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Ellery College #2

Unmasking Zach

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The missing piece of the puzzle might be the one piece he can’t keep.

Before heading for grad school, Zach O’Malley needs downtime from his superhero-worthy schedule. Painting houses seems like the perfect summer gig for some mindless mellowing out.

There’s just one wrinkle in Zach’s Zen plan. Coworker Kirby Kurtcehajic, a hippie kid who starts hitting on him with happy and hardcore voracity three seconds after they meet. And has the ability to make his mind and body leap with a single smile.

Kirby would be the first to call himself a cockeyed optimist, but even he admits he’s had a tough year. After busting his knee, losing his cat, and accidentally demolishing his Vermont house, seducing way-too-serious Zach is the ideal distraction.

But when another spectacular mishap lands Kirby in crisis, Zach puts on his superhero cape to come to the rescue. And as boundaries dissolve, Kirby realizes he may be in too deep. Because the end of summer is coming, when Zach will be moving on, and Kirby will have to continue his quest for independence—alone.


Product Warnings: Contains an unlikely friendship, an unwanted attraction, undeniable emotions, and enough outdoor sexy times to make a full moon blush.

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2015

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Edie Danford

10 books160 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Shile (Hazard's Version) on-hiatus.
1,120 reviews1,060 followers
Read
June 1, 2020
Time of Death - 25%

Backing away, like i backed away from book 1.

description

I just couldn't vibe with it. Like book 1, at 25%, i still don't know what is going on, and the POV was confusing, i didn't know who was who.

I will still try book 3 in the future.
Profile Image for ☆ Todd.
1,438 reviews1,577 followers
September 21, 2016

I read book 3, "Unraveling Josh," before reading this story, which didn't present any problems reading the stories out of order.

I loved book 3, so I had extremely high hopes of loving this book, which I truly did, up until the point where Zach is nearly ready to leave Vermont and go back to grad school in Boston, leaving Kirby behind.

I just had a feeling that the story wasn't going to work for me as soon as Zach and Kirby went down that road and, unfortunately, I was about 110% correct. : (

Until that point, we see the usual "I can't go there because... reasons" paired with "come on, you know you wanna." Which was great and I enjoyed every moment of that.

And then the rains came...

Along with some spoilers, so don't click the tags, if you don't want to know, folks.

My main issue with the last part of the book was the immaturity and bad decision making exhibited by both main characters. Yes, they were only 19 and 22'ish; however, I felt that this behavior was mostly new.

First off, when would-be "hero" Zach is finally self-tasked to truly be there for Kirby, at their first argument, he makes himself scarce and leaves others to make sure that Kirby is well taken care of, which I found to be very out of character for him.

He does finally step up to the plate to take on that responsibility himself and all is right with the world once again.

Until Zach begins to question what he wants for his future and gets blindsided by Kirby calling Instead of just sitting down and having an open conversation. Like adults. One of the side-characters described what Kirby did as " a chicken shit move " and I have to say that I completely agree.

Then Kirby is so shocked that Zach feels (surprise!) betrayed, Kirby freaks out I loathe manufactured, 'dramatical' behavior like that.

The guys do eventually get back together for good when yet another tragedy befalls Kirby, but by that time, I already had a fairly sour taste in my mouth for both of them.

Then just when I thought that the book was done with odd plot twists, the epilogue reveals that, unsurprisingly, Zach no longer wants Color me crazy, but don't you actually need to *believe* in order to do that? I would think so.

Basically, what was well on its way to being a very solid 4-star read, in my opinion, went off the rails and left me wondering what the fuckery just happened.

So just under 3 stars for this one and, while I'd highly recommend Josh's book, I'm not entirely sure about this one. : (
356 reviews137 followers
October 29, 2015
~ Arc provided via Netgalley in exchange for honest review. ~

Review posted on Way Too Hot Books.

2.5 stars

I've read this book 3 -4 weeks ago, but unfortunately real life has prevented me to write a proper review until now. To tell you the truth, I barely even remember the plot now, which can only give you insight into what kind of impression it left on me as a reader and that is: forgettable.

