REVIEW: Sweet Wild Of Mine by Laurel Kerr

Sweet Wild Of Mine by Laurel Kerr finds author: Magnus Gray leaving London to go to Sagebrush Flats in the United States to write about a polar bear cub being brought to the zoo. Magnus, who is a stutterer, prefers to be alone rather than deal with other people to avoid being made fun of. June Winters, who runs the local tea shop, is a former stutterer and has a brother who stutters, becomes determined to help Magnus deal get better with it and help him open up about it. But when she goes too far in her attempts to help him, will Magnus be able to forgive her or will he go back to London?

I felt for Magnus. He had been isolated as a child with an abusive father and a mother who took off. Kids made fun of his stuttering. Now as an adult, he prefers to be alone and when he does talk to people, he says as little as possible to avoid tripping up over his words. He’s lonely, but doesn’t realize just how much until June inserts herself into his life.

I found June to be overly pushy. Magnus makes it clear he doesn’t want to talk to her, but she keeps pushing him. He doesn’t want a makeover but she insists he cut his hair and trim his beard until he agrees. She pushes methods of overcoming his stuttering even though he’s not overly interested. Then she tries to fix a relationship for Magnus that she had no business trying to fix. Her friends even tell her she’s going too far.

Bowie rubbed the back of his head, his gray eyes steady. “Magnus is an intelligent man, June. He’s got money and resources. If he wanted to track down his mother, he would’ve done it.”
“And how would you feel?”
“You want the honest truth?”
“Yes.”
Bowie sighed, long and hard. “If my mom was still alive, and Katie contacted her without my knowledge, I’d feel like a camel had kicked me right in the heart. It’s difficult putting a past like that behind you, and this could undo a lot of things he worked hard to resolve.”

I did like how June was determined to take care of her grandmother, who was suffering from dementia. Magnus was also wonderful with the woman, who had been from the same island he had been from. He talks to her about the area, which calms her down when she became anxious.

I enjoyed Magnus’s interactions with the animals at the zoo, especially the polar bear cub and a geriatric bear named Frida. One of my favorite moments is when he’s drunk and he calls Bowie to ask him to put his phone in front of Frida so he could talk to her.

“I’ve made a bowfin’ mess of things, haven’t I?” Magnus asked.
Frida popped open one eye. Then she sighed, long and hard. Her entire large body heaved with the effort.
“Aye, I have.” Magnus answered his own question.
Frida rolled her head slightly away from him and flung her paw over her face. She shifted a few more times before she stilled.
“Are you trying to tell me I should talk to a human instead of bear?”

There’s also a side story of two honey badgers, Honey and Fluffy. Honey, the female, is the trouble maker of the two. They start off not liking each other very much but gradually start to warm up to one another. I found it to be cute and I liked how Honey seemed to concentrate her efforts to get the attention of Magnus and June, who she refers to as The Giant One and the Blond One.

Hanging on to the gate, she used her body weight to swing it open. The silly goats immediately bolted for the exit.
Honey shimmied back to the ground. The Giant One was busy tripping over the horned creatures, but the Blond One stood upright. As Honey scampered away, she made sure the female spied her. It was time to make her presence known. After all, what was the point of starting a game if her opponent didn’t know she was a player?

Sweet Wild of Mine demonstrates the healing powers of animals, the love of family and friends, and the ability to put the past behind to find a brighter future. It has a nice balance of seriousness and humor that readers will appreciate. I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next for the residents of Sagebrush Flats.
 

Book Info:

Publication: May 28, 2019 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | Where The Wild Hearts Are #2

In a bid to revitalize his career, bestselling author Magnus Gray has come to Sagebrush Flats to write about the local zoo’s latest rescue―an orphaned baby polar bear. But Magnus dreads the drama of small towns and is bullishly determined to keep to himself.

June Winters is a people person, and delights in welcoming Magnus to Sagebrush Flats, though it seems unlikely she can get the handsome stranger to crack a smile. Then a mishap with an open gate forces Magnus and June to deal with a stampeding flock of fainting goats, an adorable but clingy polar bear cub, a cranky pregnant camel, and two star-crossed honey badgers. Never mind small town drama―the lively animals may just convince these two that opposites really do attract.