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Immortal Vegas #0.5

One Wilde Night

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Tarot-reading artifact hunter Sara Wilde has had her share of tough assignments, but this one just might take the cake.

When her newest client hires her to steal a fertility idol from an Amazonian sex-and-death cult, she finds herself south of the equator and shoulder deep in true believers, while Rio de Janeiro gears up for the closing celebrations of Carnival.

Stealing the idol is one thing, however. Keeping it is another.

The arcane black market has drawn a host of cutthroat operatives and Sara’s now in their sights. In a race across one of the most colorful cities in South America on its most famed night of the year, Sara must navigate cunning enemies, backstabbing allies, a fifty-foot wedding cake float and a new, sensually mysterious contact who may be friend or foe… and whose name she’ll never learn if she doesn’t make it to dawn alive.

No matter what the cards predict, it’s going to be One Wilde Night.>

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2015

150 people are currently reading
708 people want to read

About the author

Jenn Stark

34 books439 followers
Most recent release:


Working on: The Lost Queen, Dec. 2018


Jenn Stark is a Golden Heart award-winning author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She lives and writes in Ohio. . . and she definitely loves to write. :) In addition to her urban fantasy Immortal Vegas and Wilde Justice series and her paranormal romance Demon Enforcers series, she is also author Jennifer McGowan, whose Maids of Honor series of Young Adult Elizabethan spy romances are published by Simon & Schuster, and author Jennifer Chance, whose Rule Breakers series of New Adult contemporary romances are published by Random House/LoveSwept and whose modern royals series, Gowns & Crowns, is now available.

This author also goes by Jennifer McGowan. See that Goodreads author page
here .

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5 stars
290 (27%)
4 stars
406 (38%)
3 stars
295 (27%)
2 stars
54 (5%)
1 star
21 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
May 13, 2021
Okay, let's cut to the chase here. No time to lose, things to do, places to go, and all that crap. Opening scene: a naked rave/orgy in the basement of a club in Rio de Janeiro. No, you stop it right there! Yes, you, the person who is reading this review. I know exactly what you're thinking right now but you are wrong. You are so very wrong. You're thinking: "oooooh, an orgy! How hot! How positively naughty! How deliciously salacious!" Salacious? Haha. Repeat after me: lame-a-saurus! Let's say it once more, louder this time: LAME-A-SAURUS! Damn this was so pathetic it made me want to cry.

You know why this was so lame? Because of the author's desperate attempts to make it both cool and funny. 'Attempts' being the key word here. Oh the author tried, I'll give you that. And that's the problem right there: she tried so hard it ended up being ridiculous. Let's take our dear heroine, for example (don't ask me her name, I can't remember. And no it has nothing to do with Alzheimer's): here's one super duper cool badass chick wannabe. And a clever one at that! The girl's an artefact hunter who uses tarot cards to find, well, whatever artefact it is she's looking for. But hey, she's no pro-bono Indiana Jones-type gal. Don't be silly now. The whole "let's do it for science/humanity/the world" thing is terribly overrated these days. Besides, philanthropy is totally out. Our girl here is doing it all for the BIG BUCKS!



Anyway, that's where the lame-a-saurus orgy comes in. Because our badass wannabe needs to attend said orgy to recover an artefact. Since the girl's a little Einstein in the making, she thinks to herself: orgy = the place will be crowded with butt naked people. So far so good. To blend in, she will have to get butt naked as well. Okay. But she needs to be able to make her butt-naked way through the HUGE crowd easily. Right. So she oils herself to death. You know, she covers herself in oil from head to toe. Well, let me tell you, if you ever go to an orgy, don't overdo it with the oil: the whole boob pinching/ass groping act gets real complicated pretty quick. Not to mention how slippery things get when the time comes to make a run for it.



