Kimani, $6.25, ISBN 978-0-373-86209-2
Contemporary Romance, 2011
To Desire a Wilde returns to the Wyoming Wilde ranch where the sole unmarried Wilde brother finally bites the big one. Shilah Wilde, our hero, is doing his thing to perpetuate the stereotype that cowboys everywhere are manliness personified when Eleanor Crandall walks back into his life.
Ellie is a vet who is sent by her agency to investigate on behalf of the USDA the possibility of the cattle in Wyoming Wilde being infected with the mad cow disease. You’d think that this pits her against Shilah, but the Wildes are sensible bunch who decide to cooperate fully with Ellie to ensure that the good name of the Wyoming Wilde is cleared. What’s left therefore is a familiar tale of childhood acquaintances finally realizing that they are going la-la chasing after each other’s ya-ya. The chemistry is there, the kisses (and more) are amazing, but oops, there’s that mad cow disease thing in the way.
On the bright side, this one is a pleasant kind of familiar fare. There is nothing truly objectionable about it. The conflict late in the story is the only halfway “exciting” moment of the story, but the story itself isn’t so slow as to drag. Shilah and Ellie are being mostly sensible, and they have some sizzling chemistry in the bedroom. So there’s that.
On the other hand, this story is also pleasant to the point of being forgettable. The plot is familiar fare, and the secondary characters here are pretty much present to sell their own books, so this story is filled with backstories and tangents on these characters that do not add anything to the plot. Because it is a rule that everyone in a Kimani romance must be brimming with physical perfection, everyone here ends up being on the bland and boring side.
As you can tell, I have a hard time mustering much enthusiasm for this book. To Desire a Wilde is okay, but it doesn’t bring anything that stands out to the table and, as a result, ends up being a pleasant kind of a forgettable read. If this is a date, I’d say, yes, the whole evening was fine, I didn’t mind the food or the ambience and the guy was pretty cute, but I’m not exactly drooling with anticipation of the next date. The magic just ain’t there.
