I bought Sarah Urquhart’s book Wild Rescue after reading her novella Sweet Abandon. She’s an Albertan author who uses Alberta as the setting in her story. I love it! Originally I found Sarah Urquhart on the Romance Authors Of Canada website. This website is great for folks looking to support Canadian romance authors. And once I saw the “AB” next to Sarah Urquhart’s name, I knew I needed to check her out. I’m so glad I did!
Poppy McKenzie just wanted a getaway in the woods with her friends. That’s how she ends up in Firebrook. But with her angry ex-boyfriend on the trip, Poppy finds herself in need of rescue in the woods. In walks (literally) Wyatt Greer. But it’s not just her body that needs rescuing, it’s her heart as well (of course!). Wyatt will do almost anything to keep Poppy safe, especially with murderers wandering around. And especially because Poppy is his fated mate. Now, how to tell that to Poppy.
Wild Rescue is a paranormal romance that looks at the role of Fate. Once love makes a connection, is there really a choice?
My favourite moment was the reference to The Princess Bride, one of my all-time favourite movies. As Wyatt carries Poppy to safety, she can’t help but break out a reference to Fezzik. (“Fezzik? I look nothing like him.” He pretended to be offended, scrunching his face.) I was brought back to the scene in the movie were Fezzik climbs up the Cliffs of Insanity carrying Inigo, Vizinni, and Buttercup. Although Wyatt might not be as big as Andre the Giant, the moment made Wyatt’s bear shifting more believable. (Yes, Wyatt is a grizzly bear shifter.)
What I enjoyed about this book was the paranormal. Urquhart gets her readers wondering about Fate. Are we all destined for something if we pay attention to nudges from Fate? When destiny shows up, are we left without a choice? Does Fate bring to us what is best for us, even if we don’t see it right away? Well, maybe Urquhart doesn’t have her characters as angsty as I am leading you to believe, but the idea of Fate definitely raises some excellent questions to think about as you read about Poppy and Wyatt and the choices they make when Fate blows into their lives.
As an editor, I appreciated the pacing of Wild Rescue. Editors are constantly looking for a balance between narration, dialogue, and action. Too much of one element can change the speed of the scene, and not enough can make a scene drag. I thought that Urquhart knows how to pace her writing and keep her reader flipping the pages without rushing any moments. As well, equal attention is given to the romance and the external plot. The story didn’t drag or sag in the middle. It was the opposite: I couldn’t put the book down. The build up of events, the climaxes, and the after moments kept me reading later into the night than I was planning to read.
One recommendation I would have as an editor would be to get another set of eyes on the work before publishing. There were some typos that a proofreader would have caught. I can imagine that for indie authors, the budget is something to keep an eye on, so one alternative to hiring a proofreader is to build a group of writer friends who would be willing to exchanges services to help each other out. But honestly, the typos didn’t stop me from enjoying the book because it was well written.
Here are some of my favourite lines from Wild Rescue:
- “It’s okay. I’ve got you, little bit.” He shouldn’t be calling her anything but her own name–not until he had her back to town and safe–but the endearment spilled out.
- Firebrook was more than a place. More than a home. It seemed like it had parts that made up a living, breathing soul. Wyatt was one of them.
- He smiled. Oh hell, that smile was fantastic. His eyes sparkled and crinkled.
If you’re looking for a paranormal shifter romance set in Alberta, this is the book. Enjoy!
