of the story. I felt a disconnect with the story line with Diego's mother, and it felt like that story fell by the wayside. There were mentions of him being to blame for her death, but that was never fully fleshed out and I also never really understood just exactly who she was supposed to be to the world that it was so important for them to share the full scope of her story. I wish that had been fleshed out better in the end, because I was fascinated with the bits and pieces we got of that aspect of the story. I wanted to see Diego's finished project, plus I think he needed that done to finish that part of his mental healing... and it just wasn't quite there on the page. Also, we never found out the outcome with Ford and the possible legal issues happening there.
This book was everything I love in a romance...high angst, high emotional turmoil, high conflct, but it just felt a bit unfinished to me. No, those little unfinished bits didn't really matter in the long run for the romance, but I hate it when a book ends with loose threads hanging everywhere. I would have liked to really know what happened with all those stories, because I was emotionally involved with their outcomes. This book would have had a 5* rating otherwise.
But even as it is, I still recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.
September 29, 2017
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
My first impressions of Diego and Healey were not great. Diego seemed like a bit of an a-hole with a chip on his shoulder and Healey seemed really stubborn and pretty clueless for a guy that is supposed to be super smart.
For a while I was wondering how these two were going to end up together because 1. the first few interactions they had were cringe worthy and 2. they both had heaps of baggage. But during one of their conversations Deigo points out that they are complete opposites and from that point on things started to improved for the characters and I really started to get into the story.
If, like me, you like lots of conversation in your books you'll like All Wheel Drive. Diego and Healey talk a lot - even during sex. And not really sexy talk either. With Diego's spinal cord injury sexy times require a bit of adjusting and consideration but the sexy times are still sexy.
I would have liked to have delved more deeply into Healey's relationship with Ford. Certain things are hinted at and was hoping to have more detail. Early in that was what I was expecting. I was waiting for a big scene or reveal to make me cry but it never panned out that way.
When this story wound up I felt that it could have kept going. This is couple I'd be happy to see more of in the future to see where their lives leads. So my verdict is 3.5 stars. I rarely give a half star rating but in this case I'm making an exception. I really enjoyed All Wheel Drive. It is worth reading.
My first impressions of Diego and Healey were not great. Diego seemed like a bit of an a-hole with a chip on his shoulder and Healey seemed really stubborn and pretty clueless for a guy that is supposed to be super smart.
For a while I was wondering how these two were going to end up together because 1. the first few interactions they had were cringe worthy and 2. they both had heaps of baggage. But during one of their conversations Deigo points out that they are complete opposites and from that point on things started to improved for the characters and I really started to get into the story.
If, like me, you like lots of conversation in your books you'll like All Wheel Drive. Diego and Healey talk a lot - even during sex. And not really sexy talk either. With Diego's spinal cord injury sexy times require a bit of adjusting and consideration but the sexy times are still sexy.
I would have liked to have delved more deeply into Healey's relationship with Ford. Certain things are hinted at and was hoping to have more detail. Early in that was what I was expecting. I was waiting for a big scene or reveal to make me cry but it never panned out that way.
When this story wound up I felt that it could have kept going. This is couple I'd be happy to see more of in the future to see where their lives leads. So my verdict is 3.5 stars. I rarely give a half star rating but in this case I'm making an exception. I really enjoyed All Wheel Drive. It is worth reading.
September 24, 2017
I was given a copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
The angst! Diego and Healey have way too much baggage and at times it was almost painful to watch them tiptoe around each other. Healey is a scientist recently injured in an accident. Diego has learned to live with the injuries that put him in a wheelchair but he is grieving his mother and terrified of relationships.
It took me a while to even like either of these surly men. We learn about their pasts slowly and we see some pretty arsy behaviour before we know enough to have empathy for either of them. But they grew on me. Diego’s vulnerabilities around sex and his disability are heartbreaking. But so are the memories of the mother he’s lost. And it was impossible not to love Healey once I knew more about his accident and the toxic relationship that preceded it. But while I loved these two by the end, it took me some time to really engage with Diego and Healey.
While the chemistry between Diego and Healey is hot, Diego’s disability makes the actual sex quite complicated. And while the sex scenes are sometimes uncomfortably realistic, they are also surprisingly sexy. Because of the trust involved, the sex between these two builds a really beautiful intimacy between these two.
Unlike most of the Bluewater Bay books, this one doesn’t completely stand alone and readers will probably need to read Healey’s twin brother Nash’s book ‘Hell on Wheels’ before they will fully understand this one. Here, Healey’s past is drip fed to readers out of sequence in a way that could potentially be confusing.
The angst! Diego and Healey have way too much baggage and at times it was almost painful to watch them tiptoe around each other. Healey is a scientist recently injured in an accident. Diego has learned to live with the injuries that put him in a wheelchair but he is grieving his mother and terrified of relationships.
It took me a while to even like either of these surly men. We learn about their pasts slowly and we see some pretty arsy behaviour before we know enough to have empathy for either of them. But they grew on me. Diego’s vulnerabilities around sex and his disability are heartbreaking. But so are the memories of the mother he’s lost. And it was impossible not to love Healey once I knew more about his accident and the toxic relationship that preceded it. But while I loved these two by the end, it took me some time to really engage with Diego and Healey.
While the chemistry between Diego and Healey is hot, Diego’s disability makes the actual sex quite complicated. And while the sex scenes are sometimes uncomfortably realistic, they are also surprisingly sexy. Because of the trust involved, the sex between these two builds a really beautiful intimacy between these two.
Unlike most of the Bluewater Bay books, this one doesn’t completely stand alone and readers will probably need to read Healey’s twin brother Nash’s book ‘Hell on Wheels’ before they will fully understand this one. Here, Healey’s past is drip fed to readers out of sequence in a way that could potentially be confusing.
September 10, 2017
All Wheel Drive by Z A Maxfield is a romance novel about beginnings and endings. The book takes place in the world of Bluewater Bay, a small logging town on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. All Wheel Drive is the eighteenth novel in the series. Some of the characters who occupy the stage will be familiar to readers who know the series penned by several popular LGBTQ romance writers.
Nash Holly and his partner, Spencer Kepler-Constantine, the main characters in Hell on Wheels appear at strategic points in this novel. Lovers Ginsberg Sloan and Derrick Richards, the primary characters from The Burnt Toast B&B also briefly enter the stage.
