New Release: Wild Side by Elsie Silver

**ON OUR BOOKSHELF**

*Wild Side*
by Elsie Silver
The third installation of the Rose Hill series has arrived!

I am a huge Elsie SIlver fan. Anything she writes, I will read — from the Eaton brothers of Chestnut Spring to the flower fields surrounding Gold Rush Ranch to the cozy town of Rose Hill. Elsie will make you nostalgic for a life you’ve never had and inspire you to move to a little New England farm town to live out your small-town dreams. Trust me, I know from experience.

The Rose Hill series follows four (incredibly delicious) single dads who are part of their small-town bowling league. My favorite thing about these characters is that Elsie does an amazing job in representing found and chosen family. Each story in this series represents parenthood in all its shapes and sizes. But the thing that stays consistent is the unconditional love and support from this community.

Wild Side (Amazon) is the third installment of the Rose Hill series, and it’s my favorite yet! Side Note: The teaser for the fourth book promises a trope that has piqued my interest, so things can only go further upHill from here!

What Victoria Loved

VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5

Tabby comes in strong with her presence and personality, I like that there’s a comparison to Rhys’ physical size - lets you feel the space she takes up. Her wit, her drive, and her expansive love takes up so much space in the best way. She feels everything so big, even if she does her best to contain them — to stay strong and keep moving for the sake of her family. But I think what I loved most about her is her sense of humor and her little spiteful pranks on Rhys. They’re silly and hilarious, especially Cleocatra (a “tabby cat with four white paws and a little white tip on her tail that Milo and [Tabby] chose from the shelter).

Rhys is an absolute teddy bear of a human even though he’s a professional wrestler. His ability to prioritize Tabby and Milo, even when he knew nothing about her, just spoke of his heart. He was immediately able to see and understand Tabby’s needs, and he shaped himself to be what she needed — an outlet for her grief and pain, a rock to hold her up, an extra set of hands. He was going to be there for them, support them however he could even if he never had that for himself. Rhys loved them so much before he even realized it — he rushed home to be with his family, even if just for a short period and even if it required a day of traveling and the most inconvenient routes to get there. I understand that soul-aching need to just hold your person, your people sometimes.

While their relationship and marriage may have come together unconventionally, Tabitha and Rhys become their own family. It’s clear from their first interaction that there’s a natural pull between them, and the sparks of chemistry through their proximity and awareness of each other is only heightened by the beauty of their vows and commitment to each other in prioritizing Milo (and honestly, their vows might be the best I’ve ever heard/read).

And as we learn more about Erika, her choices and her death, it only becomes clearer that these two are meant to be. Elsie navigates loss and grief with so much care, and brings to life such realistic portrayals of the different ways it manifests in Rhys, Milo, Tabby and her parents. Although Erika’s life and experience is a constant presence in this story, the way the characters interact with her memory, understand her death, and celebrate her life balances lightness in dark times.

In true Elsie fashion, it’s about the community and the found family. Yes Tabby and Rhys are in this together, but they also have the people they love and who love them holding them up, even when they don’t realize it. They show up for their wedding despite the minimal information about their relationship. Show up to support Rhys via watch party. Show up when Tabby needed to get to Rhys. And they are there to help with Milo and the restaurant.

This marriage-of-convenience should be on your TBR. And if not for the care in which Elsie handles this emotional story, you may very well enjoy the intimate-relief. While I don’t think this is the steamiest romance Elsie has written, she does deliver naughty dirty talk, high-tension banter, and plenty of lust-filled foreplay. Oh, and of course, gives us a bit of a treat in the form of the Wild Side mask…

TW: Wild Side tackles difficult topics, specifically addiction, death (off-page), grief as well as the impacts it has on loved ones.

Purchase a copy of Wild Side (Amazon) and read with me!

Favorite Scene

“All I know is that he’s talked about tabby cats for the past fucking year, and I’ve told him over and over again that I’m allergic.”

