Product Description

Tristan's got issues; he knows he does. So when his most recent girlfriend dumps him via messenger, and he can't stop staring at the messenger's cock while he's breaking the news, Tristan figures it's about time he makes some changes. He formulates a foolproof plan to get himself someone who can show him what he's been missing -- until who should crash his little adventure but Officer Michael Truax, the man who gave him a really expensive ticket for boarding without a helmet back when he was in high school.

Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years...to give him a second ticket. Suddenly he's faced with his 'Sparky', all grown up -- and looking to get laid. The habit of protecting him isn't gone completely, but the opportunity is too much to resist. He figures the kid must know what he's getting into, so he takes him home. There, they carry on a cautious dance, only to find out that neither is what the other expected, and that together, they're hot enough to melt glass.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, violence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57510 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 316 pages

Customer Reviews

Crossing Borders
This is a love story and a coming of age - a love story between two men who made me feel that love can conquer all - and a coming of age for 19 year old Tristan. Crossing Borders is a little jewel and it was such a joy to read that when I finished the book, all 218 pages of it, I thought "that was a brilliant piece of writing".

Tristan is a very young man who realizes after yet another love affair gone awry that perhaps he's been dating the wrong sex. His latest girlfriend Viper dumps him and instead of feeling heartbroken, all he can think of is getting into her brother's pants when he delivers the bad news. He knows then that he can't delude himself any longer and it's time to check out the action from the other side of the bed. He decides to `fish' for a man to teach him the ropes about having gay sex and he develops a seemingly foolproof plan to pick up a gay guy in Borders. However, someone else sees him, Officer Michael Truax who had once given him an expensive ticket for boarding without a helmet when he was in high school. He screws up Tristan's plan to get laid by driving away the men he is attracting so that he can take him home. Michael is not about to let Tristan leave with anyone else, after all he has been checking him out since he was 17 waiting for him to grow up so that he could have that delectable body all to himself.

When they arrive at Michael's apartment he recognizes that Tristan, or Sparky as he calls him, is not at all experienced about the gay lifestyle and he takes to his new role of teacher with gusto. The sex was some of the most sensual, arousing, blazing hot like a poker just out of the fire, raunchy ... I could go on but you get the message. Neither one expects that this will turn out to be anything more than a bit of fun but things heat up between them and they start talking commitment which is when their troubles begin. Michael is very concerned about the age difference between them and wonders if he's making a mistake because they are in different places in their lives; Tristan worries about whether he is little more than a `rent-boy' or `arm candy' to Michael or Officer Helmet as he calls him, but he also has fears about Michael's safety in view of his job as a policeman. In the
middle of all the angst Michael is injured on the job and their relationship implodes.Tristan reacts to this major event in their lives by a total emotional breakdown and re-evaluation of their relationship in his own way as he makes some life changing decisions.

In Crossing Borders Z.A. Maxfield is a delightfully fresh voice among all the `noise' of the M/M romance genre. She shows great sensitivity about Tristan's first tentative steps in exploring this new (to him) territory of being gay and the mutual journey and adventure undertaken by both protags, in addition to the evolution of their romance into an adult relationship. The characters were wonderfully drawn, not just Michael and Tristan but their families as well, especially their mothers Emma and Julia, two strong women, who were so supportive. I could empathize with Julia, Tristan's recently-widowed mother, who is broken-hearted but wants him to be happy. She even jokes that Michael should repay her for the ticket he gave Tristan years ago now that they are lovers! Thanksgiving at Tristan's house with both families was a totally different experience and I laughed so hard I was crying at the entertaining prayer offered up by his brother to commemorate Tristan's coming out.

The dialogue throughout the story is exceptional. This book is wonderfully written and the author takes great care not to minimize Tristan's understanding of the impact on his future when he recognizes that in accepting this new way of life as a gay man he would in effect be giving up his dreams of the male equivalent of the white picket fence - marriage, having a family, grandchildren, even filing joint tax returns and everything that goes along with the stereotype.

