WILD AT HEART by Vicki Lewis Thompson has Luke Griffin
curious about the woman who has volunteered to live out
in a tent and an 8x8 platform to watch and document the
habits of a pair of nesting eagles and their young.
Especially since she convinced Jack Chance and Emmett
Sterling to let her be on the property and build her the
platform. Naomi Perkins knows all about The Last Chance
ranch and the land around it, having grown up in Shoshone
WY. When the opportunity to observe the eagles was presented
to Naomi she jumps at the chance to go home and leave
Florida, more so now that her job there has ended.
Naomi notices a lone figure riding in her direction, she
assumes it's either Jack or Emmett coming out to check on
her and the eagles progress. That is until she can tell
that the person riding in her direction does not have the
same physical stature as either one of those two. She
retrieves her binoculars and is quite surprised at the fine
specimen of a man that is coming out there. She knows she
looks awful, having been living in a tent and bathing in a
stream for a few days, that she does not want to meet
someone as gorgeous as him at that moment. When Luke
stops under her platform and calls up to see if she is
there he does not immediately get a response. When he does
get one, he does not expect it to be in the form of a
slimy, sticky, green energy drink poured on the top of his
head and all over his good hat. After knocking her uncapped
drink over and spilling it all over him, Naomi knows she
blew her cover that she was up there and hoping he would go
away. When she finally leans over and looks down at him,
he is surprised at how pretty she is. After an awkward
introduction she asks if he would like to see the eagles.
The longer he is with her the more she impresses him with
her knowledge and passion for the eagles, and her living
conditions. He is not used to a woman who likes to camp and
is one with nature. They both use the eagles as an excuse
for a while for him to visit her, but that excuse doesn't
last long. After the first time they are together he needs
to make sure that she understands that he is a wanderer and
that he won't be at the Last Chance past the end of the
summer. She explains that she is hoping to get her dream
job working at Yellowstone by the time the eagles have left
the nest. and the she will not be there much longer
either. They seem to be keeping everything casual until a
fireworks extravaganza that is planned for July 4th. Luke
invites her to be his date, than panics. He realizes he
might just have sent their no strings, no commitment fun
time together into another category that he does not want
it to go and knows he needs to leave immediately. Luke goes
to Jack and resigns and leaves town with out saying goodbye
to Naomi. Jack is not happy with Luke, but he understands.
Naomi is understandably upset and puts on her happy face
and chalks it up to a summer fling. Besides she has her
eagles.
I liked this story, but I do not think this was one of Ms.
Thompson's better stories. I am not sure if it was the
characters or the story itself. WILD AT HEART is still a
must read if you are a fan of The Sons of Chance series,
but it was not one of the better story lines.
Domesticity can starve a man's soul, and drifter cowboy Luke
Griffin believes in absolute freedom. His gig at the Last
Chance Ranch will end soon, and he'll move on. But then Luke
gets splashed by a green energy drink from a platform in a
tree, and suddenly things get complicated.
Naomi Perkins was studying the nesting of a rare pair of
bald eagles when she accidentally "baptizes" the delish
cowboy. And when his shirt comes off...good morning, libido!
But this attraction isn't just mutual–it's fierce
enough to send them both tumbling into a no–strings
fling.
It's a temporary arrangement, even if it is way more intense
than anything Naomi could have imagined. But when the time
comes, will she be able to let this wild cowboy go?
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