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vasha's review against another edition
emotional
4.0
This was a pretty heavy emotional hitter. It was an excellent romance for the way the main characters had "emotional chemistry", some synergy that allowed them to help each other through what's a crisis point in both lives. Monica and Jackson both have a really bad record at relationships, with family as well as romance. They're both used to insulating themselves from other people, Monica formerly behind a fake persona as the ultimate party girl, and now either a brittle smile or outright hostility; Jackson by looking at everything and everyone as a responsibility he needs to fix, and by putting on an apparently charming affability that actually lets no one close. Another parallel between them is that there's friction between Jackson and the teenage sister he's been raising, and when Monica was a teenager she was in disastrous conflict with her mother, from which the damage is still raw.
When they meet, they "get" each other in ways no one else has. That's not to say that coming together is easy for them, far from it; it's the first real relationship of either of their lives, and feels tremendously scary, and something they doubt that they can even do. There are plenty of times they blunder, or do something hurtful. And more times when they think that they're doomed to fail at this relationship like all the others, or even ought to fail. So what I admire about both characters is the way that ultimately, they just won't give up, either on each other or on themselves. It's real courage and grit. They challenge each other and take risks for each other. And it is very satisfying when they finally can admit their feelings and struggle to a point of trust and unity.
The subplot about another woman in the town, Shelby, was appealing and I was glad to hear that she's the main character of another book. As for other characters, unfortunately Jackson's sister Gwen was a little bit stereotypical unhappy-teenager and her development was by the numbers; but Monica's mother was very real and interesting, and their reconciliation was not improbably warm, but cautious and incomplete, which makes sense.
Interestingly, there's an ongoing thematic thread though the book: it's set while a reality show is taping in the small town Jackson is mayor of (with a lot of pressure for the town to put on its best face), and both Monica and her mother have a long history in reality TV. There's a lot of ideas there about how people present themselves to be seen by others, and how other people's ideas of them create expectations. It's subtle and very well done.
bookhero6's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program, I think. My problem is I don't remember entering the giveaway and when I filter giveaways I've entered by "won" it doesn't show up.
But a couple of weeks ago, it was there on my doorstep, "Dear Goodreads User..."
And apparently it was a sign from god. I've been feeling unlucky in love. I have a checkered past and am smitten with someone completely untouched by scandal. This book mirrored my own life. I didn't have high hopes for it judging by the cover but not only were the characters sympathetic, the storyline was engaging and it gave me hope that maybe I too might find love. What more could someone ask for in a romance novel?
But a couple of weeks ago, it was there on my doorstep, "Dear Goodreads User..."
And apparently it was a sign from god. I've been feeling unlucky in love. I have a checkered past and am smitten with someone completely untouched by scandal. This book mirrored my own life. I didn't have high hopes for it judging by the cover but not only were the characters sympathetic, the storyline was engaging and it gave me hope that maybe I too might find love. What more could someone ask for in a romance novel?
wilovebooks's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this. Monica and Jackson are both imperfect characters. I love to read about imperfect people finding love. The story is funny, sweet, and steamy. And there is plenty of drama. I definitely want to read more about Shelby the art teacher. Just a fun story about finding love in a small town. The other characters were a fun bonus.
melwasul's review
2.0
*2.5/5* L'intégralité de ma chronique ici: http://lune-et-plume.fr/coup-declat-de-molly-okeefe/
Je vais être rapide, je vais faire simple, je vais faire court, en trois lettres : LOL. J’aurais aussi pu dire : MDR. Bref, grosse, grosse désillusion avec cette nouvelle collection des éditions J’ai Lu pour Elle. Après avoir coulé la collection Romantic suspense, après avoir commencé le saccage de la collection Promesses, avec Love Addiction, j’avais l’espoir d’avoir enfin une nouvelle collection contemporaine qui tienne la route, j’en attendais des publications du style de la grande époque de la collection Promesses, du Julie James (est-ce qu’on va avoir un jour ses nouvelles publications ?), de Susan Elizabeth Phillips, de Kristan Higgins, de Rachel Gibson, Robyn Carr, Louisa Edwards (dont j’attends désespérément la suite) … Avec Molly O’Keefe, c’est que l’on m’avait promis, une romance contemporaine, jeune, branchée, moderne … Verdict, je me suis pratiquement ennuyée comme un rat mort. [...]
