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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Another fantastic story from ZA Maxfield. She has a way of bringing you into the story and making everything so real. I do hope she is working on St. Nachos 4 now.
Jacob is a really sweet guy. JT, I don't like so much. I still don't like him and I don't know why. Some characters you just don't latch unto.
The deciding factors that made me dislike JT were that he was with Jacob and then out with a girl the other night. He had to have known that he was hurting him and he just kept doing it, coming back and demanding that Jake feel sorry for him. He's a grown as man!! He should have known better. I'm really excited for the next book though, with Jake's brother.
The deciding factors that made me dislike JT were that he was with Jacob and then out with a girl the other night. He had to have known that he was hurting him and he just kept doing it, coming back and demanding that Jake feel sorry for him. He's a grown as man!! He should have known better. I'm really excited for the next book though, with Jake's brother.
As with almost all of Z.A. Maxfield's books this was an absolute joy to read. Some of the characters deserved a good smack upside the head but it only helps to make them more believeable. Would have loved to see more of the characters from the first two books but loved Mary Catherine taking a front seat in this one.
Really want to see the next story between Dan and Cam... any man who uses the line..."Wanna take a ride on the Camshaft?" is worth reading in my book.
Really want to see the next story between Dan and Cam... any man who uses the line..."Wanna take a ride on the Camshaft?" is worth reading in my book.
When Jacob “Yasha” Livingston has to go home early from work because of a bad cold, he thinks his day can’t get any worse. When he walks into his apartment to find his boyfriend with three other men, he discovers he was wrong. Then the fight with his boyfriend becomes physical and Yasha – weakened from the cold – winds up even worse for wear. Yasha gets on a bus to visit his brother, but his bad luck hasn’t run out yet. He’s accused of having swine flu and gets kicked off the bus in the small town of Santo Ignatio, St. Nacho’s to the locals.
What Yasha doesn’t know is that fate has done him a favor. The town draws Yasha in, one member in particular. Jason “JT” Lents, an EMT who takes one look at Yasha and becomes determined to help him, is the stuff of Yasha’s most sensual fantasies. But Yasha soon discovers that JT is so deeply in the closet, so fearful of his real sexuality, that the opportunity for them to ever have an actual relationship might never become a reality.
Z.A. Maxfield’s St. Nacho’s series just gets better and better! Jacob’s Ladder is my favorite book so far in this incredible series. Yasha and JT are not only luscious heroes, but realistic characters that wind their way around your heart and make you yearn for them to find happiness. It’s not easy; Yasha has to find out what he really wants out of life and JT has to reconcile his view of homosexuality with who he is and accept himself for it. Neither man is infallible, but their mistakes make them even more relatable.
Jacob’s Ladder is the third book in the St. Nacho’s series, but it can be read as a standalone, though it has some teasers that makes me wish 1) that there is a book number four and 2) that the book would be about the sexy firefighter Cam and the man who I have high hopes will be his hero. Readers who loved the first two St. Nacho’s books (St. Nacho’s and Physical Therapy) will, however, delight in either seeing or hearing references to their favorite characters from those two books.
One of the things I love best about the St. Nacho’s series is the people and town itself. I’m continually captivated by the seemingly effortless way Ms. Maxfield blends together a diverse cast of characters in the welcoming town of St. Nacho’s. The town seems to wrap itself around everyone, from inhabitants to readers, which never fails to charm me. I love the fantastic town of St. Nacho’s and warm-hearted people in it. When can I move there?
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
What Yasha doesn’t know is that fate has done him a favor. The town draws Yasha in, one member in particular. Jason “JT” Lents, an EMT who takes one look at Yasha and becomes determined to help him, is the stuff of Yasha’s most sensual fantasies. But Yasha soon discovers that JT is so deeply in the closet, so fearful of his real sexuality, that the opportunity for them to ever have an actual relationship might never become a reality.
Z.A. Maxfield’s St. Nacho’s series just gets better and better! Jacob’s Ladder is my favorite book so far in this incredible series. Yasha and JT are not only luscious heroes, but realistic characters that wind their way around your heart and make you yearn for them to find happiness. It’s not easy; Yasha has to find out what he really wants out of life and JT has to reconcile his view of homosexuality with who he is and accept himself for it. Neither man is infallible, but their mistakes make them even more relatable.
Jacob’s Ladder is the third book in the St. Nacho’s series, but it can be read as a standalone, though it has some teasers that makes me wish 1) that there is a book number four and 2) that the book would be about the sexy firefighter Cam and the man who I have high hopes will be his hero. Readers who loved the first two St. Nacho’s books (St. Nacho’s and Physical Therapy) will, however, delight in either seeing or hearing references to their favorite characters from those two books.
