Series: The Wild Ones #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 3/4/14
Format: eARC
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 stars
First was The Wild Ones. Now, the next book in M. Leighton's Wild Ones series...
How far will a good girl go for the bad boy she loves?
Laney Holt is a preacher’s daughter. A good girl. Her only goal was to get married, have babies, and live happily ever after, just like her parents. Only that didn’t happen. The two people closest to her betrayed her, and Laney’s dreams came crashing down. Now she’s left with an empty space she doesn’t know how to fill. Until she meets Jake Theopolis, a daredevil with a death wish who has heartbreaker written all over him.
Jake has no interest in thinking beyond the here and now. All he wants out of life is the next rush, the next “feel-good” thing to keep his mind off the pain of his past. His latest rush? Showing Laney there’s more to life than being a good girl—and that going bad can be so much fun. Her only concern now is how she can ever hope to satisfy the wild side of a boy like Jake. She’s looking forward to trying. And so is Jake.
The Wild Ones was such a terrific novel, and my favorite book of M. Leighton's to date. When I learned Wild Child was about Rusty and Jenna, I wondered whom the remaining books in the series would be about. But then I met Jenna's brother Jake, and read the prologue of Some Like It Wild, and became excited again. Some Like It Wild is a good girl-meets-bad boy love story, told with Leighton's signature passionate style.
The story begins four years in the past, when Jake has a brief but memorable encounter with naïve preacher's daughter, Laney Holt. Fast forward to the present, and Laney is much the same, with the exception of having her heart broken by her soon to be-fiancé and her best friend. Laney is tasked with helping assess Jake's inherited property, but the interactions soon veer to the personal side. Laney wants to spread her wings, not live her life in such a limited capacity. Jake wants to reconnect with the beautiful young woman who tasted like peaches. *smirks*
Jake Theopolis is this book's bad boy, but as it turns out, he's a really good guy. What makes Jake bad? Nothing at all, actually. You know that old(-ish) song from Tim McGraw "Real Good Man" (I may be a real bad boy, but baby I'm a real good man...)? That song kind of fits Jake to a T. Jake is a hard-working man intent on saving his family's orchard from his greedy aunt. He likes to have a good time, and thus far has not found a woman who's made him want more than the physical. It quickly becomes obvious that Jake finds himself unlovable. At first I was thinking, "Oh no, another one of those guys.", and throughout much of the story, that angle wasn't explained. What happened to make Jake so adverse to loving anyone? Thankfully, that question was answered, and I found it to be very sad and very understandable. Poor Jake.
Laney is the good girl, but she's not an annoyingly perfect heroine. She's good, but she's not exactly an angel. I liked seeing her embrace a more carefree style, and enjoy being young and beautiful, with a hot man who's bound to set her body on fire. Having said that, at the beginning, her inability to talk to her parents about what went wrong with her fiancé confused me. And I did not even begin to understand the WTF-ery that was going on with her best friend and that jerk and why she was even giving them the time of day. But apparently Laney's a better person than I could ever be because I would have set those two assfaces world's on fire. In the end, she was a sweet girl and I enjoyed experiencing her journey.
Some Like It Wild was also a very, very steamy story. I know, I know, you're shocked. M. Leighton does have a talent for writing very juicy romance, and I have to say, Jake and Laney took whole-hearted advantage of that. I did feel at times that their love revolved more around the physical than getting to truly know each other. I think that may be because a lot of the emotional connection happened off the page. But yeah, I really, really liked the physical. A lot.
I really liked Some Like It Wild. It was sexy, it was fun and in the end, Laney and Jake's love story got to me. The very end definitely appealed to the romantic in me. We do get a teeny tiny glimpse into the next story's hero; there's also a sneak peek into book three. I gotta say, that one should be verrrry interesting!
** I want to note that in the eARC I read, Some Like It Wild ends at the 66% mark. But do not freak out, the story is definitely complete. The rest contained the Wild Child novella, and the sample of There's Wild, Then There's You.**
Favorite Quotes:
Jake throws back his head and laughs heartily. "Oh, God! That's perfect! The preacher's daughter!"
It seems like he's making fun of me, and I bristle. "And why is that perfect?" I ask sharply.
Jake lowers his head and looks me square in the eye. "Because I've got a thing for forbidden fruit, Laney Holt. Consider yourself warned."
"Come on, Laney. You can do this. Trust me."
"Trust you? You're obviously insane. Why should I trust you?"
It seems an inordinately long amount of time passes before he replies. And, even then, I have to strain to hear his low voice.
Because trusting everyone else has gotten you nowhere. Take a chance for once in your life. Take a chance on me."
The Wild Ones Series
(covers lead to GoodReads page)
My Reviews:
The Wild Ones |
Wild Child
Purchase Links
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.
