After being approved for the arc of Wild Card, I immediately dove in, unable to wait, unable to stop. This was such a beautiful and moving small-town romance that explores sensitive but important issues. Shane and Rachel were always meant to be together, and the circumstances that bring Rachel back home are tragic, but also the push she needs to face Shane again.

The story was developed so well, with present day interweaved with the past, filling in spots of detail of Shane and Rachel’s history. Then as their story progresses, they’re forced to confront their past and consider their future together as every little truth is told.

I adore Karina’s writing style something fiercely, and reading this was such a great experience as she immersed me in the world. This also has such a special place in my heart as its set very close to where I lived in the Canadian Rockies, so reading the descriptions of the landscape and country made me miss the small-town life even more.

This is a series I will definitely continue, and I can’t wait to jump in to the next two books!

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of this book to review!

Wow—did I enjoy this one! Canadian wilderness, cowboys, and horses? That’s absolutely my kind of read.

I’ll admit, I felt a bit overwhelmed in the beginning by the repeated references to how badly Shane hurt Rachel—seriously, it came up a lot. Thankfully, that eased off after the first 20%, allowing the story to breathe and unfold.

Once I hit the 40% mark, the pace really picked up and didn’t let go until the very end. With just the right mix of romance, intimacy, and high-stakes tension, I was fully hooked. The emotional depth and action scenes kept me turning pages.

One quote that stuck with me:

“You know it's worth it. Worth is to have loved and lost than—”
“To have never loved before,” I fill in.
“No, you dolt,” he says gruffly. “Than to have loved and kept that shit to yourself until you died from it.”

I’m already excited for the next book—it’s definitely earned a spot on my TBR!

I would rate this closer to 3.5 stars. This is a second chance romance set in a remote area of Canada on a ranch. Shane and Rachel were childhood sweethearts that reconnect when Rachel comes back to her hometown for her mother's health. There's a lot of sensitive topics covered, but a lot of it is a bit surface level. As for the second chance romance part, there's just a little something lacking to get it to that next start. Overall though, a good quick read. Thanks to NetGalley and Metal Blonde books for the ebook to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for the opportunity to read Wild Card by Karina Halle.

The premise: Rachel returns home to help her mom through a health challenge. Being home stirs up many heart wrenching triggers. One of which is her first love, Shane. Their break up was brutal and life changing for Rachel. Now it seems Shane is everywhere she goes in this small town. She can’t avoid her feelings, but she is certainly going to try.

This book is all over the place and not fleshed out. Unnecessary angst thrown in an already angst storyline. The non existent transitions alone irked me.

***some spoilers ahead***

After the “big” reveal, there’s not much time for them to work through it and yet they’re sleeping with each other pretty soon. Then a fight happens and a “misunderstanding” for what purpose? Just to add angst? There were several problems already. I felt the story line with Rachel’s dad was written okay, until it wasn’t. After Shane “explains” why he broke up with her 6 years ago, she got over it pretty quickly. Their fight over her moving back to this triggering town was shocking. This is where I felt KH did not flesh out this storyline or the depth of pain Rachel went through. If you’re going to have Shane be an understanding, patient man… then why have him be insensitive to a traumatic situation for Rachel.

Then there’s Rachel’s mom… I have to acknowledge she did nothing to help her daughter or stop the abuse Rachel endured. To then apologize to Rachel for everything years later and in the next breath, pressure her to move back for the “man she (Rachel ) always loved” but “only” move back for herself… ?

This book had potential until it didn’t. Reading about abuse is difficult. Reading about a parent having a severe health challenge is hard and then adding to the fact that this parent ignored the abuse the FMC dealt with as a minor, feels gut wrenching. Reading about a man who has been pining for the FMC he drove away is supposed to be endearing? Gaslighting an abused victim is triggering.

These are the reasons I’m giving a low rating. Karina Halle can write and can understand her characters. This doesn’t reflect her talent.

Thank you for the ARC for this new edition of this book | NetGalley Review

I absolutely loooved this! It was such a cute and easy read. I love that there was no third act breakup (!!). It was small town, cowboys, second chance and a HEA. What's there not to love?🙏🏻

I absolutely LOVED this book and can't wait to read the rest of the series. This is different from the Karina books that I have read (her newer paranormal/darker romance/romantasy) but I absolutely loved it. This is contemporary romance at its best.

We have a second chance, it's always been you romance between Shane and Rachel. It is emotional and heartbreaking but then beautiful and healing.

Shane- what a man!! He's a hot cowboy who will burn the world for Rachel and is not afraid to love.

LOVED and can't wait to read Maverick and Fox's stories

“Just because someone has a broken heart, it doesn’t mean the heart doesn’t work anymore.”

