Title: Three Days in Jackass Flats
Author: Rhae Camdyn
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 228 Pages
Category: Contemporary, RomCom
At a Glance: Despite the humor, a cast of interesting characters, and interesting world-building, this was a little too over the top in too many areas for me.
Reviewed By: Lindsey
Blurb: On the surface, Jackass Flats seems as common as ticks, tornadoes, or tumbleweeds on the plains of North Texas. But, scratch past the small town charm of Mama Cee’s restaurant, or Gear Grinders Garage & Machine Shop, and you’ll find a whole mess of things going on. Mix a DEA investigation going off the rails, a Paul Bunyan sized French émigré dealing exotic cars, and a long-eared lonely deputy scouting for stuff and nonsense at the infamous local casino, and a very subtle bow-chicka-bow-wow romance track playing in the background, things get spicy with cayenne, cilantro and a heartwarming dash of good natured hilarity. As Sheriff Drayton Jeepers like to say when caught unawares, “No one south of that highway lives in their own skin.” Yeah, we’re not sure what he means either, but finding out promises to be fun!
Review: I snapped up Three Days in Jackass Flats because I was in the mood for a lighthearted story with a lot of comedy. Reading the blurb, I saw all of that along with a nice little law enforcement angle, so it looked like it just might deliver what I was seeking. Rhae Camdyn created a unique little twist on the shifter trope, and there are some interesting elements that could really be explored. In fact, I think the backstory on their creation was a great way to start it off. It gave just enough to intrigue me but allowed for so much to be revealed.
Clyde Hoppe was initially very interesting, with his southern boy manners and joking personality. His interaction with Maddie and Timmy revealed a humorous side, but also that he was a fairly mellow fellow. I was looking forward to getting to know him. Beau is sensitive and, despite his larger size, is quite the softy with a penchant for crying when he got emotional; it was cute and just out of the ordinary to make it interesting. I had high hopes for the two, but sadly, in the end they just didn’t have the depth I needed to really relate to them. I found myself more involved in what was happening with some of the secondary characters rather than the two the story was supposed to be about. Honestly, there was just so much going on. Along with Clyde and Beau’s romantic interest, there were several supporting characters with their own side stories in addition to the world building and the criminal plotline. The lack of focus on any of them made it all jumbled, and I found it I had a tough time hopping on their romance train. I’ve made it no secret that for me, no matter how great the story is, I need to form a connection to my MCs or it just won’t work.
Was this book funny? Yes, there was definitely humor, I won’t deny that. There are plenty of people I know who would be all over this one and find it outright hysterical, who I would have no problem recommending this story to because it is right up their alley. However, what people find humorous is interesting. We all have different things we find amusing, and though there were some moments I found myself chuckling, they were fewer than I had anticipated. In this case, I guess I was one of those for whom the comedic delivery was just not my bag.
Also, a heads up to other readers: if you have difficultly reading written accents, this book will definitely not be your thing. I normally don’t mind it much but, in this case, it was a lot, even for me. Clyde along with most of the supporting characters from Jackass Flats had a deep southern twang and used all kinds of southern charm phrases; then Beau was French and when he spoke, it was often a mixture of both French and English. On top of that there’s a Cajun mechanic, a Scottish past lover… I’m sure you get the point. The bigger issue was that the dialogue was written with the characters’ accents, so “zee” instead of “the” for Beau, or “ya” instead of “you”, lots of French and southern phrases thrown in, making the dialogue tough to keep up with.
Despite the humor, a cast of interesting characters, and interesting world-building, Three Days in Jackass Flats was a little too over the top in too many areas for me.
You can buy Three Days in Jackass Flats here:
[zilla_button url=”http://bit.ly/2MYCelx” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] MLR Press [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://books2read.com/u/bQ9dW0″ style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] 3rd Party eTailers [/zilla_button]