River Wild

This book had me feeling all! It was hard to read at times but also sweet. The road to recovery and love for River and Carrie was all! I loved Carrie’s optimism considering all the bad that happened to her. She was able to overcome it and conquer River through it all! This was worth the read!

This was a hard to read book but it was also a book about hope. Some parts were hard to get through and it’s such a sensitive topic to get into. However the part about having hope and being able to move forward to a place of healing was beautiful to read.

Literally read this in one sitting. Rivers childhood story was just awful I hate hearing about that kind of stuff because it just hurts my heart. And Carries story is just as sad. I thought it was a great read and I’m glad they both get a happy ending.

Una historia increíble. Que se lee de una sentada porque siempre quieres saber qué pasará después. Un chico con un pasado doloroso. Una chica que huye de un matrimonio lleno de abusos. Podrán tener una relación después de haber comenzado con mal pie. Esta historia no te dejará indiferente. Amarás a River y en más de una ocasión querrás abrazarlo. Sin duda es una historia que recomiendo.

This was a good read. It is emotional or was for me. It does end in an HEA but I was worried there for a minute. I just wish there was a bit more depth to the book. It was a lot of trauma and didn’t show the growth that I thought it could.

Beautiful story! She got me at the end I’m not gonna lie, but that just made it 10 times better!!!

This is a story that will break your heart one moment and make you smile the next minute.When this story was just published I tried to read it but I didn’t came further than the prologue. It wasn’t the right time for me to read it then. This week I decided to give it another try and I’m so happy because I couldn’t stop reading it!!! I really wanted to know how Carrie and River’s story would end. And that’s also prove that this is a story that you have to be ‘in the mood’ for. Maybe good to know for readers who are sensitive to triggers, this story ‘River Wild’ has two sensitive themes in it, namely child abuse and violence in a marriage. No easy subjects to read about but the writer still managed to write the story in such a way that it wasn’t a very dark story. The writer Samantha Towle did this by writing the present in a ‘lighter’ way (there was even some humour in it) and writing the past in a darker, emotional way. By doing it this way, it also made the difficult scenes of the past easier to read because you had lighter and positive moments between them and gave the story also more balance.The present story is for the most part told from Carrie’s POV, that starts when she leaves her husband, and the past memories are mostly told from River’s POV. I really loved both main characters very much!! Carrie is a foster child how thought that she found prince charming when she was 18 years old but instead she found a villain. After 7 years of living in fear and bodily hurt, she finds the courage to leave him when she discovers that she’s pregnant. She starts a new life in Texas under a false name. I really admired her positive attitude and the fact that she found joy in little things. She was a very strong woman. River was a very interesting character too. He was very guarded and close off in the beginning but you could feel that he hide much inside him. I really enjoyed the banter between Carrie and River, it was fun and entertaining (at times it made me even feel like watching someone (Carrie) poke an old and grumpy bear (River) to see how he would react LOL). Because of their past, Carrie and River really respected and understood the pain and darkness inside the other person. They were just meant to be together! Their connection and their understanding of each other was so wonderful and so deep. I wasn’t sure how the writer would give these 2 broken people their HEA but she did it in a good way. This story is a slow burn story and I think that was the best way to write it. Because of Carrie’s pregnancy and their past, they both need time to go from strangers to friends to more.I’m very happy that I decided to give this story another chance because I really loved it.

This book sucked me in crushed my heart and spit me out, and I loved every second of it! It has some trigger warnings, so be careful with those, but I loved this book it was amazing

If I, as a reader, had to choose only one book that I could read over and over for the rest of my days... it would be this one!This was pure magic ❤️Samantha said she put her heart and soul into this book and I felt that in every page.I don’t even know where to start or how to explain just how much I loved ‘River Wild’. It was extraordinary. Seriously. From the heartbreaking and gripping beginning. To the strength, bravery and determination both River and Carrie show to better their lives. To not let the people who hurt them ruin their future. Their hilarious banter, the growing friendship and a stunning love story that I will never forgot.I laughed SO hard that I cried. My heart broke and I cried. I felt every emotion going whilst reading this story and I never wanted it to end.This is how a slow-burn is done. It was so perfect.Am I the only person who switched off my kindle near the end there and couldn’t BARE to read what had happened? But I lasted like three minutes 😂Damn you Mrs Towle, my heart stopped! Haha.Absolute perfection!

