Review: This Wild Heart by Karla Sorensen

This Wild Heart by Karla Sorensen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author, all opinions are my own.

This is the 5th and I believe final book in the Wilder Family books. You do not have to read them in order, as they are companion novels and all read as standalones. There are bits and pieces of family events that are mentioned throughout, and if you want to get to know all of the siblings and extended family mentioned you will want to read the rest of the series and possibly the Ward Sisters so some of those events make sense. Each story does read completely on their own and Karla does a wonderful job making sure you have enough information so you aren't completely lost.

This follows Parker, the youngest of the Wilder siblings. He is still grieving the loss of his father, and the trying to chase away the guilt he feels about how he handled his grief about his father's diagnosis and choice to live out his final days. Parker has spent months trying to ignore his feelings, but when Anya walks into his life he finally feels that spark he's been chasing. Unfortunately, she is engaged the first time they meet and being the respectful man his parents raised him to be, she's off limits. The next time they meet Anya is taking "sad shots" in Vegas with her best friend after breaking up with aforementioned fiancé. The next thing they know Parker and Anya wake up married. They both have their reasons for getting married, and a marriage of convenience is the perfect arrangement for both of them right now. If you have read the previous Wilder books, you are no stranger to relationship and marriage shenanigans with this crew.

As Anya and Parker pretend to be married and settle into their honeymoon phase, an unexpected surprise from Parker's past shows up and upsets all of the headway they've made in their not so fake feelings. Neither of them is sure if their attraction and easy interactions are enough to overcome the emotions they are feeling the caused them to get married in the first place.

I really loved watching Anya and Parker fall for each other. They had instant chemistry both in and out of the bedroom. What really shines though is the way the author captures the other emotions of the characters and how they support each other through that. Grief is no joke and I thought the author did a wonderful job capturing the feeling of losing someone so close to you and the guilt you feel about what you did or didn't do in those final days or months. You will want to have a box of tissues nearby when Parker finally opens up about his feelings, those scenes were really emotional. We have gotten to know the Wilder's in the prior books and it was nice to finally get to know Parker, as he only makes brief appearances due to his job as a pro football player. I loved the scenes with his mom, she is a wonderful character as were Anya's parents who we first met in Isabel and Aiden's book Forbidden. The thing I love about Karla's character's is how realistic they are and how real their interactions with their family and friends are.

I can't recommend this series enough and this was the perfect ending to the series!

View all my reviews