Review: Heartwarming and heatbreaking. It's great!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 28, 2013
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*I was and still continue to be a huge fan of The Wild Ones series. Trick stole my heart in book one and I was excited to read about Jenna and Rusty in Wild Child. This novella was a little ball of heartbreaking goodness. Jenna and Rusty have been dating for a while but they have never progressed to being fully committed to each other as Rusty feels Jenna will up and leave at any moment and Jenna is upset that Rusty has never asked her to stay.Big things are happening in the lives of Cami and Trick so as their best friends Jenna and Rusty are there to help them both. The beginning started off fun, Jenna was forcing a vow of celibacy on Rusty and the game of cat and mouse they played with each other was funny. Of course Rusty being a red blooded male didn't last for long and Jenna was all too happy to give in.Jenna plucks up the courage to say the L word, and even though Rusty feels that and more for Jenna what does he do? Yep he runs for the hills. (Silly boy!!) So Rusty and Jenna continue to hurt each other by avoiding the truth of their feelings and being too stubborn to admit that this is more than just a fling to pass the time.Then just when I thought the story would continue of this avoidance path, a tragedy happens that leaves me sobbing and my heart aching for poor Jenna, even though it was a sad time those scenes were really well written and I felt all of Jenna's pain. I also felt Rusty's pain. It was the wake up call he needed to stop being so foolish and it was time for him to go and get his girl.I'm so glad Jenna and Rusty got this chance in the spotlight. I would have loved for the story to be longer but that's because the writing was great and Rusty and Jenna are just fab characters. I loved seeing Cami and Trick again and we got to see how their lives were progressing too. We also got the slightest glimpse of Jenna's brother Jake. He seems moody and has all sorts of pent up anger going on (perfect book boyfriend material) so I can't wait for his story in the next book, Some Like it Wild.It was great to be back in this world again, M. Leighton did a great job with the story, characters and all the emotions that went with it. It can be read as a standalone or a great companion to the series. Either way, just read it!! ~Ava