The story did start out good at first, I even thought that it might be a winner, but later on the more the plot developed the more I was losing interest in it. That's why I'll keep it short. The biggest reasons for my rating are:

a) The plot's main focus was the romance which became boring for me, especially in the 2nd half of the story.

b) The characters were portrayed quite one-dimensional and there were a lot of questions about them left to our imagintion.

c) There were some soap opera moments which made me wish I were a dnf reader. Even one of the characters in the book compares one situation to soap opera, so there you have it.

All in all, the book ended up rather disappointing and therefore I give it 2.5/5 stars.
Profile Image for BWT.
2,249 reviews244 followers
no-or-probably-never
August 20, 2016
Putting a pin in at 16%.

I've tried to read this now for days. Every time I pick it up I find myself completely uninterested in continuing within a few paragraphs.

Not bad enough to file on my Hated or DNF shelf, I'm tapping out for now. I'll file this mentally under "maybe it's not you, maybe it's me" and throw it on my "Maybe Someday" shelf.
Profile Image for Veronica of V's Reads.
1,528 reviews44 followers
December 2, 2015
This review was originally written for Joyfully Jay Reviews and can be accessed here: http://joyfullyjay.com/2015/12/review...

This is the second book in the Ellery College series, but is fully enjoyable as a standalone.

4.25 stars.

Zach O’Malley is a recent college grad working as a house painter in Ellery, VT until he leaves for grad school in Boston at the end of the summer. He’s out and gay, and currently separated from his on-again/off-again boyfriend. While trying to make some sense of his life and path, he decides that mindless summer job will keep him busy. Zach’s friend Ray pairs him up with Kirby Kurtcehajic, an openly gay 19-year-old high school grad who has few prospects beyond manual labor. Kirby lives off his grandparents’ land in a handmade yurt (wool tent home), and he’s more than enamored with Zach.

Kirby is a free spirit, and that’s really awesome considering his mother is a heroin addict and his father cut him out due to his sexuality. Zach finds Kirby attractive, but he’s not really willing to start anything serious. But why does anything need to be serious, Kirby asks. Can’t Kirby just help Zach feel good for the time they have?

This book has a lot of quiet plot development. Kirby and Zach do end up getting together, and it’s good. But, it’s not all good. Kirby gets injured and he’s out-of-commission, causing Zach to adopt his (unwelcome) uber-caretaker role. Zach’s got a hero complex, and he’s super paranoid about both Kirby’s physical health and his own sexual health. Despite coming from completely different backgrounds, they develop a strong bond. It actually overwhelms both of them. I felt that aspect was pretty realistic. I liked how Kirby was so concerned about his future, and also ensuring that Zach didn’t make destructive choices in order to care for him. It’s a very sweet read, with great supporting characters. Zach’s younger sister is a fun confidante. Ray is as headstrong as in Uncovering Ray. I also enjoyed the positive light cast on Zach’s church. He receives some excellent counsel from the gay minister and counselor there, which is generally the opposite scenario in M/M romance, so reading a gay-positive and affirming church was refreshing.

This is a New Adult romance, so the biggest issues in this genre are usually striking out in the world and embarking on financial independence. That is also the case, here. Kirby works hard, but he’s essentially destitute, and Zach has money through his family, but he’s not independent. In order to be a good partner (and also to take better care of himself), Zach has to figure out that he needs to shed the “superhero” mantle he’s trained himself to wear. Kirby needs to overcome his feelings of inadequacy. Both Zach and Kirby are great characters. Neither of them are mean, or nasty or spiteful, and their break is necessary to allow the further growth they must make before they can become complete adults, capable of having a mature adult relationship. It’s a very thoughtful story, with a satisfying romance and realistic HEA. There’s some yummy sexytimes, and it’s all very sweet and spicy.

