A review by lifeinthebooklane
Wild Card by Karina Halle

4.0

If you love second-chance romances then you will enjoy this amazing read. However it does have potential triggers regarding abuse.

It's all open spaces and heat and horses and heart.

Whilst this falls into that cliche of the man having 'wronged' the woman, because he thought this was the best for both of them, it then developed into its own story and was very much not cliched after that. I loved that once the truth was out it wasn't immediately all roses and rainbows, that Rachel struggled to give up 6 years of hate. This felt so much more genuine and believable as a response. I loved Rachel's thoughts as she stood in the thunderstorm.

Spoiler

I loved that clarity came without the need for a catastrophe or tragedy.

Shane's thoughts, prayers and longings slew me. The more I got to know him the more I loved him, he truly is a hero in every sense of the word.

I see the ravens again. Omens of luck. I'm a man who wishes on broken bones.
I'm a man who has a second chance to make things right.

Some might find Rachel's wavering and indecision irritating but for me it reflected her broken spirit, her lack of belief in herself and how damaged she was. The chemistry between Rachel and Shane was smoking hot and their connection pulled me into this riveting story. Both main characters are fully rounded, fleshed out and perfect in their imperfection, whilst the story is strengthened further by some wonderful supporting characters.

The book is well written, it has a plot that flows smoothly and is easy to follow and a relaxed writing style. I like that each chapter told us who's POV it was, and that when it was a 'flashback', to fill in some of the backstory, we got told how old the person was, rather than how many years ago it was. The pace of the book was good, holding my attention and I really didn't want to put this book down - if I could have managed to keep my eyes open at 1 am it would have been a one sitting read!

This is the first book I have read by this author but it won't be the last. I can't wait to read both Mav and Fox's stories either. As a Brit I also loved that one of the horses was named Sybil after the Fawlty Tower's character.