Review: Sweet Wild of Mine (Where the Wild Hearts Are #2)

Sweet Wild of Mine (Where the Wild Hearts Are #2)

by Laurel Kerr 

Blurb:

Love runs wild at the Sagebrush Flats Zoo...

In a bid to revitalize his career, bestselling author Magnus Gray has come to Sagebrush Flats to write about the local zoo's latest rescue―an orphaned baby polar bear. But Magnus dreads the drama of small towns and is bullishly determined to keep to himself.

June Winters is a people person, and delights in welcoming Magnus to Sagebrush Flats, though it seems unlikely she can get the handsome stranger to crack a smile. Then a mishap with an open gate forces Magnus and June to deal with a stampeding flock of fainting goats, an adorable but clingy polar bear cub, a cranky pregnant camel, and two star-crossed honey badgers. Never mind small town drama―the lively animals may just convince these two that opposites really do attract...

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

 A surly, sexy Scotsman and sweet innocent Polar bear cub come together to teach a woman that all she ever knew about herself and her life was wrong.  I have been looking forward to this story for a long time for these two exact reasons because I am a huge animal lover and come from a Scottish background so I always have a special fondness for those characters.  I enjoyed the first in this series, despite all of the heavy childhood traumatic issues that were dealt with and was looking forward to a story that dealt more in the current and future, but this story also relied heavily on the family dramas to carry the day.  Thankfully I can relate in a lot of ways to both of these characters and the writing was good enough that the story was carried through as June and Magnus slowly made their way through their individual minefields and the ones they encountered as they because a couple.  Magnus has traveled to Sagebrush Falls to volunteer at the zoo and chronicle his time there as the works with its newest resident –the cute and cuddly polar bear cub Sorcha—in order to find his way back to his writing roots, but otherwise he has every little interest in socializing.  Sadly he has no idea that June has set her mind to becoming his friend in order to ask for his help with her aging grandma.  As they work together on their individual projects, they decide to explore their attraction, despite the end date on their affair, but soon they are in way deeper than either ever imagined they could be.  When a true challenge to their relationship presents itself, they have to decide if they are willing to compromise and be together or if they will walk away despite the emotions that grown so strong between them.  I enjoyed getting to know both June and Magnus, despite there being a few issues that I had with them both on a personal level.  Magnus was a bit of an ass through so much of the story and I would have like more time to explore the reason for it, instead of it not being uncovered until almost too late, but once we know about his past we are able to forgive him and see that he was truly just protecting his unexpected vulnerability all along.  June was just such a clueless woman, forging ahead and knowing that she knows what is right for everyone else without question, that many times I wanted to tell her to open her damn eyes and for once shut up and just listen instead of talking all the time.  I understand that some people are just too social for solitude and quiet, but I am not one of them so she truly was an anathema to me to be able to understand her, though thankfully Magnus is able to appreciate her despite that lack of fully understand her himself.  I enjoyed the fiery chemistry between these two from the very first page, though I would have liked more time for them to explore an open and honestly loving relationship before the ending.   I am looking forward to seeing who comes next, though I have my suspicions and I will enjoy seeing this author grow and develop as she continues to produce interesting stories.  I also LOVED the little side story for the honey badgers and look forward to much more for Honey and Fluffy in future novels.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.