I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley
Profile Image for Alison.
890 reviews32 followers
September 5, 2020
This has been moldering away on my Kindle since 2016 and I finally had a look. I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one didn't do it for me. I never connected with it and I didn't care for either main character. Both MCs are a little annoying and a little immature and they both make some spectacularly bad decisions. Kirby is verging on TSTL territory and Zach is just a jerk. Neither character was at all appealing or engaging for me. The plot kind of moves from one big drama to the next and any one of the big upheavals that happens would be enough for one book, but it's just non-stop upheaval. I skimmed a lot. It was not for me. If you like reading hot-mess, drama-rama, angst-fests, check this one out. :)
Profile Image for Erica Chilson.
Author 42 books438 followers
December 9, 2015
I received a copy of this title to read and review for Wicked Reads

4 stars

Genre: MM Romance | Contemporary Romance | Alpha & the twink | College student/manual labor | Disabilities |

Do you love warm and fluffy romance? Do you understand the necessary balance when an author pairs an uptight guy with a free-spirit? Then Unmasking Zach is probably the read for you.

Kirby is a sweet 19 yo, who has a bum leg and a few missing teeth. He's a loner with a bad past: drug addict mother and a religious father. Independent, living off the grid in a Yurt, a vegan, and terrified of houses. Not many jobs are offered for a guy like Kirby. His friend Ray offers him a job painting houses, and that's where he meets his love interest.

Zach is Mr. Serious. He's always lived his life reaching goal after goal, and making new ones as soon as they are realized. But he's never just stopped to smell the roses or look around himself. He needed someone to force him to live his life in the here and now, not in the future that may never come to fruition.

Together, Zach & Kirby are the perfect balance.

Sweet, heart-warming, funny but not over-the-top, Kirby was my favorite character of the story. His skin-hunger- a scene where he gets a massage was explosive to read. I will say, I enjoyed Kirby during his narration, but not so much during Zach's narration. There was a definite disconnect on how Kirby felt and thought about himself and how Zach saw him, and this gave me a bit of whiplash.


I'm on the fence on what rating to give Unmasking Zach. 5 stars? 4? 3? So I settled on 4 solid stars. There were many things that didn't work, but more that did. Overall, the only major drawback was that the book was drawn-out with repetition that didn't propel the story forward, but those scenes were still sweet, warm, and fuzzy. If Kirby fell down one more time, I was going to buy him an inflatable bubble to roll around in. During the climax, I feared another 'fall', but was thankful that wasn't the case.

Flaws or not, I was entertained the entire time, wanting more from the characters. Some books that should have been shorter have me thinking, "When will this end?" but that never occurred while I read Unmasking Zach.

I look forward to the next in the series. & as this was a review book, I jumped for it before realizing it was book #2 in a series. I'm looking forward to some downtime, where I'll grab my own copy to read, because Ray sounds like an intriguing character.
Profile Image for Allison.
1,847 reviews13 followers
March 27, 2016
2.5 stars. None of the issues that were present in the first book were corrected and in fact some seem worse. Too long and frankly not that interesting characters. The characters were what made up for the problems in the first book and without that this was just a long book with a story that wasn't explained well enough and that largely failed to capture my attention. It's too bad because some of the writing is wonderful, but it's overwhelmed by that which isn't.
Profile Image for Rox.
600 reviews38 followers
December 1, 2019
"You think you don't give me strength?"
Profile Image for Luce.
507 reviews39 followers
August 25, 2016
I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I hate to DNF books that I have for review, but sometimes it's unavoidable, and this is one of those times. I am not going to read past 38%, and there are 4 reasons for this.

1) It's extremely slow. EXTREMELY. I love a bit of slow burn but this is ridiculous. 26% of the book focused on one afternoon and evening, and it took a further 8% for the narrative to have spanned 24 hours. 34% for one single day, and even though it was a somewhat eventful afternoon and evening, it wasn't eventful enough to warrant that kind of detail, and not even the backstory we got was enough to justify it.

2) The words awesome and fuck were way overused. I don't mind either of those but the sheer amount of times both of those were used - sometimes in a single page - felt repetitive and, frankly, lazy.

