Wilde Horses by Jannine Gallant

Title: Wilde Horses

Author: Jannine Gallant

Series: Born to be Wilde #4

Mature characters, steady pace, and well-crafted plot

I would like to thank Jannine Gallant, Lyrical Press, Kensington Publishing Corp., and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Hollywood invades Eden Wilde’s peaceful existence on her family’s ranch in Wyoming, she grits her teeth and gathers all the patience in her possession. The director’s a selfish ass, the crew makes a racket that disturbs her horses, and the star of the western film, Blake Benedict, knocks her off balance every time he aims his baby blues her way. He’s too handsome by half, and his charm and surprising lack of ego tempt her to make her well-ordered life a little messy.

While not mind-blowing, this was a solid piece of work that I enjoyed reading. I made a few notes but erased them one by one as they were resolved or addressed. All I’m left with are a few bits of grammar and style that weren’t written as smoothly as they could have been, in my opinion. Not typos, just tiny subjective things like oddly-placed question marks and some breaks that could have been new chapters.

I liked Eden and Blake quite a bit. They were both mature and kind and didn’t try to hide their vulnerabilities. I connected with Eden, we had a lot in common, and I understood Blake. I liked that they really grappled with what to do about their attraction to one another, not just once, but a few times as the situation changed. And they communicated and trusted each other, which is so much nicer to witness than petty jealousy and double-guessing. I admire Gallant for creating intellectual characters who use reason and not dumbing them down to instigate cheap drama.

The large picture of the plot wasn’t original—lovers from very different “worlds,” a crazy person fixated on an idol—but it was put together in a neat little puzzle that, I have to admit, kept me guessing. I wasn’t quite sure how Eden and Blake would make their relationship work, and I couldn’t guess who the psycho was—until about halfway through, when it became pretty clear. But even when I knew who it was, I still couldn’t pin down the psycho’s ultimate goal and motivations.

I was a little nervous toward the end, wondering if Gallant would go there and the heretofore lighthearted tone would nosedive into darkness. She threw me last time, but this time she only implied and let us decide how dark we wanted our imaginations to go.

The story was well-paced, moving right along from one plot point to another, never rushing or dragging; that was largely due to the right combination of action scenes, exposition, and dialogue. Also, all the events and reactions seemed organic, no deus ex machina jumping out for shock value and convenience.

I wish I’d had some crackers to go with the cheesefest at the end, but it’s a romance not only concluding this tale but wrapping up the series, so I cut it some slack. Cheese comes with the territory.

Overall, as I said above, it was a solid, enjoyable piece of work.