Supposedly funny chaos and action ensue. Hot males abound. Some magician guy talks to badass wannabe in her head. She finally gets the artefact. The artefact gets stolen because our girl falls into a stupid trap even my 10-year-old niece would have seen coming from ten miles away. The hunt for the artefact resumes. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Oh, look! A case of Bad French! Yay! I love it so much when authors pretend they know how to speak French and try to impress their readers with their all-encompassing knowledge of the country! Yay again, I am excite!

Let's see, what do we have here?

“Bonjour, Sainte-Germain-des-”
First of all, it's Saint not Sainte, thank you very much. Now this is spoken by a priest answering a phone. Yes this story has it all. Orgies, magicians, priests, the works. I'm assuming that (before badass wannabe very rudely cut him off) he was about to say “Bonjour, Saint-Germain-des-Près" or something like that. As in the name of his supposed location. Now that makes as much sense as a New Yorker saying "Hello, Manhattan" when they answer their phone. The French may be weird but they're not *that* weird. Well most of the time, anyway.

"Father Jerome, like most Parisians, was a master at the nuances of communication."
Okay lady, it's Jérôme not Jerome. It might seem stupid to you but we kind of like our silly little accents, so please try not to forget them in books to come. Now the real gem here is that piece about Parisians being masters at the nuances of communication . Now where did that one come from? . I've heard a lot of clichés about the French but this one? A real winner, I tell you!

“With enough seed money to start the home in Bencançon. You’ll see.”
Sigh. Now tell me Ms Stark, how difficult is it to pick a name on Google Maps and copy it to your draft/manuscript/whatever? Copy it without spelling it wrong, that is. You'd think a 5-year-old would be able to do it. But apparently it's much too complex a task. Note to Ms. Stark: it's Besançon, not Bencançon. Try saying Bencançon out loud a few times and let me know how that goes for you. If you speak French, it will probably be a painful experience.



Simultaneous translation (yeah, I'm cool like that): "Aïe, ça fait mal" = "ouch, it hurts!" You're welcome.

And you know what? We are not done in the cliché department, oh no! And it has nothing to do with the silly French this time! Ms. Stark has delightful misconceptions about the Brazilian, too! Yay! So the action for this story takes place in Rio de Janeiro. During the carnival, obviously. Because, you know, nothing ever happens in Rio when it's not ♫♫carnival♫♫ time. Much like nothing happens in New Orleans when it's not Mardi Gras. Anyway, it's Rio, it's carnival time and the Brazilians are sizzling HAWT. Because, you know, they're Brazilian and stuff.



Ah, lovely people these Brazilians. Such colourful, horny natives. It's positively charming. I'm pretty sure their hormones must be affected by the tropical heat. I mean, no one can be that naturally oversexed . Damn, Brazilians are so horny they even invite eighteen-year-olds to their orgies! Imagine that! Eighteen! "Certainly not old enough to be invited to an orgy, even in Brazil." *shakes head in desperation* Man, I'm not even Brazilian but I was pissed as hell over the way they were portrayed here. Friendly advice to Ms Stark: please make sure you set your next books (you know, those I won't read) in the US, there might be a chance you won't offend anyone if you do *crosses fingers*

And the moral of this story is: bloody hell, yes! Another series I won't be continuing! My TBR shelf says thank you!

Profile Image for Montzalee Wittmann.
5,214 reviews2,340 followers
May 5, 2018
Excellent prequel

One Wilde Night by Jen Stark is an exciting fantasy prequel about a gal that is hired to track and get things for a price. The thing is, the owners of those things may want to keep them and put up a fuss. There are other people also out to get these items for other clients too. It gets pretty crazy! There is a supernatural element to the story but not too much. A fast paced, action packed novella that is intriguing! I am definitely going to try book one!
Profile Image for Frankie Ness.
1,695 reviews96 followers
August 17, 2015
Written in first person POV, Sara Wilde is a fantastic narrator. I also love how the Tarot deck is incorporated in the myth and how Wilde uses it. We have another badass bounty hunter to stalk!
Profile Image for Angela (Angel's Book Nook).
1,672 reviews973 followers
August 17, 2024
** Read this in the Immortal Vegas Series Box Set Volume 1.

One Wilde Night is the prequel to Getting Wild.

Now I haven’t read Getting Wild, but I feel you don’t have to read this prequel to start the first book. It might even turn you off.

One Wilde Night is written in first person POV, Sara Wilde. It introduces us to many different characters and their isn’t much world building. How the story starts was shocking and it’s what didn’t make this an outstanding read or one that makes me go “I want to read the novel”. Our opening scene is a naked rave/orgy and no it’s not; because it’s going in the HOT zone, she’s their for one purpose and one purpose only, to get the item off the leader of this rave/orgy party. I will give credit to Sara for being so comfortable at being naked in front of, well everyone. I found her to be resourceful and strong willed. I also liked how the Tarot deck was used in the story.

The pages fly by in One Wilde Night as Sarah tries to recover and keep hold of the item she has been requisitioned to find.

Rated: 3 Stars

angelsgp-seethisreview-blure
Profile Image for Ronda.
890 reviews179 followers
August 24, 2015
3.5 Stars! For a novella, this book packed a punch with plenty of action from the very beginning... A promising start to what could be a great series, I love the tarot cards so I'm hoping for something special!
Profile Image for Melindeeloo.
3,268 reviews158 followers
December 31, 2015
This was an entertaining short little freebie prequel. Sara Wilde is a magical artifact hunter for hire and the story picks up with our heroine naked trying wend her way through an orgy to reach her target in order to relieve her of a magical necklace.

I thought that One Wilde Night was pretty fun. Sara's adventure was set in Rio around Carnival time, so the naked chase to the sambadrome was kind of in the 'wild' (pun intended) spirit of the book. The story is a nice little action packed carve out that doesn't do much more than scratch the surface of the mythos of the series. The events do, however, introduce Sara's ability to use Tarot to guide her way and the mysterious 'Magician' who wants to retain Sara's service for his secret organization - he has my interest peaked (and piqued too:)

I'm definitely reading the next one, Getting Wilde.
Profile Image for RachelW (BamaGal).
746 reviews77 followers
June 4, 2017
Short, cute...and more than a little frenetic. The fast pace and the characters being able thrown at me with little to no background info was more than a bit disconcerting.
Profile Image for Sophia.
Author 5 books399 followers
June 22, 2018
A few years back, I caught a review on Braine's Talk Supe blog for the first book in this series. I'm always on the hunt for new-to-me urban fantasy to try so I snagged this permanently free prequel and the first book in the series. Did I start reading immediately? Of course not, that's not how I roll, but I'm reading the first of this magical relic hunter's adventures now.

So, Sara Wilde is commissioned to bring back a certain magical artifact that just happens to be right smack in the middle of Rio de Janiero's big Carnival. It is definitely One Wilde Night as she fights off an Amazon fertility god's death cult and other operatives hired to go after the same artifact. Sara has guts and grits and a wry humor.

The story drops the reader right into Sara's adventure and there is a constant feeling that this isn't the first installment in the series, but I wasn't confused so much as I knew that Sara was already established in her chosen vocation and her world of magic will have to be explained over time. I had the impression that some people were magic wielders and others were not. That those who were not were mostly ignorant of the group that are. Sara's brand of magic is interesting. She is a tarot card reader and uses this gift to help her find the stuff she is hired to go after and also gives her a little heads up when she's skating into danger.

There is a great chase scene, lots of action, and quiet the steamy psychic encounter that promises more to come with the enigmatic Magician for the rest of the series.

All in all, I had a great time with this intro to the series and look forward to the rest of Sara's adventures. Those who like action-packed, steamy Urban Fantasy should give this freebie intro a test drive for the Immortal Vegas series.
Profile Image for Steven.
1,250 reviews451 followers
August 17, 2015
One Wilde Night by Jenn Stark
Published 2015, Elewyn
Stars: ★★★★☆
Review also posted at: Slapdash & Sundry

This little novella was an "introduction" to the world of Sara Wilde, a Connected artifact hunter who reads Tarot cards to find magical and psychic-powered special objects. It also introduces the idea of The Magician, a character who forms a bond with Sara and will surely play a much bigger role in book one, Getting Wilde.

