Review and Blog Tour Courtesy of Valentine PR

Thanks so much to the author and Valentine PR for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

Book Description from Goodreads:

From the international bestselling author of The Simple Wild comes Forever Wild, a novella that continues the story of Calla’s journey to the Alaskan wild and a life she never imagined for herself.
The holiday season is upon Calla and Jonah, and with the mistletoe and gingerbread comes plenty of family drama. Jonah is bracing himself for two weeks with a stepfather he loathes, and while Calla is looking forward to her mother and Simon’s arrival, she dreads the continued pressure to set a date for their wedding … in Toronto. Add in one bullheaded neighbor’s unintentional meddling and another cantankerous neighbor’s own family strife, and Christmas in Trapper’s Crossing will be anything but simple.

Review: (5 Stars)

TW : lost children

Oh. My. Gosh. You guys, this book was everything that I was hoping for. I fell completely in love with Calla and Jonah in The Simple Wild and I just keep needing more and more of their story, so I was so excited when I got the chance to read this third installment early. And okay, sure, I wish it was a full novel instead of a novella, but that’s just me being selfish and not wanting the story to end! So that’s a good thing, right?

Let’s start with the basics – this is a novella showing Calla and Jonah hosting their families for their first Christmas together in their Alaskan home.

And a very important note – this isn’t something that you would want to try to read as a standalone. There is so much about the characters and their relationships that you don’t get in this story that, while you may be able to read it on its own, you wouldn’t probably understand all of the scenes and interactions without that background information. But, the good news is, that that means you get to read The Simple Wild and Wild at Heart for the first time! And honestly, now I am just jealous of the journey that you get to go on experiencing the story and characters for the first time.

Anyway, where were we?

There isn’t a ton of new information for me to gush about with this new bit of the story that a) wouldn’t be heavy with spoilers either for this one or Wild at Heart, and b) I haven’t already said in my reviews for the previous two novels.

So let’s just say this. These books, and therefore the characters, have been really important to me over the past couple of years, so every time a new part of their story is released I have this overwhelming excitement, but also there’s always a small part of me that is worried maybe it won’t live up to the last one, or to the story that I have been building for them in my head. And especially with this novella taking place over Christmas, which is my very favorite and most magical time of the year. Honestly, just ask my husband – I go CRAZY for Christmas season.

But even with that small part of me that was worried, as soon as I started reading it I knew that it was going to be everything I could have wanted. There was nothing that I would have changed about Forever Wild (except for maybe making it a full length novel, but again that’s just me being selfish). I loved getting to follow the same characters that I’ve fallen so in love with on their first official holiday, and the stress and excitement of hosting the families. I’ve been there – it’s really fun, but boy oh boy is it stressful. And getting to see the next stage in their love story as well felt so heartwarming.

Overall I would definitely, highly recommend this book to my friends and fellow readers. This book had me laughing and crying and just feeling lots of feelings, and I think it was the absolute perfect read for me to start off the official holiday season with. But I will say again, no matter how enticing the synopsis and this review make it seem, you have to read the other two first if you haven’t already! Just trust me on this one. And I would say that the perfect way to read this book would be on a comfy couch next to the Christmas tree, under a cozy blanket, and with a glass of wine. Roaring fire and a foot rub from your love optional, but highly recommended.

Meet Kathleen:

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.

She is the internationally bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, The Simple Wild, Be the Girl, and Say You Still Love Me. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, Oprah Mag, and First for Women.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto.

Connect with Kathleen

Website: https://www.katuckerbooks.com/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/36Ga0W8

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QPwJZs

Facebook:  http://bit.ly/2MYEDhK

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1468548700062461

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katucker_/

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2FqzR8K

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2rZkYXP

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorkatucker/

My Reviews for more Wild, and more by K.A. Tucker

The Simple Wild (Wild #1)

Wild at Heart (Wild #2)

The Player Next Door

Say You Still Love Me

Link to Purchase on Amazon:

Revell Books – Review: 4 Stars

Thanks so much to the author and Revell Books for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my full reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW : mention of addiction, mention of loss of a parent

They say that the quickest way to your love’s heart is through their stomach, right? Along with that, my mom always said that feeding people was one of her easiest ways of showing love for people. So I’ve always loved stories of food and cooking as a part of a love story. And this cute rom-com did not disappoint on that front!

I really enjoyed that this story centered around two chefs who are equally passionate and qualified, rather than the “small town baker falls in love with inn owner during Christmas” that I tend to see in books and other media fairly frequently. Not that I have any issues with those stories – if you’ve read some of my other reviews then you know I’m a girl who loves a Hallmark Christmas movie – but I enjoyed reading this other story as well. I did really enjoy both of our main characters, titular Hadley Beckett and rival chef Max Cavanagh, although I don’t think it was quite exactly right for me.
While Max was written as a realistically flawed character that had plenty of room for growth throughout the course of the story, Hadley seemed just the tiniest bit too perfect for me. I LOVE a flawed character that can show a full character arc by the end of that last page. And while she did have a few moments of showing a temper, or speaking without listening, there were just moments that felt like the girl that goes into a job interview and says her greatest challenge is that she’s “too trusting” or works “too hard.” You know what I mean?
That being said, I did really enjoy that they were both characters where you could see exactly how hard they both have worked (and continued to work) for all of their success. Again, it felt like a really nice change of pace compared to the more hard working underdog vs. the successful professional that somehow got there the easy way. These were just two dedicated and passionate people who seemingly deserve all of the success and praise that they have received, and I definitely appreciated that.

For the romance itself, as I said in the beginning, I love reading about folks who fall in love through food. And not only is it cooking based, but it is very much an enemies to lovers type of story as well. So from the get go, this love story is already right up my alley. I will say that there were one or two moments earlier on (like, early-middle of the book) where the story started feeling a tiny bit slow and a little moment of the romance may have felt a bit out of nowhere. But for the most part I really enjoyed making my way through the love story with these characters.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book to my friends that enjoy rom-coms or are needing a light, fun read. I can see myself rereading this at a time that I want to get out of a reading slump, or if I want to curl up with a warm, fresh baked good and read something along these lines. It felt about as easy, sweet, and comforting as a dish that Hadley herself would come up with, and I loved getting to taste it.