Bailey Hart, known as Wild Hart, is sick and tired of being the target of malicious gossip, of being taken for granted by her own family, and most of all being treated like a child by her overprotective, older cousin Justin. She's been the lead singer for a band for some time, there's a record deal on the horizon, and she cannot wait to get out of this stifling small town. Bailey has had a crush on Chase McKee for as long as she can remember, but he doesn't seem to see beyond the tomboy she once was. Chase is back from Oakland and is now the town deputy; it's a step down, but after an unfortunate incident in Oakland, he's come home to lick his wounds and make a new start. He wishes his friend Justin Hart weren't so overbearing so Chase could tell Bailey how he feels about her...

Bailey Hart is an extremely interesting character, and I was dying to read her story, but she is not easy to warm up to! Bailey is one of the peculiar instances when you need to read the character's story, even though she is not very likeable, but especially intriguing, and this is all the author's doing. And you could cut the tension with a knife! Bailey is so on edge, it's palpable, and understandable as well. Her cousin Justin, who is almost her surrogate father, nearly treats her like a servant; he means well, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Bailey's career move is more a means of escape than a need to express her artistic side; she needs some space, some freedom, and trying to make it with her band is the only way she sees to have room to breathe. She is sarcastic, cynical, even more so with Chase, who would like nothing more than to be more than friends and he starts flirting with her, to no avail; she rebuffs him over and over because she feels they are simply too different, and besides she's leaving soon.

WILD AT HEART is not precisely what I anticipated for Bailey's story, but then again, Bailey up until then was quite an enigma. Slowly, Ms. Kline reveals bits and pieces of Bailey and Chase's past, which explain a lot about why having this relationship almost seems like mission impossible. It is such a difficult road to opening up, for both Chase and Bailey, as well as making Justin understand. Justin may have mellowed a tad, but he is still very much the überalpha! As always, with the Healing Hearts series, we revisit the whole Hart cousins and their partners, and their participation as a family in Bailey's struggle for independence, which is stronger than before. WILD AT HEART is yet another fascinating incursion in the lives of the Hart family.

Book Summary

Sometimes the place you’re trying to run from is exactly where your heart needs to be…

Bailey Hart has never felt like she measures up to her cousins at Heart Fire Ranch. It doesn’t help that her rocker attitude has made her a black sheep in her small town. So when her band gets their big break in Los Angeles, “Wild Hart” can’t run fast enough…If only there weren’t so many reasons to stay.

After a harrowing stint in the Oakland Police Department, sheriff’s deputy Chase McKee has returned home a hero, and yet he feels anything but. And when he finds out Bailey might be leaving for good, the feelings he’s always harbored for his best friend’s cousin just won’t stay hidden. He knows she wants to get the heck out of Dodge, but he’s hoping to show her where she really belongs—with him.

Will this Wild Hart turn her back on love, or will she realize her heart really belongs closer to home?