Wild Heart by Lori Brighton

Wild Heart
Lori Brighton / Historical Romance
Zebra / November 2009

Wanton. . .

Leo Roberts is next in line for an earldom and the power and fortune that come with it, but he is uncultured, unrefined--and completely untamed. . .until governess Ella Finch arrives upon the scene. Can so young and inexperienced a woman tutor him in the manners and mores of his class? Leo's mysterious past has rendered him an outsider, too wild for polite society. But he finds her innocence most intriguing. . .

Willing

What manner of man he may be, Ella does not know. Yet he fascinates her and she must know more. Capturing Leo's reckless heart is about to free her in ways she never dreamed of. . .and his sensual touch releases the deepest yearnings of her body and soul. . .



What I Thought:


After falling completely in love with The GhostHunter, I was giddy when I found out that Lori Brighton had also written a historical novel and just HAD TO read it. I’ll tell you this, when I finished reading WILD HEART, I was FLOORED. What an amazing book!! Straight away, the author took me away from my bedroom and dropped me smack in the middle of intrigue and romance. This was a book I DIDN’T want to finish because Ella and Leo were so believable, so intense, so sigh worthy that the book could have gone on forever and I would have been perfectly happy. I was buzzing for days after and just ask my husband, I was walking around with a goofy grin on my face. I’d say it was a surprise but with Lori, I think it’s a given now that she’s a great author.

WILD HEART told the story of Ella Finch who finds herself becoming the governess of Lord Robert’s grandson. Hired to teach him the proper etiquette of society and become a gentleman fitting his station, Ella is shocked to find it was no mere child she was tutoring but the wild and savage OLDER grandson, Leo. From the moment she lays eyes on him, she’s intrigued and the moment he lays eyes on her, try as hard as he could, he couldn’t shake the attraction. The story shares the developing of their relationship, the challenges they face and of Leo’s overwhelming drive to avenge the death of his parents. Having witnessed it as a small boy in India, he was forced to spend time in the jungle, turning him wild and savage. Now his sole goal is to find out who was part of the massacre so he can have his revenge. Through Ella’s own empathic gifts, she reaches out to help and it isn’t long before they are swept up in murder and mayhem. Mystery shrouds both Leo and Ella and it leads to shock after shock for them as they discover how their lives are connected and linked with a society seeking power. Lori writes a beautiful story filled with emotions that it didn’t take long before my heart was racing, my mind sighing, my body tingling from holding my breath and gasping. I really liked the way she was able to capture each scene and deliver it in a way that as it unfolded, I stopped seeing the pages.

I loved the lead characters, Ella and Leo. Separately, they were compelling characters as they each had their own strength and weaknesses but when brought together, they really made the story for me. I loved how Ella, even though Leo exasperated her to no end when he was being defiant, never gave up and was always trying to find ways to help him. She took a lot of risks with him as he showed her a more sensual side of living but I admired her courage and her willingness to do what she could for the man she was growing to love. She was incredibly innocent and it proved to be a nice balance for Leo who was her opposite in being slightly jaded through his experiences and incredibly rough around the edges. He was an AMAZINGLY alpha male who had this driving intensity to him that made him sizzle on the pages. I could totally sit for days and just stare at him because he brought so much passion to everything. He was broody, borderline rude at times but at the same time could be devilish in his manners. I loved watching him fight his attraction to Ella, his uncertainty but most of all his blatant seductiveness when it came to her. I never knew what I was going to get with him and I reveled in it. They were both great characters to read and their interaction with each other really made the story worth reading.

This is an impressive book, one that shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone who shares a love for the historical. I was completely addicted to it and it’s a guaranteed keeper for me. It’s a story I’ll never get tired of and one that I’ll reach for time and time again when I want to feel some excitement. Definitely get yourself a copy as soon as you can because this is a great addition to the genre. Happy reading !!

 
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