Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Jacob’s Ladder
SERIES: St. Nacho’s #3
AUTHOR: Z.A. Maxfield
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 170 pages
BLURB:
Jacob “Yasha” Livingston is having a bad day. First there is the head cold. Then the orgy, the fight, and the hospital. Between that and the bus driver who ejects him — after accusing him of transmitting the Swine Flu — the rest of his day seems fairly vague. Now he’s stuck in a small town called Santo Ignacio and he has a whole lot of thinking to do.
One thing is, when fate speaks in the form of an EMT, maybe it’s time to listen. One man in particular, EMT Jason “JT” Lents, with his shy smile and jade green eyes, seems more like an angel than a paramedic. But Jason has a date with a newer, prettier girl every night, despite the fact that he seems to return Yasha’s interest.
What will make JT happy? If JT is afraid of his feelings it might be Yasha’s chance to heal the healer. For this couple to find their way, it’s up to Jacob, his new friends, and the magic of St. Nacho’s.
REVIEW:
This months theme week is men uniform, first responder type guys, or law enforcement. I picked this book because it has JT the EMT as a main character, but also Cam the firefighter as a great secondary character.
Jacob is a pastry chef living in LA, he gets sick at work and is sent home. He walks in on his douchebag boyfriend having an orgy in their bed. This seems to not be an unusual occurence, but Jacob is sick and miserable and finally has enough. He tells the douchebag to leave, and gets the shit beaten out of himself. This also seems to not be an unusual occurence. Jacob gets rescued, taken to the hospital, it’s determined he doesn’t have swine flu, so he gets a ride to the bus station from a friend and heads up the coast to go see his brother Daniel. He gets kicked of the bus for having the swine flu and gets sucked in to the glorious town of Santo Ignacio (St. Nacho’s).
Jacob stumbles in to the SeaView Motel, checks in, and two days later is rescued by the owner, Carl, who doesn’t want the smell of a dead body to stink up his motel. Jacob is pretty loopy, and focuses on the EMT who helps him, thinking JT is his Zedye, his beloved grandfather. He wakes up in the hospital, and is sad to discover it’s not his Zeyde, but the small town folks are pretty cool and help him get back on his feet. He and JT have a bit of a flirt going on, and JT wants to “fix” Jacob, taking him to a domestic abuse group. This doesn’t go over well with Jacob, but introduces him to the group of girls that give him more support baking pies, than they could have as fellow abuse survivors.
Now let’s talk about JT, the rat bastard! He’s the one that drove me nuts in this story. I am not a gay man, so I have no real frame of reference, but JT just needed to pick a damn side! He’s jewish also, deeply convinced that homosexuality is wrong, and has been ignoring his feelings for years. Serial dating, but not really sleeping with, all of the local girls, and expanding to nearby towns. He is not only attracted to Jacob, but he is a natural rescuer, and sees a serious need by Jacob to be rescued. Jacob has no idea at first that JT is not out, they flirt a bit, and JT visits Jacob in his motel room. Jacob figures out he is being used, but can’t step away. Then I got annoyed at Jacob! Don’t take that shit man! Walk away! No…. don’t let him back in your room again! Geez. I wanted to slap both of them!
But that is the drama of this story. Will they, won’t they? Will JT stop being an idiot and come out, get the man and live happily ever after? Will Jacob decide to hold firm and keep JT away, help him come out, or leave St. Nacho’s all together? It’s not clear for a long time! Jacob gets sucked in to the pie bakery by the owner and gets a job offer, but he’s not sure he wants to give up his life in LA and stay. Then Daniel, Jacob’s brother shows up, further adding to the drama and confusion. Daniel has his own issues, as we see in his book, which I reviewed a few months ago. Also a fantastic book about a stubborn man!
So I loved this book, even though it drove me batshit crazy! I wanted to go grab these two men by the neck and shake them! They are perfect for each other, but they just can’t se it for a long time. But I loved them, I love the town of St. Nacho’s, I love the sweet sex that happens between them, and I love the extra characters. ZAM is one of my favorite m/m authors, she consistently delivers fantastic stories, excellent writing, and deep characters.
If you haven’t read the St. Nacho’s books, you need to. They are pretty much stand alone books, but I’d recommend reading them in order. It helps to know the characters from earlier books, and this is such a great place it’s worth reading them. You really could read this one on its own if you wanted to though, characters from the first two books are there, but not really a part of this story. But get ready to want to slap JT and Jacob!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: