The Wild Card: A Novel

Lightning Cove #1

by Victoria H. Peña, V.H. Peña

Penelope Hastings has the perfect life. Loving parents, loyal friends, the most sought after man in town only has eyes for her, and all the freedom to embrace the wild child within her soul. So why does she feel so unsatisfied? After her boyfriend ditches her for a night of networking with his step-father’s law firm crowd, Penelope is left questioning some of the choices she had once thought were in her best interest. When the owner of the hottest local beach bar catches her eye, Penelope realizes that not all of life’s plans are set in stone.

Elias Santos has lived a good life. Are there a dozen things he wishes he had done differently? Of course. But no one can change the past, and Elias believes firmly in living the in present. So when the beautiful disaster that is Penelope Hastings walks into his bar Elias is not afraid to grab life by the proverbial horns and take on the chaos she offers.

Who cares that’s she’s twenty-one and he’s thirty-seven?

Who’s going to stop them?

Ironically, there is one very loud presence in both their lives that might try do just that.

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

393 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2024

Reviews

[Emely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age gap, bf’s dad and girl fall in love. The book reminds me of Birthday girl with a little Latin twist. It was a good read. Lots of spice and drama.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book!! 👏👏 It needs to be on more people's radar! I love a good taboo story but this had so much heart and humor it absolutely took it to the next level! I can't wait to see what happens with these supporting characters in what I hope are more books to follow!

[Jade Emley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brush up on your Spanish cause woohoo caliente!!!!
The woman did it again, a book that has a little bit of everything, for everyone 😉
I would seriously read her grocery list, I know I would fall in love with whatever she writes.

The twist?! Those bitchessss.
The love story?! I melttttt.

Wanting to feel like you just met your newest best friends? Wanting to feel seen for the first time?
Wanting someone who truly understands you without you saying it?
Someone who knows what you need before you do?

Victoria nails every aspect; to feel pulled apart and put back together, to scream at the page but can’t flip fast enough for more, to feel like words on the page are Home, as are the characters.

Will definitely be coming back to this book as a comfort object.

Poppy and Eli 4ever!!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating Romance with a fun twist!

This book was a fun read! Age Gap Romance with family drama all on all the back drop of a tropical paradise. Reading the captivating romance of P and Elias was fun to read and the plot twists in this book make it impossible to put down! Loved the incorporating of English and Spanish!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ebook. Purchased. I probably should have DNF’d. This was just not what I expected- the relationships were messy and was too borderline cheating to really enjoy the ex’s dad trope since the FMC is in a relationship and sleeping with the son for over 50% of the book. I would be interested in Graham and Naomi getting their own book though. The side characters were great on both sides.

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I love how the characters found themselves and each other. It needs some editing for typos and grammar. I needed to hit the translate button a lot to understand what was going on.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Love: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Spice quantity: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Spice quality: 🥵🥵🥵
Dark:
Humor: 😂😂
Suspense: 🙈🙈🙈
Predictability: 🎱🎱🎱🎱🎱
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼
Emotional Depth: 🧠🧠🧠
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Spicy/steamy chapters: 23, 25, 26, 29, 32, 37
Perspective: first person dpov
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Yes
Format: E-book formn
Why I chose this book: received it on stuff your kindle day

[CB]

Not interested - plot

[Katt · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD!! This book has been just sitting and getting passed over for awhile now. I think the cover sorta through me for this is gonna be a cheesy quick read. Boy was I wrong! the emotionally journey i went on with not just one or two but all the characters! It was so well written and I'm honestly sad it's over!