BXTCHES Gotta Warn: Not much of a warning, but this is a stand alone, though I wouldn’t be mad at a BXTCH if others from this book (ahem. . .Haylee and Ty) gotta a little love with their own title. It is important to note, that once you start this crazy ride, it is gonna prove hella difficult for you to jump off, so allot some time in your schedule, if you catch my drift. Now enjoy the wild and carefree passion that is Maesyn and Grayer. Oh and on a side note, let’s take a moment of silence to appreciate all of the greatness that is that cover.
Untamed will be told in two parts and both parts are told through the POV’s of Maesyn and Grayer.
Let’s kick things off with our leading lady, Maesyn. Maesyn is days away from turning 18 and hopefully the same amount of days away from being able to set her inner gypsy free. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Maesyn has a tortured soul, but she definitely has a very conflicting one. She appreciates the work ethic her dad drilled into her, but like any teenaged girl, wants to know her dad’s softer side and see pride in his eyes when he looks at her but she has yet to feel that from him. She has a reputation that is certainly not earned, but she doesn’t do much to dispute either. She has some past demons that could be holding her back that she hasn’t yet learned how to break free from. So when she spots hometown boy and world champion bull rider, Grayer Easton at a local party, little does either one of them know that they could very well be the missing piece to each others puzzle.
Grayer Easton has some loose ends to tie up in the town that turned its back on him and his brother years ago. Things were supposed to be simple, take care of some family obligations and head back home to Decatur, Texas to get ready for his next competition, but once he sets sights on Maesyn Calhoun, things may never be the same again. When he finds out that she is only 17, he knows he has to stay away and he does, sometimes very abruptly, but once the calendar adds another year to her age, all bets are off. He knows she’s more than the bad reputation that seems to precede her and even though he has tried to resist and even though his time in town is short, not only will he have a taste of Maesyn, he’s gonna be sure that she sees herself not only the way that he does, but the way in which she deserves.
Part one takes place in Ellensburg, Washington and it’s also where we get to watch Maesyn begin to discover what she’s worth and where she learns to not settle for anything less. It’s where she realizes that Grayer may not be her forever, but he’s the one that set her on the path to this discovery. Part two is a different discovery, but no less important. It’s passion and carefree and the life that most 18 year olds dream about, but never have the guts to pursue. It’s a road trip with your BFF, both literally and figuratively. It’s the memories made that shape who you become and the heartache you experience that force you to question who you are, but most importantly it’s the love you find that you realize you always deserved. Untamed is going to take you for one wild ride (all puns intended) and it is worth every high and low. . .just hang on tight, because it’s gonna be a long eight seconds.
Just like with any Shey Stahl book I have read, the supporting cast that she delivers plays an almost equally important part to the characters that take on the main role. It was the relationships between Maesyn and those around her that resonated with me the most. Her relationship with her father was so strained and at times heartbreaking, but a relationship that our teenaged selves can probable relate to, and while the relationship with her dad was turbulent, it was balanced with the relationship she had with her mom and younger sister, Morgan. And speaking of Morgan, I’m not sure who Shey Stahl models some of her characters after, but the way she is able to conjure up a child is brilliant. . .in fact I should encourage you visit with Nova in Unsteady if you doubt any of what I’m claiming. I won’t give away the fabulousness that is Morgan, you’ll just have to make that discovery on your own. But it wasn’t just Maesyn’s relationships with those in her family that jumped out at me, but her BFF Haylee and even the relationships she formed that proved to be unhealthy. . .it was the way all of these relationships shaped her. . .that’s what you will feel when the last page is turned and that’s what Shey Stahl is a master at accomplishing.
Even though there was nothing about this story that was controversial (in my opinion), I should point out that when Untamed starts, Maesyn is just 17 years old, days away from turning 18, but it is when she is still 17 that she makes the decision to give Grayer some lovin’ via her mouth. Now, in fairness, she did tell him that she was legal. . .but let’s talk about the good stuff once she did in fact turn 18. We are talking about sex with a bull rider, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Grayer had the moves to do more than impress Maesyn and her lady bits and those of us living vicariously with our imaginations, but even I can say that the chemistry between the two of them was purely electric and would’ve set the pages on fire, if that feat was possible.
Obviously, ED has nothing to do with pre-subsisting generic viagra pharmacy health circumstances in this generation of males. To break this down way simpler, it means that the preparation does not need a prescription from a doctor. viagra pill for woman cute-n-tiny.com The patch becomes part of the uniform that employees best buy on cialis wear, and a visible link to the employer. You arebasically spoiling the benefits of Power Khan- one of the bestErectile Dysfunction viagra generika cute-n-tiny.com Treatments.* Taking a hot bath or sauna after taking Power Khan may giveyou a headache & hot flushes over your body.* Do not take Power-Khan on an empty stomach or you may feelsick & feverish. Maesyn is the epitome of what an 18 year woman should be. She represents the transition into adulthood superbly and even though her positive attributes are pretty typical of a fantastic leading lady, it’s the ones that are at odds with what we deem proper. I love the flawed heroine that Stahl is so imaginative with conjuring up. . .that is what makes Maesyn so relatable. She is fierce and independent and vulnerable and feminine and funny. She’s a phenomenal best friend and a wonderful big sister. . .she knows what she wants and makes no apologies for it and what I loved the most was the support that she lacked from her dad, she got ten times over from her mom.
