Review: Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker

Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker

My rating:  3.5 stars.

So on the Friday during BEA, before it opens, I'm standing on line with a friend and she's all excited because Sourcebooks will be giving away copies of Born Wild at its booth that day. I admit to her that I've never read anything by Julie Ann Walker and she looks at me as if I just admitted that I occasionally stroll in work naked. Therefore, I made sure to snag an ARC.

Normally, I like to read a series in order, but since I'm not a big fan of the whole 'alpha male dispensing justice from the back of his motorcycle' trope, I kinda figured 'screw it,' and just started reading. Y'know what, though, Born Wild stood alone pretty well. I think I missed out on some of the emotional payoff since it appears these characters made cameos in previous books, but I never felt lost or like I was missing something.

The book was good enough that I checked out the first two from the library. I thought the mystery was great and that the identity of the Big Bad was skillfully revealed. However, the romantic relationship hinged on a lot of 'let's talk around the giant conflict and create more misunderstandings rather than deal with it like adults.' I'm not a big fan of that. You have the balls to disarm an IED, but you can't be all, 'You should've returned my calls'? Pfft. Both the hero and heroine suffered from this failing which annoyed me and would probably lead to couples counseling down the road for them. If the mystery hadn't been so compelling, I likely would have bailed halfway through.

I wanted to rate this book three stars, but after thinking it over, I'm bumping it up to four, because a lot of this book simply wasn't for me. I think Walker's fans will enjoy it and it's definitely accessible to new readers. I see it as a cross between Lora Leigh's Elite Ops and Jaci Burton's Wild Riders, so if you're a fan of either of those series, you should check out Born Wild.