One of the things I love best about the St. Nacho’s series is the people and town itself. I’m continually captivated by the seemingly effortless way Ms. Maxfield blends together a diverse cast of characters in the welcoming town of St. Nacho’s. The town seems to wrap itself around everyone, from inhabitants to readers, which never fails to charm me. I love the fantastic town of St. Nacho’s and warm-hearted people in it. When can I move there?
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
I was only going to give Jacob's Ladder 4 Stars at first but only because I wanted MORE! I wanted at least another 100 pages to show me what happens with JT and Yasha. And Daniel. And Cam. But then I had to give 5 Stars for that very same reason! These characters are so real - heroes on the one hand and so very human in their foibles and insecurities on the other. An excellent addition to the St. Nacho's series and definitely worth reading!
3/5 stars. This book covered some serious issues Jacob fleeing from a domestic violence situation gets kicked off a Greyhound bus for being sick in a small town called St. Nacho. The hotel owner finds him half dead and his son is the paramedic that come to help help him. The feel a connection, but Jason is in the closet and in denial about his sexuality. The town grows on Jacob and he becomes friends with some of the firemen where Jason works. Soon St. Nacho's becomes home for Jacob.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now I remember why I put the rest of this series off after the first two. I only came back to it because they are being removed from the audible+ included with membership catalog. The erotic scenes are the least believable so far, and the “struggle to accept I’m gay” characterization was awful. My least favorite part was when JT came off as ok with gay people right up until he is confronted by his own queerness, and then goes full “it’s against the laws of my Jewish faith, it’s wrong and unacceptable!” It was jarring, and not in a believable way for the character development. For the small town painted so friendly to queerness in the first two books, and the over-abundance of queer side characters, it just felt out of place.
Actually, The worst line was during the most believable and gripping part of the story during the accident scene. Sorry for the spoiler, but it just so happened that this story centers around being Jewish as the most prevalent part of all the main characters’ identities (queerness aside), and then in the car accident, Jacob is worried for his brother, and smells a cigarette burning something in the car, and then there is a revolting line; of how Jacob is all too familiar with how it would smell if it were flesh burning and not something else…. The unwelcome and unnecessary imagery of why Jacob, a post-Millenium queer Jew, would be familiarized with the smell of burning flesh, and the seeming association with burning Jews…. It contributed nothing else to the story, and completely put me out of the experience of emotional connection to the car accident and imminent danger of the situation, and then he never explains further about why he would know the smell of the cigarette was burning his brother…. It ruined the moment and the scene by making it associate seemingly to the holocaust, for no reason I can imagine. It felt wrong, and inappropriate on so many levels and brought my intended 2 star rating down to a single star.
Casual anti-semitism breezed over and not addressed? No thanks. I found another review for Maxfield’s “All Stirred Up” that says she includes another random reference in that book to Auschwitz in a very inappropriately joking matter, and again breezes past it like it meant nothing. I’m officially turned off by the author and am at least glad I never spent actual money directly to her. I discourage anyone else from supporting an author who clearly has glossed over discriminatory feelings she can’t help but slide into her stories.
Actually, The worst line was during the most believable and gripping part of the story during the accident scene. Sorry for the spoiler, but it just so happened that this story centers around being Jewish as the most prevalent part of all the main characters’ identities (queerness aside), and then in the car accident, Jacob is worried for his brother, and smells a cigarette burning something in the car, and then there is a revolting line; of how Jacob is all too familiar with how it would smell if it were flesh burning and not something else…. The unwelcome and unnecessary imagery of why Jacob, a post-Millenium queer Jew, would be familiarized with the smell of burning flesh, and the seeming association with burning Jews…. It contributed nothing else to the story, and completely put me out of the experience of emotional connection to the car accident and imminent danger of the situation, and then he never explains further about why he would know the smell of the cigarette was burning his brother…. It ruined the moment and the scene by making it associate seemingly to the holocaust, for no reason I can imagine. It felt wrong, and inappropriate on so many levels and brought my intended 2 star rating down to a single star.
Casual anti-semitism breezed over and not addressed? No thanks. I found another review for Maxfield’s “All Stirred Up” that says she includes another random reference in that book to Auschwitz in a very inappropriately joking matter, and again breezes past it like it meant nothing. I’m officially turned off by the author and am at least glad I never spent actual money directly to her. I discourage anyone else from supporting an author who clearly has glossed over discriminatory feelings she can’t help but slide into her stories.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
There is just a casual comment made by a character who we’re made to understand is Jewish, and it is a main part of his identity. He casually tells the reader he would be familiar with the smell of burning flesh and is glad his brother isn’t on fire during a key scene of importance to the story. Like out of nowhere, and bringing no value to the story the author conjurs the imagery of Jews burning (holocaust reference, but why) and then moves on giving no explanation. That entire line brought no meaning to the story and only served to pull me out of the emotional context and ruin the already poor extension of a series. I will never read another book by this author.
I loved the names of other characters at the bakery - Muse, Bianca, and Minerva at Rune Nation.