Healy Holly and Diego Luz, the main characters in All Wheel Drive are both dealing with traumatic life events when they find themselves together. Just after a pain-filled break up with his boyfriend, Ford, Heally discovers Diego. Meanwhile, Diego opens the door to Heally just as he is starting to work on a documentary and archive of his renowned Mother's life and art.
All Wheel Drive pulls you into a complex romance between two traumatized young men working hard to find a new life. Artistic Diego is hiding; living in Bluewater Bay apart from his family in a house where he can't reach his deceased Mother's stored work. Brilliant Healy, on the other hand, runs away from the hospital to a home his family no longer owns. It's almost painful watching these two fight towards a new normalcy. Healy struggles to find a life without Ford, his old boyfriend, while Diego works to cope with using a wheelchair and losing his mother, the central focus of his life.
Maxfield has a strong voice and a notable talent in evoking emotional responses to her characters. While reading All Wheel Drive is sometimes difficult. For example, why is Healy bound by a Gag Order from lawyers who are not representing him in the aftermath of his accident with Ford? Or, why is Diego the one responsible for developing a documentary of his Mother's life?
Healy is definitely smart enough to know that he needs his own attorney to face the consequences of the horrendous last night of his chaotic life with Ford. Diego, who declares that "half my body divorced me", still can't accept that someone has a sexual attraction to him that doesn’t involve his wheelchair.
Diego and Healy are definitely worth the effort of getting to know them. The only fault I have with All Wheel Drive is the end coming too soon. The main characters are just beginning to develop a relationship with each other when the door closes on their romance. How do they deal with each other during their planned road trip? How does the court case with Ford play out? Several questions are left unresolved and for that reason, All Wheel Drive gets 3.5 stars.
Nash Holly and his partner, Spencer Kepler-Constantine, the main characters in Hell on Wheels appear at strategic points in this novel. Lovers Ginsberg Sloan and Derrick Richards, the primary characters from The Burnt Toast B&B also briefly enter the stage.
Healy Holly and Diego Luz, the main characters in All Wheel Drive are both dealing with traumatic life events when they find themselves together. Just after a pain-filled break up with his boyfriend, Ford, Heally discovers Diego. Meanwhile, Diego opens the door to Heally just as he is starting to work on a documentary and archive of his renowned Mother's life and art.
All Wheel Drive pulls you into a complex romance between two traumatized young men working hard to find a new life. Artistic Diego is hiding; living in Bluewater Bay apart from his family in a house where he can't reach his deceased Mother's stored work. Brilliant Healy, on the other hand, runs away from the hospital to a home his family no longer owns. It's almost painful watching these two fight towards a new normalcy. Healy struggles to find a life without Ford, his old boyfriend, while Diego works to cope with using a wheelchair and losing his mother, the central focus of his life.
Maxfield has a strong voice and a notable talent in evoking emotional responses to her characters. While reading All Wheel Drive is sometimes difficult. For example, why is Healy bound by a Gag Order from lawyers who are not representing him in the aftermath of his accident with Ford? Or, why is Diego the one responsible for developing a documentary of his Mother's life?
Healy is definitely smart enough to know that he needs his own attorney to face the consequences of the horrendous last night of his chaotic life with Ford. Diego, who declares that "half my body divorced me", still can't accept that someone has a sexual attraction to him that doesn’t involve his wheelchair.
Diego and Healy are definitely worth the effort of getting to know them. The only fault I have with All Wheel Drive is the end coming too soon. The main characters are just beginning to develop a relationship with each other when the door closes on their romance. How do they deal with each other during their planned road trip? How does the court case with Ford play out? Several questions are left unresolved and for that reason, All Wheel Drive gets 3.5 stars.
July 20, 2017
~ 2.5 Stars ~
I’m going to come right out of the gate and say that All Wheel Drive was more miss than hit for me. Which, being a fan of so much of this author’s other work, made it all the more disappointing. My expectations were skewed higher going in—even more so, in all probability, since I liked Hell on Wheels so much and was looking forward to Healey Holly’s story. As Nash Holly’s twin, we met Healey—along with their dad, Ace, and their little sister, Shelby—in Hell on Wheels, and knew him as the genius Stanford student for whom Nash had sacrificed so much in order that Healey could reach his fullest potential. We also met Healey’s boyfriend, Ford, in Nash’s book. This book might be best described as the apocalypse and fallout of their relationship.
When All Wheel Drive begins, the Holly family are scattered to the four corners of the earth, and Healey has come home to Bluewater Bay to nurse his battered body, troubled mind and shattered heart. Where do you go when you need a safe place to land? Healey goes home. The only problem is that his childhood home doesn’t belong to the Holly family anymore. It belongs to Diego Luz, a guy we’re told works postproduction on Wolf’s Landing, the hit TV show that’s filmed there. Diego isn’t at all happy to see Healey’s bruised face and broken arm on his doorstep, but all Healey wants is to rent Nash’s old room above the garage, offering to throw an exorbitant amount of cash into the deal for the trouble, which Diego isn’t at all down with; he’s also insulted by the offer. He does give Healey one night on the floor of the apartment, though, and then makes him move on.
All Wheel Drive is set up as a sort of one-sided enemy-to-lovers story, with a hurt/comfort chaser. I tend to love both of these tropes when done well. Unfortunately, I can’t say it succeeds here; at least, it didn’t for me. When Healey is introduced, he’s in such dire straits that I wanted to put him in bubble wrap and set him on a shelf until he was well enough physically to deal with what he was struggling with emotionally—the aftermath of Ford’s complete psychological meltdown, which led to a road rage incident during which Healey was injured and, now, is possibly in need of an attorney. Healey suffered the consequences of his own denial and poor choices, and of loving a guy who needed more than just love to help him cope (I did like the message that love can make even the smartest people do stupid things). Healey was so pitiful when he showed up at Diego’s house, which was a jarring contrast to the stranger who answered the door. With absolutely no setup to prepare readers for Diego’s unprompted disdain (or, what felt a lot like it), it was as if I’d been dropped into the middle of a relationship that’d ended badly—there was zero context for Diego’s pissiness towards a guy who looked like the walking dead. I don’t know if I wasn’t supposed to like Diego right then, but he didn’t make a great first impression, and it took a long time before I was able to feel even tepid towards him. Points awarded to Healey for tripping my savior complex trigger, though.
