Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Hawaii Five Uh-Oh 
SERIES: Plummet to Soar #2
AUTHOR: Z.A. Maxfield
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2018
BLURB:
Sarcastic cop Theo Hsu returns home to Hawai‘i after realizing he wants more from his life, and also, less. He hopes to reconnect with his past and make amends with his mother, who remarried a cool, distant man, leaving Theo unsure where he stands.
It doesn’t take him long to figure out where he wants to stand, though: right next to his childhood best friend, tattooed detective Koa Palapiti. Theo would like to upgrade their relationship, but Koa is putting out some seriously mixed signals. It’s a mystery Theo can’t let go, but just as they start to connect, kidnapping, murder, and a deadly game with international stakes get in the way. Koa wants to keep Theo out of it, and if it comes to a choice between him and Koa’s partner, Freddie Ortiz, Theo doesn’t like his chances.
But even if Koa wants to push him out of the investigation, and his life, Theo still has a few tricks up his sleeve. It’ll take all his special gifts, ingenuity, risk-taking, family ties—and even some kinky undercover work—to save the day… and the man he never should’ve let get away.
REVIEW:
As a child – when his parents divorced, Theo left Hawaii with his father. The child followed the man into the force and did well for himself. As an adult, and after his father’s death, Tho returns, taking a lesser job as a beat cop. He also comes home to heartfelt desires for his childhood friend, Koa.
From the minute Theo lands, the changes that have happened since he left are forced upon him. His mother has remarried, and there’s a whole family Theo hasn’t met. His mother is also keen for her son to rekindle his friendship with Koa. However, Theo senses something isn’t quite right. He wants to make friends again with Koa, but Koa (now a detective) and his work partner Freddie seemed joined at the hip, not giving Theo an in and are occasionally openly hostile.
Theo seems to have walked into a messy situation that Koa is in the middle of, and Theo is being kept out of. It doesn’t help that, in Theo’s presence, Koa is a contradiction – often running hot and cold – all over him one minute, then ignoring him the next. As well as a bruised heart, the whole situation piques Theo’s interest, and his inner detective can’t let certain things go.
Told in the third person from Theo’s POV; I’m not going to comment on the technical aspect of this story because Dreamspinner already have a reputation for producing technically sound books. Having said that, there was one aspect that had me a little confused. In conversations, it wasn’t always clear who was talking, albeit I loved the sarcasm.
The dynamic between a beat cop and a detective unable to break protocol is an interesting one. It ensures secrets can cause drama as well as heartache. Thankfully, Theo’s a nosy boy and Koa isn’t the only one with secrets or the ability to surprise.
There didn’t seem to be an appropriate place to pop this, so I’ll add it here. Other than blow jobs, intimate scenes are fade out. I can understand the author not wanting sex to detract from the characters or their story – kudos there – but I wouldn’t have minded a little more than I got. There are also mild elements of BDSM.
The Hawaii Five Uh Oh story is like a ball of wool that the cat has gotten hold of. As the tale progresses, bits gets straightened out. Knots are left elsewhere, but one way or another, they all get sorted.
RATING: 
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