Happy Friday, bibliophiles! I know, I’ve been posting like crazy. I’m sorry (sort of). I’ve been plowing through books lately. I’m not quite sure how since every time I crack a book open or pull up one of my reading apps, every person in the world interrupts me in some way, but I’m managing! That being said, I’m excited to bring you my latest review from the lovely A. Wilding Wells. This book involves a beast of a Brit who wears the crap out of a kilt, so I knew I was on board right from the very beginning. I know my last blog post was rather lengthy with a bit of idle chat, so let’s just get into How To Tame Beasts and Other Wild Things.
I received this book after putting in a request for an ARC copy via my latest obsession, NetGalley. I’m not entirely sure why it took me so long to discover this site, but I’m happy I finally did. I can’t seem to get enough! I digress…
A widowed father of young twin boys collides with his eclectic and unique sister in-law when she leaves her apartment in Paris only to show up on his doorstep at his farm in Wisconsin.
They’re polar opposites (they say opposites attract) in an absolute Green Acres situation. Matilda’s father holds a trust fund over her head until she finds Balthazar a new woman to be the ideal wife and mother to his boys, Jax and Jinx. Balthazar needs to keep the farm that is in his father in-law’s name, but he has sworn off relationships entirely after his wife, Lavinia (Matilda’s sister), left him and wound up dead in a car accident.
Rough around the edges, these two have no choice but to live under the same roof and play nice. Nice leads to flirtation which leads to so much more. It’s when they finally open their eyes and really see each other that things become utterly chaotic. Between their demons of the past, and the future they’re trying to mold as a new family unit, will they wind up making the long haul into forever, or giving up on something good before it can truly begin?
This story was an absolute roller coaster, but I found myself enjoying every minute. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. There were times I wanted to smash their stubborn heads together, and times when I could’ve used fifty more chapters of their amazing (and sizzling) chemistry. Their story is very different (I’m not just saying that). With the family they’re creating and the lost family that comes into their lives from years prior, it builds for an absolutely unique situation.
In all honesty, I didn’t always agree or understand why the characters thought or acted the way that they did, but it was interesting to see such a different point of view than what I’m used to when seeing events play out. I may have wanted to scream bloody murder every time these two did, but I wound up being completely content and thankful by time I closed the book.
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
