Title: Wild Child (The Wild Ones #1.5)
Author: M. Leighton
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 22nd
Jenna Theopolis has always known what she wanted. Getting out of her small hometown of Greenfield was number one on her list of priorities. Until she met Rusty Catron.
Rusty’s fun-loving personality was the perfect match for Jenna’s inner wild child. But what started off as a summer fling quickly turns into something more. At least it does for Jenna.
Rusty has lived with the ghost of his father’s abandonment since he was a child, but now he’s beginning to feel the crippling effects of his scars. He wants to trust in Jenna, but deep down he doesn’t believe someone so wild and free can ever be tamed.
But tragedy strikes, pushing Jenna out of Greenfield and leaving Rusty with a choice to make—face his inner demons or lose the love of his life. Forever.
I loved The Wild Ones so I was SUPER excited to read Wild Child! Have you read The Wild Ones yet? You should…Trick is…fun 😉 Check out my review!
And then next is Jenna’s brother, Jake, in Some Like It Wild…
And last is There’s Wild, Then There’s You
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*
4 “leaving kind” Kisses
Wild Child just took me for a wild ride! I was not prepared…I knew it would be hot (which it was)…angsty (which it so was)…and of course emotional (ooooh boy was it!). I was not however prepared for the tears. Yeah…M. Leighton just made me ugly cry!
Jenna Theopolis is a hell cat…she’s feisty and fiery and you never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. Most of the time it’s hilarious or will make you blush…or both. She doesn’t hold back, she is the way she is and you love it or leave it – and I loved it! She’s just graduated college with a degree in business and marketing – the world is her oyster and she’s not going to be tied down to her hometown. She’s got big plans and wants greatness in her future…she’s just hoping those plans also include the man she loves.
“I mean, he already things I’m the leaving kind and this will just make it seem like he’s right.”
The leaving kind?”
“Yeah. He’s always teasing me about being too restless for this town, about having plans that are too big for this town. I’ve never tried to hide how much I hate it heare or how I want to live in a bigger city….But sometimes, I tink he sees us as…temporary beause of it. He thinks I’m sort of wild child that will never settle down.”
“You are a wild child, Jenna. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s who you are. It’s what makes us all love you so much.”
Jeffrey ‘Rusty’ Catron…I can’t think of him as Jeff…he’s not Jeff…he’s Rusty! And possibly the hottest redheaded cowboy ever. He loves cars…beer…and whether he wants to admit it or not…Jenna. But he’s scarred from his past with his dad and the sins of the father are totally affecting the sons decisions – (which is bull shit!!!). Rusty frustrated me a little bit…he was stubborn and a little dense but…that’s a man for ya! Even with everyone around him giving him good advice ‘he knows better’ – ugh!
‘He’s stealing himself against wanting me, which makes me want to tease him that much more. I want to break him. I want him to give in because he just can’t stand it. I want him to forsake all else for me, for the want of me, for the love of me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted from Rusty – his devotion. The same kind of devotion I have for him.’
Of course I loved Jenna and Rusty from The Wild Ones…who didn’t? But I gotta be honest, from their personalities and what I knew of them from T.W.O., I was expecting a pretty hot, fun, sexy novella. Boy, did I get thrown for a loop. So yeah…there was sexual tension…but there was also angst…there was sadness…there was heartbreak…I was alllllll over the place with no relief in sight. I take that back there were short patches of relief…but even though this was a novella it felt like the turmoil was so much more compact and hard hitting.
‘That’s a word I’ll have to get used to.
All the tings I took for granted, all the things I thought there was plenty of time for, all the things that carried a tag that read someday, now reads never. All the some days and one days, all the maybes and ifs are now nevers. Never is the new constant.’
So…remember the ugly cry I mentioned? Yeah…I was crying over one scene out of hurt and frustration and then the next thing I know I’m bawling over something completely different. Big, fat, crocodile tears. I can’t spoil but O…M…G! M. Leighton destroyed me, in the best way possible. But, even though these scenes made me cry…the emotion, the power, the detail…everything was written with spot on perfection. It killed me and it hurt….but I loved it…go figure!
“Jenna, I can survive without you. I can exist,” he begins, the words slicing through me like a knife through butter. “But it wouldn’t be any kind of existence that I’d want. You are what makes my life worth living. You’re the sunshine in it, you’re the laughter and the smiles. You’re the warm nights and the cool breezes. You’re like every good memory and moment and dream I’ve ever had all wrapped up into one. And if you go, you take the only living part of me with you. Without you, I might as well be dead. So, yes, I can survive without you. But that’s all I’d be doing.”
The Wild Ones series is one of my faves…hot cowboys…hotter sex…angst galore but always leaves you with a happy ending. I loved the writing…the alternating POV’s…the wit and humor that is written into these awesomely unique characters…it’s all very easy to fall in love with. Can’t wait for Some Like It Wild – Jake and Laney’s story! (Jake is Jenna’s brother…and if he’s anything like I think he’s going to be…this is going to be fun!)
M. Leighton is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Wild Ones and The Bad Boys romance trilogies. She is a native of Ohio, relocated to the warmer climates of the South, where she lets her mind wander to romantic settings with sexy Southern guys much like the one she married and the ones you’ll find in her latest books. When her thoughts aren’t roaming in that direction, she’ll be riding horses, swimming in ponds and experiencing life on a ranch, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.
