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A review by ezichinny
Home the Hard Way by Z.A. Maxfield
2.0
I decided to try this book because the cover was compelling and I really like the St. Nacho's series written by the author. Unfortunately, I can't point to anything in this book that I enjoyed.
It started out really well and about half way, it descended into this baffling sex, lies and murder mystery. I found the character of Finn Fowler to be a head scratcher. Finn Fowler was the "left behind" character as his friend Dare Buckley left Palladin Washington in search of greener pastures. Finn was the son of the town whore and everyone picked on him. He was called "Foullest", a play on his last name Fowler. Dare Buckley, the beloved town son, always stood up for Finn until the suicide of his detective father rocked his foundation. Dare and his family quickly left town, and Finn was stuck fending for himself again.
Over a decade later, Dare returns to town after a disgraceful error in judgment cost him his job. And he seems while somethings are still the same, others have changed drastically. For instance, Finn isn't as helpless as he used to be, and now Dare was the one who needed help putting his life back together.
This book was dark and never really got better. I never felt settled reading this book, not even at the end. I never quite understood Finn. I get that he had to create an environment he could control since almost everything around him was out of his control, but I didn't understand what he truly desired. Bill Fraser and Dare Buckley, made sense but Finn, I can't wrap my head around. The BDSM aspect to this story did NOT work for me and I found it disturbing. It was almost like Finn was broken inside just as much as Dare and Bill. I thought the author would somehow try to fix all three of them together. All three and the whole town seemed to be pretty messed up with their secrets and lies.
*Special thanks to Riptide via Netgalley for the reading copy
It started out really well and about half way, it descended into this baffling sex, lies and murder mystery. I found the character of Finn Fowler to be a head scratcher. Finn Fowler was the "left behind" character as his friend Dare Buckley left Palladin Washington in search of greener pastures. Finn was the son of the town whore and everyone picked on him. He was called "Foullest", a play on his last name Fowler. Dare Buckley, the beloved town son, always stood up for Finn until the suicide of his detective father rocked his foundation. Dare and his family quickly left town, and Finn was stuck fending for himself again.
Over a decade later, Dare returns to town after a disgraceful error in judgment cost him his job. And he seems while somethings are still the same, others have changed drastically. For instance, Finn isn't as helpless as he used to be, and now Dare was the one who needed help putting his life back together.
This book was dark and never really got better. I never felt settled reading this book, not even at the end. I never quite understood Finn. I get that he had to create an environment he could control since almost everything around him was out of his control, but I didn't understand what he truly desired. Bill Fraser and Dare Buckley, made sense but Finn, I can't wrap my head around. The BDSM aspect to this story did NOT work for me and I found it disturbing. It was almost like Finn was broken inside just as much as Dare and Bill. I thought the author would somehow try to fix all three of them together. All three and the whole town seemed to be pretty messed up with their secrets and lies.
*Special thanks to Riptide via Netgalley for the reading copy