Review: Wild On My Mind by Laurel Kerr

Wild on My Mind
(Where the Wild Hearts Are #1)
by Laurel Kerr
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: Sept. 25, 2018
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Love runs wild at the Sagebrush Flats Zoo, where a motley crew of big-hearted animals helps the most unlikely couples find love.

When Katie Underwood discovers a litter of newborn cougar cubs, the last person she expects to come to the rescue is her former crush―and high school nemesis―Bowie Wilson. The worst part? He doesn’t seem to remember the trouble he caused her.

As a single father and owner of a cash-strapped zoo, Bowie struggles to balance budgets while raising his pre-teen daughter and a host of rascally animals. He considers himself lucky when Katie agrees to lend her talents to a publicity campaign in support of the zoo’s animal rehabilitation programs―until he learns just what she’s planning…

This time, Katie is determined to resist Bowie’s charm. But a lovelorn camel, a matchmaking honey badger, and a nursemaid capybara have different plans. Can they and the rest of the zoo’s menagerie help Bowie break through the barriers surrounding Katie’s heart?

Wild on My Mind is a romance story between a woman and her high school bully. Katie was always picked on as a kid. Between her frizzy hair, the way she dressed, and the fact that she was quiet and kept to herself, she was always the butt of people’s jokes. She was tormented as a kid and the bane of her existence was Bowie, the boy whom she had a crush on who made it his personal goal to make her life hell. So, when she returns home to help her father recover from being shot while on the line of duty, she isn’t prepared to run into her nemesis. However, that’s exactly what happens when she finds a litter of abandoned mountain lion cubs and brings them to the local zoo.

I love a good redemption story, and boy did the author give us that with this book. Bowie was a complete and utter jerk to Katie growing up. From pretending to like her back so that people could laugh at her, attaching underwear to her vehicle, and just picking on her every chance he got, he was just a despicable human being. However, adult Bowie is the complete opposite. He’s reserved, respectful, he teaches his daughter values, and he is an upstanding citizen. The author gives you glimpses into Katie’s past and how she was terrorized as a kid. Yet, you see Bowie as an adult and how much he’s changed over the years. The author makes you see the good and bad of Bowie, and is still able to make him a likable character.

One of the things that really drew me to the story was the fact that Bowie ran a zoo. I was hoping that we’d get to see some of the animals and again, the author didn’t disappoint. Since Katie is helping Bowie build up interest in the zoo, they make zoo videos and presentations with some of the various animals in the zoo. So we get to meet a lovelorn giraffe, a mischievous honey badger, a trio of adorable baby cougar cubs… and the list goes on. We don’t just meet them, they play a big role in the story, as well. I really liked that the author didn’t just use the zoo as a background. Instead, it played a bit part in the book.

Wild on My Mind is a solid debut novel by Laurel Kerr. While it follows the same story arc that many other romances do, I felt like the author added her own touch to it. I found myself really looking forward to what videos they’d do for the website, or what themed day they’d do for the zoo. Not to mention, that ending with Fluffy the honey badger was priceless. We build a connection with this particular animal and to see him at the end was pretty comical.

Favorite part…

When I said that the author put her own stamp on this romance, I wasn’t lying. A good portion of the book is told through the eyes of Fluffy the honey badger. He escapes his enclosure quite a bit and gets into trouble more times than not. He’s protective of his humans and has this goal that if he can get Katie and Bowie together, they will have children and those children will feed him honey coated larvae, like Bowie’s daughter does. More children running around with snacks in their hands, means more snacks for Fluffy! So, he runs around the zoo trying to manipulate these two into mating so that he can have more children sneaking him treats. The whole thing was absurd but highly entertaining.