3) Like I said in the status update, the dialogue between Zach and everyone is very wooden and feels completely forced and inauthentic. It wasn't something I noticed while Zach was talking to Kirby, because his dialogue with Kirby is the sole exception to this, but once I had to get through Zach's consecutive conversations with Hoke and his mom, I noticed it in a big way. Bad dialogue is one of my big pet peeves so maybe this will bother other people less than it bothered me.

And lastly,
4) This one needs a disclaimer: I do not know anything about Edie Danford other than the fact that she uses "she/her" pronouns and has a husband. I did a rudimentary google but could not find much beyond that, so I don't know for sure whether she's queer or cishet. Also: both Zack and Kirby are, to my knowledge, gay guys, which is something I am not. So I can't sit here and say "this is an inauthentic portrayal of gay guys" because I don't know what it's like to BE one. That said, to me this book does not read like queer romance written by a queer person. Again, YMMV, but the whole time I've been reading this I've felt like there's something off about it. It just doesn't feel quite right.



To balance this review out, here are a couple of things I liked:

1) Zach is a practising Christian and goes to a church that has a happily married gay pastor, and I thought that was fantastic. More of this in books please.

2) Kirby's dad is Bosnian and a Muslim, and Kirby himself is disabled. (There is a side character, Ray, who is genderqueer (and also the protagonist of the previous book in this series) but I have my doubts as to whether Danford writes good GQ rep, and judging by my experience with this book, I probably won't pick up the first book to find out.)

3) There seemed to be a significant class contrast between Kirby and Zach but without it being an issue for either of them, and I would have liked to know if it ever became an issue but I just can't slog it out anymore.


It's not the worst book I've ever read, by a long shot. But on balance, there's more things I dislike than like, and frankly I'm not enjoying reading this. It feels like a chore. So I'm not going to continue with it or the rest of the series.

DNF'd at 38%.
Profile Image for Jeff.
Author 2 books12 followers
October 4, 2015
Unmasking Zach quickly delves into an unlikely, opposites-attract relationship that is intriguing, sexy and heartbreaking. Zach and Kirby are from two different worlds but they think and feel and are controlled by all the same emotional responses that affect us all. The conflict is in the head but not the heart.

Edie Danford has painted what starts as a beautiful summer 'whatever' romance in a way that lets the reader not just picture the setting; but also feel and smell and taste the pleasant and unpleasant surroundings that engulf and haunt its players.

As Zach and Kirby find out, life is never what it seems; it never ends up where you you think it will lead-- and sometimes you have shutdown the programming in your head and let your heart lead the way.

I was hooked from the beginning and loved Danford's clear portrayals of the well developed supporting characters in this story line, complimenting Kirby and Zach.

Wanting, passion, confusion and desire are key ingredients in this plot of young love and their ultimate destiny.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.
Profile Image for Tam.
Author 21 books104 followers
March 21, 2016
Well, I read this without reading #1 but it was okay to do that. The focus is on the main couple. I was so frustrated with Zack's mother. I wanted to smack her. And that everyone let her get away with stunting her adult son's life because she meant well? Ugh. As a mother I have zero patience. You're an adult, buck up and be one and let your kid live their own life without making him feel responsible for your happiness. Whew, rant done.

It got a bit slow at the end and I never really got quite why Kirby was so traumatized about everything. He had a rough life but it wasn't clear what exactly caused the extreme reactions. I also don't have siblings. I think I miss something in books that have siblings that tease, interfere, etc. I don't get it. I find it rude and obnoxious. So I didn't dislike the main characters or the main thrust of the book but some of the issues circling around them.
Profile Image for Frida.
809 reviews31 followers
June 3, 2016
I became an instant fan after reading Uncovering Ray and while this has the same style and quirks I liked, the story is too repetitive - I felt like skimming. So maybe 2.5 stars. I went and got the third book (Unraveling Josh) immediately after finishing this one though.
Profile Image for Daphne .
715 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2016
The angst, oh the angst! Fans of angst and hurt and comfort stories will enjoy this story. Kirby and Zach start out casual (and honestly, the book starts out slowly), but they quickly turn into a hot mess together.
I enjoyed the bits of reality in that the MCs weren't perfect but there were some elements that were too unrealistic. All in all, a nice read.
Profile Image for namericanwordcat.
2,440 reviews439 followers
November 2, 2017
The writing in this book is lush with complex characters and it is a new adult romance in terms of coming into your fuller self and separating from your family of origin.

