Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Run Time: 6 hours and 55 minutes
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy the romance of falling in love—not for the first time but falling the right time.
Reviewed By: Mike
Blurb: Nash is the reliable one in the Holly family, the guy everyone counts on to keep things going. His genius twin brother is off at university, so Nash runs the family’s auto repair business and cares for his partially-paralyzed little sister while his crackpot father invents. His life seems mapped out for the foreseeable future, however much that might chafe.
So when Wolf’s Landing actor Spencer Kepler-Constantine lands in his life, Nash is ready for a diversion. Spencer is in the middle of a very painful, very public divorce and isn’t ready for a relationship – not that Nash wants one. But they both need a friend, especially one with benefits.
As they grow closer, Nash starts to see his family in a whole new light. Do they really need him so badly? Or does he simply need to be needed? Then Spencer’s ex reappears with a grand romantic gesture, and Nash has to figure out what he wants – and how to get it – before Spencer’s gone for good.
Review: Hell on Wheels is book three in this series. It uses the Bluewater Bay setting and the TV show as a backdrop but you don’t heed to have read the others to enjoy this book. Each book in the series is written by a different author and each story features a different couple falling in love.
When the very sexy and very publicly recently married and then dumped Spencer Kepler-Constantine finds himself stranded in the rain in his broken down sports car, he is discovered by the rock of the Holly family, Nash Holly. The chemistry is immediate and combustible.
Nash is a caretaker; his family relies on him to help with his sister’s needs, and to help run the family business that he feels is a legacy so his twin can go to college, his father can invent, and his sister can live a normal life. It leaves little time for little more than one-night-stands in the romance department.
Meanwhile, Spencer is at loose ends and is distrusting of everyone but his personal assistant and his bodyguard after being publicly dumped by his oh-so-charming husband, who left him for a female actress he’s gotten pregnant.
Nash finds himself drawn to Spencer. Spencer finds himself drawn to the simple loving life Nash could provide him away from the bright lights of “fame”. Can each exist a little in the other’s world? Nash feels he could never leave his family. Spencer worries that his life is too flashy for the sweet, decent Nash. The paparazzi become involved, and as a result, so does the world when word of the possible liaison between a local mechanic and a TV star goes national.
Finally, Nash’s father tells him some truths he needs to hear. He also gives Nash the permission to go live his best life. The question is, can Spencer and Nash make that life work for the two of them? This is a romance novel after all.
Nick J. Russo is the perfect voice for this book. He’s read all three of them so far. The characters are fully realized and distinct. He adds another layer of goodness to this Z.A. Maxfield book. This narrator has a number of books to his credit, and he always makes the book that much more enjoyable with his reading style.
Having the same narrator for a series of books helps give a level of continuity that not all series get. Listeners would do well to take advantage of this little gift and enjoy the books. You can pick them up in any sequence and still not feel lost. That’s because the authors who are taking part in this series are allowed to tell their own stories inside of a set framework. When characters from other books show up, the connecting voice of Nick Russo makes it feel like old friends are visiting, however briefly.
I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy the romance of falling in love—not for the first time but falling the right time. Anyone who has every fallen fast and hard, and who just knew it was correct, will appreciate this story—anyone who enjoys a modern fairytale where two princes get to have their HEA without it straining the limits of credulity. Buy this audiobook, you won’t be sorry. There are six or seven of them in print/digital and three so far in audio. Get the others in the series when you can.
You can buy Hell on Wheels here:
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