New Release Review ~ Wild Abandon ~ Jeannine Colette

Wild Abandon by Jeannine Colette
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4 Bookworms
Challenges: #2016NewRelease
Goodreads

Synopsis
When you fall in-love it's forever
But sometimes forever comes with a price.

I never meant to meet Nathaniel Teller. It was by accident, on a Tuesday, that I walked into his bar. He was solemn, intense and hiding a secret behind those stoic green eyes.

I never intended to fall in-love with him. We were supposed to be just friends. But I fell for him hard, deep. There's no turning back.

I never thought his past would be so dark. And if I though I had any chance of being in his future, I was wrong. Because his past is his future. 

And I need to walk away.

Wild Abandon served as my introduction to Colette and I was pleased to make her acquaintance. In Wild Abandon, she delivered a solid contemporary romance that while it was formulaic, offered great characters and a lot of humor.

Crystal has come to Napa looking for a new start and love after seemingly all her friends have settled down. She moves in with her best friend, Naomi and her family, and sets out to create a new life.

Barely in town a day, she wanders into Henley's, a local bar, and meets Mr. Grumpy-Pants - um, I mean Nathaniel. He has a story, that one. But he's certainly not willing to share it. Crystal also is hired on at a small local winery, where she meets Ed. He also has a story and as she gets to know him, he shares bits and pieces of it.

Watching Crystal and Nathaniel get acquainted as he continually rescues her from bad dates, was fun. I quickly saw where this was heading but it didn't make it any less exciting to watch. The secrets Nathaniel and Ed were keeping were also something I figured out early on but again, it didn't detract from the story.

I enjoyed seeing Crystal grow. Through her online dating app and her dates, I could see she was always trying to be what she thought a guy would want. The longer she was in Napa, the more she become comfortable in her own skin - realizing what she wanted and that she could and should just be herself.

In Crystal, Nathaniel and Ed saw a second chance to make certain things - not right necessarily but better maybe? They both carried guilt and grief and sadness and it was a joy to see them shake off the yoke of all that and shine as they men they were.

That being said, I do think that my connection to them and their relationships with Crystal would have been stronger with some additional scenes between them for character building.

Also, I don't want to spoil anything but there is a certain trope used that while it didn't bother me in the slightest, might cause issues for some readers.

Overall, Wild Abandon was a solid read. It was a bit predictable but the characters and story as a whole worked for me. And I will definitely read Colette again.