Wild Child - By Molly O'Keefe

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.

4/5

xxx
George

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Bantam Dell and Molly O'Keefe for the copy!

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