REVIEW: HOME THE HARD WAY by Z.A. Maxfield!!

"Dare Buckley has come home—or at least, he’s come back to Palladian, the small town he left as a teenager. After a major lapse in judgment forced him to resign from the Seattle PD, Palladian is the only place that’ll hire him. There’s one benefit to hitting rock bottom, though: the chance to investigate the mystery of his father’s suicide.

Dare also gets to reacquaint himself with Finn Fowler, whose childhood hero worship ended in uncomfortable silence when Dare moved away. But Finn isn’t the same little kid Dare once protected. He’s grown into an attractive, enigmatic stranger who neither wants nor needs what Dare has to offer.

In fact, Dare soon realizes that Finn’s keeping secrets—his own and the town’s. And he doesn’t seem to care that Dare needs answers. The atmosphere in Palladian, like its namesake river, appears placid, but dark currents churn underneath. When danger closes in, Dare must pit his ingenuity against his heart, and find his way home the hard way."

Home the Hard Way by Z.A. Maxfield was a wonderfully fast paced, addictive and sexy read with a very intriguing and gripping mystery at its core!

The novel kept me reading well into the dark morning hours, flicking my tablet to the next page almost compulsively. The story focuses on Finn, who is gay and out in his very, very small town of Palladian, Oregon, who has many secrets that he would never want anyone finding out about.

Enter Dare: Finn's once sorta best friend though Dare was five or so years older than Finn and they never  really "hung out", but Finn was somewhat enamored with Dare and Dare was always oddly compelled by Finn, despite one being 5 and the other 10 at the beginning of their union. For some reason, they were always connected.

Then after a series of tragedies, Dare leaves and doesn't return for 15 years.

What I liked about Finn's & Dare's relationship is that while they were companions at a young age despite the age gap, their relationship was never sexual and the issue of potential molestation was talked about, not just swept under the rug - a couple of characters talked about how they always kept an eye on them to make sure nothing bad was happening between them. They had a strange connection, but it wasn't something that ever became dirty. Dare even talks about being confused about feeling connected to someone so young & how it freaked him out & I liked that. Dare was never sexually attracted to Finn when they were young, but he felt protective of him and he also liked that the fact that Finn idolized him.

When Dare returns to Palladian, a crime happens and as he tries to figure out what really happens, he Finn do grow closer and their relationship does become sexual, in a very, VERY, interesting way.

Finn, out the outside is man taking care of dying aunt and he seems very composed and vanilla, but he really isn't and Dare is a man who has lost his job is on the outside is very straight and stern, but he too, really isn't.

They both want each other and push each other away, making for a very interesting read with very interesting and complex characters who are both messed up and don't know how not to be.

Trust me: this book you want to read!

It was so, so good!

-A

REVIEW: The Charioteer by Mary Renault!!

"Mary Renault’s landmark novel about a wounded soldier who returns from the front and must choose between relationships with two very different men

After being wounded at Dunkirk in World War II, Laurie Odell is sent back home to a rural British hospital. Standing out among the orderlies is Andrew, a bright conscientious objector raised as a Quaker. The unspoken romance between the two men is tested when Ralph, a friend of Laurie’s from school, re-enters his life, introducing him into a milieu of jaded, experienced gay men. Will Laurie reconcile himself to Ralph’s embrace, or can he offer Andrew the idealized, Platonic intimacy he yearns for?

This novel has been called one of the foundation stones of gay literary fiction, ranking alongside James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar. Celebrated for its literary brilliance and sincere depiction of complex human emotions, The Charioteer is a stirring and beautifully rendered portrayal of love."

 

The Charioteer is a dreamy, beautiful novel that says so much when it doesn’t say anything. The queer factor of the book is obvious and evident and of course, prominent, but the issue of being ‘gay’ and being labeled as such not only during the time period in which the novel is set, but the time in which Renault’s novel is published, has to be addressed by other means and other words in order for the characters to thrive and the novel to see the light of publication. Renault’s craftsmanship of writing allows her to effortlessly do this in a way that brings the story to a richer and more lavish arena. Some things may go over a readers head, but if you allow yourself to reread or to perhaps read slower and with more care, you will see the artistry in Renaults words choices and characters actions, and plot and prose and everything! Truly, a splendid novel! Romance, society, pressure, the human psyche, homosexuality, sexuality, war, right and wrong and so much more are explored and beautified and creates a wonderful, wonderfully sad and beautiful novel!

Purchase HERE!!

-A