I had a very long travel day yesterday, in which between 2 flights and sitting in airports waiting to take those flights, I had about 16 hours to kill. Though I didn't spend the whole time reading, I did for much of it and this novel was perfect. I read it in a single sitting and it really helped the time to pass.Seriously, I smiled so hard through most of the book. I LOVED that the MC's were both over 40. They aren't just starting out in life -- they have both lived and experienced life. They've both had bad things happen to them and those they love. They both really want to settle down and have family be the most important thing. Neither of them think they will really get that, though. Not until they meet and can't fight their amazing chemistry.I also loved that, even though Logan and Richard have some very different views on a few things, they were able to find compromises. Richard had some rather knee jerk reactions to a few things and constantly had to back up and reassess his reactions. But he did it. Willingly and without Logan forcing it. And Logan is so damn level headed. I guess a few decades as a marine will teach a person things like patience, persistence, calm in a crisis and taking a step back when needed. Logan and Richard balance each other.And, I loved that they had hot monkey sex anytime they could manage some time without Richard's grandson around.I really loved this book. I will definitely read it again. I can see it becoming one of those comfort book go-to's for me. Highly recommended. 2/5One of the rare occasions where I didn't like a Maxfield novel. This novel seems to have her depart from her usual techniques and writing style. Characterisation: weak, and this is incredibly unusual from this author. I got to 58% into this novel before the failure to characterise Logan did me in. I mean, we learn precious little about him, and what we do learn is boring and totally uninteresting. Oh, you mean he is from a military family and one which was quite big? Amazingly...dull? Don't get me wrong, Richard and the kid Nick are compelling and interesting. They do have unique back-stories with histories which make you want to keep reading on. But in a romance novel it takes two compelling, deeply illustrated protagonists to capture the reader imagination. Plot: meandering, not bad. Its predictable, and this is another reason I gave up on this novel. I mean, its pretty fucking obvious what is going to happen between Richard, his grandson Nick and the crap druggie mother who wants to steal her son back... Guess how the final third will go? Now, the plot sees a major departure by Maxfield from her usual style in terms of plot in one big respect: the sexual element. She has the main characters dive deep into immediate sex... but then also has them be afraid to phone each other... I mean come on! If you are far enough along in the relationship to suck is penis, you are a bit past the 'can I phone or should I only text' phase!!! The romance element wasn't developed, instead this read as a smut novel. Maxfield isn't a smut novelist, she is much better than this. No attempt was made to use the sexual encounters as a metaphor or symbol of their romantic feelings for one another. Instead they meet, and immediately dive to third base. All in the opening 12%. WAY.TO.QUICK.All in all, this has potential to be something decent, but the humour, the acerbic wit and genuinely positive elements in the inter-character dialogue are not enough to salvage this for me. Perhaps others will enjoy this, but as a committed fan of this novelist, I can only be disappointed by this smut novel.
