{"id":58623,"date":"2021-04-17T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T10:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=58623"},"modified":"2021-04-17T19:43:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-17T23:43:06","slug":"review-river-wild-by-samantha-towle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=58623","title":{"rendered":"Review: River Wild by Samantha Towle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Audio<\/a><\/b><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

4.5 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

A beautifully emotional story with all the feels, this book is darkly intense with moments of humor and lightness, and a gorgeous, slow burning romance. I read it in a day, unable to put it down, and I absolutely loved it!<\/p>\n

After years of suffering abuse at the hands of her husband, Carrie has escaped to a small town in Texas to start a new life. Pregnant and alone, she is beaten down but brave, and is enthusiastically eager to begin again, and create a safe haven for herself and her baby. But her happy new world comes with a dark and broody neighbour. River Wild is gorgeous, but he is moody and an asshole who clearly wants nothing to do with her, which is fine, because she also wants nothing to do with him, until they are brought together unexpectedly, and she recognises his damaged soul.<\/p>\n

I <\/i>know that look. I used to see it in my own eyes every time I could bear to look in the mirror. I still see it now.
\nLike your soul is empty. Hollow.
\nThe anger and pain and hurt have swallowed you up completely, and there\u2019s nothing left but emptiness.
\n<\/i>He\u2019s felt pain. He knows what it\u2019s like.
\nHe\u2019s like me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

River has endured unimaginable heartache, and his withdrawal from the world is completely understandable, and though he tries his best to keep his distance from his perky new neighbour, he is curiously drawn to her, and they develop an unlikely alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to ask you something.\u201d
\n\u201cDo I have to answer?\u201d
\n\u201cOnly if you want to.\u201d
\n\u201cI really don\u2019t.\u201d
\n\u201cOkay.\u201d
\n\u201cFor fuck\u2019s sake.\u201d He sighs and turns to look at me. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d
\nI feel a bit stupid now But I started this, so I have to forge on. I rub my hands together. \u201cWell, I was just wondering\u2026are we\u2026friends?\u201d
\n\u201cWait.\u201d He holds up a hand. \u201cHave I just defied the laws of time and travelled back to grade school?\u201d
\n\u201cFunny.\u201d
\n\u201cI know. And, no, Red, we aren\u2019t friends.\u201d
\n\u201cOh. Right.\u201d My heart dips. I bite my lower lip to stop it from turning down.
\nHe sighs again. \u201cI don\u2019t do friends, Carrie.\u201d His voice is lower now. \u201cBut if I did, then you\u2019d be the closest thing I have to one.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their dynamic is lots of fun, and I loved watching grumpy River start to open up in the face of Carrie\u2019s determined optimism. Her sunny outlook and passion for life starts to infect his dark world, and slowly things begin to change.<\/p>\n

I feel it \u2013 the exact moment something shifts between us. Like it snaps and then clicks into place. I know he feels it, too.
\nI don\u2019t quite know exactly what it is or what it means, but I just know that it matters.
\nIt matters a lot.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Things between them are slow developing but realistic, and they have some ups and downs, but I loved watching them turn from enemies to friends to more<\/i>. I could feel the connection between them, which is something that neither of them expected, and I honestly loved every moment that they spend together.<\/p>\n

I can feel his hand trembling as he lifts mine and places it against his chest. Over his heart.
\nI flatten my palm. I can feel his heart pounding beneath his solid chest.
\n\u201cYou make it do that,\u201d he roughly tells me. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Carrie and River have both been through hell in their lives, and this book doesn\u2019t shy away from showing that. There is a trigger warning for physical, sexual and emotional abuse \u2013 including child abuse, and though we don\u2019t see a lot of it on the page, what is there is intense and confronting, so just be aware of that before diving into this one. But we get to see just how deeply those experiences have impacted these characters, and my heart ached for all they have endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not good, Carrie.\u201d He stares down at his hands that are stretched out on his thighs. \u201cThere\u2019s a darkness inside of me.\u201d
\n\u201cNo. There\u2019s a survivor inside of you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They need each other, and their romance builds beautifully. That final shift is so perfect for them \u2013 playful, honest and so full of emotion, and I was practically delirious with glee seeing them finally take that step.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to take me out for dinner?\u201d I say slowly.
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\nHe gives me a look that says I should already know the answer. \u201cBecause you\u2019re my girl, Red.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s sexy and sweet, and they are so right<\/i> together. They deserve the happiness that they bring to each other\u2019s lives, and I loved their love story so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d he says. The words spoken so simply\u2026easily but with so much meaning. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is beautifully written, with so much emotion. The inevitable drama brings an exciting ending, and the epilogue finishes off the story beautifully. I finished this book with a huge smile on my face, and I loved it.<\/p>\n

4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audio Review 4.5 stars A beautifully emotional story with all the feels, this book is darkly intense with moments of humor and lightness, and a gorgeous, slow burning romance. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,86,25,9,1036,29],"tags":[48,168,76],"class_list":["post-58623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-enemies-to-lovers","category-friends-to-lovers","category-romance","category-single-parent","category-steamy","tag-review","tag-samantha-towle","tag-standalone"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/River-Wild.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-ffx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}