Je vais être rapide, je vais faire simple, je vais faire court, en trois lettres : LOL. J’aurais aussi pu dire : MDR. Bref, grosse, grosse désillusion avec cette nouvelle collection des éditions J’ai Lu pour Elle. Après avoir coulé la collection Romantic suspense, après avoir commencé le saccage de la collection Promesses, avec Love Addiction, j’avais l’espoir d’avoir enfin une nouvelle collection contemporaine qui tienne la route, j’en attendais des publications du style de la grande époque de la collection Promesses, du Julie James (est-ce qu’on va avoir un jour ses nouvelles publications ?), de Susan Elizabeth Phillips, de Kristan Higgins, de Rachel Gibson, Robyn Carr, Louisa Edwards (dont j’attends désespérément la suite) … Avec Molly O’Keefe, c’est que l’on m’avait promis, une romance contemporaine, jeune, branchée, moderne … Verdict, je me suis pratiquement ennuyée comme un rat mort. [...]
literarygeorge's review against another edition
4.0
When I picked up "Wild Child" I thought I was going to get another fluffy romance novel with barely a plot line and I was so wrong. Wild Child is a romance novel but there is more to it than that, it's also about the struggles of a town, a mayor, a celebrity and how others perceptions affect your view of yourself.
Monica Appleby is a celebrity wild child, think Paris Hilton without the rich family, so maybe the Kardashians-ish. She writes tell all novels about her life to attempt to know herself. She returns to small town in the middle of nowhere Bishop, Arkansas where she lived for a brief moment in her childhood. Yet that brief moment contained a devastating event that marked the town as well as Monica and her mother. Needing money to back her debt she goes back to write another tell all book this time about the death of her father. Monica is struggling to find herself and what it means to be a woman rather than a wild child.
Jackson Davies is a man with a mission, to be mayor and save the town. After the death of his parents he moved back to Bishop to look after his younger sister, Gwen. Several years down the line now, Bishop is in debt due to a factory shutdown and Gwen is full of teenage angst. All Jackson wants is meaningless sex and a life where he can be selfish. Surprise. He ends up entering the town in some competition which wins a biscuit factory and Jackson thinks he's got it in the bag until Monica arrives in town. Monica and Jackson have an attraction which stops and starts much like real life where the romance is awkward and uncertain. Eventually they find happiness in each other and realize that what you think you want isn't always what you actually want.
The book started off slowly because this wasn't your typical run of the mill romance where the focus is how quickly the couple can get into each others pants. Wild Child actually has story line substance and keeping up with the goings on in Bishop is highly amusing. Cora, the town chef is wonderful and Reba, the dog is a random cute companion. Shelby, the sassy pants art teacher is a welcome addition to the many characters, adding a little spice and more real life - not every woman gets the man and not every man is a knight in shining armor. I didn't think I would like it but after I got past the fact that this was no sex scene romance extravaganza I truly enjoy the crazy ass town that is Bishop, Arkansas.
xxx
George
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Bantam Dell and Molly O'Keefe for the copy!
Monica Appleby is a celebrity wild child, think Paris Hilton without the rich family, so maybe the Kardashians-ish. She writes tell all novels about her life to attempt to know herself. She returns to small town in the middle of nowhere Bishop, Arkansas where she lived for a brief moment in her childhood. Yet that brief moment contained a devastating event that marked the town as well as Monica and her mother. Needing money to back her debt she goes back to write another tell all book this time about the death of her father. Monica is struggling to find herself and what it means to be a woman rather than a wild child.
Jackson Davies is a man with a mission, to be mayor and save the town. After the death of his parents he moved back to Bishop to look after his younger sister, Gwen. Several years down the line now, Bishop is in debt due to a factory shutdown and Gwen is full of teenage angst. All Jackson wants is meaningless sex and a life where he can be selfish. Surprise. He ends up entering the town in some competition which wins a biscuit factory and Jackson thinks he's got it in the bag until Monica arrives in town. Monica and Jackson have an attraction which stops and starts much like real life where the romance is awkward and uncertain. Eventually they find happiness in each other and realize that what you think you want isn't always what you actually want.
The book started off slowly because this wasn't your typical run of the mill romance where the focus is how quickly the couple can get into each others pants. Wild Child actually has story line substance and keeping up with the goings on in Bishop is highly amusing. Cora, the town chef is wonderful and Reba, the dog is a random cute companion. Shelby, the sassy pants art teacher is a welcome addition to the many characters, adding a little spice and more real life - not every woman gets the man and not every man is a knight in shining armor. I didn't think I would like it but after I got past the fact that this was no sex scene romance extravaganza I truly enjoy the crazy ass town that is Bishop, Arkansas.
xxx
George
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Bantam Dell and Molly O'Keefe for the copy!
curse_ratchet6tribe's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pleasant little surprise of a book from a new-to-me author. I'll be looking for more of her work in the future. Delightfully absent from this book? A raft of Marysue-ish-ness that could have really made this story go horribly wrong. Best parts of this book? Real people making real choices and real mistakes, not contrived ones for the sake a story.
turophile's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. I haven’t been blown away by a romance novel like this in a long time. Reading the description, it’s not something I would expect to like. And last summer I read/reviewed one of Ms. O’Keeve’s books and couldn’t stand it. But I really liked this book.
The characters could be just clichéd – a wild child rock groupie turned writer and a mayor trying to save his home town. The scheme involves one of my most hated forms of television, reality shows. The town is competing against other shows, reality tv style, for a factory to be located there. With that plot and the seemingly stock characters, this book really could go off the rails, and probably would have with a less skilled writer. But it doesn’t and I’m completely hooked.
