Carlin Reed is on the run thanks to a stalker who thinks two dates means he owns her. He followed, called, broke into her apartment, and finally — when she ran to a new city to get away from him — killed her friend in a case of mistaken identity.
Zeke is a Wyoming Rancher whose lat marriage failed because his wife never should have married a rancher. He doesn’t want to get married again, and it isn’t even on his radar until his long-time cook and housekeeper quits on him. Turns out, getting someone out in the middle of nowhere to do those things is pretty tough, especially when he decides he wants someone old or male.
I enjoyed this setup, and the characters. Carlin — named for George Carlin — was just the right blend of sass and sympathy. Zeke was the western cliche, but of course, that’s just what a runaway in danger needs, isn’t it?
The book meandered a bit, although I enjoyed most of the ride. Carlin didn’t know how to cook at the beginning of the book, but she took on a job as a cook and by god she was going to figure it out! Kudos for that. She made her “Never Fail White Cake” until she got it right. (I think I had the EXACT same problem the first time I made that stinking cake…or one just like it. There are recipes at the back.)
Brad, the stalker, was mostly a background presence throughout the book — sort of a ghost making Carlin afraid and ready to run at the drop of a hat. Meanwhile, this was a romance, straight up.
I have two quibbles with this book: First, I found it to be overly repetitive. The two main characters’ thought processes felt like broken records to me at times. I actually think this book could have been about 10% shorter without losing a thing. Second, I had a serious believability issue with the idea that a good hacker could somehow know that you typed a specific name in a search engine on a computer in the middle of Wyoming, and he would know in real time. I asked my computer-savvy husband about it and he called it “B.S.” We hashed this one around for a while, actually, trying to make allowances for the fact that he was a cop, but it still didn’t ring at all true. Hacking isn’t magic, although it often comes across this way in fiction. This was one of those times. In the strictest sense of the word, if x and y and z and a hundred other things, it is possible, but it is so far-fetched as to defy reason and belief. Sort of like your truck going over a cliff but being saved by a boulder and a very thing tree. Hmmm….that happened too, now that I think about it. 🙂
It’s a good read, sensationalism aside. Check it out.
Rating: 4/5
Title: Running Wild
Author: Linda Howard and Linda Jones
ISBN: 9780345520784
Publication Date: November 27, 2012
I received this from Net Galley. I was not obligated to review it, and my opinions are my own.