Note: This ebook was provided by Riptide Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hell on Wheels by Z.A. Maxfield is the third book in the multi-authored Bluewater Bay M/M series. For this third installment, we have Nash Holly and Spencer Kepler-Constantine. Nash manages his family-owned car repair and maintenance shop and is Bluewater Bay native. Spencer is part of the cast of Wolf's Landing, the famous television series being filmed in town. These two lost souls don't realize they're just waiting to find one another when their paths cross on a dark, foggy road.

Nash Holly is there whenever something needs to be fixed, whether it be a car or a family problem. The needs of others, especially his family's, have always come first but he's never complained. He knows he's not as smart as his twin brother or their younger sister nor is he as creative as his inventor father. He simply wants to be there, to be needed. When he meets a good looking actor with an English accent on the side of the road, he does what he does best and that's to try and make things better.

Spencer Kepler-Constantine is going through a very painful and public divorce after his soon-to-be ex-husband got a well-known actress pregnant. Even months after the separation, he's still trying to deal with everything that went wrong but can't seem to release all the anger he's feeling. Working on a popular show helps him focus on something other than his marital woes but meeting a hot and helpful mechanic makes him think that maybe it's time to finally stop moping and move forward.

Nash and Spencer become friends who just happen to be enjoying some great benefits on the side. They listen to one another and offer advice whenever the situation warrants it. They're both undergoing changes, what with Nash having to confront his sister's demands for independence and his father's suddenly active love life and Spencer dealing with his divorce and the non-stop intrusion of the media and paparazzi anything that involves him, his ex, his ex's pregnant lover, and his now-rumored lover.

As they become even closer, Spencer's ex suddenly decides he wants another chance and makes a grand gesture that has the public buzzing. Spencer needs to make up his mind if he wants to make things work with his ex or if what he really wants is someone else. Nash needs to re-assess his life in light of the developments that are happening all around him and if he's ready to have someone else take care of him instead of the other way around.

I liked Nash and Spencer's story, especially because there wasn't any insta-love involved. Their relationship progressed rather well and there really was a friendship that was established between them. Nash's family and Spencer's PA and bodyguard were great supporting characters because they provided the necessary insight for the two leads. The epilogue had me smiling like a loon and I was more than satisfied with how everything wrapped up. Hell on Wheels gets four stars! ♥

Best of the series so far.

Loved this. Nash is my favourite character. I adored him.

This was really sweet.
I loved Nash. The really was the drum that beat life into this story. I don’t think the other characters would have done as well without him.
I liked Spencer well enough nd even his a-hole ex Pet was interesting. Nash’s family was good too, but I thought Shelby was a bit of a brat. I know I should’ve felt sympathy for her, but she was a bit too insensitive those around her, so I sometimes struggled with that.

I really would like to see more of them all. Even Peter...

*** 2.5 Stars ***

I didn't think this was a bad book, per se, but it just wasn't for me.

I thought the author did a good job of creating characters with depth and back story - really flushing them out and making them feel messy and real. Without question, this level of detail would have paid off in a longer novel. Unfortunately, in a book only slightly over 200 pages, it seems like too much energy was expended on secondary characters and extraneous drama (the baby mama could have stayed entirely off page, for instance, and the sub-plot with Ace's girlfriend could have been cut entirely).

And then there was the chemistry (or lack thereof).

While I totally bought Nash and Spencer as a quick roadside hookup or pseudo vacation fling a la superstar temporarily slums it with a townie territory, I never felt like this couple was Meant To Be. Part of that was definitely that I couldn't figure out what Nash got from his relationship with Spencer. I mean, I fully understood Nash's draw for Spencer - a faithful, family-oriented handyman with a wicked body and a better sense of playfulness?! I'll take a double scoop of that in a waffle cone, please! But Spencer? He was your stereotypical, self-absorbed Hollywood type. He called Bast and Tick friends, yet he never did anything for them or with them to back that sentiment up (and I'm fairly certain Tick called him "Sir" more than Spencer). And while he loathed the highhandedness of Peter's TV Buzz stunt, he sent his minions to practically kidnap Nash and bring him to Utah rather than fly to HIM or, oh, I don't know... pick up the phone and CALL him!

Even the cute epilogue couldn't redeem Spencer in my eyes.

Bottom line: I suppose this is okay for a romance novel, but in real life, this relationship would have fizzled out before the opening credits.

4.5 stars

Z. A. Maxfield is kind of hit-or-miss for me; I'm not always into the tropes she favors or the themes the writes about, and the quality of the editing varies depending on who the publisher is.

This book, though. THIS BOOK.

I started reading it this morning in bed while I did my 30 minutes of light therapy before getting up. I kept reading while I made breakfast, and while I ate breakfast. And while sitting at my desk, when I was supposed to be doing some freelance work. I read while waiting for water to boil for tea, and while the teabag steeped. I read until I finished the last page, surfacing to find myself a little teary-eyed, with my cheeks aching from smiling.

Nash and Spencer aren't perfect, but they're not jerks, either. They're real human beings who are both doing their best, trying to figure out how they fit together. There's no OTT melodrama—these aren't hormone-driven, tantrum-inclined adolescents in the guise of twentysomething men—but the story has no shortage of true, heartfelt emotion.

As someone who wishes more romances acknowledged that relationships can be messy and that not everything fits into neat black-or-white, evil-or-good boxes, I'm especially glad that

Spoiler

we got to see Peter's perspective on the breakdown of his and Spencer's marriage. It would be easy for a lazy writer to vilify him, leaving the reader with only the tabloid version of the story and Spencer's heartbreak to judge him by; Maxfield doesn't take the lazy route, though, and I applaud her for that.

This was a sweet romance, and I was particularly drawn to Nash and his inability to believe in himself. That's something I can often relate to, and it's so damn satisfying to see him find a place in the world, that place where he's necessary. *sighs*

Rep: gay MCs, disabled supporting character (wheelchair user)
Warnings: ableism, cheating, slurs, gaslighting