Diego is paralyzed from the waist down after suffering a spinal cord injury. He’s still adjusting to all the ways he’s had to adapt since his accident, coping with the loss of his mom (more on her in a minute), and, in so, so many ways, is mourning the loss of the life he led before his accident. Kudos to Maxfield for the care she took in detailing some of Diego’s day-to-day challenges, and for the research she did to show readers how he could still have sex despite his paralysis. The hand he’s been dealt is, without a doubt, enough to make anyone angry, bitter and standoffish, and I developed a great amount of respect for his strength as the story continued. This made Healey Diego’s perfect romantic foil, in many ways, because of Healey’s scientific pragmatism as well as his own experience with a little sister who’d suffered from her own spinal injury.
The problem, however—the one issue I had difficulty overcoming, in the end—is that Diego came off as a one-note character to me for most of the book. Wolf’s Landing is on hiatus when All Wheel Drive begins, so it stands to reason we wouldn’t get to see him on the job, but I needed to see him interacting earlier in the story with a wider range of people, in a way that showed more layers to his personality and who he was as an everyday guy—that he was more than the ire he consistently directed at Healey. The side-effect of his monotone characterization is that I didn’t buy into Healey’s attraction to Diego, not beyond the fact that Diego is hot and ‘swole’, and that sex was the end goal. I get that people don’t have to be best friends before they have sex, or even like each other, for that matter, but I just didn’t get why Healey was so persistent. It was like watching a kicked puppy coming back, again and again, hoping for a tiny crumb of kindness. These guys had sex, there was more anger and some misunderstandings, all because there was no foundation for them to talk about the heavy stuff. They were too broken individually to “fix” each other with something as simple as sexual chemistry, and I just wasn’t sold on their relationship. In fact, some of the things that happened later in the book likely could’ve happened a bit earlier and addressed some of my issues—before they became issues—without it ruining the overall story. But, I can’t prove that.
Also weighing heavily against a believable beginning to any sort of relationship between Healey and Diego is the unresolved issues between Healey and Ford—which is what left Healey a physical and emotional and psychological wreck. Let’s talk about unfinished business and simplistic resolutions… For as damaged as Healey was by the events that happened between him and Ford, the end of that crisis was too abrupt and over simplified, and the narrative skimmed over too much of the emotional detritus to get to the HEA with Diego. This was a BIG deal in the story, it completely informed who Healey was for almost the entirety of the book, so a few pages of conversation with Ford to get him past that felt disingenuous and too tidy to me.
Getting back to Diego’s mom, I loved the little glimpses we got of her and her backstory, and I liked that she was the catalyst that brought Diego and Healey together, even if in only a peripheral and figurative way. There were some interesting tidbits parsed out that made her an intriguing and provocative addition to Diego’s narrative, and I loved the portrayal of her as such a free and rebellious spirit. Sadly, however, her story wasn’t wrapped up. I’d have loved to know more about the outcome of the research into her stealth artwork.
While I ended up liking Healey and Diego together well enough by the end, All Wheel Drive started slow and didn’t pick up quickly enough to hook me. I have an intense passion for characters who aren’t afraid to have those tough conversations that give a story substance and realism—something that I felt was important especially because these guys were both so broken, but it relies too much on sex as a foundation for a relationship that brings an excess of emotional baggage to it, some of which needed unloaded first for me to buy into it.
But, as always, your mileage with All Wheel Drive may vary.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
I’m going to come right out of the gate and say that All Wheel Drive was more miss than hit for me. Which, being a fan of so much of this author’s other work, made it all the more disappointing. My expectations were skewed higher going in—even more so, in all probability, since I liked Hell on Wheels so much and was looking forward to Healey Holly’s story. As Nash Holly’s twin, we met Healey—along with their dad, Ace, and their little sister, Shelby—in Hell on Wheels, and knew him as the genius Stanford student for whom Nash had sacrificed so much in order that Healey could reach his fullest potential. We also met Healey’s boyfriend, Ford, in Nash’s book. This book might be best described as the apocalypse and fallout of their relationship.
When All Wheel Drive begins, the Holly family are scattered to the four corners of the earth, and Healey has come home to Bluewater Bay to nurse his battered body, troubled mind and shattered heart. Where do you go when you need a safe place to land? Healey goes home. The only problem is that his childhood home doesn’t belong to the Holly family anymore. It belongs to Diego Luz, a guy we’re told works postproduction on Wolf’s Landing, the hit TV show that’s filmed there. Diego isn’t at all happy to see Healey’s bruised face and broken arm on his doorstep, but all Healey wants is to rent Nash’s old room above the garage, offering to throw an exorbitant amount of cash into the deal for the trouble, which Diego isn’t at all down with; he’s also insulted by the offer. He does give Healey one night on the floor of the apartment, though, and then makes him move on.
All Wheel Drive is set up as a sort of one-sided enemy-to-lovers story, with a hurt/comfort chaser. I tend to love both of these tropes when done well. Unfortunately, I can’t say it succeeds here; at least, it didn’t for me. When Healey is introduced, he’s in such dire straits that I wanted to put him in bubble wrap and set him on a shelf until he was well enough physically to deal with what he was struggling with emotionally—the aftermath of Ford’s complete psychological meltdown, which led to a road rage incident during which Healey was injured and, now, is possibly in need of an attorney. Healey suffered the consequences of his own denial and poor choices, and of loving a guy who needed more than just love to help him cope (I did like the message that love can make even the smartest people do stupid things). Healey was so pitiful when he showed up at Diego’s house, which was a jarring contrast to the stranger who answered the door. With absolutely no setup to prepare readers for Diego’s unprompted disdain (or, what felt a lot like it), it was as if I’d been dropped into the middle of a relationship that’d ended badly—there was zero context for Diego’s pissiness towards a guy who looked like the walking dead. I don’t know if I wasn’t supposed to like Diego right then, but he didn’t make a great first impression, and it took a long time before I was able to feel even tepid towards him. Points awarded to Healey for tripping my savior complex trigger, though.
Diego is paralyzed from the waist down after suffering a spinal cord injury. He’s still adjusting to all the ways he’s had to adapt since his accident, coping with the loss of his mom (more on her in a minute), and, in so, so many ways, is mourning the loss of the life he led before his accident. Kudos to Maxfield for the care she took in detailing some of Diego’s day-to-day challenges, and for the research she did to show readers how he could still have sex despite his paralysis. The hand he’s been dealt is, without a doubt, enough to make anyone angry, bitter and standoffish, and I developed a great amount of respect for his strength as the story continued. This made Healey Diego’s perfect romantic foil, in many ways, because of Healey’s scientific pragmatism as well as his own experience with a little sister who’d suffered from her own spinal injury.
