BOOK REVIEW: The Simple Wild – K.A. Tucker

Somehow I was led to believe that The Simple Wild was a cute hate-to-love romcom about a city girl moving to the middle of nowhere and falling for the grumpy small town love interest similar to It Happened One Summer. While that pretty much sums up the romantic subplot, this book is so much more than that. The Simple Wild was an emotional, poignant, heart-wrenching story that took me completely by surprise. I honestly could not tell you the last time I cried this hard reading a book.

It’s refreshing to read a hate-to-love story that actually encompasses that hate aspect. And I say that because I really, really hated the love interest, Jonah, for the good beginning of the book. It took a really long time for me to warm up to him (and to be honest there are still some aspects about him I’m not a fan of; mainly how he speaks about women who enjoy dressing up and wearing makeup), so I can easily imagine how Calla must have been feeling. The romance is slow-burn in the best sense, because it wasn’t until halfway through the book that Calla (and myself) began to change her mind about him.

I know this may be hard to believe, but the romance wasn’t even my favorite part about the book. The Simple Wild really touches on families, especially forming ties with estranged parents and the theme of regrets and forgiveness. Following Calla and Wren’s journey in learning about one another and recreating their father/daughter bond after so many years of not speaking was the best part of this story. The way their relationship was written was absolutely beautiful.

The story also places an importance on found families and community. Like Calla, I’m a city girl through and through. The thought of living someplace as remote as Bangor, Alaska makes me break out in hives. But I’ll be damned if K.A. Tucker didn’t do a phenomenal job showing a different side to small, rural towns and how tight-knit such communities are. Before reading this I was unfamiliar with Alaskan bush pilots and their roles but the author did a great job showing their importance to the remote communities and villages of Alaska.

This book simply had no reason to be this good and cause me this much emotional pain. My heart was physically aching at some parts. I was expecting a light-hearted romcom with some good angst between the protagonist and love interest, and instead I was given a book that was so much more than that. The Simple Wild was one of the best books I’ve read this year and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a beautiful story about love, families, community, and forgiveness.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

WWW Wednesday #40

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words in which the three W’s stand for:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

57876132._SY475_WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Lakesedge by Lyndall Cliptstone


56653002._SY475_WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

Twisted Games by Ana Huang


55404546WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Post Signature

WWW Wednesday #39

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words in which the three W’s stand for:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

53138081WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah


55920637._SY475_WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren


49247252WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

The Endless Skies by Shannon Price

Post Signature

ARC REVIEW: To Sir, with Love – Lauren Layne ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Title: To Sir, with Love
Author: Lauren Layne
Rating: ★★★★

ARC provided by Gallery Books through NetGalley.

To Sir, with Love is an incredibly sweet, light-hearted, fluffy romance. The book can easily be described as a retelling of You’ve Got Mail, and Lauren Layne did such an amazing job with it. The story left me feeling warm and gooey and fully believing in love!

I loved all of the nods to You’ve Got Mail and yet the story remained unique on its own. When Gracie first meets Sebastian, it’s animosity at first sight (at least on her part). However, the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to see him in a different light and begins to fall for him. I really loved how their relationship developed throughout the story and how perfectly matched they were for each other. The final “reveal” at the end of the novel and how Sebastian handled it was absolutely perfect and honestly gave me butterflies.

To Sir, with Love is the perfect romance book for anyone looking for something light, heartwarming, and adorable. The loose You’ve Got Mail retelling made the story extra fun and the book will leave you feeling giddy.

WWW Wednesday #38

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words in which the three W’s stand for:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

54189398._SY475_WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas


54860344WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino


55920637._SY475_WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Post Signature