Short review: Okay book which doesn’t have much depth and feels and is fairly staccato in parts. Paced oddly.Longer review:For all the heavy themes in this book, it really is more breezy. Doesn’t have much depth and feels and is fairly staccato in parts. Paced oddly. Mainly because River’s characterisation is very differently done. To me as a reader sometimes he’s a big burly closed off grump who is confident in his body but equally he’s just a giant child who is very insecure and naive and just wants to fit in. It’s interesting to have that in a character but because it has no proper depth or explanation I don’t know if he has learning difficulties or if the author just wrote him inconsistently. For eg he’s meant to be grumpy and reclusive but he calls her his best friend pretty early in the book. Anyways, that apart - Carrie/Annie too is characterised to be extremely trusting of men in this new town even though she’s running from her ex. River’s childhood scenes are sad and Carrie/Annie’s dv situation is well written. However, because of the fact that they have such heavy backgrounds but the story is so breezy, I just felt like the two of them getting together and their story doesn’t really fit or bring much to the table. There is also no spice in this book. They have a gentle kiss around 70% in when she’s late in her pregnancy

Well where do I start ? This book is like no other that Samantha has ever written. The content, the style. All over her other novels have been superb, and thoroughly enjoyable, but this one I feel surpasses them all. So far. The actual topics of domestic violence for one and then sexual abuse are not usually the stuff romantic novels are written about, however the two main characters have experienced one of each. River Wild, we first meet at the age of 8 years and are immersed straight away in the sheer horror that he has to face. Encountering something so graphically written, leaves the reader emotional charged as well as downright sick. To think one human adult could inflicted such mental, physical and emotional damage on a child is absolutely numbing. Annie has her own hell. At the age of 18 being married to an older man, who starts to beat her senseless on many occasions on the day after they are wed. It doesn’t stop there, he also rapes her, controlling her physically, psychologically and emotionally making her feel worthless until she realises she is pregnant, and then she has a very urgent need to leave. Both perpetrators are supposedly offices of the law, both are the most evil creatures to walk the earth. Both are so well described that the reader hates them immediately, due their descriptions, behaviour and obvious lack of humanity. The book flows so well. There is humour, between the two main characters that is so incredibly beautiful. Their relationship eventually blossoms into an ecstasy of elated emotion, trust and love. A fabulous novel by a fantastic author, with an incredible imagination . We have everything in this book, drama, suspense, romance, pain and angst. The delights of faithful animals and the pleasure of a babe that is depicted adorably. Samantha you have excelled yourself again. To read this book is an honour, a delight and I can not recommend it highly enough. Good can grow where evil has been sown, and light can come from dark. Small steps are necessary but enormous leaps become achievable.

River Wild is one of those characters that will stay with me. He's a broken, mercurial, stand-offish and unapproachable loner, a tough nut to crack.But you just know he's much more than that under his hard shell.I absolutely adored Carrie too. I thought she was so courageous. She made me laugh with her little quirky sayings. The woman has a sweet gentle nature with the heart of a lion.Carrie and River are two broken souls running from horrific pasts. They start an unconventional friendship that will melt your heart, make you laugh your ass off at times, they are odd and complete opposites, but they work.I loved the slow burning love story between them, it was beautiful and heart breaking at times but I think their troubled pasts only made to strengthen their relationship.This was an highly emotional, gut wrenching powerful story. A journey of survival, starting over and finding the true meaning of Love and happiness. I highly recommend you start this unforgettable and moving story today.

Right from the start this book had dark connotations for both characters. Each trying to escape from a disturbing past. Each keeping their own disturbing past a secret a carve out a new life on their own.I quite liked both characters they they had similar histories starting with the people who hurt them were also the people who promised to love them and take care of them. Neither of them are looking for love but fate just keeps on throwing them together.Whilst the story is born from their dark past the author doesn't dwell on it. The characters and story evolve into a lighter slow burn romance and they often find themselves in humours situations. I did have a few chuckles along the way. It was great to see them get their HEA but they definitely went through hell to get it.