Did this book bring out every emotion I had yesterday, including some crying. Yes, yes it did. BUT in the best way for an amazing second-chance romance.
Karina brought chemistry, angsty, spice, swooning, and the right amount of drama to set the stage for the whole series. She also did a great job of giving enough detail of the environment that it makes me want to travel.
Within the story there is past and present moments, which Karina did a good job of making sure the reader knew that. Along with the fact the book is dual POV it made for an easy read with all the emotions.

I also love the new cover :)

Tropes:
Second Chance
Cowboy
Small Town
Dual POV

This book is about the second chance at love for Shane & Rachel. They were friends since they were 8 yo and with time became lovers.
But Rachel has a difficult situation at home with her abusive father. And one night when things gets wild for her, Shane wanted to help her . But everything he does will come with consequences- he has to break up with her and destroy her heart.
Years later she is back home to help her mom and crossinf paths with her first love she starts to question her feelings and her future plans.

The story is a good one about second chances ( for the MCs , but also for the FMc and her mom), forgiveness and redemption.
I liked how the characters were written and how the story makes you feel all of their emotions.

Thank you Netgalley and Metal Blonde Books for the opportunity to read the book. This is my honest and only opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC e-copy of this title! This is a re-released series with new covers, part of a trilogy- and is out now and on kindle unlimited.

So I'll be the first to say that western cowboy romances are not my favourite trope in romance, and this one didn't connect for me. I found there was too much indecision and back and forth drama moments, that it kinda made me want to shake the FMC. That being said, it's a good story with a lot of heart, some T.Ws that you should definitely check first cause there are some sensitive topics.

Rachel swore she would never return to the small town she once called home. Never return to the boy who obliterated her heart and the family who did nothing but let her down. But after her mother gets sick, she decides to come back temporarily to look after her. But before she knows it, she's sucked right back into her first love's orbit. Shane has never forgotten Rachel. Six years since she left after he had to break his heart and hers. But now that she's back and the things that kept them apart are gone, can he get a second chance? Or will Rachel just be passing through.

💫Second Chance
🌇Small Town
🌶️Spice
🗣️Sensitive Subject Matters
3.5⭐(Rounded Up To 4)

This was a very emotional, heartbreaking and at times heart-warming read. The author had my emotions all over the place from start to finish.

"Wild Card" was different from the Cowboy Romances I typically read in this genre. The history between Shane and Rachel, the leading characters was complicated, complex and emotionally heavy. They had so much to overcome in their shared history.

I really appreciated that the author included flashbacks (dual timeline) from when they were younger and also told the story through dual POVs. I think this type setup tends to me favorite because we are able to see the story from the eyes of several characters.

Overall I think this is definitely worth checking out just be mindful of the potential trigger warnings.

Thank you Karina Halle, Net Galley and Metal Blonde Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

5⭐️ 3🌶️ I first heard of Karina Halle while attending BB4E in Vancouver this year, so when I saw this ARC on NetGalley, I requested ASAP! Boy oh boy, she really knows how to break me down & put me back together. No tears fell, but my eyes burned a couple times & had to swallow it down!

Rachel Waters has so many reasons to never want to get back up (childhood emotional, physical, & sexual abuse, abandonment, young heartbreak, feeling unlovable), but she pushes through life one day at a time. Shane is so perfect for her in everyway & loved her hard, even when his hands were tied & he had to break both their hearts.

I am so so happy Rachel was able to find peace and found her HEA, no one deserves it more than her.

Thank you NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A big thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐ 3.5 stars — A page-turning, drama-filled second-chance romance with beautiful small-town vibes and plenty of passion. If you enjoy emotional reunions, rugged small-town settings, and romance that turns the heat all the way up, this book delivers.

It’s a second-chance romance—the kind where you get the opportunity to fix what you once broke, to give someone (or something) a chance to breathe again, to start over. Isn’t that wonderful? The story follows Rachel and Shane, in love since childhood, the happiest couple with the wildest young love… until something happened that tore them apart. My husband says it sounds cliché—well, he only reads comics, I tell you (sigh).

Rachel leaves their small town to start a new life, with new friends and even a new boyfriend. But when life pulls her back to the place that holds both her happiest and most painful memories, she decides it’s time to face the past, get answers, and finally find closure.

The book gave me The Summer I Turned Pretty vibes—maybe because of the small-town setting and the fact there’s a girl surrounded by brothers who all look like they stepped out of a magazine. But unlike that story, there’s no love triangle here. This is the kind of book that makes you want to know what happens in the end, the kind you can’t help but finish in one sitting. The plot and drama? Just enough, for me.

That said, it’s very steamy—more than I usually prefer. At times, the intimate scenes took up so much space they pulled me out of the emotional core of the story. It didn’t ruin the experience, but the heart of the story sometimes got lost in all the heat.

I loved the royals next door from this author and really looked forward to catching this cowboy romance!

