Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5
The South Pacific Archipelago is home to a tiny island community of around three hundred scientists… and twenty thousand dinosaurs. As a paleogeneticist, Kit Sterling leads a team studying the dinosaurs to unlock the unanswered questions of evolution.
But there is something more dangerous than dinosaurs on the islands.
Head ranger Logan Beck discovers evidence of poachers, while rumors of a black market for dinosaur leather swirl around the community. Kit and Logan haven’t always gotten along professionally, though that has nothing to do with their attraction to each other. So when they’re thrown together to save an injured infant dinosaur, their professional disdain turns into a clandestine romance.
With not just the injured dinosaur at risk, but all of the precious dinosaurs on the islands too, Kit and Logan have to figure out how to balance their budding romance without letting their careers go extinct.
I enjoy the writings of Anna Martin and looked forward to something a little different from her latest release, Something Wild. It has just a smattering of Jurrassic Park about it, however, in this case, there is no genetic tampering but islands that had been discovered with dinosaurs living on them all long somewhere in the Pacific ocean. Yes, a bit of a stretch but go with it.
A quick moving science fiction romance, it has elements of some action adventure (of course, there’s dinosaurs involved) and espionage, to go along with the romance. For me the romance is one that you could call “instalove” given that the men themselves go from frenemies (loudly arguing over science papers etc) to lovers in a blink of an eye. But the characters themselves are so engaging that the jump into bed and a full blown relationship that could get them fired gets an eye roll and then accepted.
I also liked the dinosaurs, Dizzy included, and would have loved to have had this element made more inclusive here. We get some realistic science work and labs which is then promptly thrown out the window narratively speaking for the sake of the plot and some action adventure. Neither of which made sense given the intensity of these men’s previous careers and their commitment to them and their jobs. They start of as highly praised professionals in their fields and then start acting as interns flying about the island. That sort of puzzled me to no end.
Same for other characters. Loved the mothers, but the character of one lab assistant/roommate had a personality that first read older, then younger, then older. No real foundation to her, although she started out so strong. A real shame. That more of less happened throughout the story. Certain elements or storylines started out of the narrative gate with real appeal or fullness but sort of petered out, leaving holes as the story trudged towards it’s ending. And then there was that ending. Oddly unsatisfying. The epilogue trailed off, with no certain resolutions to specific problems.
Did I enjoy this? Sure. Will I remember it? Hmmm, probably not. It was fun, but the issues kept stopping me here and there just enough to make me question certain things and I need a steady read all the way through for a total enjoyment in my stories. How do you all feel about that? If cute dinosaurs and scientists in love are your thing, check out Something Wild by Anna Martin.
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 216 pages
Published October 22nd 2019 by Dreamspinner Press
ASINB07WN8VWVF
Length: 67,000 words
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 