A combination of facets contributed to the enjoyment. The maturity and depth of the characters who possessed self-awareness one often doesn’t see in romance or other fiction. The secondary relationships fed the story without being cheesey or feeling like they were just thrown on there. So much to love here.
The characters could be just clichéd – a wild child rock groupie turned writer and a mayor trying to save his home town. The scheme involves one of my most hated forms of television, reality shows. The town is competing against other shows, reality tv style, for a factory to be located there. With that plot and the seemingly stock characters, this book really could go off the rails, and probably would have with a less skilled writer. But it doesn’t and I’m completely hooked.
A combination of facets contributed to the enjoyment. The maturity and depth of the characters who possessed self-awareness one often doesn’t see in romance or other fiction. The secondary relationships fed the story without being cheesey or feeling like they were just thrown on there. So much to love here.
ajcousins's review against another edition
Apologies for the double post. :) I'm taking a break from starring my GR reviews, because that's the stressful part, but I still want to talk about books I loved!
I picked up Wild Child at the Chicago Spring Fling conference and, because Molly had me laughing within the first few pages at the dude energy flowing between the male friends whose scene opens the book, I was expecting a humorous story. But this book is so much more than that. It’s intensely sensual in several amazing scenes, but also brutally honest about the awkwardness or even the awfulness of sex for the wrong reasons. The fucked-up family relationships Molly depicts are believable and felt like a preparatory class for how to handle my kid’s teen years. And I love that a big chunk of the conflict is not someone committing cartoonish acts of unspeakable evil, but rather the consequences of a good person who didn’t take the opportunity to do the right thing when it was offered. Wild Child also sends a message that is at the core of everything I’ve ever taught my son: you can value love for its own sake, even if it’s not returned. Even when that hurts. To love is good. I really enjoyed this book.
I picked up Wild Child at the Chicago Spring Fling conference and, because Molly had me laughing within the first few pages at the dude energy flowing between the male friends whose scene opens the book, I was expecting a humorous story. But this book is so much more than that. It’s intensely sensual in several amazing scenes, but also brutally honest about the awkwardness or even the awfulness of sex for the wrong reasons. The fucked-up family relationships Molly depicts are believable and felt like a preparatory class for how to handle my kid’s teen years. And I love that a big chunk of the conflict is not someone committing cartoonish acts of unspeakable evil, but rather the consequences of a good person who didn’t take the opportunity to do the right thing when it was offered. Wild Child also sends a message that is at the core of everything I’ve ever taught my son: you can value love for its own sake, even if it’s not returned. Even when that hurts. To love is good. I really enjoyed this book.
dedicatedreader's review against another edition
3.0
I received an ARC for an honest review;
17316490I try very much not to be lured by covers, especially since most books have amazing covers. Usually I try to focus on the excerpt plus the cover and the author. A good combination of those items makes one great book… however for this book it is the cover that lured me into wanting to read it.
Maybe judging a book by its cover is worth it sometimes as it was so the case with wild child.
Molly O’Keefe has written a good story set in a small town struggling to maintain its prosperity. It is in this town we meet the mayor, Mr. Jackson Davies. As the youngest mayor he feels it is his duty to make sure everything is alright and plans to enter into a contest in order to bring the economic situation of the town back to the better days.
As the contests starts, we soon meet the wild child, Monica. She is an author who to say the least has led a wild life, starting from her mother killing her father all the way to groupies she led and to falling in love.
When the two meet it is an instant attraction, well at least this is what the author tried to tell the readers but somehow it lacked conviction. Just a bit. All I’m saying is that yes, they were attracted to each other and yes, the sex scenes were good but I wanted more out of the two.A bit more chemistry maybe?
I’m not disappointed in this book, it was a good read though with the title i expected for our heroine still be the wild child she was back then…
3 stars.
17316490I try very much not to be lured by covers, especially since most books have amazing covers. Usually I try to focus on the excerpt plus the cover and the author. A good combination of those items makes one great book… however for this book it is the cover that lured me into wanting to read it.
Maybe judging a book by its cover is worth it sometimes as it was so the case with wild child.
Molly O’Keefe has written a good story set in a small town struggling to maintain its prosperity. It is in this town we meet the mayor, Mr. Jackson Davies. As the youngest mayor he feels it is his duty to make sure everything is alright and plans to enter into a contest in order to bring the economic situation of the town back to the better days.
As the contests starts, we soon meet the wild child, Monica. She is an author who to say the least has led a wild life, starting from her mother killing her father all the way to groupies she led and to falling in love.
When the two meet it is an instant attraction, well at least this is what the author tried to tell the readers but somehow it lacked conviction. Just a bit. All I’m saying is that yes, they were attracted to each other and yes, the sex scenes were good but I wanted more out of the two.A bit more chemistry maybe?
I’m not disappointed in this book, it was a good read though with the title i expected for our heroine still be the wild child she was back then…
3 stars.