Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield

Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had no idea that Borders used to be a spot to cruise for dates. I can’t help but wonder how many hook-ups I missed out on when I used to go to their attached coffee shop to work or study, because I actually worked or studied. C’est la vie. Fortunately for Tristan, his trip to Borders was more productive for his love life and he landed a fish on his first trolling expedition. While Officer Helmet was NOT on his radar, Michael ended up being exactly what Tristan needed.

Crossing Borders is a really sweet tale about a young man (Tristan) who realizes that despite being a bit of a player with the girls in his teens, he might be gay. Again, I had no idea that Borders was THE place to go to find a hook-up, so I found myself snickering at the interactions between Tristan and the guys that approached him, as well as Michael’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary via texts. Equally amusing was when Tristan finally realized that Michael was picking him up and freaked out over the idea of hooking up with Officer Helmet. Once Tristan got past his freak out and took Michael up on his offer, the sex was hot. Repeatedly hot. In the first part of the book, there is a LOT of sex, but as we’re dealing with a young man discovering his sexuality with someone who is taking his time with Tristan to insure that the sexual encounters are pleasurable and not painful, then it’s likely within realistic limits. But Maxfield does a good job of interspersing life between sex scenes and we got to see Tristan and Michael spend time together, build a friendship, and a relationship as their feelings began to grow – and this merely made the sex scenes that much hotter. But when Michael’s job puts him in grave danger and Tristan is forced to face the realities of Michael being a cop, the strain on their relationship and their eight year age difference becomes a huge hurdle that Tristan’s not sure he wants to make the jump for.

I found the actual relationship development to be really sweet. At times it was almost too sweet. But Maxfield’s use of steamy scenes temper the sweetness enough to keep the reader from getting a toothache. I liked the level of realism that Maxfield brought to the book when Michael was in the hospital and how Michael’s mother made sure that Tristan was by her side once she got back in town and made it there. In fact, both men’s mothers were truly awesome women and I found the Thanksgiving dinner to be quite amusing. Actually Maxfield included quite a few laugh-out-loud moments in the book that often helped ease the tension of various scenes. I will say that I was extremely surprised by the book’s ending. Even with this being a fiction, I really didn’t expect the men to go to the lengths they did to be with one another. I’ve read many a book in which sacrifices are discussed but the characters usually end up compromising to salvage their relationship. Yet a sacrifice was made – and done without an ultimatum being issued – and while I didn’t expect it, I did like the way in which it was done. I found Crossing Borders to be an enjoyable read that combined sweet, sexy, and touches of realism in just the right amounts.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders #1) by Z.A. Maxfield blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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