Zane by Nicole EdwardsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
4-4.5 holy hotness stars
If I have learned anything by reading the first two books in this series, it is that Nicole Edwards is pretty much untouchable when it comes to writing super scorchingly hot sex scenes.
I adored the first book, Kaleb, and loved that it was pretty straight-forward in it's storytelling. Very little angst and heavy on the smutty goodness while still telling a sweet love story. With Zane, Edwards has added a heavy dose of angst (not one of my favorite plot devices), and a bit of OTT melodrama into the mix. And it is because of those two things that I am unable to give this book a 5 star rating.
Don't get me wrong. I really, really enjoyed this book. I love spending time with these characters and I love the family dynamic among the Walker brothers. However, as is so often the case for me lately...my main problem was with the female lead, V. I liked her spunkiness in the first book. But, here she was much too...whiny i guess is the only way i can describe it. Yes, i understand her being traumatized by the attack on Zane at the beginning of the book. But for me, far too much time was spent rehashing that one event. I found myself relating to Zane's attitude of wanting to move past that one incident, so I continually I found myself skimming the sections where we had to listen to V's inner monologue where she obsessed over the attack. Frankly I didn't like anything about that part of the plot, and could have done without it all together.
Now, moving on to what this book gets right....the smutty goodness.
I had no clue going into this book that Edwards was going to be teasing me with a little bit of M/M action. All I can say is, I approve and I wanted more!!
When I saw that Edwards was planning on a releasing a Walker brothers Holiday novella, I joked that it was going to turn into one massive orgy. Well, after reading this book...I might not be so far off. And I am TOTALLY okay with that.
The fact that so many of the side characters are involved with each other...it might have become a bit overwhelming and complicated, but for me...I loved it. One of the strongest aspect to these books are the characters and how they interact, so the more we get to see of them all, the happier I am.
And let me just state for the record....the Zane/Beau/V hook up (heavy on the Zane/Beau) was hands down one of the hottest scenes I have ever read.
If i had anything to complain about regarding that particular aspect of the book? The way Zane kept insisting to himself that he was 'only doing it for Beau'. Seriously?!
I mean, if you're going to include a M/M aspect to the story (which, if you hadn't guessed by now - I am totally on board for), the least you can do is have the characters embrace it. I mean, a guy is not going to have sex with another guy just to make the other guy happy. That is absolutely ridiculous. Period. End of debate.
Despite my problems with the book, I really did enjoy the heck out of it. And I can't wait to see what's in store for Travis. ;)
