Finally! Finally! A contemporary romance that partially takes place during autumn. Wild Love by Lauren Accardo caught my eye based on the cover and the foliage gracing the background. Friends I was so excited to pick this book up and read the heck out of it. Another vastly appealing part of it was that it’s set in the Adirondacks which is about an hour from where I live. Books with settings that are practically my backyard always appeal to me.
Wild Love is about Sydney Walsh and Sam Kirkland. Sydney was living in New York City until she walks in on her boyfriend Connor cheating on her with some blonde. So, she escapes to stay with her mother in Pine Ridge, a small town in the Adirondacks. Sydney happens to run into Sam’s car with her car and it turns out there are sparks there. However, Sam cannot act on those sparks as he feels he owes another woman. Meanwhile, Sydney learns that her mother is on the brink of bankruptcy with the bookstore she owns, The Loving Page. So, Sydney pours her energy into trying to bring The Loving Page out of the red. She’s also adjusting to life in Pine Ridge versus the City.
There is a lot to like about Wild Love. The setting and description of the setting is perfect. I loved the residents of Pine Ridge and the group of friends that Sydney happens to find – particularly Jorie who is awesome. The spice level — the adult scenes — are really well written. This is kind of a good start if you are looking to read spicy books but don’t want to fully commit. I really loved the chemistry between Sydney and Sam. However, I felt like the parts about Sam’s commitment to the other woman, Liv was just illogical. Like he feels like he owes her because she was a hospice nurse who helped his mother before she passed. That’s called doing her job and I just don’t get it.
Then we learn that Liv is an alcoholic and pretending to be partnered with Sam to get her son back, but there’s no feelings between them but then there somewhat is on Liv’s side? That part was all a mess and I hated how judgmental the book was toward Liv and her addiction issues. I think even though this is romance, we can have nuance. It exists in plenty of romance novels. And well, to me, that part was just so shallow. So, I had to knock off a star, but otherwise, this was a decent book and I am sure I’ll be back for the second Forever Adirondacks book from Lauren Accardo.
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