As you may or may not know, my love affair with Shey Stahl is fairly new, but if she didn’t have me hooked before Untamed, she would’ve had me after and I’m about to let you in on why. I bitch a lot about living in Texas and if you have ever been to the Lone Star state in the dead of summer, surely you understand this BXTCH’s love/hate relationship with it, but not only am I a Texas girl at heart, but country music is the soundtrack of my soul and to see the songs and artists that were the inspiration behind some of the moments in this book, made that soul smile. And it wasn’t the current artists that made me giddy, it was Neal McCoy and Sawyer Brown and Travis Tritt and Joe Diffie and Mighty Merle and The Judds and Patty Loveless. . .and I can’t express through words how excited I was when Clay Walker was mentioned, I could really keep going, but these were the artists of my youth, some are the reason I fell in love with country music. I mean she had “Dumas Walker” by The Kentucky Headhunters on her playlist. Now, that song drove me crazy as a teenager, but mainly because it was played constantly and a little because it took me a minute to figure out that they were saying “Dumas” and not “Do Miss”, we didn’t have the internet back then, we had to decipher it ourselves and then hold onto hope that we were singing the right lyrics. My only negative note to Ms. Stahl is her use of In-N-Out Burger, while that chain has began to pop up in the south, it is and always will be Whataburger. And feel free to verify this with any true Texan.
Fun fact about me. . .when I was younger, like way younger, like 5/6 years old, my favorite movie was Urban Cowboy and 36 years later, still one of my all time faves. Don’t be alarmed, it was the early 80’s and parents back then let their kiddos do crazy things like ride around the neighborhood on their bikes with only the sun dictating when it was time to come home or watch movies such as Urban Cowboy or Porky’s (a story for another day). In fact, my family could probably tell you just how much I irritated the fuck out of them when I decided anytime was a good time to belt out the lyrics to “Lookin’ for Love” as loud as my tiny lungs would allow. And even today, so many, many years later, if I hear any song from that soundtrack, I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia and a time where I fell in love with cowboy named Bud and the woman who loved him named Sissy. Even at my tender age, I was enamored by that love. And even though Untamed is set in a different era and around different circumstances and no where near a honky tonk, when I really began to get into the depths of this book, is was about a girl finding her cowboy. . .a Sissy finding her Bud.
I’ve read five of Stahl’s thirty books (Unsteady, Shade, Tiller, Love Complicated, and Untamed) and this is just the second book that I’ve actually put words down about, Shade being the first (see those thoughts here). It’s not that I didn’t fall head over feet in love with every book my imagination has had the pleasure in absorbing, it just that this BXTCH is sometimes lazy, which is why I just finished Untamed and knew I had to get my thoughts down. Each of the books by Stahl that I have read, have hit me differently, but all in a way that is toe curling delicious. And if I’m being honest, I thought Shade was gonna be the bar by which I measure her work, it had everything I love about being swept away by a book, and while I was expecting to love Untamed, I wasn’t expecting for it to shoot to the top of the list, but it captivated me in a way that can only come when you find a really, really good book. There are so many things to love about the way Stahl writes. . .there aren’t many authors who are able to write the characters in a way that a relationship is built between the reader and the ones leading the story, they talk to you in a very conversational manner. . .but her storytelling goes beyond that, I know not the first thing about professional bull riding, other than what I’ve seen in the movie Eight Seconds, but she was able to force the reader into an appreciation of a sport that they may not have ever given consideration to prior.
I very seldom read acknowledgements in a book, I’m not sure if that makes me a bitch or not, but for some reason I decided to continue with the page turning after “The End” was read and learned that this was actually a rewrite for Stahl and also learned that it was with the help of Garth Brooks and his Ultimate Hits that made this possible, which I’m happy to hear, because deep inside my country girl soul, the relationship between Maesyn and Grayer is very reminiscent of Garth Brook’s Shameless and a small piece of me hopes that it’s the same for Stahl. I’m not privy to the drama that seemed to surround Stahl back in 2013 and even though a part of me is super curious, I also know that I’m just grateful she was able to overcome it and still be inspired enough to share her gift. I love to read and I read a lot of good books, but there is only a handful of authors that can truly reach in and grab my soul and in our very short, albeit one-sided relationship, Shey Stahl has been able to do that each and every time and since I haven’t said it yet, thank you for that.
Shey Stahl’s Pinterest Board for Untamed. . .here.
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