I am definitely looking forward to reading the first book, which I just got from Netgalley, as this novella did a good bit of world-building without making it tedious, introduced some intriguing characters, and definitely piqued my interest with the artifact-hunting and card-reading!
Profile Image for Dana Alma.
356 reviews34 followers
July 30, 2015
One Wild Night by Jenn Stark is amazing!!! Sara will be your new kick-ass gal pal. You will want to tang along with her as she out thinks and out maneuvers the opposing team. As if that weren't enough, Stark wickedly introduces us to the mysterious Magician. The Magician is sexy as hell and all you want to do is to spend more time with him! Splendid writing and creative characters make this story pop!
This idol chasing magical treasure hunt is sure to capture you in a world shrouded in the arcane.

I'm very excited to see what Stark has in store for us. If there were a pre-order available for the next book, I would have already ordered it.
Profile Image for Shelley.
5,598 reviews489 followers
August 21, 2015
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5

*My Thoughts*

--Tarot-reading artifact hunter Sara Wilde has had her share of tough assignments, but this one just might take the cake. When her newest client hires her to steal a fertility idol from an Amazonian sex-and-death cult, she finds herself south of the equator and shoulder deep in true believers, while Rio de Janeiro gears up for the closing celebrations of Carnival.

Stealing the idol is one thing, however. Keeping it is another.

The arcane black market has drawn a host of cutthroat operatives and Sara’s now in their sights. In a race across one of the most colorful cities in South America on its most famed night of the year, Sara must navigate cunning enemies, backstabbing allies, a fifty-foot wedding cake float and a new, sensually mysterious contact who may be friend or foe… and whose name she’ll never learn if she doesn’t make it to dawn alive.--

*Full Review Posted @ Gizmos Reviews*

http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...

Published July 28th 2015 by Elewyn Publishing
186 reviews11 followers
September 21, 2015
for full review go to One Book Two at http://wp.me/p5Q4Dh-KP

I didn’t learn much more than I already knew from reading Getting Wilde, the first book in this series, but it was a pretty darn good story. There never is enough time to thoroughly delve into a deep plot when it comes to novellas, but this one didn’t seem rushed nor did it feel cut off. I was written very well, I thought.
Profile Image for Ana.
301 reviews165 followers
September 9, 2018
Well, the story does have a heck of an interesting first scene, I’ll give you that. Our intrepid heroine is at an orgy looking for a mysterious amulet. A naked orgy.

She’s a treasure hunter who somehow finds what’s she’s looking for based on a tarot reading.

And we have a mysterious, powerful, hot dude clearly interested in her.

Sounds good, right?

And it is, however, probably due to the shortness of the story, I was really confused about the world and exactly who the players are and what the heck is going on with all those threads the author sneaked in. I know the set up is there to make readers intrigued enough to continue on, but I feel it was a bit too much and chaotic? Lets go with chaotic.

In conclusion:

An interesting prologue for a uf series. It drew my attention, and made me curious to give the series a chance.
Profile Image for Lorrie (Clockworkbookworm).
1,780 reviews22 followers
February 22, 2022
2.75-3⭐ - And here I was thinking this was a vital read for the series. Grrr Chaos and cringe level comments abound, but not the details. So now I think I am supposed to be confused and clueless about what is happening. It was purposefully done, but maybe not well done. At least with One Wilde Night we are not dealing with an unreliable narrator and only a clueless Robinhood-esque-Indiana Jones wannabe 'finder' (not the short lived TV show). That sounds harsh, but she does zero research on her jobs, flying by the seat of her pants (though she is frequently without even them). It was frustrating.

