RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Plummet to Soar' by Z.A. Maxfield
Title: Plummet to Soar
Series: Plummet to Soar #1
Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Published: May 8, 2018
Publisher: Dreampinner Press
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Mystery/Thriller; Suspense
Length: 200 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Friends to Lovers; Humor; Opposites Attract; HEA
About Plummet to Soar
Feckless, luckless, and charming, Mackenzie Detweiller is the author of a self-help book one reviewer calls “the most misbegotten motivational tool since Mein Kampf.” He’s maneuvered himself into a career as a life coach, but more often than not, his advice is bad. Really bad.
It’s even getting people hurt… and Mackenzie sued.
It falls to Mackenzie’s long-suffering acquisitions editor, JD Chambers, to deliver the bad news. He chooses to do so face-to-face—to see if the spark he senses between them is real when they’re together in the flesh. Unfortunately, a snowstorm, a case of nerves, a case of mistaken identity, and finally a murder get in the way of a potential enemies-to-lovers romance.
There are many, many people who have good reason to want Mackenzie dead. JD must find out which one is acting.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
From Plummet to Soar’s first paragraph, I wondered how Z.A. Maxfield’s hero would mess up, stay safe, and grow up. As Maxfield describes him, “Mackenzie Detweiller lived between the throw of a die and the outcome. He gave no fucks for things in the rearview. He gave no thought to anything occurring too far in front of his car.” Taken to the extreme, living in the moment can spell danger.
Mackenzie became a bestselling author and life coach based on his ability to stay optimistic after falling from a helicopter and suffering multiple surgeries. He holds “Plummets,” similar to seventies-style encounter weekends, teaching people to fully embrace life by facing their mortality.
Mackenzie has one wise thought after another, like, “Nothing save(s us) from disaster” and “Love doesn’t change anything. It just makes everything else matter more.”
Luckily he isn’t self-important, viewing himself as only a fellow traveler. “Sometimes he actually flinched over his blithely arrogant aphorisms,” Maxfield indicates. What really makes him successful, are “interest, wonder, and unconditional love.” Hmmm, isn’t that equally true of authors?
“Mackenzie Detweiller lived between the throw of a die and the outcome. He gave no fucks for things in the rearview. He gave no thought to anything occurring too far in front of his car.”
Unfortunately, Mackenzie’s readers have taken his process literally, intentionally breaking bones in order to gain wisdom (groan). Ultimately, several have sued the publisher, Jacob Douglas Chambers IV (JD), executive editor of Chambers Lighthouse Publishing, which has been in the family for generations. JD attends a Plummet despite his own broken leg, to inform Mackenzie they must recall his book, both to protect themselves and the public.
The thing is, JD feels bamboozled. He and Mackenzie fell in love on-line while editing the book, though neither has admitted it to the other. He was the first to believe in Mackenzie. Only now, he finds himself disappointed that his own broken leg didn’t result in blinding revelations. Plus, he’s come to the mistaken conclusion that Mackenzie “was nothing but a leg-humping dog actor in a holy man’s costume,” taking sexual advantage of his Plummetteers.
While JD secretly hopes his protégé is actually the real deal, he’s sure the book is dangerous. What a relief to discovers Mackenzie “wasn’t as bright as JD hoped, but even a broken clock was right twice a day. What Kenzie got absolutely, positively right? People.”
Meanwhile, Mackenzie’s helicopter accident is merely part of a lifelong tendency to attract disasters. The venue is snowed in just as someone attempts to kill him. Then the resort’s desk clerk is found murdered.
While police are securing the area, Mackenzie uses the dangers to start the Plummet, teaching his philosophy – make the most of every disaster. Readers marvel how Mackenzie maintains his optimism, while individuals are separated from their group, much like in Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians.
Can’t he see the killer is still on the loose? Get practical, folks. But Mackenzie is a helium balloon, who JD has a hard time bringing to earth. Can staid JD really commit to such a wild force of nature?
As in every Maxfield novel, I look forward to new words. “Die” is the singular of “dice.” Who knew? An “autodidact” is self-taught. And a “paladin” is a chivalrous knight.
I cooed at the men’s assessments of each other. JD thinks of Mackenzie “Such a likable face might stand you to a drink in any bar on earth and you might never return. You might not want to.” But he also tells Mackenzie, “‘You are a product… and the product is dangerous.’”
Yes, Plummet to Soar is an exciting thriller, the pages turning faster and faster to determine what will happen next.
In turn, Mackenzie thinks of JD, “A chip off some ancient family’s edifice was Douglas (JD). Whereas Mac…well, Mac was a scrapper-a freckled earthy type whose ancestors could be found in steerage on any ship’s manifest.” Can this author write?
Maxfield’s sense of humor always makes me bark aloud. For example, when asked what he learned from his helicopter fall, Mackenzie replies, “‘I learned it hurts.’” And, after Mackenzie orders a “’Bombay Sapphire, tonic, lime,’” at a bar, JD thinks “Man after his own liver.”
Yes, Plummet to Soar is an exciting thriller, the pages turning faster and faster to determine what will happen next. But I found myself re-reading it to cherish its small nuances, as these many quotes attest. JD and Mackenzie’s romance reminded me of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest.
Mostly, I love how JD and Mackenzie display grace. We admire them undeservedly, knowing their particular strengths are merely the flip side of their unique flaws. Any book that puts a fairly continuous smile on a sourpuss face like mine, must merit five hearts!
A copy of Plummet to Soar was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
ZAM is fifth-generation native of Los Angeles, although she now lives in the O.C. She started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can do if you completely give uphousework.” Facebook; Goodreads; Twitter; Tumblr; Amazon
For more from Z.A. be sure and visit her website.
