Book Review: Maxen By Stephanie Witter

Maxen
(Kinky Shine #2)
By Stephanie Witter 

They were married but never kissed.

That night years ago never had consequences…until now.

“I wasn’t into the love bullshit and I didn’t really believe in forever between two people.’’

If I had my way, I would have never seen Maxen Walton again, the womanizing drummer of Kinky Shine.

When I met him in college he was already going through girls as if they were disposable. I had always hated him. Yet, for some drunken reason I ended up marrying him in Las Vegas. That night, right before I puked in the fake flowers and left the tacky chapel was the last time I had laid eyes on him.

Until my boyfriend asked me to marry him.

Now, I was in LA trying to get a divorce from my husband without the press hearing about it.

What I didn’t expect was that my famous husband affected me and that getting to know him would change a lot more than I ever planned.

“All I saw now was Lark, always and forever out of my reach, always driving me crazy.’’

I had only ever met one woman who equally drove me crazy and made me want her until I forgot my name.

Lark Hardin.

And I married her one crazy night in Las Vegas.

Freshly out of rehab and trying like hell to get back in the game while convincing my best friend I wouldn’t relapse, seeing my wife again was the last thing I needed for that.

Life liked f*cking with me, though.

Here she was, so sexy I would damn myself to be inside her just once, but she wasn’t here for me. She was here to get a divorce so her perfect boyfriend had free range to marry her.

She still hated my guts on the sole principle that I was a womanizing f*cker, but maybe she would open her eyes and see beyond that part of me.

I just hoped it wouldn’t be just for the sex because this woman had always been my weakness.

She had the power to destroy me.

“I’d spent the better part of my life hiding behind my bright smile and loud laugh, pushing everything away by using sex, but that was over.’’

For readers over 18.

Can be read as a standalone but if you want the full Kinky Shine experience don't miss the first book.

Available At: | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks |

Check Out The Other Books In This Series:

(Linked to my review)

My Review:

I loved the first book in this series. I also enjoyed how Maxen's book was set up with little tidbits in that book as well. However, I can't say I loved this book. Though this was very well written and the pacing is just right the prologue threw me for a loop.

Maxen is an overall nice and outgoing guy. He also enjoys causal hookups and has developed a drug problem. As much as I like guys who are playboys evolving into marriage material throughout a story something felt off about this. When Maxen is presented in present day he's out of rehab and is doing his best to not relapse. What really threw me off was the prologue. It's one thing to be told that Maxen was/is a womanizer, but it becomes something else when I see it play out in the prologue of his book. 

I couldn't, for the life of me, connect with Lark as a character either. I didn't understand the checklist she felt she had to have in life to "live a fulfilling life". Her current boyfriend was a nightmare. She was deluding herself into a lifestyle she thought she need to have and because of that, she lost me from the beginning. I also never felt the chemistry between her and Maxen. Though after things hit the fan she proved she had a backbone and that she was willing to fight for what she wanted for her life.

Overall this was an average read. The prologue threw me off and that snowballed into the rest of the story. If I had known I would have probably skipped it altogether because it doesn't play that big of a part in the book, but it does factor into how their relationship or lack thereof started and it is alluded to a few times throughout the story. I also felt this book was missing a few tidbits to set up/get me interested in the next book. The other band mates are a big mystery at this point but I'm interested in what the author has in store for them.

My Favorite Quotes:

"[..] I'm only human and I can be lost too."

"Emotions, relationships, and new beginnings could be so frightening that saying nothing and waiting, presented the only safe alternative."

My Rating: