Zoe York’s Wild at Heart was a balm to read after flailing around in a fantasy novel that should have worked for me, but did not. It was nice to slip into York’s small Canadian town where everyone knowing everything about everyone is a blessing and a curse. For Catie Berton, what people don’t seem to care to know is what bothers her the most. That, and also that Will Kincaid thinks her town improvement ideas are dumb. Will thinks Catie is bossy, and she hurt his feelings when she rejected him as a bachelor auction participant. He wasn’t the kind of bachelor she was looking for. His family and her friends are deeply amused by their obvious attraction and unwillingness to admit it.
I do love to see characters grow and learn on page. Will is forced to confront his own less than stellar behavior and then he decides to make changes and does so. It’s a process and there is a wonderful moment late in the book when he remains stuck in the idea that he and Catie are “oil and water” and their mutual friend rolls her eyes so hard it’s like a slap upside the head. I love that Will doesn’t decide to do better and then is immediately better. Being a better person takes self awareness, conscious thought, and, most importantly, practice.
I’m all in favor of learning and practicing of all kinds. One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others is the gift of understanding that we all have a lot to learn and that pretty much everything takes practice.
I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley. My opinions are my own.