- WILD SIDE by Elsie Silver

Similar Reads & Recommendations

ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS GUARDIANSHIP: The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken (Amazon)
I picked this book up because I’m obsessed with the Parent Trap, and then I kept reading because it reminded me of the movie Life as We Know It. When a tragic accident takes her best friend’s life, Colby finds herself as a co-guardian to their two children alongside the one person she can’t stand, Rip (her best friend’s brother). They’re thrust into close quarters, navigating their new responsibilities as legal guardians, facing new realities, and moving through the stages of grief. And while their world feels like it’s continuously falling apart, they discover that maybe together, they can do this.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5

A FIGHT FOR CUSTODY & FORCED PROXIMITY: Next of Kin (Next #1) by Hannah Bonam-Young (Amazon)
Chloe learns that her estranged birth mother is unexpectedly pregnant and doesn’t hesitate to become a next of kin guardian to the baby when her mother is X. When CPS partners her with a stranger who also needs to qualify to foster his younger brother. But as they struggle to find their new normals, they do find harmony and a lot of chemistry as they try to create a stable home for their siblings.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 3.5/5

SHE LOVES FLOWERS: A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (Amazon)

One of the first things we learn about Tabby is that she loves flowers, and it’s a big part of her relationship with Milo. If you loved that characteristic, you’ll enjoy this book: 1) the FMC’s last name is Wilde, 2) she owns a small business — a flower shop, 3) the MMC is mysterious.

VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5

SHE HAS A MASK FETISH: Lights Out (Into Darkness #1) by Navessa Allen (Amazon)

Tabby’s mask fetish, but dial it up by 100. This stalker dark romance is an escalation of the masked man kink from breaking-and-entering, hunting, and bondage. If you want to explore this fetish, this is a couple steps up. And if you enjoy this, let me know because I have even darker recommendations I’d love to share.

VICTORIA’S RATING: 3.5/5

MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE BUT THERE ARE SECRETS: Keep Me by Sara Cate (Amazon)
A marriage of convenience between a broody Scot who hosts the raunchiest castle parties and a tough-as-nails New Yorker who can’t help but find herself in hot water. But will living within the same castle walls turn their arrangement into something more? If anything, the forced proximity definitely turns up the heat.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 3.5/5
A PLAY ON THE TITLE: The Simple Wild by KA Tucker (Amazon)
Another series that plays on Wild, but instead of a small Canadian town, this romance takes place in the Alaskan wilderness. Calla, a city girl, finds her way back to her dad when he falls ill… and it becomes quite clear she is not the Alaskan she was born to be, and Jonah won’t let her forget it. Yet the longer she stays, the more she falls in love with her surroundings and the beauty of nature… and maybe the broody pilot.
VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5

BY THE AUTHOR:
- Wild Love (Rose Hill #1) by Elsie Silver (Amazon)
  Single dad through unknown pregnancy | Things to love about this book? Billionaire and best friend’s little sister: two tropes I cannot say no to. Rosie and Ford each find their way back to Rose Hill for fresh starts and a new adventure. But the best laid plans don’t always work out, especially when a twelve-year-old girl shows up claiming you’re her biological father. While Ford tries to get his new recording studio up and running (and he navigates the world of single parenthood), he finds that this new normal might be even better than what he originally planned for. You’ll fall for the quiet moments he has with Cora and the playground flirting between him and Rosie. It’s the little things that make this love feel so big.
  VICTORIA’S RATING: 3.5/5
- Wild Eyes (Rose Hill #2) by Elsie Silver (Amazon)
  Single dad through divorce | A chart-topping country singer with a recent streak of bad press seeks out serenity in a small town and magically falls in love with a single dad of two. But she can’t outrun her celebrity and it threatens to pull them apart. I’d be surprised if you aren’t yelling into the pages of this book within the first couple of pages and then panting by the end (especially the pick-up truck scene). But the middle is all sweet moments and cozy memories.
  VICTORIA’S RATING: 4/5