Title: Wild Desire
Author: Lori Brighton
Genre: Historical Romacnce (touch of paranormal)
Series: Techincally a stand alone, but is the second book after Wild Heart
Publisher: Zebra
Number of pages: 320
Source: Sent to me by the author to read
Lori Brightons historical romances take me to another time and place, and Wild Desire was no execption. I loved the setting in India and it was just a great read. This was also my Friday Reads for the week of March 18th. :)
Beatrice Edmund doesn't know what possessed her to accompy her cousin Leo and his wife Ella (whom we met in Wild Desire) to India to visit Ella's cousin Colin Finch. She's really not sure what to make of Colin. They meet for the first time when he bursts into her room, drunk then announces to everyone that someone is trying to kill him. When he lets Ella and Leo take care of the people are out to get him, Bea thinks he's a coward and tells him so. However, there is so much more going on that she doesn't know and they can't tell her yet. What Bea doesn't know, but the reader does know from the last book is that Ella and Colin have special powers...Ella can sense what animals are feeling and Colin can heal people. Ella and Leo aren't really in India to visit Colin~they are there to stop Ella's evil cousin Henry from getting his hands on a very powerful statue that is said to have magical powers.
The guy who is after Colin to get information just won't stop, and they assume (correctly) that he is working for Henry. The four are forced to leave Colins house and attempt to escape to Bombay where Leo's friend Ashkay is. Of course the trip to Bombay doesn't go quite as planned...the four are forced to take the journey there a part, and Bea finds herself stuck with Colin. She's not happy about it, because she still thinks Colin is a coward and doesn't know how on Earth he'll be able to protect him. Colin isn't too happy about being stuck with Bea either. She reminds him too much of his former fiancee-too strict and proper. Along the way to catch up to Leo and Ella, the two have one adventure after another. Seriously-the action doesn't stop! They are chased by lots of bad guys who are after the statue, and have lots of escapes getting away from them. Bea and Colin eventually begin to see that they might just be wrong about the first impression they had of each other. They try fight the attraction they have to each other, but are unable to resist it.
What I loved most about these two is that they are both really strong, and refuse to give into their weaknesses. Bea is tired of being timid, and wants to prove to herself that she can keep up with Colin. She regrets leaving her old life behind lots of times, but realizes she'll never have another chance to have an adventure like this again, and toughs it out with the best of them. Bea is also tired of not having answers. She knows that the others are hiding something from her-and is determined to figure out what it is. Once she discovers Colin's secret, she can't quite wrap her head around it then (eventually) admires him for it.
Colin is such a sigh worthy hero. He's a bit of a jerk, but underneath is someone who has just been hurt a lot, and Bea forces him to look at things in a different light.
A lot of times when the mystery of the book is revealed early, I get bored with the story being told. However, such isn't the case here. There are so many twists and turns to the story that you never know what is coming next. In the beginning of the book, I was afraid that Leo and Ella, the stars of the last book, would be around too much and Bea and Colin's story would be lost in theirs, but that isn't the case at all. Ella and Leo are around just enough to refresh what happened in the last book, which I was happy about because I had forgotten more then I realized, and then disappear so that Bea and Colin can have their own story. Wild Desire made me remember why I fell in love with the historical romaance genre, and I loved the touch of paranormal elements to it.
Curran Crush Meter: High
Martini Sigh Meter: High
Barrons Hero Hotness Meter: Medium
Rhinannon Kick Ass Heroine Meter: Medium
Ethan/Merit Sizzle Meter: Medium
