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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Wild Love by Elsie Silver
3.0
Read Completed 3/7/25 | 3 stars | Book #28 of 2025
This was my first Elsie Silver book after so much hype and this was a big old MEH for me. I don't know why, but I expected it to be much more rustic and small town and... wild. And it was small town, but the town didn't really play much of a part in it like some other small town romance books do. I wanted to see so much more from this on so many levels.
This really was solely about the romance. I read mostly romcoms and while I don't normally read more "serious" romances, I'm also not opposed to them. While WILD LOVE wasn't really *serious*, it also wasn't a romcom. It sort of just falls in the middle somewhere, having lots of lighter moments for the most part, and I actually appreciated that things that could have been VERY full of conflict weren't -- like Ford finding out he has a daughter and telling his parents about her really wasn't a big deal. The actual conflict was over things that sure, I guess I would have been upset about but I don't know if it was that big of a deal to be THE third act drama?
But really, this was all romance, no plot. Romances don't need much of a plot but I didn't really know where we were going aside from JUST falling in love. Ford is starting this new business, but that's not really a source of any struggle. Rosie just got fired from her job and moves back to her home town, but she also doesn't struggle there. Sure, her living situations are a little junky, but she really rolls with the punches and it's never a big deal. I just never really felt like there was a lot of substance here.
The characters were just.... fine. I could have used a little more from them somehow, someway, but I can't put my finger on it. They just never really felt like real people. I didn't really feel much from them in the beginning of the book, and over halfway, they started to have more real chemistry. I didn't always like their interactions and it was a little confusing because they characters kept telling us they hated each other, they were hate to love, but they never really did hate each other. It was more like mean teasing, so it felt like a mixed message. They would flirt and feel all hot, and then it was like "but I hate him!!!" Girl, no you don't. You're not fooling anyone. I also didn't like how that was used to create uncomfortable situations and then try to make them hot. No, destroying Ford's shit is not sexy. Who cares if he has money -- he likes things tidy and nice and not broken. That's not cute, that's rude and disrespectful.
The long-lost daughter thing was also a little forced for me. It was like the author made him a sperm donor JUST so they could have a daughter in the picture. I wish it had been more passionate, more a point of conflict to see more ups and downs between the two leads. Or just not include her at all -- it wasn't necessary to the plot. I did like her, but it was a little weird that the reason to donate sperm was to make $100 to go to a concert. Okay... sure.
I'm not sure if I'll pick up an Elsie Silver book again. One of the good things was that I actually didn't feel awkward listening to the spicy scenes, so those were actually written well and not uncomfortably or cheesy. But then after the two got together, the book just became a spicy scene delivery system and there really wasn't anything going with with the plot for chapters at a time. Maybe this type of romance just isn't for me!
This was my first Elsie Silver book after so much hype and this was a big old MEH for me. I don't know why, but I expected it to be much more rustic and small town and... wild. And it was small town, but the town didn't really play much of a part in it like some other small town romance books do. I wanted to see so much more from this on so many levels.
This really was solely about the romance. I read mostly romcoms and while I don't normally read more "serious" romances, I'm also not opposed to them. While WILD LOVE wasn't really *serious*, it also wasn't a romcom. It sort of just falls in the middle somewhere, having lots of lighter moments for the most part, and I actually appreciated that things that could have been VERY full of conflict weren't -- like Ford finding out he has a daughter and telling his parents about her really wasn't a big deal. The actual conflict was over things that sure, I guess I would have been upset about but I don't know if it was that big of a deal to be THE third act drama?
But really, this was all romance, no plot. Romances don't need much of a plot but I didn't really know where we were going aside from JUST falling in love. Ford is starting this new business, but that's not really a source of any struggle. Rosie just got fired from her job and moves back to her home town, but she also doesn't struggle there. Sure, her living situations are a little junky, but she really rolls with the punches and it's never a big deal. I just never really felt like there was a lot of substance here.
The characters were just.... fine. I could have used a little more from them somehow, someway, but I can't put my finger on it. They just never really felt like real people. I didn't really feel much from them in the beginning of the book, and over halfway, they started to have more real chemistry. I didn't always like their interactions and it was a little confusing because they characters kept telling us they hated each other, they were hate to love, but they never really did hate each other. It was more like mean teasing, so it felt like a mixed message. They would flirt and feel all hot, and then it was like "but I hate him!!!" Girl, no you don't. You're not fooling anyone. I also didn't like how that was used to create uncomfortable situations and then try to make them hot. No, destroying Ford's shit is not sexy. Who cares if he has money -- he likes things tidy and nice and not broken. That's not cute, that's rude and disrespectful.
The long-lost daughter thing was also a little forced for me. It was like the author made him a sperm donor JUST so they could have a daughter in the picture. I wish it had been more passionate, more a point of conflict to see more ups and downs between the two leads. Or just not include her at all -- it wasn't necessary to the plot. I did like her, but it was a little weird that the reason to donate sperm was to make $100 to go to a concert. Okay... sure.
I'm not sure if I'll pick up an Elsie Silver book again. One of the good things was that I actually didn't feel awkward listening to the spicy scenes, so those were actually written well and not uncomfortably or cheesy. But then after the two got together, the book just became a spicy scene delivery system and there really wasn't anything going with with the plot for chapters at a time. Maybe this type of romance just isn't for me!