I haven’t done an ARC review in a minute so let’s get to it! This is a direct copy of my review on Goodreads, so if you’ve seen it there, you’ll see it here too!
ARC: Wild Open Country by Sunny del Williams
Rating: 4 out of 5 chickens
Let me start by saying that OMG I wish I had found this author sooner! There were times I just sat there SMILING at the interaction between Grace and John (or Gracie and Johnny as they call each other). Clare was a DARLING too! The way del Williams writes her MC’s is just *chef’s kiss*. They both had their hang ups but communicated fairly decently with each other. The age gap can be hard on communication but I think it was handled with care. Now, was there definitely some communication issues?? Of course, it’s not romance without SOME kind of conflict, but it wasn’t long and drawn out, which I appreciate. Honestly, my only critique (and what brings it down from 5 to 4 stars) is the slight inconsistency with the age of Clare. We start chapter one with Clare being four and a half. Ok cool. But then like a page later, we are talking about Clare starting Kindergarten (which I looked up and in the area this is set in, you have to be 5 by December 31). Ok I can get behind this, it works. So then we get the backstory of Grace and Johnny meeting and their tryst that they had that summer….which happened six years ago. But part of the storyline is Grace wondering if Johnny is Clare’s father…which he COULDN’T be if they fooled around 6 years ago, because Clare is too young. So….yea. That whole part really threw me off and it made me a little frustrated because it was messing with the timeline which throws off part of the plot. Also…definitely was not a fan of Grace’s dad. I think maybe he could have been fleshed out more, showed that he was actually a caring dad and not an absent minded one? IDK, he just…was not my favorite and the author kept trying to make a case for him and I just wasn’t buying it, I guess. That being said, I loved seeing a little of Johnny’s family (his sister sounds like a RIOT and Luke is a cinnamon roll, protect him) and I loved the glimpse we had of Marissa, Gracie’s best friend. I wish we had gotten more of her aunt, she seemed like she would be awesome to get to know also.
I really did enjoy this book, it was an easy to love story and I’m so glad I was chosen to read an ARC prior to publication. I will absolutely be devouring her other series!
*I was graciously given an ARC of this book by the author*