A little estranged childhood lovers to second chance romance. When Rachel returns to her hometown to spend time with her mother in the midst of a health scare, she, almost immediately, comes face to face with her one and only, Shane, the one who broke her heart years before. Despite the years, its always been them. Always. It was fun to spend time on the ranch, and watch Rachel and Shane reconnect and try to rebuild past hurt and lean into their feelings all over again.

While I enjoyed this story, there was some *very* *very* heavy plot points that I feel like needed more depth to the overall book to be handled with a bit more caution and show a bit more healing. That aside. I'm looking forward to diving into Maverick and Fox's books immediately.

Thank you to the author, Metal Blonde Books, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

i love cowboy romances but this book wasn’t hitting the mark for me. it felt like we jumped into the story too quickly without any background or time to warm up to the characters

Maybe this book is good for somebody who hasn’t faced any type of abuse, but I just can’t handle it reading this book anymore

Emotional roller coaster! This story will have you riding the waves of emotions because the history between Rachel and Shane is deep and even they don’t know the full extent of the demons they carry.

I don’t know if I was ready for things to go how they did but Halle did a fantastic job tackling the sensitive subject matters in a way where the story is still true to experiences without being over traumatizing and I appreciated that. It’s books like this that remind me of the power of books and why I love them so much.

I love the tenacity of our hero and heroine and how they fought to overcome their pasts to move toward a future.

I love a cowboy romance - it's the genre I never knew I needed until it became a go to for me! And this one was no exception.

The story follows Rachel & Shane, childhood best friends, to teenage sweethearts - until Shane rips the rug out from beneath them and breaks her heart. When Rachel returns to North Ridge to look after her sick mother, the spark between them is still there, questions unanswered, closure a long way off.

I'd have liked it to be a little longer, maybe more family traditions thrown in there for the atmosphere, some parts I felt were very quick to happen and I'd have liked a little more build up.

Having said that, it's not the usual, warm fuzzy vibe I'm used to, there is TRAUMA in this relationship. The trigger warnings are there to be read. I loved reading this love reignite, demons being put to bed and family coming together. It warms the soul and was just what I needed 🩷

I'm a big fan of fantasy so have seen Karina Halle's name around for ages and when I saw she had a cowboy romace series - consider me sold! Until I read it that is.

The premise of this book is that Rachel left her hometown after her boyfriend Shane dumped her very publicly and she hasn't returned in 6 years. Now her Mum has cancer so home she goes to try and help her out.

So the story snips back to 9 year old, 13 year old, 20 year old and present day versions of the characters. Basically they've been in love since they first clapped eyes on each other at age 9, OK sure, they were best friends for years then it turned into a full relationship as they got older.

My main problem with the story is the parental sexual abuse. I know it happens in the real world but I don't want to read about it in my fluffy Cowboy books! And it doesn't seem particularly realistic for Rachel to go from her Dad doing whatever he does to her to begging Shane to sleep with her. When she is so terrified by a bear she can't breathe/speak - straight into a sex scene with Shane - these don't seem like particularly believable reactions to these situations but sure.

So when Rachel finally reveals to Shane what her Dad has been doing since she was 12 years old, he basically drugs her, drives round to her parents house and beats her Dad half to death. Her Dad is the chief of police in town by the way. One of the other members of the police turn up and see this happen, but Rachel's Dad makes a deal with Shane that if he dumps Rachel (who he has loved SINCE HE WAS NINE) he won't get him sent to prison.

So two days later, Shane turns to her and says actually the abuse stuff is just too heavy for me I don't love you anymore, see ya! And Rachel is heartbroken and flees the town she's been wanting to leave for years. When she returns her Dad is in prison for murder so we can just ignore him, and eventually Shane tells her what happened and why he said that and then it flip flops between OMG I LOVE HIM WE CAN BE TOGETHER to I CANT STAY HERE ERMAGHERD.

I just can't get over the proposition that an abuse victim/survivor would EVER get past somebody they're in love with turning round and being like nah too much baggage actually.

Anyway it's a shame because other than this absolutely bizarre choice of storyline I did enjoy the writing, except for the very clumsy intro of the love interest for the next book at the end of the book.

I'm a pretty new reader to Karina Halle books and have enjoyed everything I've read by her. This book was no exception.

I really enjoyed the dual POV, as well as the duel timelines. It really helped to put us in the mindframe of both Rachel and Shane. I normally don't read a lot of second chance romances, but this one definitely resonated with me. I find with second chance romances, the characters get caught up in the past and tend to focus on memories of who they used to be. Shane and Rachel both made an active decision to know each other as they are now. Sure, they discuss memories, but also get into real discussions about how the past changed them.

This book made me so sad and angry and just broke my heart for both of them. Also, Rachel is so much more forgiving than I could EVER be in her circumstances. It was really nice to see these two come back together after all the heartache they both suffered. I'm definitely going to check out more in this series.

Thank you to Metal Blonde Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"Wild Card" was a really good book. I would have liked to have seen a little more relationship development between the main characters, but overall a great quick palate cleansing read.