The problem, however—the one issue I had difficulty overcoming, in the end—is that Diego came off as a one-note character to me for most of the book. Wolf’s Landing is on hiatus when All Wheel Drive begins, so it stands to reason we wouldn’t get to see him on the job, but I needed to see him interacting earlier in the story with a wider range of people, in a way that showed more layers to his personality and who he was as an everyday guy—that he was more than the ire he consistently directed at Healey. The side-effect of his monotone characterization is that I didn’t buy into Healey’s attraction to Diego, not beyond the fact that Diego is hot and ‘swole’, and that sex was the end goal. I get that people don’t have to be best friends before they have sex, or even like each other, for that matter, but I just didn’t get why Healey was so persistent. It was like watching a kicked puppy coming back, again and again, hoping for a tiny crumb of kindness. These guys had sex, there was more anger and some misunderstandings, all because there was no foundation for them to talk about the heavy stuff. They were too broken individually to “fix” each other with something as simple as sexual chemistry, and I just wasn’t sold on their relationship. In fact, some of the things that happened later in the book likely could’ve happened a bit earlier and addressed some of my issues—before they became issues—without it ruining the overall story. But, I can’t prove that.
Also weighing heavily against a believable beginning to any sort of relationship between Healey and Diego is the unresolved issues between Healey and Ford—which is what left Healey a physical and emotional and psychological wreck. Let’s talk about unfinished business and simplistic resolutions… For as damaged as Healey was by the events that happened between him and Ford, the end of that crisis was too abrupt and over simplified, and the narrative skimmed over too much of the emotional detritus to get to the HEA with Diego. This was a BIG deal in the story, it completely informed who Healey was for almost the entirety of the book, so a few pages of conversation with Ford to get him past that felt disingenuous and too tidy to me.
Getting back to Diego’s mom, I loved the little glimpses we got of her and her backstory, and I liked that she was the catalyst that brought Diego and Healey together, even if in only a peripheral and figurative way. There were some interesting tidbits parsed out that made her an intriguing and provocative addition to Diego’s narrative, and I loved the portrayal of her as such a free and rebellious spirit. Sadly, however, her story wasn’t wrapped up. I’d have loved to know more about the outcome of the research into her stealth artwork.
While I ended up liking Healey and Diego together well enough by the end, All Wheel Drive started slow and didn’t pick up quickly enough to hook me. I have an intense passion for characters who aren’t afraid to have those tough conversations that give a story substance and realism—something that I felt was important especially because these guys were both so broken, but it relies too much on sex as a foundation for a relationship that brings an excess of emotional baggage to it, some of which needed unloaded first for me to buy into it.
But, as always, your mileage with All Wheel Drive may vary.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
Want to read
September 15, 2017Healey's story! I've wanted this book since forever.
July 12, 2017
Readers drawn to angst-filled romances and characters that pull at the heartstrings will find themselves captivated by this story and the journey these two bruised men undertake. From the moment readers meet Diego and Healey their pain, fears, hopes, and dreams become ours. Though there are times their actions and attitudes will frustrate readers, you'll still find yourself rooting for them to get their HEA.
Diego and his mother were close-knit when he was a child. She was young when she had him and it made for a childhood full of hardships but also love. Her death left him reeling and he boxed up his memories of her as the pain of dealing with his past became too painful. His awkward first meeting with Healey though opens up the floodgates and pain regarding his mother, his disability, and his own self-perceptions can no longer be ignored. The closer he grows to Healey the more comfortable he becomes in his own skin. With Healey's support he no longer wants to keep his mother's history hidden but rather share her story with the world out of pride and it's a heartwarming change for him. Throughout most of the story Diego's a bit of a curmudgeon. He's angry and bitter when readers first meet him, angry over his mother's death and his disability. Though his anger and tendency to assume the worse made it a bit difficult to warm up to him I still found myself admiring him and easily relating to him in relation to my own quadriplegia. It's difficult to live with a disability and I appreciated his honesty in dealing with the everyday realities of being disabled. Issues regarding sex, bathroom needs, and the oddities of our bodies weren't sugarcoated, they were dealt with head-on in a respectful and realistic way. Diego's self-doubts in how he sees his body and his ability to satisfy were heartbreaking to see and it's why I adored Healey so much. Healey never saw Diego as lacking and it's through Healey's honesty that Diego was able to see himself in a more positive light and by the end of the story his smiles came more often and were just part of a very HEA.
Healey grew up in a loving family with a twin brother and a sister who also had a spinal cord injury. Though the death of his mother left a painful mark on his soul, his upbringing was much more assured than Diego's. From a young age it was clear he was super smart and it made for a childhood full of studying and seriousness. His years in college brought much of the same, but it also brought him Ford. Ford took him to the wild side, had him doing things that grew further out of control, until the day Ford's mental illness almost killed both of them. The accident left Healey scarred inside and out, but loyalty has him keeping the truth of that night buried. That pain is what drives him back home to Bluewater Bay and leads to his unforgettable and antagonistic first meeting with Diego. Despite all he's gone through Healey's retained his kind heart. It's clear the secrets from that night are weighing on him but it doesn't diminish his infectious happiness. He's a bundle of energy, snarky yet sensual in his banter, and once he commits to something he's all in. What he wants to commit to is seeing more of Diego and through his unrelenting charm, sweet smiles, and bold honesty he slowly wears Diego down. Healey's endearing in his quirks, overly talkative when nervous and very willing to experiment. He's a sexy scientist and I adored his ability to make Diego feel just as he sees him in his own mind. Though they're opposites in many ways I found them to be an entertaining couple with a relationship teeming with realism, heart, and soul.
From start to finish this was a romance that captivated me. Diego and Healey's relationship was emotionally intense with issues regarding sex and disability that ZAM dealt with realistically yet sensitively. Along with their erotically-charged connection, their banter out of the bedroom was just as sensual and rapid-fire and I enjoyed the random blushes their words brought me. The relationship between Healey and his twin brother Nash was another delightful aspect to this story that charmed me and put Healey in an even more endearing light. I enjoyed getting an update on Nash and his lover as well as the glimpses we got of the other colorful denizens of Bluewater Bay. It's a picturesque town, a place of safety and acceptance for many, and this tale is a wonderful addition to the series. Though the story went on a bit longer than necessary, and parts of the storyline were left a bit unfinished, I still found myself glued to this romance from the first page to the last. I especially want to thank ZAM for crafting a disabled character that was far from perfect. He wasn't a saint or an angel, but a man trying to live the life he was given with brutal honesty, and in that he left an indelible mark that I'm still cheering.