Is Crossing Borders perfect? Of course not. I have yet to read a book that could not be improved by a little tweaking but this one hits all the right notes and then some. I believe that this is Z.A. Maxfield's first published book and if so, it is a great introduction to an author who I'm positive will be around for a long, long time. I can't say enough good things about Crossing Borders but I can highly recommend that you buy this book. It's a keeper.

Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield
This one was a certain to-buy-book: first it's a may/december relationship and I love it, second it's a Loose Id LGBT book and with rare exception I buy all of them (but this doesn't mean that I read all of them...), third it has a young character, probably virgin, and I'm very naughty about it... Plus, and I'm sincere about that, after deciding that I would buy it, I discovered that it was the first book of one of my LJ friends (I recognized the cover) and so one more reason, since I followed all the gestation (how I missed that it would be out with Loose Id, I don't know, but my brain sometime lose a chip here and there).

When I first opened it, thinking to read it on a session before sleep, I had a little surprise: it was 300 pages long, no way I could read it in one night. And another concern was: it is enough good to keep my attention for so much pages? The answer is yes: the book is funny and compelling and if not for my body need of sleeping, I wouldn't put it down till the end. But as soon as I had the time to end it, it was my first thing in the to do list!

Tristan is a 19 years old horny guy... well, poor boy, horny maybe is a strong word, but it's exactly what he is. At fourteen years old Tristan was wondering if he liked girls or boys, but since he was a very cute boy, and girls are smarter then boys at that age, all the girls around caught him before he was able to catch a boy. And so for the next five years Tristan enjoyed the life and the girls... but now he is arrived at a point where he is able to discern, and sexual release is not the only thing he wants. He is finally ready to admit that he is attracted by men, and a man he wants... being around all that girls has taught him a lot of things, above all that the better place to drag is a bookstore. And since he wants to draw a man, what better place that the gay section?

On his very first expedition, Tristan gets lucky... maybe... since the man he hooks up is Officer Michael Truax, the young cop who patrols the neighbor and that always preaches him about being a good boy. But Michael is also a very sexy guy, 27 years old and friendly when he is not on duty. Soon Tristan is ready to forget that Michael is a cop, to enjoy the fact that he is a gay man willing to teach him a thing or two on how it should be the life of a healthy gay man. What it starts like a funny thing soon becomes the real thing, and Tristan has to decide if he is ready for it: no doubt that he is in love with the man, but he is still a 19 years old boy at his very first experience on the "dark" side... maybe he needs to consider other ways, before setting for true?

In this book there is the right dose of awareness that being a gay man today is not always simple, but luckily our two characters don't fight too much to find their way in the world; reality is there, right behind them, and sometime it makes its appearance, but all in all, it leaves them free to enjoy their love.

Michael is a very nice character. Strong, good, tender and caring... and wealthy! A good son, loving with his mother, and a good boy, always ready to offer an hand or an ear. Maybe he is not a man easy to fire up, but he is always "warm"; and he has passion inside: he doesn't deny his desires and his needs; he was attracted to Tristan since the guy was 17 years old but obviously he has never act on his passion since the moment the boy is legal and willing; but as soon as he understands that the boy is ready to be pick up, he is there in front line: no regrets on being too old or on gives him space to test his newfound sexuality, if someone needs to teach something to Tristan, it will be him.

Tristan is a joy to read. He is funny, sweet and sexy. He is clearly a boy with a great spirit and a loving family behind him. He was raised in good way, and he has strong values; he knows what is right and what is wrong; life maybe has put him in front of some obstacles (he lost his father 2 years before), but all in all he walks in steady grounds. And so he can enjoy life, and makes enjoy it also to you, with a freedom that is refreshening.

The story of Michael and Tristan is funny and sexy. There is a lot of sex, but it's always light and not angst: it is almost like you savor it with the same joy and sense of discovery that is of Tristan.