Kirby and Zach have an odd courtship dance but it is tender and fun to watch. I love the circle of friends and support. I also enjoyed the internal struggle of each character and the opposites attract aspects of the plot.


I was worried that the intense attraction would overwhelm the book but the plot takes some intersting turns and we get and HEA we can trust in even though our heroes are still pretty young and growing into themselves.
Profile Image for Jenn (not Lily).
4,768 reviews27 followers
March 19, 2020
I remember enjoying reading the previous book in the series, but I'd forgotten just how good at writing this author is. Funny, devastating, heart-warming, so frakking sad, and hot af. Zach is great at taking care of the people in his life but honestly he's really crap at taking care of his own shit. Kirby. Damn. He's amazing and wounded and resilient and so damn frustrating and wonderful. Sidebar, I adore Stephen and Ben -- is there a story about them somewhere? Gonna have to look. And if there isn't, I'll be starting a campaign for one...
Profile Image for A.
414 reviews16 followers
November 21, 2017
A lot of the reviews are right, this is a slow novel. But I found it to be wonderfully slow. Relationships don't always come together right away, it's messy and there a lot of kinks to work out of things. Danford does a great job of portraying just how messy it can be when two very different people try and come together in a relationship in this novel. I loved both Zach and Kirby, had a really vivid sense of who they were, and what they needed.
Profile Image for Hot Stuff for Cool People.
68 reviews2 followers
September 23, 2015
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Also, this review was originally posted on Hot Stuff for Cool People.

I feel a little torn about this book. I’m not even sure how to start this review because I’m still not sure what I think about the book. On one hand, it was great, one of the better things I’ve read in a while. But on the other hand, I feel like it shouldn’t have worked. And even though it did work, I’m not sure it worked in ways I was totally comfortable with.

So, let’s see. The book starts with our two main characters‐ Zach and Kirby. Zach has a life that seems perfect‐ great family, a start on an excellent education, and his family provides him with everything. Kirby, on the other hand, has a lot of family troubles and no one to depend on but himself. Kirby immediately takes a shine to Zach, but Zach is a little more reserved, until he realizes that he’s completely enamored with Kirby. And the two grow closer when Kirby needs help and has nowhere to turn. Meanwhile, Zach’s starting to figure out that maybe the life he had planned for himself isn’t really what he wants.

It’s a good premise‐ nothing really new, but the author does a great job of crafting a solid, multi‐layered plot. A lot of themes get explored‐ family connections, relationships with friends, differences in wealth and status, thoughts about how Kirby and Zach want to live their lives. Also, the writing is great‐ very easy to slip right into, and the story was so absorbing. I liked this book right off the bat, and I never stopped liking it.

But there was a lot that I just felt didn’t… work. And a lot of those things revolved around Kirby and Zach’s relationship. Since the relationship is the main storyline of the book, this was… problematic.

I had a hard time believing that Zach and Kirby were really in love, or even falling in love. They seem to spend a large chunk of the book either being angry with each other, or not speaking, which, while realistic, probably wouldn’t lead to them turning around and falling in love with each other. It shouldn’t. And it didn’t make sense to me that that was basically what happened. I mean, I found their arguments, and the time they spend away from each other, very realistic, so I liked it. I just didn’t think that, in reality, those things would have led to the romance that develops in the book.

I also felt a bit distant from Zach’s character. It’s Zach who’s the title character of the book, but I felt like he took a backseat to Kirby. So much of a backseat that at times he felt like a backdrop to Kirby’s personality‐ he felt less like a valuable character and more like a way to show who Kirby was and how Kirby felt. And I really liked Kirby and I was interested in him, so, I have to admit, a lot of the time I just went with it. But when it came to Kirby being in love with Zach… since I felt detached from Zach, I also felt detached from Kirby’s affection for him.

