Review: Wonderful Sequel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
Well, I kept my promise and didn't write another gushing review of a Z. A. Maxfield book for at least a couple of weeks.But, beware, I'm about to start again."My Heartache Cowboy" is the second installment of Ms. Maxfield's series about the J-Bar ranch, a ranch run by Crandall and Ellie Jenkins, who raise horses, cattle, sheep and alpaca - as well as a bunkhouse full of lost cowboys in need of family and home. In the first book, Crandall passes away, much to the sadness of everyone involved with the J-Bar. In this, the second book, Ms. Maxfield takes a look at one of the neediest, nastiest and most recalcitrant cowboys, Jimmy, who had begun to live his life in a bottle instead of dealing with all the frustration and pain he carried around with hi - pain and frustration that floated over him like a black cloud.A product of an abusive father, he had never come out of the closet and compensated with that hate that only comes from jealousy and envy of those who have. His loyal friend Ed has been by his side for fifteen years. Neither are young any more. Jimmy is 38, Ed is 42. But what has festered between them, and remained unsaid for 15 years, is forced to the surface when Ed and the Boss decide to perform an intervention, kidnapping him to a mountain cabin to force him off the booze. It's that or he'll be kicked off the ranch, because the booze has become such a problem that his job performance has become hopeless.And that's what the rest of the book is about - Jimmy becoming clean and sober, and Jimmy and Ed finally finding each other. Both are a rocky road for Jimmy, who has never known love, peace or self-respect, and to whom "family" was a dirty word.The book is a very accurate depiction of the inner life of an alcoholic, and profoundly moving in many places. Some things, such as the threesome he gets involved in as part of his "coming out" and letting a dumb kid talk him into drinking himself right out of his sobriety, rocked me a bit, thinking that the author was going over-the-top or off-the-rails. But I should have had more faith. Z. A. Maxfield is a master at the written word, and just when I most feared the plot was about to blow up, she skillfully brought it back to credulity and even managed to make an object lesson out of it.I honestly can't wait for the next installment (and there better be one!), but I'll be happy to read anything Z. A. Maxfield writes. She has a unique, nuanced and almost poetic way with M/M Romance, and she belongs among the pantheon of the top gay fiction writers around today. Highly, highly recommended, but read the other one, "My Cowboy Heart" first.