Five years ago Alex DeMarco and Valerie Parker had a one-night affair. Valerie fell for him hard, but he was gone the next morning. Alex went on to become a hard working, detective while Valerie was dropped from the academy and went on to become a Private Investigator.

Neither of them have forgotten.

Alex finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of a woman he picked up in a bar. Valerie had been paid to tail a cheating wife. Valerie is astonished to learn that Alex is the man who was with her. When Val places him at the scene of the crime, he knows the anger and hurt she still must hold may affect her testimony that could possible put him behind bars forever.

When Valerie is personally threatened, she and Alex go on the run together... trying to clear his name and protect her at the same time.

Sparks fly .. and its not just the gunshots aimed in their direction.

This is a wild ride full of mystery, suspense, humor, romance and lots of action. The pacing is steady with a surprise here and there. The characters are finely drawn and I really enjoyed how Alex and Valerie relate to each other. It's an easy read and even though second in a series, easily read as a stand alone.

Many thanks to the author / Tule Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this Romantic Suspense. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I loved Alex and Valerie together - the witty repartee, the fine line between love and hate, and the chemistry. Valerie and Alex had one night together years earlier. The night before she was dismissed from the police academy largely because of his assessment that she was not a rules follower. While this seems black and white - the story is more nuanced. They meet up again when Alex is accused of murder and Valerie, now a PI, is the only witness. For Alex, who usually sees things as very right or wrong, life is thrown into a tailspin by the investigation of a murder he knows he didn't commit. He and Valerie go on the run trying to solve the murder and, the truth about their night comes out and Alex struggles with the gray areas of life and not always controlling situations while Valerie struggles with taking orders and not going rogue.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first book by Jane Graves and I liked it a lot. We meet Alex DeMarco and Valerie Parker in this story. Val tried to get into the police academy in their small town but senior officer Alex told his superiorsrs she wasn’t cut out for this line of work after many sessions together.They had had a one night stand the night before she was told. She had very negative feelings about him Five years later she’s a PI on a cheating wife case and they connect again. The cheating wife lures him to her home. He being the cop has to go and make sure she is safe. He gets drugged and she’s murdered. He’s framed for it and Val is on surveillance outside when he is arrested and charged. She realizes he has been set up and believes the husband who hired her to be the killler. Alex and Val go on the run to try to prove his innocence There are many trusts and turns in the story with a surprise and exciting ending. I give it 5 stars.

Wild at Heart is a nice blend of romance and suspense. Valerie and Alex have a history and when their paths cross again, the sparks definitely fly. There are plenty of twists in this story that kept me reading late at night. I am loving this series.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Alex after reading the previous book in the series. I'm happy to say that, though It took a little while, Alex's growth throughout the story won me over. After a somewhat slow start, the action and the emotion picked up and led to a satisfying conclusion.

This was a surprisingly good read! I've never read anything by this author so this was my first experience and based on my enjoyment of this book, I'll definitely be reading the first DeMarco Family book because I love the family dynamic among them. This is Alex and Valerie's story. I have to say that I wasn't a fan of Alex at the beginning of the book, but without spoiling the plot or giving anything away, I now understand his personality. He definitely redeemed himself by the end of the book! Another aspect that I really loved was the "secondary" storyline - interesting, well-developed secondary characters that added to the whole book. I always love an underdog who comes out on top -- I loved Stanley! Interesting and intriguing storyline, suspense, action and romance all rolled into one very enjoyable book! I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

Valerie Parker is just doing her job and following the wife of a man who hired her to prove she is cheating. See never expected to be in the middle of a murder with the prime suspect none other than her ex flame Alex DeMarco. He is an officer like no other. Always serious and follows the rules to a fault. She can't believe he was hooking up with a married woman. When Alex sees Val he isn't so sure she will be on his side and help him. Things did not end so great with them years ago. Once someone tries to take Val out she has no choice than to help prove his innocence. Fun story!

This book scared me over and over, I guess that is some good writing,when I have to close the book I’m reading cause it’s late night and it’s scaring the Jeeves out of me. Guess that shows you care about the main characters who are in danger,but the bad guy character and the tiger she wrote them to be just mean and ferocious,and hay how about the Lawman who was scared of everything he had my empathy.
If you like them scary and hot this might just be the one for you.

Valerie Parker and Alex de Marco have a history, one which Valerie especially despises. One night their fates are thrown together when Valerie in her role as private investigator follows a client’s wife and it brings her face-to-face with the man she would rather forget. Alex is a cop who always follows the rules, whose life is lived in black and white. Suddenly he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and on the run, with an unlikely ally. Valerie throws herself into the mission to prove Alex’s innocence with the same enthusiasm and spontaneity as she does everything else.

