Today’s book review is for The Simple Wild, (Wild Book #1,) by K.A. Tucker, a contemporary romance set in the Alaskan wild with challenging outhouses, burly pilots, and the difficulties of mending broken relationships.
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Book Synopsis
City girl Calla Fletcher attempts to reconnect with her estranged father, and unwittingly finds herself torn between her desire to return to the bustle of Toronto and a budding relationship with a rugged Alaskan pilot in this masterful new romance from acclaimed author K.A. Tucker.
Calla Fletcher was two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when her father reaches out to inform her that his days are numbered, Calla knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.
She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this new subarctic environment, Jonah—the quiet, brooding, and proud Alaskan pilot who keeps her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.
Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. As time passes, she unexpectedly finds herself forming a bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago.
It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all. From Goodreads
“As long as I’m flying my planes and you’re with me, I’ll be happy.”
The Basics
- Category: Contemporary Romance
- Tags: Romance, Adult, Fiction, Chick Lit, Travel
- Author: K.A. Tucker
- Publisher: Atria Books, August 2018
- Where to find: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads
- Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
**Spoilers Ahead**
The Simple Wild is a contemporary romance book set in Alaska. Sometimes you just need a quick romance book with a happy ending, and this did it for me. After reading 28 Summers (see review here), I desperately needed to read a Hallmark-esque book.
So Let’s Get Into it…
The book begins with our main character, Calla. Within the first few pages she loses her job, breaks up with her boyfriend, and finds out her estranged father has lung cancer. Losing her job doesn’t overly upset her, and she tries to find the positives. She has similar feelings about the breakup – she knows he isn’t the one for her. However, her dad is another story. After not speaking to him for more than ten years, Calla isn’t sure what to do. Her father wasn’t even the one to call her to say that he has cancer; it was a woman who Calla has never met or knows.
Calla has a lot of built-up resentment towards her father because, in the eyes of her and her mother, he thought staying in Alaska with Alaska Wild (his charter plan business) was more important than being with his wife and daughter in Toronto.
“I’ve just kept on giving this man parts of me, not realizing that I was losing myself in the process.”
Obviously, Calla goes to Alaska to get to know her dad, as she hasn’t seen him since she was two years old and has no substantial memories of him. All she knows about Alaska is what her mom told her about it, and nothing she had to say was positive! As a city girl from Toronto, Calla already knows she isn’t going to like Alaska and will never fall in love with anyone there. She doesn’t want to repeat her mom’s mistakes.
“What hold does Alaska have on them? What makes this place worth giving everything else up.”
To get to where her father lives in Bangor, Alaska, she must take a charter plane. This is when we meet Jonah, a pilot for Alaska Wild, who picks her up in a very tiny plane. He is extremely rude and short with her for seemingly no reason.
Over the course of the book, Calla forgives her dad and grows to like Alaska. It wouldn’t be a romance book without a love interest. Queue the “big city girl falls in love with small town boy” story. Calla and Jonah end up falling in love even though Calla doesn’t plan on staying in Alaska. The book ends with Calla’s dad passing away, Calla returning to Toronto, and later, Jonah surprising Calla at her place in Toronto. They both want to make the relationship work, which means we will see what happens to Jonah and Calla in Wild at Heart (Book #2 of Wild series)!
“This is my last flight kiddo”, he announces with grim certainty. He reaches over and takes my hand, the smile on his face is oddly at peace. “And I can’t think of a better person to have spent it with.”
Things I Liked
The Setting: Alaska is a beautiful place. I’ve never been there, but reading this book had me watching “10 Best Places to Visit in Alaska!” YouTube videos!
The Planes: I love learning something new from reading a book!
Things I Didn’t Like
I really didn’t like Jonah. He was rude and very arrogant. Calla and Jonah have a lot of back and forth, bickering, teasing – but if a man purposefully hid my luggage and took all my makeup, I don’t think I would ever move past it. Then again, she cut his hair and beard while he was sleeping… Anyway, I wasn’t a big fan of Jonah, and Calla was just okay.
“I mean, I cut off a plane crash survivor’s hair while he was sleeping off his injuries.”
So… Bookmark or Bin it?
Conclusion: Bookmark it
This book is solid, and I plan on continuing the series! If what you need is a cute romance story to curl up with, like I did, this one hits the spot. I really liked reading a book that was set in a place I am unfamiliar with. Tucker did a great job detailing what it is like to live there, and visiting Alaska is definitely on my bucket list!
Fun extra tidbit
Alaska is the largest state in the United States, but only has a population density of one person per square mile. Throughout the book (and in real life), the contiguous United States is referred to as the “lower 48,” excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Many places in Alaska are only accessible by air and sea. Alaska’s state capital, Juneau, is the only United States capital that is unreachable by car!
Thank you for reading my book review for for The Simple Wild, (Wild Book #1) by K.A. Tucker! Now it’s your turn. Have you read this novel or any by K.A. Tucker? If so, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
Happy reading 😊
