Running Wild (The Simple Wild, # 3)
By: KA Tucker
Publication: January 25, 2022 by K.A. Tucker
370 pages
Genre: Adult, Contemporary
( Goodreads | Amazon )
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Goodreads description--Veterinarian Marie Lehr knows unrequited love all too well after pining for her best friend, only to watch him marry another woman. It’s a mistake she will never make again, especially not when she can practically hear the clock ticking on her childbearing years.
The trouble is, she can’t seem to find anyone who appeals to her even a fraction as much as that burly bush pilot did. Competitive musher Tyler Brady certainly doesn’t, especially not after the heated altercation with the handsome but arrogant, spiteful man.
Or so she thinks.
While volunteering at the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Marie discovers that first impressions may have been false, and her attraction to Tyler is very real. But his heart belongs to someone else, leaving him with nothing to offer but friendship. Marie’s been down this road before and knows how that ends. Yet, no matter how hard she works to keep from falling for Tyler, it seems she’s doomed to follow her own trail once again.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Simple Wild comes the story of a woman at a crossroads in her life, struggling between the safe route and the one that will only lead to more heartbreak.
Oh man, I did not like Marie in the previous books. Having a little too much personal experience with women who want to be friends with married men yet are actually in love with them (or have a crush on them), I'm not a fan of this at all. As a matter of fact, I have a strong stance on how much men and women can be friends when one of them is married. It wouldn't be a popular stance, but protecting my marriage is more important to me than any other friendship could ever be. So I would have been happy for Marie to fall off the face of the book world.
Yet I also knew I would soften to her if I were in her head. I put off reading her book because I wanted to stay mad at her for existing and for daring to have feelings for Jonah. Thankfully, in most of this book, Marie is past her feelings for Jonah. She sees what he has with Calla. And if anything, she's not jealous of Calla being with Jonah but of wanting what Calla and Jonah have together. She just wants to love someone and be loved in return. And she's beginning to feel like it is impossible. Being in rural Alaska, her choices are slim. Not to mention, the amount of time she dedicates to her business doesn't allow for much time to socialize.
Marie gets a tip that a new musher has moved into the area and might be mistreating his dogs. She enters his property illegally to accuse him of animal abuse. Unsurprisingly, Tyler doesn't take kindly to the accusations, stated or implied. Tyler is a widow, and his wife's younger brother lives with him. Everything he knows about mushing comes from his wife and her family. He plans to do the Idatrod Sled Dog race in honor of his wife, and he doesn't appreciate people storming onto his property and accusing him of mistreating his dogs.
Of course, Marie realizes she's wrong about her accusations, and it doesn't take her long to catch feelings for Tyler. Unfortunately, Tyle isn't quite emotionally available at first. And Marie has had her fill of emotionally unavailable men. She doesn't see the point in pursuing something that is going nowhere. And I felt for her in this respect. I was proud of her for holding her ground. But yet, I was rooting for her and Tyler at the same time.
Running Wild did exactly what I expected it to do. I softened towards Marie once I could read her thoughts and emotions. I wanted to see her get her happily ever after because she was so, so lonely. Running Wild gets 4 Stars. Have you read Running Wild? What did you think? Let me know!