Wild Love by Elsie Silver is the first book in Elsie Silver’s Rose Hill series which follows four single fathers. In this installment, billionaire Ford Grant ditches the city to set up a recording studio in the small town of Rose Hill, where he spent his childhood summers. When Rosie, Ford’s childhood crush and his best friend’s little sister, returns to town after se gets fired, Ford can’t help but offer her a job at his record label. Ford’s life grows even more complicated when a 12-year-old girl shows up in Rose Hill and claims to be his daughter.
At the beginning of this year, I quickly read through Elsie Silver’s two other series, Chestnut Springs and Gold Rush Ranch. Throughout both series, there were some books that I liked more than others. That being said, I had overall positive experiences with both series. When I saw that Elsie Silver was publishing a new series this year, I immediately pre-ordered the April release.
I feel similarly towards Wild Love that I do towards to Silver’s other “first” books (Flawless in Chestnut Springs and Off to the Races in Gold Rush Ranch). Although it was a solid book, it wasn’t the best book that I’ve read bu the author. While I think it was a great introduction to the new series, I think I will end up liking some of the subsequent novels more than the first.
One of the reasons that I wasn’t an engaged with Wild Love were the characters. Typically, I am highly invested in characters that Elsie Silver writes. Often times, she creates realistic characters with strong motivations. The romantic leads often balance each other out. Ford and Rosie were only average characters for me. I felt like I was told a lot about their characters rather than shown through their actions. Ford’s characterization seemed a little inconsistent to me. He was painted as shy and kind of nerdy, but I didn’t get that impression from him at all.
Another aspect of this book that was only average to me was the romance. I did like the banter between Ford and Rosie. However, their relationship felt a little more forced than others by the other. Even in books were I wasn’t super invested in the plot, such as with Powerless in Chestnut Springs, I still felt the chemistry between the two main characters. I think this mostly has to do with my issues with their characters aside from the romance. Usually Elsie Silver’s characters challenge each other about their ideas of romance and the world and this strengthens them as a couple. However, I didn’t feel as much chemistry between Ford and Rosie besides. Much like their characters, I felt like I was told rather than shown.
One aspect of the book that I found interesting was the single dad aspect. Elsie Silver’s single dad books are often the most popular in the series. I did like her take on the single dad trope in this book because it was a different take than she did in the past. I also appreciate that the twelve-year-old girl in this story actually acted like a twelve-year-old. Sometimes children in books are written unrealistically, but this isn’t true for Elsie Silver.
Overall, Wild Love was an average book for me. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t my favorite by the author. I give this book three out of five stars.
Beauty and the Bean Boots 