Diego and his mother were close-knit when he was a child. She was young when she had him and it made for a childhood full of hardships but also love. Her death left him reeling and he boxed up his memories of her as the pain of dealing with his past became too painful. His awkward first meeting with Healey though opens up the floodgates and pain regarding his mother, his disability, and his own self-perceptions can no longer be ignored. The closer he grows to Healey the more comfortable he becomes in his own skin. With Healey's support he no longer wants to keep his mother's history hidden but rather share her story with the world out of pride and it's a heartwarming change for him. Throughout most of the story Diego's a bit of a curmudgeon. He's angry and bitter when readers first meet him, angry over his mother's death and his disability. Though his anger and tendency to assume the worse made it a bit difficult to warm up to him I still found myself admiring him and easily relating to him in relation to my own quadriplegia. It's difficult to live with a disability and I appreciated his honesty in dealing with the everyday realities of being disabled. Issues regarding sex, bathroom needs, and the oddities of our bodies weren't sugarcoated, they were dealt with head-on in a respectful and realistic way. Diego's self-doubts in how he sees his body and his ability to satisfy were heartbreaking to see and it's why I adored Healey so much. Healey never saw Diego as lacking and it's through Healey's honesty that Diego was able to see himself in a more positive light and by the end of the story his smiles came more often and were just part of a very HEA.
Healey grew up in a loving family with a twin brother and a sister who also had a spinal cord injury. Though the death of his mother left a painful mark on his soul, his upbringing was much more assured than Diego's. From a young age it was clear he was super smart and it made for a childhood full of studying and seriousness. His years in college brought much of the same, but it also brought him Ford. Ford took him to the wild side, had him doing things that grew further out of control, until the day Ford's mental illness almost killed both of them. The accident left Healey scarred inside and out, but loyalty has him keeping the truth of that night buried. That pain is what drives him back home to Bluewater Bay and leads to his unforgettable and antagonistic first meeting with Diego. Despite all he's gone through Healey's retained his kind heart. It's clear the secrets from that night are weighing on him but it doesn't diminish his infectious happiness. He's a bundle of energy, snarky yet sensual in his banter, and once he commits to something he's all in. What he wants to commit to is seeing more of Diego and through his unrelenting charm, sweet smiles, and bold honesty he slowly wears Diego down. Healey's endearing in his quirks, overly talkative when nervous and very willing to experiment. He's a sexy scientist and I adored his ability to make Diego feel just as he sees him in his own mind. Though they're opposites in many ways I found them to be an entertaining couple with a relationship teeming with realism, heart, and soul.
From start to finish this was a romance that captivated me. Diego and Healey's relationship was emotionally intense with issues regarding sex and disability that ZAM dealt with realistically yet sensitively. Along with their erotically-charged connection, their banter out of the bedroom was just as sensual and rapid-fire and I enjoyed the random blushes their words brought me. The relationship between Healey and his twin brother Nash was another delightful aspect to this story that charmed me and put Healey in an even more endearing light. I enjoyed getting an update on Nash and his lover as well as the glimpses we got of the other colorful denizens of Bluewater Bay. It's a picturesque town, a place of safety and acceptance for many, and this tale is a wonderful addition to the series. Though the story went on a bit longer than necessary, and parts of the storyline were left a bit unfinished, I still found myself glued to this romance from the first page to the last. I especially want to thank ZAM for crafting a disabled character that was far from perfect. He wasn't a saint or an angel, but a man trying to live the life he was given with brutal honesty, and in that he left an indelible mark that I'm still cheering.
July 14, 2017
If ZA Maxfield has three gears, good, better, best, All Wheel Drive inches towards her best. And, as testament, I found myself quoting her gifted words, rather than writing a review.
Plot: Just as Healey obtained his PhD in Physics, his bipolar ex-boyfriend almost killed him in a road rage accident. Confused, he leaves the hospital AMA, thinking only to rent a room in his childhood home and lick his wounds. “He had the added bonus of incontrovertible proof that each second truly could be his last. Which wasn’t a problem, until he started to think about it. Until he started to dwell on it. Until he was aware of his mortality at the cellular level and it started closing in on him.”
Diego’s accident left him wheelchair-bound, unable to feel below his waist, forsaking his career as a photojournalist in favor of editing footage from Bluewater Bay’s vampire TV show. He has avoided intimacy because, “Being that emotionally interested without the corresponding physical sensations sucked. It frayed his nerves. It filled him with inexplicable rage.”
And now his family is pressuring him to create a documentary on his mother’s life as a renowned artist. “Each piece, each memory glittered sharp as a shard of glass under his skin. He unearthed them painfully. Quietly….” “Petulance, your name is Diego.”
For Diego, “Like an accountant, he’d drawn a great big double line beneath the date of his accident on his mental calendar, balanced the debits and credits, and paid his debts. Now there was nothing before. No pages, no notes, nothing worth looking back at. Nothing worth thinking about.”
Learning Healey’s whereabouts, his dad and twin, who readers met in Hell on Wheels (though All Wheel Drive reads as a standalone) arrive, circling while he recharges. “He could simply-finally-rest, because his family had his back.” Diego resents the twins’ comradery. “And he didn’t know why. But if he did know, it might be because he was lonely now that his mother was gone.”
Both men, defiantly avoid their memories. They circle each other cautiously, like drivers in a romantic NASCAR meet. “Why is it I always feel like I’m playing checkers and you’re playing chess?” Healey asks. When Diego responds “I have to protect…” Healey interrupts. “Your skin, I know. And your heart. And your dignity…your autonomy. Your independence… your self-concept…”
Like with his twin, Healey challenges Diego non-stop, often with brainy facts. Diego counters with sarcastic humor. “It works best if you hold the end and wiggle the tip sharply from side to side,” Healey offers at breakfast. “We still talking about sex?” Diego asks. “The ketchup, Jesus,” Healey answers.
Throughout Wheel Drive readers are treated to Maxfield’s signature homespun observations.
“There’s a problem when the distraction becomes as important as the mission.”