That rant over, I am looking forward to reading book 2 at some point. I definitely want more information and more Armaeus.
Profile Image for Danielle (Danniegurl).
1,960 reviews110 followers
February 8, 2018
This was a great prequel to a new series I am just getting into. Has the right amount of intrigue and action.

The one thing this didn't do was explain the universe and the whose who in this series. I have a vague idea of what everything entails, but I'm hoping that gets covered a bit better in the next book.

I feel a slow burn romance coming, one I'm excited to find out! That's definitely something peeking my interest in this series!

This was free on Amazon.
Profile Image for Theresa .
1,849 reviews77 followers
July 1, 2020
4 Stars... This novella sets the stage for the Immortal Vegas Series... We meet Sara Wilde and are immersed into the world of the Connected through her eyes and adventures... She has one wild night at she works to procure a fertility artifact which has some potent side effects leading to chaos and mayhem... We are also introduced to the mysterious and seductive Armaeus Bertrand and are provided hints as to the depth of his relationship with Sara... I enjoyed this new to me heroine; strong, intelligent, witty, and courageous... She has all the qualities I look for in my female leads... I am excited to dive into this series and watch the storyline unfold:)
281 reviews2 followers
September 14, 2017
A great introduction

I can't wait to read more of the series, the introduction is great and the interaction between the two main characters is very interesting
Profile Image for Vannessa.
1,208 reviews25 followers
February 5, 2017
So glad I finally got round to reading this novella as I had read the first book in this series and was a little confused in places about Sara Wilde, her abilities and who some of the other characters were. This short novella set the scene and introduces us to the world of Sara Wilde, artefact finder!

Sara has been hired to retrieve (ok, steal) a frog shaped pendant from the Princesa in a carnival down in Rio de Janeiro, but it's nowhere near an easy task for her. She does manage to make her way through countless naked bodies to get to the Princesa, but no sooner than Sara gets a hold of it does she have to run for her life whilst others are chasing her to get their hands on the amulet themselves. After a couple of betrayals and a couple of encounters with the Magician, things start looking up for Sara.

Looking forward to reading the rest of this series now.
Profile Image for Eden Grey.
295 reviews74 followers
December 2, 2015
Fabulous, wild, fantasy action that will keep you up at night until you turn the last page - and then you'll be wanting more! What an exciting start to a series! The protagonist, Sara Wilde, is a badass bombshell who isn't afraid of anything, and she has the craziest adventures! With very good writing, intriguing characters, and a well-developed modern magical world, the Immortal Vegas series is one I am looking forward to getting to know better. Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy and those looking for an exciting, quick read. But be prepared to swoon because this story gets HOT! :D
Profile Image for Eden Hudson.
Author 56 books314 followers
September 14, 2015
AAAAAHHH! This novella is so much fun! Once I started, I couldn't stop reading. The action never never lets up. It's so hard to find a sarcastic, tough, AND genuinely funny female protagonist these days, but Sara Wilde is the total package. She made me laugh out loud more than once. I'm definitely Getting Wilde* (Immortal Vegas Book 1) next!

*This pun was absolutely necessary.
Profile Image for Literati Literature Lovers.
2,007 reviews158 followers
January 6, 2016
If you like the newest of being immersed into a new urban fantasy world, then you need to check out this novella. This is the prequel to the Immortal Vegas series by Jenn Stark. I would recommend this urban fantasy heroine for those of you who adore Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series. This novella has a similar flair to the heroine and includes a mystery magical sexy stalker.

Profile Image for Z-squared.
296 reviews114 followers
August 18, 2015
Fun start to a new series. This promises to be a fast-paced PNR with a lot of action, a heap of Thomas Crown Affair thievery, and a smidge of Darynda Jones snark. And tarot cards are just plain cool. Pick this up while it's still a freebie and enjoy.
Profile Image for Amy A.
1,769 reviews24 followers
August 13, 2015
Great, quick read. Loved how it sets things up for the main books in the series, but having read it after reading the first book, I just liked the seeing where things properly began with Sara and The Magician.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews

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