I mean, Zach had a great premise as a character. He’s slowly figuring out that he wants different things than he thought, and that his family and friends are smothering him. But his arc as a character is a bit flat. By the end, we, as the readers, are only told that he’s changed. I kind of wished there was some kind of confrontation between him and his family or friends, even something small, that showed that he could stand up for himself and what he wanted. But there never was, and I left the book feeling like maybe he hadn’t changed as much as he should have.

But! Despite all of these things that I just felt didn’t work, I couldn’t dislike the book. At all. I really, really enjoyed it. Even while I shook my head and wondered if what was happening on the page was valid or realistic, I still loved the book. I never wanted to put it down. It was fun and satisfying and sweet and just very, very enjoyable. It was so easy to become immersed in it. I loved how the author took a story that could have been simple and told it in a way that made it complex and interesting. I liked how a lot of things that I expected‐ for Zach’s ex‐boyfriend to be a jerk, for Zach’s church to be a point of discomfort, for Kirby’s family problems to be the focus of his character‐ didn’t happen. The book wasn’t predictable, either.

And, aside from when I sometimes felt disconnected from Zach, I thought the characterization was excellent, as well. Kirby was such a rich character, and I loved reading about him and getting into his head. And the side characters were great, too. Zach’s friends are so alive and real and three‐dimensional, and his sisters, even though they were only in the book for little parts, also felt very real.

So overall, it was flawed, but I loved it anyway. This is the first book by this author that I’ve read, and I have to say that, after meeting Ray and Wyatt in this book, I’m so, so eager to read their story, which appears in the first book in the series. I’d, in fact, love to read anything else this author wrote. There’s a lot of talent here, and a lot to be enjoyed.

(I went back and forth on whether to give this three or four stars... Ultimately, I loved it- as Goodreads says, 'I really liked it.' So I feel like it definitely deserves the four stars.)
Profile Image for Allyn.
533 reviews
October 5, 2018
I’m really surprised by all of the low ratings. The characters were complex and likable, especially Kirby. Parts were really hot. I loved how they helped each other get over their issues. Could it be shorter? Definitely. Otherwise, really well written.
Profile Image for Is.
624 reviews
December 10, 2015
“He kissed me more. In all the ways I’d wanted to kiss him. His lips on my skin felt like medicine. Scary medicine. Healing, easing my pain, numbing the hurt. But scary as hell because my prescription was about to run out.”


Sometimes I’m not ready for a story, and I’ll put the book down and pick it up when it’s calling me. I started Unmasking Zach a few months back and I was eating up the pages, but at one point I set it down and didn’t pick it up again until this weekend. It wasn’t boring and it wasn’t flat, I just wasn’t in the right mind to read it.

I’m glad I didn’t force myself to read it, because as I read it this weekend I fell completely into my reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kirby Kurtcehajic likes Zach O’Malley and he isn’t shy in letting him know he does. He’s forward and confident in the way he tells Zach that they could be something for the summer. Zach, though, he’s not looking for a summer anything, not even a fling. They each have their demons and plans and they’re not about to start making exceptions, but life shows them that sometimes they don’t have a choice.

Unmasking Zach is as much about unmasking Zach as it is about leaving Kirby bare to Zach. I’m not sure it makes sense, but it does once you read it. Perhaps it was more about unmasking Kirby as he’s had not only a tough year, but a rough life. I didn’t see it that way, though. I think they both needed to break down their walls and their carefully set out plans and lists and just let others in.

It’s about letting people know what you want, and learning that there are people who love and care for you, that they’ll have your back because of said love and that growing up and healing doesn’t have a set date.



“I’d never really felt like I fit into the shapes available to me in the lives of the people I’d met.”


I’ve never understood why people hate when the plot is solely about romance, because even then there are other sub plots going on. I enjoyed every type of plot and Unmasking Zach was subtle, or maybe not, in that it wasn’t solely focused on the budding romance between Zach and Kirby. I saw beyond it, and I saw that Zach needed a major shake to his world and Kirby needed to see a different world to the one he had been living in.

