Review: Fast-paced and captivating romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2013
In the beautiful and eclectic setting of Key West, Florida, author Tonya Burrows weaves a sexy and alluring story of tragic pasts and second chances.Jude Wilde purposely broke the heart of the one woman he loved and he has been regretting it every day for eight years despite his motto of never looking back. When Wilde Security is hired by the father of the woman he scorned to protect her from a stalker, he'll be forced to come face to face with his past and his mistakes. Libby Pruitt  A.D.A. is not the fun loving girl he knew back then, she is more serious and controlled, but if possible even more beautiful. Jude knows that he doesn't deserve Libby. Doesn't deserve the wife, 2.5 kids, and white picket fence that he dreams about with her. But when they are in hiding in a beautiful beach house in the Florida Kays and Libby asks for just one night with him to get their still-burning sexual attraction out of their system, will he be able to maintain his distance? And will one night be enough? As they start losing themselves in their sultry oasis though, danger finds them...I really enjoyed Wilde Nights in Paradise! I didn't look much into the book itself before reading, just a quick glance over the blurb and a lingering gaze for the cover. Being part of Entangled's Brazen line I took it as gold and am happy to say that I was not disappointed. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that this series ties into Tonya's debut HORNET series which I quite enjoyed as well.The book starts with an introduction to all of the Wilde brothers, which I have to say all seem to be drool-worthy alpha men. However, these guys definitely have some issues to work out and are far from a happy family unit. Wilde Nights in Paradise focuses on the youngest brother though. The trouble maker. The "f*ck-up". He puts up an impressive facade of cockiness, lightheartedness and that of a fun-loving single guy but there is more to Jude that meets the eye and his family, the woman he loves and us readers see pieces of this as the story progresses. But the puzzle that is Jude Wilde isn't completed until the end of the story. The author does an incredible job of peeling away these layers while still keeping the story steadfastly moving.  And even though Libby and Jude have a history together with a chemistry that still sizzles, there is still a building of romance with an almost 'new love' feel as they rediscover each other and realize that even though they were together a year, there was a lot that they didn't know about the other. I was kept in a constant state of suspense trying to figure out Jude's secrets and the reasoning behind them and when some elements of his past were finally revealed and he had to confront one in particular, I had tears swimming in my eyes.Libby was a wonderful heroine who was feisty and independent, and I really loved that even though she had her heart broken and she did somewhat wall off parts of life because of it, she still kept herself going, made goals, and a good life for herself. She never had that 'poor me' attitude or developed a bad self image because of it. She was real. The banter between Libby and Jude was fun and entertaining, and the steamy scenes were plentiful and hot. Just how I like 'em!The suspense in the story was somewhat lackluster, seeming to be used as only an instrument to force the couple together.  But with the captivating characters, charismatic setting, and well paced plot the lack of suspense didn't affect the overall enjoyability of the story too much. Wilde Nights in Paradise was still a great read! I'm looking forward to more from both the Wildes and the HORNETs, especially since we finally meet up with Seth Harlan who was mentioned in SEAL of Honor.***An copy of this title was given courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No monies or favors were exchanged.