“When you love someone, you’ll do anything for them, even if it isn’t in your best interest…or theirs.”
“Funny thing. You can look into the distance, but not the future.”
“(Love isn’t) a resource issue like land or food. The more I give away, the more I’ll have to give.”
Maxfield simply revs my motor. Healey and Diego are etched to psychological perfection. Their tango of approach and avoidance have more passes and collisions than most races. And I would read her books for her gentle wisdoms and relationship advice alone. Maxfield explores the trust issues within and between the men brilliantly.
If you love witty verbal volley, well drawn personalities whose clashes prod growth, laugh aloud moments, tender, gritty intimacy, and want to learn a thing or two about love, this is a must-buy. All Wheel Drive earns 4.5 hearts, but I’ll gladly round them up to 5 for her audaciously sexy details, showcasing how an alpha with a spinal cord injury can rock and roll.
Plot: Just as Healey obtained his PhD in Physics, his bipolar ex-boyfriend almost killed him in a road rage accident. Confused, he leaves the hospital AMA, thinking only to rent a room in his childhood home and lick his wounds. “He had the added bonus of incontrovertible proof that each second truly could be his last. Which wasn’t a problem, until he started to think about it. Until he started to dwell on it. Until he was aware of his mortality at the cellular level and it started closing in on him.”
Diego’s accident left him wheelchair-bound, unable to feel below his waist, forsaking his career as a photojournalist in favor of editing footage from Bluewater Bay’s vampire TV show. He has avoided intimacy because, “Being that emotionally interested without the corresponding physical sensations sucked. It frayed his nerves. It filled him with inexplicable rage.”
And now his family is pressuring him to create a documentary on his mother’s life as a renowned artist. “Each piece, each memory glittered sharp as a shard of glass under his skin. He unearthed them painfully. Quietly….” “Petulance, your name is Diego.”
For Diego, “Like an accountant, he’d drawn a great big double line beneath the date of his accident on his mental calendar, balanced the debits and credits, and paid his debts. Now there was nothing before. No pages, no notes, nothing worth looking back at. Nothing worth thinking about.”
Learning Healey’s whereabouts, his dad and twin, who readers met in Hell on Wheels (though All Wheel Drive reads as a standalone) arrive, circling while he recharges. “He could simply-finally-rest, because his family had his back.” Diego resents the twins’ comradery. “And he didn’t know why. But if he did know, it might be because he was lonely now that his mother was gone.”
Both men, defiantly avoid their memories. They circle each other cautiously, like drivers in a romantic NASCAR meet. “Why is it I always feel like I’m playing checkers and you’re playing chess?” Healey asks. When Diego responds “I have to protect…” Healey interrupts. “Your skin, I know. And your heart. And your dignity…your autonomy. Your independence… your self-concept…”
Like with his twin, Healey challenges Diego non-stop, often with brainy facts. Diego counters with sarcastic humor. “It works best if you hold the end and wiggle the tip sharply from side to side,” Healey offers at breakfast. “We still talking about sex?” Diego asks. “The ketchup, Jesus,” Healey answers.
Throughout Wheel Drive readers are treated to Maxfield’s signature homespun observations.
“There’s a problem when the distraction becomes as important as the mission.”
“When you love someone, you’ll do anything for them, even if it isn’t in your best interest…or theirs.”
“Funny thing. You can look into the distance, but not the future.”
“(Love isn’t) a resource issue like land or food. The more I give away, the more I’ll have to give.”
Maxfield simply revs my motor. Healey and Diego are etched to psychological perfection. Their tango of approach and avoidance have more passes and collisions than most races. And I would read her books for her gentle wisdoms and relationship advice alone. Maxfield explores the trust issues within and between the men brilliantly.
If you love witty verbal volley, well drawn personalities whose clashes prod growth, laugh aloud moments, tender, gritty intimacy, and want to learn a thing or two about love, this is a must-buy. All Wheel Drive earns 4.5 hearts, but I’ll gladly round them up to 5 for her audaciously sexy details, showcasing how an alpha with a spinal cord injury can rock and roll.
October 18, 2017
Healey Holly is a man adrift. His long-time, bipolar, boyfriend, Ford, just spun off the rails of sanity and nearly took them both to a very young grave. They’d been growing apart, and were on a last goodbye weekend when things went really, really, bad. Busted up and needing some connection to his roots, Healey limps into Bluewater Bay and offers a load of cash to the disabled man, Diego Luz who’s recently purchased Healey’s family home, so that he can crash in the apartment above the garage. It’s a dump, filled with storage boxes of Diego’s late-mother’s art and Diego doesn’t want to have anyone up there, but he recognizes the desperation rolling off Healey and reluctantly agrees.
Diego is wallowing, and has been for some time. He’d suffered an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down a few years back, and he’s bitter over the way his life has changed. Once a sought-after photojournalist and bed partner, Diego is a virtual recluse, now, doing some low level editing work for the Wolf’s Landing TV show that is filmed in Bluewater Bay. His step-father has been after him for a year to make the documentary about his late mother’s art, and her influence on Chicana politics, but Diego can’t find the will to even look at her work. He’s so despondent, and he’s not sure what to make of the interested stares he witnesses from Healey.
So, this book is long on healing. Physical, emotional, sexual. Healey is a brilliant man, and doesn’t trust his instincts since life with Ford went so awry. How could he be so complacent, and was he responsible for Ford going manic? Diego’s much more pragmatic, but still vulnerable. He wants a stable partner, but doesn’t think anyone would want him for anything but a fetish, if that. As he and Healey begin to confide in one another, they see each other in a different light, one where Healey can forgive himself and Diego can endure the pain of his mother’s loss. There are some sexy moments, but they aren’t porn-worthy. Unless some of it’s a bloopers reel. And that’s okay, because all of this felt really genuine. Life is freaking messy, and Diego is quick to judge himself for making messes, while Healey basks in the strength and resilience Diego casually demonstrates. I liked how they saw the good in one another, and brought that to the surface.
When each man needs to hunt down his demons–Healey needs to speak with Ford face-to-face to resolve the legal issues that have developed from their accident, and Diego has to visit his stepfather and the extended family–they are a solid support for each other. A bulwark against the potentially crushing emotional toll these experiences are sure to bring. They work as partners, for many reasons, but not least of which is sheer stubbornness, and the ability to see past the present limitations and into future possibilities. I read a review copy provided by NetGalley.
