My Heartache Cowboy by ZA Maxfield (The Cowboys #2)
Released: January 21, 2014
M/M Contemporary Romance
Penguin
Reviewed by Mandi
I DNF’d the first book in this series but I’ve liked this author in the past so I thought I’d give this one a try. This series focuses on gay ranchers and that appeals to me so much! But I’ve come to the conclusion this series is just not for me. I set this book down around the 55% mark and had no desire to pick it back up.
The beginning of the book worked pretty well for me. Jimmy and Eddie have been friends and bunk mates at the ranch they work at for quite a long time. Jimmy realizes right at the beginning of the book that Eddie is gay, which surprises him greatly. But being that they are good friends, Jimmy is okay with this –shocked but it doesn’t freak him out that much. Jimmy has a drinking problem and is in danger of losing his job, so Eddie basically kidnaps Jimmy in the middle of the night and takes him to a remote cabin to dry him out. Jimmy is in denial of his drinking, making this a tense situation.
The cabin they go to is Eddie’s lover’s cabin. This guy, a doctor, eventually comes to the cabin to make sure Jimmy’s withdrawal is going okay. As Eddie and the doctor continue their sexy times, Jimmy (who has always thought himself straight) gets pulled into their lovemaking.
The ‘gay for you’ trope has worked for me in the past. There is something sexy about a guy who thinks he is straight and then falls for another guy (Zane from Abigail Roux a great example). This one though made no sense to me. All of a sudden Jimmy is sitting naked in a hot tub with Eddie and the doctor and they all start having sex. What, what, what? I needed more of a progression that leads up to this from Eddie.
But what really clinched this DNF for me is the crassness of the love scenes. I’ll give an example – I tried to find one not too crazy, but it was hard.
His hole was dark and ringed with whorls of hair – a tightly wrinkled bud over which I smeared some of Don’s goo.
That’s just the beginning folks. There are so many other sentences that just made me cringe or laugh rather than got into the romance. I actually felt no romance, just sex that I didn’t find hot.
I’m not giving up on this author, but I am giving up on this series.
Rating: DNF
I don’t mind reading M/M romances. Some of them are pretty hot, e.i. Qhuinn & Blay.
But the love scenes are what make-or-break it, to me. If it’s really more vulgar than sexy, it is a no-go.
I was debating about reading this book and I can safely say it is in the “no” pile.
Thanks for the review!
There are so many good m/m ones out there…don’t read these.
I have liked this author in the past, but I read the first in this series and thought it was only OK. Everything I’ve read about this one leads me to believe I will hate the second one. So I think I’ll wait to see where this author goes next. Or re-read some of my favourites in her other series.
I’ve read a few of her in the past and thought they were fun. The tone of this series is very off-putting.
Nice review. I love M/M when the emotional-relationship development is there. This one sounds lacking in that regard, but I’m intrigued by the concept, sort of like a Brokeback Mountain series.
Have you tried Hot Head? It’s a popular M/M on Goodreads. It’s a gay-for-you fireman story set in NY. If everything I read in 2013, this one’s in my top 5 for the emotion and believability. It’s so nuanced.
My only criticism is that author Damon Suede doesn’t write fast enough! I hear he has a sequel coming, but it’s been 2 years since Hot Head was released. I need more now!
I have read Hot Head :) I’m not sure if Damon will ever get that second book released LOL.
I cannot unread what I just read. GOO??!?!
Yeah… ;)
Oh dear. I love my m/m but that quote? No, no, no. And that was the least of the crazy. Ick.
*whimper*
Did the author lose a bet and had to put in that line? I’m all about words that evoke imagery but…blech
The imagery evoked in this one was not pleasant.
I’m still in the fetal position sucking my thumb..#traumatized
Zam is usually a hit-or-miss with me. I have loved several of her books (like Drawn Together)but DNF’d many others. I think I will pass on this one because the menage aspect in a gay-for-you book just does not appeal to me.
Thanks for writing this review Mandi. I want to try writing some DNF reviews for myself, but sometimes the reason why is very hard to understand.
Yeah – I don’t do DNF reviews for every book I dnf, but this one I had some things to say :)
Goo
That made me snort. :P