It had so much going for it: interesting characters, beautiful crafted sentences (that I wanted to bookmark the hell out of), one amazing sounding Yurt, steamy scenes and the kind of friends that everyone needs. On top of that we slowly unmask Zach’s and Kirby’s past and how actions and events shape the future of someone else.


“You can change paths, change directions, change your mind any time you want to. Just takes motivation and action. It’s all gotta happen in here, though.” He tapped a thick finger to his temple. “It’s not something you find in a place or another person.”


There were something things left unresolved, but I felt like everything had its purpose. Every decision needed to be made, time away needed to happen. When I feel happiness, laughter, anger, disappointment, I know a book is a good one. Books need to make the reader feel something, anything and Unmasking Zach did that, exceedingly.



Check out more of my reviews at The Written Voice of Is
Profile Image for Angela Goodrich.
1,608 reviews101 followers
January 1, 2016
Having loved Uncovering Ray, I jumped at the chance to read Unmasking Zach. Unlike book one, there is no doubt as to Zach’s or Kirby’s gender or sexuality – at least not for the reader. What there is doubt about, is whether or not these two guys can get along well enough to work together, much less form the relationship the blurb suggests. And while the straight-laced boy-next-door, Zach, and the free-spirted hippie, Kirby, seem to have nothing in common, the sparks certainly fly once Kirby learns that Zach is gay and the guys begin to spend time together outside of work. But with Zach leaving for college in the fall, will their time together be simply a summer romance or the start of something more?

I loved both of these guys. They come from completely different socioeconomic backgrounds and while Kirby assumes that Zach has it easier because he lacks the financial woes Kirby has, he comes to understand that money really isn’t everything when he realizes that he has more freedoms in his life than Zach does. Although they embark upon a friends with benefits arrangement due to Zach’s college plans, the guys find themselves feeling more for one another than they should for a summer fling. Watching their relationship develop was both sweet and hot as heck. Seriously, can we get a camera in that yurt? We are talking about two men in their early twenties here and while there is a good amount of sex, it flowed with the storyline. Seeing how Zach backed away from Kirby after his first accident was heartbreaking, especially when the reader is given a chance to see the withdrawal from Kirby’s point of view. It’s also what makes Zach’s handling of Kirby’s recovery after the second injury so enjoyable and entertaining – especially when Zach introduces the compromise. Again with the hotness! Holy heck!!!

Because they were doing so well, I was shocked by the actions Kirby took to insure that Zach went off to college when the time came. I understood why Kirby did what he did and I thought his heart was in the right place, but how he went about doing it shocked me because I didn’t see Kirby willing to ask others for that level of help – even if it were for Zach and not him. But it absolutely ripped my heart out on both Zach and Kirby’s behalf. While I hated that Kirby endured what he did with his mother, taking yet another emotional hit, I liked that it enabled Zach to be there for Kirby when he needed Zach the most. The ending was great because the author lets you know where the couple is headed while leaving it open ended enough that I suspect we’ll see the guys in a future installment in the series. Kudos to Danford for including Ray and Wyatt in this installment and keeping the lid on Ray’s sexual identity so that should someone pick up book two first, they can read it as a standalone without the secret of book one being spoiled. Unmasking Zach was a great addition to the Ellery College series and I can’t wait to see who the author has set her sights on next.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
Profile Image for Devan Huff.
175 reviews2 followers
November 15, 2015
I received one copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Review first posted on Nautical Star Books

In Unmasking Zach by Edie Danford, Zach has just finished his undergraduate degree and is spending the summer painting houses in his small Vermont hometown before heading off to business school in Boston. Kirby is a bit of a hippy with a rough past who is living one day at a time and not worrying too much about the future.

Kirby is determined to have a fling with Zach....live for the moment and not worry about tomorrow. However, Zach doesn't really work that way and it takes a bit of work to get him to jump in bed. Summer is coming to an end, Kirby has some serious issues to deal with, and Zach is refusing to think about the future. Along with the serious amount of angst you will eventually get your happily ever after.