Diego is wallowing, and has been for some time. He’d suffered an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down a few years back, and he’s bitter over the way his life has changed. Once a sought-after photojournalist and bed partner, Diego is a virtual recluse, now, doing some low level editing work for the Wolf’s Landing TV show that is filmed in Bluewater Bay. His step-father has been after him for a year to make the documentary about his late mother’s art, and her influence on Chicana politics, but Diego can’t find the will to even look at her work. He’s so despondent, and he’s not sure what to make of the interested stares he witnesses from Healey.
So, this book is long on healing. Physical, emotional, sexual. Healey is a brilliant man, and doesn’t trust his instincts since life with Ford went so awry. How could he be so complacent, and was he responsible for Ford going manic? Diego’s much more pragmatic, but still vulnerable. He wants a stable partner, but doesn’t think anyone would want him for anything but a fetish, if that. As he and Healey begin to confide in one another, they see each other in a different light, one where Healey can forgive himself and Diego can endure the pain of his mother’s loss. There are some sexy moments, but they aren’t porn-worthy. Unless some of it’s a bloopers reel. And that’s okay, because all of this felt really genuine. Life is freaking messy, and Diego is quick to judge himself for making messes, while Healey basks in the strength and resilience Diego casually demonstrates. I liked how they saw the good in one another, and brought that to the surface.
When each man needs to hunt down his demons–Healey needs to speak with Ford face-to-face to resolve the legal issues that have developed from their accident, and Diego has to visit his stepfather and the extended family–they are a solid support for each other. A bulwark against the potentially crushing emotional toll these experiences are sure to bring. They work as partners, for many reasons, but not least of which is sheer stubbornness, and the ability to see past the present limitations and into future possibilities. I read a review copy provided by NetGalley.
July 21, 2017
All Wheel Drive, Z.A. Maxfield
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance
I love the Bluewater sereis, and devoured ZA Mazfield's Cowboy sereis so I was sure I'd love this. But somehow for me it just doesn't work.
Healey doesn't seem to know what he wants, given what he's been through that's understandable, but I wasn't convinced he'd be ready to jump into something with Diego so soon after the ultra traumatic breakup with Ford, someone he'd been with for (I think) two years, maybe more.
Diego is ultra prickly, being in a wheelchair myself I know how easy it is for people to be offensive even when they don't mean it, but he seems to take offence at the slightest hint, maybe there's another narrative.
I didn't feel anything between him and Ford, no chemistry, no attraction or even just plain old lust, but to be fair I only got to 50% before giving up and just skimming to end to see what actually happened between Healey and Ford, and what the accident was.
I found all the things we couldn't know so frustrating, Healey and Ford and The accident, the Gag order - wouldn't his family insist he gets his own solicitors? He's supposed to be ultra brilliant, wouldn't he have seen the need for independent representation. even Ford tells him he needs it!
Diego, his past, his mum, whether she was famous, and why, and who wanted this exhibit, and why was he in a wheelchair, its kind of central to know what his history is to know why he's so prickly. Is it from an accident, an illness, from birth? all those things affect differently how people cope with life on wheels.
Just too many unanswered questions, combined with lack of chemistry and me feeling I just didn't Know the characters, didn't feel they were real.
Stars: two, still love Bluewater and Z A Maxfield's stories but this one just didn't work for me.
ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance
I love the Bluewater sereis, and devoured ZA Mazfield's Cowboy sereis so I was sure I'd love this. But somehow for me it just doesn't work.
Healey doesn't seem to know what he wants, given what he's been through that's understandable, but I wasn't convinced he'd be ready to jump into something with Diego so soon after the ultra traumatic breakup with Ford, someone he'd been with for (I think) two years, maybe more.
Diego is ultra prickly, being in a wheelchair myself I know how easy it is for people to be offensive even when they don't mean it, but he seems to take offence at the slightest hint, maybe there's another narrative.
I didn't feel anything between him and Ford, no chemistry, no attraction or even just plain old lust, but to be fair I only got to 50% before giving up and just skimming to end to see what actually happened between Healey and Ford, and what the accident was.
I found all the things we couldn't know so frustrating, Healey and Ford and The accident, the Gag order - wouldn't his family insist he gets his own solicitors? He's supposed to be ultra brilliant, wouldn't he have seen the need for independent representation. even Ford tells him he needs it!
Diego, his past, his mum, whether she was famous, and why, and who wanted this exhibit, and why was he in a wheelchair, its kind of central to know what his history is to know why he's so prickly. Is it from an accident, an illness, from birth? all those things affect differently how people cope with life on wheels.
Just too many unanswered questions, combined with lack of chemistry and me feeling I just didn't Know the characters, didn't feel they were real.
Stars: two, still love Bluewater and Z A Maxfield's stories but this one just didn't work for me.
ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers
February 26, 2018
Once again, Maxfield shines with her use of character. Though there is a significant (and quite sexy) romantic element to this novel, the journey for me was more about the character progression, whether or not Healey and Diego ended up together. The author made me cheer for them as individuals, not necessarily as a couple.
Halfway through the book, I even realized that I'd be content if they didn't end up together forever. Through the course of the story, each person was learning important things about himself that would make them better people in the long run. And I firmly believe that two people should make a romantic pair, rather than a romantic pairing be the way in which people "complete" themselves.
As much as I love Diego and his stubborn angst, the combined twin power of Healey and Nash was definitely my favorite element of this book. They made a fantastic dynamic duo. Throw their dad into the mix, and I'd happily read pretty much anything with the Nash boys.
Maxfield doesn't shy away from the complications that must be addressed in a sexual relationship with a paraplegic. I also appreciated how Healey's experience with his wheelchair-bound little sister did not mean he fully escaped the verbal minefields an able person can still stumble through (see, even our language isn't necessarily designed for a person with physical limitations). Physical disability and mental illness are presented unflinchingly in this book, bringing a healthy dose of realism to this fantastic novel.
Halfway through the book, I even realized that I'd be content if they didn't end up together forever. Through the course of the story, each person was learning important things about himself that would make them better people in the long run. And I firmly believe that two people should make a romantic pair, rather than a romantic pairing be the way in which people "complete" themselves.
As much as I love Diego and his stubborn angst, the combined twin power of Healey and Nash was definitely my favorite element of this book. They made a fantastic dynamic duo. Throw their dad into the mix, and I'd happily read pretty much anything with the Nash boys.