This book leads down some very interesting paths. The interactions between Alex and Valerie are funny and real. Alex is forced to review his uncompromising stance on right and wrong, and Valerie has to face the fact that her act-before-thinking routine isn’t always in her favour. For most of the book, it’s just the two of them against the world, with cousin Dave’s assistance, of course.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was fast-paced and the ending wasn’t predictable. I would definitely recommend it to romance readers who also enjoy a bit of mystery and suspense.

I received an advanced copy of the book from Netgalley to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A fast paced, nail biter of a story.

Five years ago Valerie Parker and Alex DeMarco met at police academy. Valerie fell hard for Alex from the start. They spent one incredibly passionate night together, but the next morning Alex was gone. Then came the big blow; she was dismissed from police academy that day. Valerie despised Alex ever since, but she never forgot how he made her feel during the time they spent together.

Now, Valerie is working as a private investigator and the woman Valerie is paid to watch is murdered and Alex is the prime suspect. Tensions rise as Alex and Valerie travel across Texas looking for the real murderer before someone else ends up dead.

This is the second in the DeMarco Family series and just as good as the first. If the suspense and passion aren’t enough to pull you in, trying to figure out who the killer is definitely will. I enjoyed this book as much as the first and I will anxiously be waiting for the next one. Even though this is part of a series, there is no cliff hanger and each book can be read as a stand-alone.

Karma is rarely kind and sometimes it is just plain mean as is the case for Alex DeMarco in Wild at Heart by Jane Graves. The straight-laced, by the book cop brother of John from I Got You, Babe is now the guilty until proven innocent suspect in a murder. He manages to instill himself in my good graces so that I am rooting for him to find the real murderer and exonerate himself in the process. Of course, I am hoping that he will find love along the way. This is really a change for how I felt abut him in the previous book where he was a minor character so Ms. Graves does a wonderful job of developing his character. His love interest is also wonderfully done; karma again.

This is the second book in the DeMarco Family Series but would read okay as a stand-alone. Still, I am glad that I read the books in order. Plus this series seems to be a reissue with a different publisher. I had not read this book years ago like I had with the first book, so I am unable to say if it has been updated or revised. I can say I enjoyed this story, the humor, the characters, and the humbling growth that Alex has.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this second book in the DeMarco Family series. This is a re-release that seems to have been nicely updated and refreshed. This story has it all. Suspense, mystery, action, humor and romance all nicely blended together to give us a fun entertaining story. I loved that the traits that drove each other crazy where also the traits that they loved about each other. Alex is a by the book, plan everything out, control freak while Valerie is more of a fly by the seat of your pants, let's just get it done girl. Polar opposites but they balanced each other out. They keep each other in check while not letting anyone get to lost in their head. Working together to prove Alex's innocence shows them what a great team they make not only on the job but in life and love as well. A fabulous story I highly recommend.

Wild at Heart by Jane Graves
The DeMarco Family, Book 2
You can run from the past…but you can’t hide from love
When private investigator Valerie Parker tails a cheating wife one night, it’s business as usual – until the woman is murdered and the man she’s with becomes the prime suspect. She’s astonished to discover the man’s identity: Alex DeMarco, a man she was once insanely in love with and who shattered her dreams and broke her heart… all in the same day.
As a cop, Alex feels obligated to offer the stranded woman a ride home. When she ends up dead and Val Parker is the one who places him at the scene of the crime, he knows the grudge she holds may affect her testimony and put him behind bars forever. Then her life is threatened, and soon they’re on the run together, working to clear his name and protect her life. Once again, Alex find himself drawn to this wild, impetuous woman from his past, even as every step they take deeper into the Texas Hill Country may be their last.
This is Valerie Parker and Alex DeMarco's story.
It was nearly eight o’clock before the massive front door of the colonial mansion opened and Shannon Reichert stepped onto the front porch. Halfway down the block, Valerie Parker snapped to attention, adjusting the side mirror of her van just enough that she could watch the woman sashay down the sidewalk toward her late-model Lexus. She wore her red hair upswept in a wild, cascading style, complemented by a skimpy scarlet dress that was so hot it practically set the shrubs on fire.
Red dress, red heels, red lips, red hair. Bingo. A manhunting ensemble if Val had ever seen one.
If only Shannon’s husband could see her now.To Val’s surprise, Shannon pulled into the parking lot of a bar called the Blue Onion, one of those working-class establishments with a red neon sign out front, a trashy alley out back, and a considerable amount of after-hours relaxation going on in between. Val had been there only once, tracking down a deadbeat dad who was known to spend his child support money on alcohol and women. She knew people came to places like this for three reasons only: to play pool, to get drunk or to get laid. By the way Shannon was advertising herself that night, Val could only assume she was heavily focused on number three.
Val cruised along behind the Lexus, following its driver to God-knew-what situation. The games rich people played were positively amazing. Of course, Shannon was rich only by the grace of Jack Reichert, her fifty-eight-year-old husband. She had exactly the kind of hot little body that would trip the trigger of a man who had enough money to buy just about anything he wanted except his youth back. Marrying a twenty-something woman was his way of reassuring himself and the rest of the world that his genitalia were still intact and functioning since the Porsche 911, the big game hunting, and the hair replacement surgery hadn’t done the trick. And for Shannon, marrying a rich older man was her way of reassuring herself that she’d always have plenty of what she wanted most in the world: money.
Then Alex DeMarco walked through the door.
For a long, tense moment, Val sat frozen in her chair, staring in disbelief. Her heart kicked wildly, then settled into a hard, thudding rhythm. Alex.
Her reaction to him was swift and unrelenting, putting every one of her senses on alert. For several seconds she held her breath, feeling as if the world had suddenly jolted to a halt. It had been five years since she’d seen him, but he hadn’t changed one bit. He was still six foot, four inches of rock-solid cop who looked as if he could take on the entire criminal element of Tolosa, Texas, with both hands tied behind his back.
Tonight he was dressed down in jeans, boots and a denim shirt. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was still in top-notch physical condition, radiating an aura of superiority that only a man with such a physically imposing presence could. And seeing him now made her feel as if the last five years had never happened.
"I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book."
Wild at Heart by Jane Graves is a 4 star book.
Jane's Books with Tule:
I Got You Babe
The DeMarco Family
Wild at Heart
The DeMarco Family
Flirting with Disaster
The DeMarco Family
Light My Fire
The DeMarco Family

