Wild at Heart - Review

Wild at Heart (Wild, # 2)

By: KA Tucker

Publication: March 3rd 2020 by K.A. Tucker

400 pages

Genre: Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library (birthday present)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--From the internationally best-selling author of The Simple Wild comes the continuation of a woman’s journey to Alaska and a life she never imagined for herself.

Calla Fletcher returns to Toronto a different person, struggling to find direction and still very much in love with the rugged bush pilot she left behind. When Jonah arrives on her doorstep with a proposition she can’t dismiss, she takes the leap and rushes back to Alaska to begin their exciting future together.

But Calla soon learns that even the best intentions can lead to broken promises, and that compromise comes with a hefty price—a log cabin in interior rural Alaska that feels as isolating as the western tundra.

With Jonah gone more than he’s home, one neighbor who insists on transforming her into a true Alaskan, and another who seems more likely to shoot her than come to her aid, Calla grapples with forging her own path. In a world with roaming wildlife that has her constantly watching over her shoulder and harsh conditions that stretch far beyond the cold, dark, winter months, just stepping outside her front door can be daunting.

This is not the future Calla had in mind, leaving her to fear that perhaps she is doomed to follow in her mother’s fleeing footsteps after all.

I had no idea when I finished The Simple Wild that KA Tucker would end up returning to these characters. But I'm so glad that she did. Because even though Calla and Jonah have the realization that being together is the most important thing, there are still logistics that they have to work through. Does Calla really fit in in Alaska? Will Jonah's love for his job and flying eventually be too much for them as he spends so much of his time away? Can they meet in the middle and compromise? I was so glad to get a chance to delve back into these questions.

As the description states, Jonah and Calla move to rural interior Alaska in an effort to compromise. But the isolation is hard on Calla. Jonah is still able to fly and take jobs, but Calla is constantly finding things "she just has to get used to." She meets two neighbors. One is a really rude man whose property borders theirs. The other is a family that runs a resort and small motors repair. Toby is a mechanic and his mom Muriel has her hands in everything that happens in their town.

Time seems to drag Jonah and Calla into unstable territory. Isolation, boredom, and a friend who is in love with Jonah adds tension between these two. Calla has to find her own place in Alaska.

To be honest as I was reading, I was expecting the journey to find something Calla can call her own to take more of the book. It seemed like through the process most of what she was finding was what wasn't her thing. And so once I got to the 70% mark I felt like there just wasn't time for her to find her thing since what the book had been focusing on didn't seem to be working for her. But KA Tucker did it justice in the end.

Jonah and Calla's fights and tension felt so real. We all think "love conquers all" right? So we just think that once we fall in love the logistics will work themselves out. But that isn't always the case. And we often find ourselves in situations like Jonah and Calla. If he turns down jobs he wants to take just because he doesn't want to upset Calla, how long will it take for him to begin to resent her? But on the other hand, if Jonah takes the jobs that take him away from Calla for days, weeks, and even a month at a time, how long will it take for her to begin to resent him? These are real issues that many couples face in some form or another. Love and choosing to put each other first takes hard work. And I liked watching these two learn to figure things out.

Favorite quotes:

-It’s easy to trust a person unequivocally when you don’t have to worry about what they’re not telling you.

-I’m also not naive. You can’t just turn off feelings for someone because they love someone else, as much as most people would like to.

-I’m not sure what annoys me more— that I don’t know about it or that Marie does.

I feel so strongly about this one. I can't stand the idea of anyone knowing something about my relationship that I don't know. It undermines your relationship.

-It’s strange how your relationship can feel impenetrable one day and vulnerable the next— with a misunderstanding, a few words, and a mountain of repressed worries that finally swell to the surface.

I really enjoyed Wild at Heart. I didn't quite blow through it, but I did hate to stop reading at times. I always appreciate relationships that put in the effort needed to make things work. Jonah and Calla had a whole new journey to conquer, and I was happy to be able to see it play out. Wild at Heart gets 4 Stars. Have you read Wild at Heart? What did you think? Let me know!