Item: Wild Cards
Rating: 4.00
Author: kozbisa

by Simone Elkeles

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek's counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else's family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting Derek-someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she wants?

Rating: 3.5 Stars rounded up due to the strong ending

I really liked Ashtyn. She was a girl trying to make it in a boys' world. She had to work harder, and endure a lot of negative treatment, but she was able to earn the respect of her teammates. She had a lot of personal losses, mostly, of the abandonment kind, but she did not let that stop her from going after what and who she wanted.

Derek was so complicated and frustrating. I did empathize with him, but gosh, I didn't think he was ever going to come to his senses. Deep down, I knew he had a heart of gold, but he was playing that hand close to the vest, and only let his goodness shine in secret.

I loved Derek's grandmother. She was probably one of my favorite characters (her and the dog). She was a surprise and I liked how she surprised me.

Lots of fun moments, lots of heartfelt moments, lots of steamy moments.

It was enjoyable, but the ending was great and left me with a smile.

Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1)

by Simone Elkeles

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on Sep 11, 2016

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