Do you have an ex that you’d just love to catch in a really bad, compromising situation that they could not talk their way out of? Yeah, Val dreamed of that, too… until it happened and then the reality is far worse than her imagination because not only Alex, her former flame, is accused of murder but the real murderer is after her now, too.

From the very beginning, there are twists and crazy turns in WILD AT HEART. Alex is such a straitlaced police officer, there is no gray area for him it’s either black or white, no shading… right until he found himself framed for murder seemingly witnessed by an old girlfriend with a reason to hate his guts well into next week. Now that Val has been attacked they’re both on the run to find the true killer – and maybe find their way back to each other as well.

I enjoyed WILD AT HEART. Sure, there were some eye-rolling moments, but I find that in most books, not everything is going to work with each reader. The action is fast, the couple believable and the story tense. If you love Romantic Suspense then you’d enjoy this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Oh wow! This is such a good story! It’s packed with twists and the tension keeps ramping up and up. It had me on the edge of my seat pretty much from the first page.
I loved that Alex and Val had history, and that the history between them had both of them walking on eggshells around each other. I loved the way Val pushed Alex’s buttons and how she had him doing things that were way, way, way out of character for him.
This story moved so well I really did struggle to put it down. It has been an exciting and compelling read from the start. I can’t wait for the next DeMarco story.

3 1\2 stars
Wild at Heart is book 2 in a series. I didn't read the first book but like all authors she tries hard to keep readers up to date on events from the past book.
The book has it moments of humor, romance and the characters can be interesting but as a whole the story falls short of what the author has created. The story is over the top and certain scenes will have readers eye rolling but other might enjoy it. The story was tied up in a nice little bow which seems almost impossible with where the story was headed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for advance copy of Jane Graves Wild at Heart.

Wild at Heart by Jane Graves, book two in The DeMarco Family series. The character development was perfect for the storyline. Great dialogue and characters. I look forward to the next book in this series and more by this author.

Let's start by saying I was a little hesitant to pick up “An Irresistible Temptation” by Elsa Winckler after reading book one of “The DeMarco Family” series. I was less than impressed by “I Got You, Babe” and assumed the author was unable to redeemed herself but this series made me do a complete 180. From page one, I found it near impossible to put this book down after getting a glimpse of Dana and David relationship, and the action packed romance suspense left me at the edge of my seat. What stood out the most for me were the characters. David is someone that follows the rules and was born to be a police officer while on the other hand, Dana is trouble with a capital T. I loved their banter and what I loved more is how well they meshed together. The author’s writing style, character backgrounds, side characters (Brenda and Dave were instant favs), the premise of the overall story and the natural built relationship with the leads had me hook and left me wanting more. If you weren’t a fan of the first book, definitely say give this author second chance by reading “Wild At Heart”, you won’t regret it.

This is Alex and Val’s story they met five years ago and now they were reunited. Alex is being framed for murder and ironically, Val is the only one who can help prove his innocence.
The spark between them never went out and now it is stronger than ever. ....

Four stars

Slow start but suspenseful with twists and steam.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.