Book Review — Wild Card by Karina Halle

He’s changed so much and yet he’s still the same boy I fell in love with.
The boy who was my protector, my savior, my world…

Buy WILD CARD (Kindle)

OMG!! This was one of the sweetest, sexiest, and swooniest second chance romances I’ve read!! The story captured me from the very first page and I could not stop reading until I reached the last chapter. It was incredibly addictive and well-written. Without a doubt, this is a new top favorite!

Six years ago, Shane and Rachel fell in love. They’d grown up together as childhood friends but as they got older, their friendship turned to more. With their history behind them, their bond was strong and when they fell in love, they fell hard. They mean everything to each other, planned a future together, lived and breathed each other. But Rachel also dreamed of a life beyond their small town, and Shane’s cowboy heart was rooted at his ranch.

We just wanted to spend every second we could together. We were nothing if not inseparable.
It’s like we knew that time was running out.

He knew she wanted more out of life – the kind of more that he couldn’t give her by staying. But when a devastating revelation tore through their lives, he was forced to do something that broke both their hearts.

I never told Rachel the truth about what happened that knight. Why my knuckles were raw and bleeding. Everything was a lie, right down to me telling her, yelling at her, that I didn’t love her anymore.

In the wake of the devastation, she left town and never looked back for six years. She built the life she’d always dreamed of and thought she wanted, but was never able to to fully enjoy it because, even though his actions had torn them apart and even though she wanted to hate him, her heart had stayed behind with the cowboy she still loved.

“I’m your home. I’ve always been your home even when you’v been somewhere else, even when you were hating me, trying to forget me, my heart has been your home.”

When her mother’s illness brought her back to the hometown, she had to face everything she’d left behind. And now she was in the one place she never thought she’d return to, living right next door to the boy who’d broken her heart.

“I know what you and Rachel had was special, is special. And I’ve seen special. I’ve seen it with your father and mother. I’ve lived it between me and Ann. Cynics might tell you that young love isn’t real love, but when love is real, it’s real, and time and age don’t have a damn thing to do with it.”
“Rachel and I broke up a long time ago,” I remind him.
“And now she’s living next door to you.”

Now, one of the reasons why I loved this particular second chance romance book so much is that, even though this is one of my favorite Romance subgenres and I read a lot of them, I also sometimes get annoyed when it’s either miscommunication or stupidity that drives the characters apart. But this book had neither. The reason for their separation was external. Something outside their relationship tore them apart and I honestly just loved that. There’s no cheating or anything. It’s just an honest-to-goodness horrible thing that came into their lives and broke them up.

And as a result of that, even though their break up had been intense and emotionally shattering, it was also very fragile because it had been built on a lie. Shane’s hand was forced and he’s never stopped loving her. So when Rachel’s unexpected return to town threw right back into each other’s lives, it was only a matter of time before they gravitated back to the only place they both wanted to be — together.

“Please tell me that meant to you what it meant to me.”
There’s a strange fluttering in my chest.
Fear. Hope. Love. Loss.
“What did it mean to you?” I whisper.
“The world,” he says before he kisses me, quick and light and laced with tenderness. “It meant the whole entire world.”

This was a very fast read for me. It’s a full length novel but I just inhaled it. I didn’t stop reading from the moment I started. The writing was addictive, the characters were believable, and I really *felt* the story. I particularly love second chance romances because of all the heightened emotions in the reunions and this one was loaded. And for those of you who are looking for sexier, spicy romances, I think you’ll also be thrilled because once Rachel and Shane get back together, things really heated up! It was a very well rounded story and one I’d be happy to recommend.

This is the first standalone in a new series of standalones. You could easily read this completely alone. It has a fully resolved ending with a beautiful epilogue, and the next book will be about a different couple.

If you’re looking for a sweet, sexy, and swoony second chance romance, definitely try this!!!

Rating: 4.5 stars. Contemporary Adult Romance, can standalone.