5 Smooches!
Synopsis
Wild Card is a standalone novel and the first book in the North Ridge Trilogy about rough and rugged Canadian mountain men, the Nelson brothers. Canada’s never felt so hot.
She swore she’d never go back home.
She swore she’d never see the man who broke her all those years ago.
But you don’t always get to choose your path.
And sometimes that path is as wild and rugged as the heart.
Rachel Waters thought she saw the last of the small mountain town of North Ridge, British Columbia, when she left six years ago. But while her advertising career blossomed beneath the skyscrapers of Toronto, her mother’s sudden illness has the 26-year old returning to North Ridge to care for her, putting her career on hold while dealing with family secrets, regrets and unresolved goodbyes.
Shane Nelson has always been a bit of a wild card. The youngest of his brothers, Shane’s spent most of his life being underestimated and misunderstood. With his quiet intensity, classic good looks and thoughtful demeanor, he’s an enigma on horseback, managing his father’s sprawling ranch on the slopes of North Ridge.
But while Shane remains the quintessential brooding cowboy, complete with an arsenal of inner demons, all of that changes when Rachel steps back into his life.
She was the girl he pushed away.
Now she’s the girl who wishes she could leave.
Despite the odds, Shane will do everything to convince Rachel he needs a second chance that he doesn’t deserve but when the two of them head off into the wilderness together in search of lost cattle, more than just their hearts are at stake.
Whether it’s love or lives on the line, one thing is for sure: always bet on the wild card.
REVIEW
I once went to a signing and met Karina Halle. I stood in her line with all of her travel romances gripped tight in my hands, so excited to get them signed. Beyond thrilled to ask her when she would release her next one. She was sweet, signed my books and politely informed me there would be no more travel romances. That her publisher canceled the series. I almost cried but crying in front of Karina Halle about her books would have been weird and I’m already weird enough. So the publisher may have put the kibosh on her travel romances but I forget that every time I read one of her books I’m traveling. While the characters may not be traveling to great places, I am. Because this author always manages to describes places so vividly and beautifully and this book was no exception.
I love cowboys. I love second-chance romance. I love a homecoming so this book really was a hit for me. It packed at an emotional punch with a really sad backstory and childhood love. This really was an epic love story that spanned a lifetime and my God it set up the rest of this series beautifully. I am dying for Maverick and Fox’s story and the rest of this series.
~Amie