Maxfield doesn't shy away from the complications that must be addressed in a sexual relationship with a paraplegic. I also appreciated how Healey's experience with his wheelchair-bound little sister did not mean he fully escaped the verbal minefields an able person can still stumble through (see, even our language isn't necessarily designed for a person with physical limitations). Physical disability and mental illness are presented unflinchingly in this book, bringing a healthy dose of realism to this fantastic novel.
July 10, 2017
ZAM is an amazing author. Sometimes I read (and read and read), hoping she'll just get on with it, then I realize there's method behind the madness. Maybe not my method or madness, but kind of wonderful nonetheless. This is the second installment of the Holly twins saga; (Hell on Wheels was the first. Family is a huge part of this — Healey's Holly family, and Diego's Luz family. The main focus is how one says goodbye to dreams and expectations that are no longer possible, and what kind of replacement dreams and realities may result. There's a lot, perhaps too much going on here, kind of like Healey trying to tame his mercurial scientific mind to avoid driving Diego (and himself) crazy, and having to move in excruciating slo-mo as he overthinks everything. There's even a tiny hint of mysticism very subtly tapping on Healey's science-rules-all shoulder. And towards the end, some advice worth taking to heart: "... These are difficult times. It's okay to be scared, but it's not okay to quit."
August 12, 2017
I really liked this book but at the same time I feel like it wasn't anything to write home about. Confusing I know. The thing I like about the Bluewater Bay series is that it's a long running series and it feels like a long running tv show with returning and guest starring characters.
This time we're treated to Healey's story, twin brother to Nash who we previously met in Hell on Wheels. Healey returns to Bluewater Bay licking his wounds after some really nasty business with his now ex-boyfriend Ford and he shows up on Diego Luz's doorstep wanting to rent Nash's old apartment. Diego having bought the Holly household since Nash, Shelby, and Ace (their father) have moved on. Healey longs for family but doesn't want to disturb all their happy endings. Both Healey and Diego have some excess baggage and that is such an understatement. Their navigating a growing relationship when both have their hangups was interesting to read.
My only thing was that I wish we had gotten more on Healey and Ford's situation. I'd have liked more background and maybe resolution so the ending of that seemed very hasty and sudden.
Solid 3.75 stars!
This time we're treated to Healey's story, twin brother to Nash who we previously met in Hell on Wheels. Healey returns to Bluewater Bay licking his wounds after some really nasty business with his now ex-boyfriend Ford and he shows up on Diego Luz's doorstep wanting to rent Nash's old apartment. Diego having bought the Holly household since Nash, Shelby, and Ace (their father) have moved on. Healey longs for family but doesn't want to disturb all their happy endings. Both Healey and Diego have some excess baggage and that is such an understatement. Their navigating a growing relationship when both have their hangups was interesting to read.
My only thing was that I wish we had gotten more on Healey and Ford's situation. I'd have liked more background and maybe resolution so the ending of that seemed very hasty and sudden.
Solid 3.75 stars!
December 18, 2017
I liked parts of how this book handled disability and
On the other hand, I'm really tired of Love Interest #1 understands Love Interest #2's disability/mental illness/whatever because their sister had something similar. This happened in Bluewater Blues, three books earlier in the series, with autism, and in Never a Hero, another book from the same publisher, with a congenitally amputated arm. There are other ways for a hero to figure out how to be kind and helpful and whatever their partner needs (like talking to them about it!) rather than having had them already know everything about someone else's disability.
On the other hand, I'm really tired of Love Interest #1 understands Love Interest #2's disability/mental illness/whatever because their sister had something similar. This happened in Bluewater Blues, three books earlier in the series, with autism, and in Never a Hero, another book from the same publisher, with a congenitally amputated arm. There are other ways for a hero to figure out how to be kind and helpful and whatever their partner needs (like talking to them about it!) rather than having had them already know everything about someone else's disability.
November 1, 2017
Healey runs to the first place that feels safe to him, after he checks himself out of the hospital. Diego is hiding from his past and doesn’t want to share his house with anyone, but in Healey he sees something that he can’t turn away from.
Healey and Diego both made me hurt for them, they have both gone through traumatic experience and have walked away from them broken men. While Diego hides his pain from the world, Healey doesn’t know how to hide his pain.
While sparks fly from the beginning between these two, both are hesitant to really pursue any type of relationship due to past hurts. Even though they are what the other one needs, they need to learn to look past the hurts and see what they can offer each other.
Healey and Diego both made me hurt for them, they have both gone through traumatic experience and have walked away from them broken men. While Diego hides his pain from the world, Healey doesn’t know how to hide his pain.
While sparks fly from the beginning between these two, both are hesitant to really pursue any type of relationship due to past hurts. Even though they are what the other one needs, they need to learn to look past the hurts and see what they can offer each other.
March 16, 2018
1.5 stars. Ugh, I was so bored with this book. Reading it was a chore I finally gave up on. I didn’t really like Diego and couldn’t see what Healey saw in him. I get that he was that way because of his past. It seemed like their connection was all superficial.
I appreciate the author for trying to make the sex realistic with Diego’s SCI. It’s just that that many awkward sex scenes were difficult to read.
It seemed the same issues just got rehashed over and over and there was no progress made on them.
I realized I didn’t care at all about these characters and even though I really try hard to not dnf, my time is worth more than this book.
I appreciate the author for trying to make the sex realistic with Diego’s SCI. It’s just that that many awkward sex scenes were difficult to read.
It seemed the same issues just got rehashed over and over and there was no progress made on them.
I realized I didn’t care at all about these characters and even though I really try hard to not dnf, my time is worth more than this book.
July 16, 2017
This was pretty quirky, like the two MCs. I haven't read all the Bluewater Bay books, but enough to know that these guys always have stuff going on, and it isn't all kittens and unicorns. We know that both of the MCs have a lot of stuff hidden beneath the surface - things that prevent them from going all in on a relationship, yet the book doesn't always deliver in giving us everything needed to understand and invest in the characters. I do like ZM's writing style, however, which is always what keeps me coming back to her books.
December 28, 2023
While I was really looking forward to reading this book, I think for me something was missing. I don't know if it was in part due to all of the drama that was happening with Healy and Ford or the issues that Diego and Healy faced, but I think that so far this might be my least favorite book of the series. However, with that being said, I absolutely love this series and love the diversity that this series offers and this book is no different. Therefore, while this book wasn't my favorite of the series, I still really enjoyed it and can't wait to continue on this journey with this series.
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