Wild Kisses by Skye Jordan
Series: Wildwood, #2
Contemporary Romance
Released: January 10, 2017
Montlake Romance

Reviewed by Sheena

Favorite Quote: “I still feel like I’m in a dream. All anxious that I’m going to wake up and I’m still going to be fighting to reach this dream.”

You can’t keep a good gal down!  It has been a while since I’ve enjoyed a heroine like Avery.  Initially coming off as quiet and meek and ripe for being taken advantage of, I was concerned that her personality would be one of the perpetual damsel, waiting for her buff, sexy carpenter to validate her and make everything ok.  Only, Avery is full of tenacity and strength.  As I got deeper into her head, I began to liken her to the proverb, “speak softly, but carry a big stick.”  And fittingly in Avery’s case, her big stick is actually her bakers whisk!  If you can’t glean from my barely leashed glee, this was really a fun, sexy romance and it included one of my favorite trope of cutesy baking heroine falls for brawny alpha-in-the-sheets-but-sweet-in-the-streets hero.

Avery is a bit battered (heh) and bruised after her marriage to her neglectful husband dissolves.  She is starting over and catches the eye of Trace, a hard-working construction company owner who recently did a little hard time of his own.  Because of the stigma associated with ex-cons, he is reluctant to move toward a real relationship past the physical when it comes to Avery, because he is hyper-paranoid conscious  that his background could besmirch Avery’s good life and good name.

Good thing he got over that silliness and commenced to licking icing off of Avery in no time As sweet and open as Trace was, it would have driven me mad had he had Avery at arm’s length for too long!  As it were, he couldn’t keep his hands off her, Avery owned his thoughts and his fantasies and I loved seeing him brought to his knees, unable to fight his feelings  and forgetting why he should fight them to begin with.

Trace was slipping again. His chest ached. His body throbbed. And his eyes kept falling to her mouth the way a drunk’s clung to a bottle of whiskey. Avery promised him the same blissful relief, the same heavenly escape. If he
could just figure out a way to indulge and not wake up with a hangover that continued to gnaw away at him until his next sip.

“After everything you’ve been through, I don’t know how you could see the good in any man, let alone a man like me.”

She shook her head. “You can’t appreciate the good without experiencing the bad. And even though I only have one man for comparison, I spent all my time with very chatty wives of other soldiers. I knew exactly what I was missing in my marriage—emotionally and physically. Which makes me qualified to tell you, Mr. Hutton, that you are way the hell above average, just as you are.”

Trace was speechless. Emotions overpowered logic again, and he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her to him for just a taste of heaven. Her lips were as warm and welcoming as they always were. Her mouth open and hot, her tongue aggressive, begging for him to respond the same way.

The plot was simplistic, the focus was on these two characters and how they overcome their demons and bad choices, and how they continue to encourage and love one another- flaws and all. Neither character was perfect and their imperfections highlighted just how authentic their lives read on the pages.  Misunderstandings, pride and insecurities rear their destructive heads and threaten to tear them apart –  however, the support and interference they receive from Avery’s family and their friends is the hilarious glue that kept them together.

Overall, I recommend this sweet, sexy (very steamy) novel.  Though there were some questionable choices (I’m looking at you Avery!) I found this to be a very solid and enjoyable contemporary romance.

Grade: B

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