Blog Tour and Giveaway: Wild Heart: Beth Ehemann
Release Date: August 7, 2016
For Lawrence “Viper” Finkle, hockey isn’t just a sport, it’s a way of life. Since the first time he stepped onto the ice at just eight years old, he knew what he was meant to do, and he does it well. When his career takes an unexpected hit, and his relationship is pushed to the breaking point, he’s left sidelined and wondering what his future holds.
Just when he’s sure things can’t get any worse…they do.
Can Viper pull himself together in time to save his career, his girl, and his sanity? Or will he be permanently benched?
Graphic from author's Facebook page
Viper's perfect life is starting to unravel. Hockey has always been the center of his life and the thought of being sidelined throws him off balance. He has been with Michelle and her kids for a year. All of a sudden he is dealing with stress and situations affecting him in various ways. And when Viper is unhappy, he tends to close himself off.Michelle has been taking care of everyone. She's compassionate, caring, and sweet. But she has been through difficult times already, and now dealing with Viper's moods and behavior along with all of her duties is frustrating and disappointing to her.
When things are good, they are great together. But when things go wrong, Viper does not deal effectively and tends to withdraw. And it is a recipe for disaster. He is best at avoiding or running, and sometimes his pride or temper get in his way. He acts impulsively and gets stuck in his own head and it is hard to reach him. He really can be his own worst enemy.
He is stubborn, angry, lost, and getting deeper into his own darkness. Viper has issues coming to terms with changes in his life and figuring out how to deal with them. His only chance is finding his inner need to fight back, but then he will still have a fight on his hands to get back all that he has put at risk. Or he could just take the easy way and revert back to his old ways and uncomplicated life. But eventually hard decisions will have to be made.
And Michelle has already been put through so much. My heart broke for her as she tried to be strong and independent while handling everything in her own emotional state. I could not help but admire her...and hope that Viper would get his act together.
Viper...Viper...Viper...Lawrence Finkle...sigh...I have always loved the guy and was so proud of him in Cement Heart. He had always been kind of obnoxious, unfiltered, and a bit wild, but then we saw a deeper vulnerable, loving, and protective to side to him. But I have to admit that in this one, the man really pissed me off, frustrated me, disappointed me, and made me want to smack sense into him! But he also made me laugh, cry, and swoon. He can be the sweetest guy or the biggest bonehead. He does not do anything half way and elicits strong emotions.
Thankfully old reasonable friends are back like Brody, Kacie, Andy, and Gam to help try to knock sense into his hard head and add some comic relief. There were a few other side characters adding a bit more drama as well as a quirky new character, Sherman, that had me smiling during his sage advice. Viper's Gam is the coolest, most outspoken Grandma ever! I loved Viper's relationship with her, his brotherly bond with his team mates, and how he interacted with the kids.
This one definitely took me on a roller coaster of emotions. It was a comfy read due to the characters that I have come to love and Beth's engaging writing style, but it was also an emotional one. It was funny, aggravating, heartbreaking, heartfelt, and romantic. I was totally sucked in and feeling all of it.
Life is not always easy, and often times gets too real and messy. But it is how people come through these challenges that shows what they are made of. It met my high expectations that have been set by previous installments in these series. I am looking forward to Andy's book Even the Score. I just cannot get enough of this group and Beth's writing.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. And then bought it myself as soon as it was live...
Lawrence. Lawrence. Lawrence.
I wanted to alternate between smacking the crap out of this delicious man and kneeing him in the junk—hard. Viper definitely had moments of epic dumb ass status. They were so often, I had to remind myself, Viper will be Viper and he’s never been known to take the easy way.
With that in mind, Wild Heart is about Lawrence Finkle growing the f*ck up, and it goes without saying, he doesn't go willingly. Nope, as we've learned in Cement Heart, when the going gets tough, Viper tends to make an undeniable complete and utter mess of his life. Repeatedly. My heart broke witnessing his steadfast determination to venture down the hard road, refusing love and friendship at every turn. And although, I knew in the end all would be right in both mine and his worlds (no matter the outcome), I couldn't help but scream at him to get his sh*t together before he loses everything most precious to him. It was a damn fine line between love and hate (not that I could ever actually hate this man, but you get my drift). Even though deep down, I would have enjoyed a sweet book full of love and good times, I knew that Lawrence Finkle had to go through these life altering and sometimes difficult changes in order to truly grow and give all of himself to Michelle.
Speaking of Michelle, you will adore her! The patience she had, I swear this woman is a saint. I'm not sure I could put up with half of what she had to. Her strength, patience, and love endeared me even more to her character. I walked away thinking, Beth couldn't have picked a better woman for Viper. Michelle balanced out all of his rougher edges with her softer ones, while still holding her own.
I absolutely FLOVED this book and I’m so proud of Beth for staying so true to Viper’s character. She didn’t take the uncomplicated route, which I’m sure would have been much easier for her. Hell, I’m sure it would have even been more favorable amongst fans. Instead, she allowed Viper to tell us his story—his complete story. Complications and all. Unbeknownst to Viper, he is so much more than the stereotypes he tries so hard to see past.
Lawrence Finkle proves why he is, hands down, one of my favorite book boyfriends of all time.
Michelle has put up with a lot from Viper. He’s not always an easy many to live with, but he is the man she loves. While his plans are crumbling, she struggles to keep things together both for Viper and for her kids. I love the way she remains confident in their love, even as it looks like Viper is gone for good. She doesn’t bend, but her breaking point looms as Viper disappears further into himself.
This was an emotional journey, partly because of all the emotions they had already struggled through in Cement Heart and partly due to the events as they unfold. At times I wanted to shake Viper, tell Michelle to cut her loses. At others I just wanted to hold him and urge her to remain strong for him.
I loved the way this ended, but there were definitely times I had mixed emotions. Viper has settled down and isn’t interested in anyone but Michelle, but he also isn’t interested in changing anything about their situation, which puts Michelle in a tight spot as pressures mount.
The side character make this a return to a comfortable place, even with all the turmoil going on in Michelle and Viper’s lives. Brody, Kacie, the Wild teammates, and Gram all surround these two with family and love, providing both moral support and comic relief as needed.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Lawrence Finkle, known simply to his die-hard Minnesota Wild fans as Viper, isn’t used to hearing the word no. He lives his whole life just a little on the reckless side. After all, life is just one big game, right?
Wrong.
When what was supposed to be an innocent bet goes horribly wrong, he’s left to deal with the aftermath—and the guilt. In an effort to make things right the best way he can, he ends up falling for the one person on the planet he never should have.
The old saying goes that two wrongs don’t make a right . . . or do they?
Meet these characters first in the Cranberry Inn Series
(Brody and Kacie)
Read our reviews for the Cranberry Inn series
Upcoming:
(Brody and Kacie)
Read our reviews for the Cranberry Inn series
Upcoming:
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Beth Ehemann lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband and four children. When she's not sitting in front of her computer writing, or on Pinterest, she loves reading, photography, martinis and all things Chicago Cubs. She's represented by Jessica Watterson of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
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