"Crossing Borders" by Z.A. Maxfield
Tristan's got issues; he knows he does. So when his most recent girlfriend dumps him but he's preoccupied with the fact that he can't stop staring at, and lusting after her brother, Tristan figures it's about time he make some changes and take the plunge into something he's been wanting to do for a while - have sex with a man. Tristan's got a plan. He sets up shop at his local Borders bookstore, collects a pile of gay lit. titles as bait, sits himself down in the bookstore's coffee bar and waits for a hook-up, someone who can show him what he's been missing. Until who should crash his little stake-out but none other than Officer Michael Truax, a.k.a. "Officer Helmet" the man who's been a persistent pain in his skate boarding butt, dogging him with expensive tickets for not wearing a helmet.

Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years...to give him a second ticket, or so that's what he tells himself. Suddenly he's faced with his 'Sparky', all grown up -- and looking to get laid. The habit of protecting him isn't gone completely, but the opportunity is too much to resist. He figures the kid must know what he's getting into, so he takes him home. There, they carry on a cautious affair, only to find out that neither is what the other expected at all.

I know a story is really working for me when I start reading at say about 9:00 pm and wild horses couldn't drag me from the book. Well it was about 1:00 am in the morning when I finished Crossing Borders - in one sitting. What can I say, I devoured this read and absolutely loved it.

Maxfield's writing is clean, crisp, urbane and sophisticated with an equal strength in her characters and their dialogue. In Tristan she has created an incredibly intelligent, articulate, bold and witty character that practically steals the story. Tristan is one of those characters that you do not easily forget. He is younger than Michael by about ten years, yet he holds his own and then some. In Michael we get a very sympathetic, easy-going and confident character that on the surface appears to be uncomplicated. But, as the story progresses we discover that there is much more to Michael than meets the eye. I think the best part of the story for me was the dynamic between Tristan and Michael throughout the book. The very first scene in the Borders bookstore where Michael crashes Tristan's "get-laid" party has to be one of the most intelligent, incredibly clever, thoroughly entertaining, funny and verbally sexually charged exchanges between two characters that I have read in a long, long time. The scene is one of my favourites in the book.

Tristan and Michael do get together and when they do - look out! The sex in this book sizzles and scorches. Maxfield carries this urbane sophistication into the bedroom. What I found to be a breath of fresh air was Tristan's outright ownership of his sexuality. Even though he has no previous experience in being with a man and essentially comes out to, and with, the first man he sleeps with - Michael, we don't get this angst-ridden, hand-wringing that one usually has come to expect of these circumstances in gay romance. What we do get is an incredible level of maturity in Tristan's character self-exploration and self-acceptance of his sexuality. Equally, Maxfield does not succumb to the usual M/M stereotypes of tops and bottoms, alphas, betas or twinks, or the fall-back of the oft used pederastic relationship scenario of the older man and the younger boy-man. There are no labels, borders or fences imposed upon Michael and Tristan's sexual, and indeed overall relationship in this respect. Sometimes Tristan takes the lead in aspects of the relationship and sometimes it's Michael.

There is angst though and it comes in the form of Tristan's turmoil surrounding: Am I too young to be this in love? Can I handle loving a cop and all the while worry that he's going to get hurt or killed in the line of duty? Do I even want to be in a relationship where this can happen? Is this it? Is Michael the only man I will ever be with, will ever love? Am I ready for this? It also comes in the form of Michael's: I am so much in love and I'm terrified that I'm going to get burned. The metal in Tristan's and MIchael's relationship is tested in this story and yes, through some not so happy and even scary events, but in the end there is an HEA.

I wouldn't characterize Crossing Borders as a coming of age story because frankly speaking Tristan is an old soul. What I would call it is a thoroughly refreshing and delightful read that sets the bar high and left me with a huge smile on my face and really good feeling inside.