Sweet Wild of Mine (Where the Wild Hearts Are, #2)

by Laurel Kerr

Love runs wild at the Sagebrush Flats Zoo…
In a bid to revitalize his career, bestselling author Magnus Gray has come to Sagebrush Flats to write about the local zoo’s latest rescue—an orphaned baby polar bear. But Magnus dreads the drama of small towns and is bullishly determined to keep to himself.
June Winters is a people person, and delights in welcoming Magnus to Sagebrush Flats, though it seems unlikely she can get the handsome stranger to crack a smile. Then a mishap with an open gate forces Magnus and June to deal with a stampeding flock of fainting goats, an adorable but clingy polar bear cub, a cranky pregnant camel, and two star-crossed honey badgers. Never mind small town drama—the lively animals may just convince these two that opposites really do attract…
Where the Wild Hearts Are Series:
Wild On My Mind (Book 1)
Sweet Wild of Mine (Book 2)
Praise for Wild on My Mind:
“Hilarious…a truly touching contemporary romance about the power of love and family.”—Night Owl Reviews Top Pick
“Clever, fun, and poignant…with wit and heart.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Outstanding…sure to delight.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

• ISBN10: 149267088X
• ISBN13: 9781492670889
• Publish Date: 28 May 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Casablanca
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

June Winters and Magnus Gray fit the bill of opposite attracts.

June Winters was raised as a true southern lady, always a smile on her face and a helping hand and a kind word for everyone. She is naturally bubbly and folks in the small town of Sagebush Flats gravitate toward her. Everyone that is other than the newcomer to town, author Magnus Gray.

Magnus is more a...total eclipse to June's sunny disposition. Magnus was raised on a small, isolated farm off the coast of Scotland. Alone with just the animals and his father, who had no interest in his child other than the help with the farm that he performed. Magnus likes being alone, even as a writer he spends most of his time alone. The only reason he came to Sagebush Flats Zoo is because his publisher wants his to get back to his writing roots where he talks about his time around animals.

But when Magnus's publisher wants him to create an online vlog to re-excite the audience, he knows that the one person whose help he needs to seek out is the same sunny person he has been avoiding since she tried to welcome him to the neighborhood.

June loves to help people solve their problems and is more than happy to help Magnus, all she asks is the one thing Magnus hates doing - talking about his childhood on that isolated farm. It is a place June's grandmother is familiar with from her own youth and her mind has been slipping lately. June notices how much she perks up when her grandmother sees Magnus and she makes him a deal, a makeover and help with this vlog for conversations with her granny.

Spending time at the Zoo and with June is growing on Magnus but is he really ready to step out of his shadows and solitary existence that he is so comfortable with and stay with the vivacious June and enjoy her small town life.

I really enjoyed June and Magnus. They are such polar opposites but bubbly June simply can't leave Magnus to sulk alone in the dark, and while June is bubbly, she can't accept when she can't solve all her own problems. Her granny is getting older and starting to deteriorate and quiet Magnus becomes the sturdy rock for June when she flounders with her failure to save her grandmother.

I also like how the author deals with Magnus's stutter issue.  June's brother also has a stutter so she is very blase about it and let's Magnus work things out.  She doesn't make him feel bad about it, like his father did, and tries to help him navigate his blocks better.  It takes Magnus awhile to accept June's help but he does especially since he realizes that he doesn't stutter as much around June.

I am even warming up to the mischievous honey badgers. They do add a level of chaos to the story.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

With sales of his books looking dismal, Magnus' publisher suggested he get back to his roots. His success was found in sharing tales about life in a small town caring for animals, and they thought this bit of inspiration could be found in Sagebrush Falls. What Magus wasn't anticipating was June Winters, the eternally chipper business owner and busy body. At first, he rebuffed all her attempts of friendship, but when his publisher suggested he create a vlog of his experiences, he realized he needed help, and that help came in the form of June. It seemed as though Magnus had met his match, but perhaps, so had June.

From the very first page, I was excited and happy to be back in Sagebrush Falls. All the charm and warmth of the first installment immediately flooded my senses, and this book delivered everything I hoped it would. Though this book dealt with topics that were a bit heavier than its predecessor, the story was still predominated by the lightness and joy I loved so much in Wild On My Mind.

Magnus was a fantastic grumpy hero. His outward appearance, as well as his behaviors, scared off most people, and allowed him to maintain his personal isolation, but June was not having that. She was determined to win him over, and of course, she did, but not before we learned the various reasons for why Magnus wanted to be left on his own.

My heart broke, when I learned about his childhood, his parents, and one of the major reasons he kept to himself. His memories were quite painful, but I was glad he had the June there to help him unpack it all. It was quite a journey for him, and I was elated, when he made that choice, to get closure with his past, and allow himself some joy.

June was also dealing with some issues. Front and center was her grandmother's failing health. June was one to always do it all by herself. She had to learn how to relinquish some control, and to allow people to help her in the same way that she was always helping them. Again, I was so happy she had Magnus by her side during this ordeal. It was beautiful seeing their affection grow as he supported her and helped ease her pain.

I just made this book sound so sad, but it wasn't! Most of the book was filled with fun banter and lots, and lots of animal antics. I was so excited when Fluffy made an appearance again, and loved that Kerr gave him a storyline that paralleled that of June and Magnus. So fun. There were also fantastic moments with the goats, the polar bear cub, the camels, and Frida, the grizzly bear. I adored the way Kerr wove the animals into the story, and had fun learning so much about them.

Overall: I had a great time watching this grumpy highlander fall in love with the resident southern belle. The story was fun, emotional, and utterly heartwarming.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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