A few thoughts on Unmasking Zach:

It took me a while to connect to these characters and I can't really say why. The entire focus of the story is on Zach and Kirby's budding friendship, sexual tension, and developing romance. However, for the first half of the book it really sort of dragged for me. I wasn't really sure they actually liked each other...there just didn't seem to be feelings tugging these two guys together.

Oddly enough, even though the title is 'Unmasking Zach', I actually felt that Kirby was the 'main' character of this story. He was the puzzle that needed figuring out. He has a rough history, a few things that really freak him out, maybe a few serious mental health issues that need addressing, and he is a bit of an enigma. I think the book was more about unmasking Kirby than anything else.

Zach seems fairly straight forward. He has a good family life, a middle class upbringing, a college education, and a plan for life he doesn't really want to follow. Sort of like a lot of college grads. Doing what they are expected to do rather than what they WANT to do. He is a bit of a control freak I think, which sometimes works for Kirby and other times doesn't. I couldn't figure out if Kirby wanted live a wild and free life or if he wanted Zach to order him around.

There were a lot of secondary characters in Unmasking Zach that were really well written. Zach has a tight family and a few good friends and they are all genuinely nice people that helped move the story along. I loved the yurt that Kirby lives in and it melded perfectly with his free spirited hippy personality. The woods surrounding the yurt were beautifully described and I could almost feel that frigid river water and smell the fire in the fire pit.

Unmasking Zach was well written and Kirby was incredibly unique but for some reason, I just couldn't really get into the romance between these two guys. An enjoyable book but not one that had me turning page after page with a need to finish it.
Profile Image for Lucy.
343 reviews21 followers
April 24, 2017
Why do I keep picking series up half-way through? I swear since getting a kindle five years ago I never read series in order anymore! Unmasking Zach is the second book in Edie Danford’s Ellery College series and I discovered it on Netgalley. I mainly requested it due to the opposites attract nature of the storyline and I can never resist a New Adult m/m story!

I was drawn to Unmasking Zach due how different the two heroes sounded on the blurb with Kirby being an hippie kid and Zach being an up-tight graduate student. Yet something about the characters didn’t quite work for me. I struggled to understand the motivation behind Zach and Kirby’s actions. I understood why Kirby’s difficult childhood would leave emotional scars and result in strange behavior and fears. I was a little less convinced about Zach’s childhood trauma and his need to be the all powerful superhero who could save everyone. Whereas Kirby’s childhood had forced him to rely on no-one but himself, Zach’s childhood made him want to save everyone. In my opinion this is a deadly combination for a relationship.

“A big reason I’d said yes was because I’d wanted to be close to Zach. I was more than a little in love with him. Despite all the big, fat, loud, glaring warning signals telling me he’d never be able to return my feelings, I’d let myself keep hoping”

Considering the blurb for Unmasking Zach emphasised the sexual attraction between the two male leads…

Read the full review: http://buff.ly/1RqjJUU
Profile Image for Ashley D.
1,356 reviews12 followers
April 30, 2016
Zach and Kirby were two very different character's but each of them had that one character flaw that just made you fall in love with them. While they each struggle to understand the other, the grow close as the summer moves on but will it be enough to base a relationship on.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and relationship between Zach and Kirby, it showed them as humans and people that make mistakes, which for me is great in a book. I want my character's to be realistic and to me these two guys were pretty realistic.
Profile Image for M.K..
Author 13 books35 followers
June 29, 2016
I really like this author. I thought this was another different read and I feel like I get something new in her books. Loved the visits from previous characters too.
153 reviews
August 5, 2016
Difficult to get into the story. Didn't understand Zach's hang ups and didn't really like how the angst was developed. Took me a while to finish.
Profile Image for Pianisuparse.
2,265 reviews47 followers
September 14, 2016
4 'This author writes some very interesting characters loved Zach and Kirby' stars.
Profile Image for Maddie  k.
443 reviews5 followers
October 16, 2016
This book was good, I enjoyed the journey both Z's take you on. So worth reading this series.
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