Wild Hearts by Jessica Burkhart

Review by Sara

Wild Hearts
by Jessica Burkhart
Series: If Only...
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 5, 2015)
Language: English
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Enjoy Wild Hearts and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury's contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can't have!

Brie Carter's father's land development business has taken her family all over the world,
but as soon as they arrive at their new home in Lost Spring, Wyoming, the town turns out to protest. They don't want a new hotel if the resident mustang population will be displaced or hurt as part of the deal. Then Brie meets Logan, a gorgeous local who has a special connection to the mustangs, and she is immediately drawn to him . . . and the horses. However, with Logan's father leading the protests and Brie's father refusing to budge, it's clear that their parents are heading towards an all-out war. Can Brie and Logan find a way to save the mustangs and be together? Or is their love doomed from the start?

 

I have been a big fan of the If Only… series for a while now as it has introduced readers to some great writers and stories. I am sad to say that this book does not fall into the category of “great writers and stories”. I actually did not finish this book; I stopped at page 50 and was upset with myself for not stopping sooner.

It felt as if there was no actual story line within this book. What little of the story I read felt rushed, as if the author was trying to make everything happen in the first few chapters. We all know this is a contemporary story so there will be some love and feels, but for the main character to have insta-love on page 5 was just too much. That almost caused me to stop reading but I pressed forward.

The other thing that really caused me to stop reading this book was the lack of actual writing. By that, I mean the author was not good at describing people/places/things so the reader had to struggle to get a clear picture of what was going on. Instead of using descriptive phrases, the author gave the brand name of whatever she was writing about.  The fact that she wrote, “Dad put on his Nike sandals and Under Armor shirt to go outside” does not help me picture the story in my mind. It felt like the lazy way to write a story.

I probably do not need to go into the rest of the reasons why I DNF’d this book. Instead, I will tell you that this story fell short of my expectations. I did not feel it was a well put-together story, nor was it well executed. I can only hope that the next book in the If Only… series is better.

Sara

@saramstuart

wingedreviews.com