Left For Wild
by Harloe Rae
Rating: 4/5 Genre: Contemporary Romance Steam: Explicit Pub Date: 20 October, 2020 Available: Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)
Left for Wild Synopsis:
Arrested. Wrongfully accused. Sentenced to ten years.
But the steel bars release me early.
After serving half of my time for a crime I didn’t commit, they grant me parole—with a very short leash. My second chance at freedom begins now, and I won’t waste it. I should’ve been paying more attention.
Ambushed. Captured. Stranded.
When I wake in the depths of a snowy forest, all seems lost. I’ve been left alone in the wilderness with zero means of escape. Until someone rouses beside me.
I recognize Blakely Cross instantly, yet she’s barely more than a stranger. Now she’s stuck with me in the worst possible place, as collateral damage.
Blakely blames me, and rightfully so. This entire situation is my fault. Our destinies are inadvertently twisted together by forces far larger than us. Whether she hates me or not, we need each other to stay alive.
Cope. Adapt. Persevere.
They tossed us out to be buried, but underestimated our determination.
The bond we’re building will overcome the harshest conditions.
And we’re not willing to surrender.
Left for Wild: Review
Before I get into my likes and dislikes of Left For Wild, let me just say that I really did enjoy this book. Overall it was great with pacing and balance of narration. Hadler and Blakely are two great narrators with different view points and overall they added to the novel. You have to suspend your belief a couple of times, but it’s worth it! Plus the plot was so unique that it automatically goes in my recommend pile!
Likes:
Setting & Plot: both are refreshingly different than any other book I’ve read this year–especially in romance! The fact that these two pieces helped move along the relationship between Blakely and Halder make these elements my favorite part of the book. The Canadian wilderness and constant loom of death really put whole learning-to-trust thing in hyper drive, which I love because it feels like that can get overlooked sometimes in other novels where the stakes aren’t higher. I loved, loved, loved these two pieces of the novel for their uniqueness and that they helped the relationship part of the novel along so beautifully!
Halder: This man is delightful. I don’t mean this of his personality but in his general essence. He is a man wronged by the justice system, his family, and in a sense the world. But he honestly doesn’t come off as completely bitter. His character and motivation are authentic and believable–a huge thing for me with characters! I liked how open he was with himself and with Blakely throughout the whole experience. I found some of his abilities too convenient at times, but it definitely helped move the book along! Halder did get a little annoying with his caveman-like thoughts and actions, but overall he was an excellent character.
Writing: Rae does an excellent job at interweaving description and plot together, which is rather hard to do! I felt like there was enough personality with the two characters as well. The style was just one of those that you can lose yourself in the story without being jarred between syntax, word choice, or plot. All in all it was an easy, enjoyable read.
Meh:
Insta-Love: I hope I’m not spoiling anything, but the way that Halder and Blakely were instantly into each other was a little hard to swallow. Plus they were constantly “spilling” lusty thoughts to each other, which was really strange to me. Like they barely know each other and they’re wanting to abandon everything to shack up. I get that traumatic experiences bring people together quickly, but this was just a little too quick and a little too heavy for me.
Depth: I like backstory and I like side characters to have life, and unfortunately this book didn’t really have that. The main characters had theirs (even if their backstories and family life didn’t). It wasn’t a huge dealbreaker for me, I just would have liked a bit more explanation and depth.
Wrapping Things Up: I didn’t know how exactly to write this, but the ending? The novel takes a couple of turns at the end that I was both surprised and unsurprised about based on hints given by the author. It’s not that the ending is bad–it’s not (it’s a HEA of course!), it’s just different than the rest of the book. I don’t know if I should put this in my dislikes category, but it’s in my “IDK How I Feel About This” category.
Long Story Short
Overall I enjoyed Left For Wild and will definitely have Harloe Rae on my radar of authors! I would definitely recommend this book to those who like romance novels, especially adventure romances with twists. It’s great for a winter day when you can really appreciate the descriptions! I would recommend The One Who Got Away by Roni Loren for a similar title–my review linked!
