In There’s Wild, Then There’s You (The Wild Ones #3) by M. Leighton, Social worker Violet “Vi” Wilson has lived her young life seeing the devastation that addiction and poor choices can make on those around her. So she has made sure she travels the straight-and-narrow at all costs. Her friends and family, however, rely on her as they deal with their issues and basically take advantage of Vi’s good nature. During one of these situations is when she meets Jet Blevins, a local rocker with problems of his own. Vi gets pulled in to his world initially to 
help him fight his demons but finds herself battling her own addiction: Jet, his incredible music, and his hypnotic eyes.
‘I’ve seen what love can do to a person. It makes them weak and frail and can utterly ruin their life. It can be as destructive as any addiction.’
Jet Blevins has grown to love the spotlight while singing and playing guitar on stage with his band Saltwater Creek. He feels adored and sought after, which hasn’t always been a familiar thing in his life, thanks to his dysfunctional family. One area he’s never had an issue with is women. Jet’s pretty much always had his choice of the ladies, until he meets Violet. She’s beautiful, but she’s very standoffish and in control of herself. As Jet finds a way to break through her emotional walls, he knows it’s a gamble to hold back the complete truth from her. Will it come back to hurt them both in the end?
“…I need to have you, to be with you. I need to see if I can be the man you make me want to be.”
“Jet, I can’t make you someone else. I’ll help you in any way I can, but I can’t change who you are.”
“Then can you accept me like I am?”
There’s Wild, Then There’s You is a New Adult romance that, to me, was closer to a Contemporary Romance, given the level of maturity both characters presented. And that was a very good thing, especially if you’re not a huge fan of angsty stories.
“Violet, the soft, delicate flower that is stronger than steel. Strong enough to support everyone around her. But are you strong enough to fix the whole world, beautiful?”
Book three in the popular Wild Ones series can easily be read as a standalone, so no worries if you’re new to this series. M. Leighton did a great job of stringing me along as I read Violet and Jet’s journey to love, which is shown from both of their POV. I couldn’t really get a read on what it was that Jet was hiding, but it wasn’t what I thought it was once we learn the truth. (Trying not give any spoilers here…) It did make me want to go back and re-read a few passages to see if it would change my mind about him. But ultimately I did like both of our protagonists. They were very different in the personality department, but had both been handed some tough situations to deal with growing up and had done the best they knew how.
Violet was a strong female lead, which I love, but she also had a tendency to let people use her help without reciprocating, which meant they treated her like a doormat sometimes. That was frustrating to read about, but very relevant to the story and realistic for a lot of us. Now, Jet had a very tough, rocker-type attitude on the outside that hid how much he was hurting on the inside. And Vi saw that right away. I thought they were good for each other, although it didn’t help that the foundation of their relationship started out on lies. I think you will like the ending, however!
This is a very solid offering from M. Leighton that held my interest the whole way through. I think romance fans will appreciate the complexity of Violet and Jet’s romance.
Book Info:
Published June 3rd 2014 by Berkley | (The Wild Ones #3)
He’s someone she can’t trust…
She’s someone he thinks he knows…
Violet Wilson is a wallflower. Shy, serious, and accident-prone, she’s got a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The night she’s forced to pose with her friend might just be the worst time of all—that’s when she meets Jet Blevins. She knows better than to get involved with someone like him, but he touches her in ways she never expected, never wanted before.
On the outside, Jet is a typical rocker, an arrogant lead guitarist who unapologetically lives a wild lifestyle. But on the inside, he’s battling demons and using the stage to escape the troubles of his past and the addictions of his present. Until the night he sees Violet standing at the back of the room. She brings his life into focus. She knows his secrets. She’s the girl he can’t forget, and the one thing he craves more than his addiction.
But can they ever hope to have a future when their very foundation is nothing but lies?
bn100
Sounds different