The Wilde Side

Wilde #2

by Janelle Denison

SHE’S TIRED OF BEING GOOD…

Dollar signs. That’s what most men see when they look at luxury hotel heiress Ashley St. Claire. The last thing the stunning good girl wants for her 30th birthday is another boring set-up with a stuffed shirt interested more in analyzing her portfolio than in making her crazy with desire. The time has come for Ashley to have a scorching fling before settling down…one hot, erotic night with a sexy stranger who’ll bring out her inhibitions and let her be as shameless as she dares…a man who has no idea who she really is. A man like the one giving her body a long, slow appraisal at the bar and making no attempt to hide the fact that he likes what he sees…

HE EXCELS AT BEING BAD…

Unwrap me, baby. That’s the thought ricocheting around construction company owner Scott Wilde’s brain—and other parts—as he tries very hard to keep his hands off the stunning creature who has just asked him to be her birthday present. He says yes, of course—it would just be bad manners to refuse a lady. But Scott is totally unprepared for the sparks that fly between them…or the way that raw passion leads to an exciting, clandestine affair and something much deeper. Ashley may be running scared, but Scott’s got stamina. When he wants something badly, he’ll pull out all the stops to get it…and he’s determined to show Ashley just how delicious a lifetime of passion can be if she’s willing to take a walk on the Wilde side with him…

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Ebooks, Family, Erotica

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

It’s hard for me to imagine that I’ve been writing romances for over twenty years now! I started at the young age of 21, just after I got married. Reading romances, and then writing them, came about as a result of having too much time on my hands. When I first married my husband Don, I was working a regular nine to five job and he worked swing shift, from four in the afternoon until midnight. It wasn’t an ideal schedule for newlyweds, and in order to pass those hours when I was alone I started reading romances, and eventually tried my hand at writing them.
The road to publication wasn’t an easy one. It took me five years and dozens of rejections to make my first sale, which was to Harlequin for their “Stolen Moments” line. THE FAMILY MAN, written under the pseudonym Danielle Kelly, was one of the twelve novellas published in 1993 for this promotional line.

It took me another two and a half years (and more rejections!) to sell my second book. HEAVEN’S GIFT (written under my own name) was published in October 1995 by Leisure Love Spell for their “An Angel’s Touch” series. Another two years passed of collecting even more rejections before I finally sold to Harlequin Romance and Harlequin Temptation. At the time, writing for both Temptation and Harlequin Romance provided me with a wonderful creative outlet for both my modern, ultra-sexy stories, and my warmer, traditional romances. But as the years passed, I realized how much I enjoyed writing the sexier stories and streamlined my career accordingly so that I was no longer writing the sweet traditional romances, and instead focused on the hotter, sexier stories for Temptation and Blaze.

After writing over two dozen books for Harlequin, I decided to branch out. I wanted to write anthologies and single titles, and came up with an idea about three sexy brothers with the last name of “Wilde”. Little did I know that those Wilde brothers would become such a sensation with readers. In the second Wilde book, WILDE THING, four Wilde cousins were introduced, and readers started writing in for their stories, too. It’s been a joy and pleasure to write each of the Wilde stories, and I want to thank everyone for purchasing those books and putting them on the USA Today Bestseller list!

I’ve been a full-time writer for years, which consists of being deep in deadlines, writing proposals (growling at the husband to fix a glitch in the computer so I can get back to work!), perusing contracts, line-edits (stressing over a scene that won’t work or characters that just won’t talk or cooperate with my plans for them!), galleys, art-fact sheets, promotion, and other publishing paperwork. Admittedly, I wouldn’t trade all the craziness in for pantyhose, rush hour traffic, and a nine-to-five job again. Writing is hard work, but I find the rewards are well worth the effort. Fan letters are one of those priceless rewards, and can keep me on a high for days! I’ve met the most wonderful people through my books, some of which I now consider good friends.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad that I found this author because she is fabulous! This story had a little romance and a lot of laughs.

We meet the sexy Scott Wilde when Ashley St. Claire, the prototypical good girl, decides to give herself a birthday present of a one night stand at a dive bar on the other side of town. Scott, normally happy to be a boy toy, instantly is attracted to Ashely in a way he hasn’t ever been attracted to a woman before.

One of the things I really liked about this book was that it talked a lot about family expectations and preconceived notions. I like books that tend to push the boundaries on some stereotypes and I thought this was something that Denison did really well. She’s definitely an author I’ll be checking out in the future. If you haven’t read her before, she’s similar in style to Victoria Dahl, Rachel Gibson or Lori Foster. She's also a friend of Carly Phillips and very similar in style.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading the book, but i had the feeling that something was missing.

[Melanie♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book got off to such a good start and then stalled out completely.
I had read a couple of the other titles in the series, but not all.
This was like a big drawn out reunion for characters from past books, with not nearly enough time spent on developing the H/h for this entry.
Mid-way through it lost me completely and was almost a dnf. Too bad, it had potential.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashley St. Claire, a wealthy heiress to a hotel fortune, is having her thirtieth birthday and is tired of being the staid, practical and good girl. So, she sets out for a night of adventure, hoping for a no-strings, one-night stand with a hot, sexy guy. She definitely gets it when she meets Scott Wilde and they spend a good 20% of the book burning up the sheets. But she's gone in the morning and Scott is disappointed...and also wary because it's setting up to be a situation where he's being used for sex. And their next encounters seem to reinforce that belief. But Ashley is just trying to avoid the scandal if it got out that she'd been having an affair with a guy she picked up in a bar. Scott eventually figures out who she is and even though he's furious at first, he begins to realize that she's worth the effort. He offers her a discreet affair before she moves on from his life with the goal of tempting her into more with him.

I was pretty ambivalent here. I absolutely adore a hero who falls hard and fast and first, and Scott was no exception here. He's no manho who loves women and wants to sex up everything with breasts. He's a solid guy who spots a good potential relationship with a woman...if she'd only trust him with her identity. And the author does a really great job of conveying Scott's hurt, anger and frustration at the situation - and I gotta admit that every time he lashes out at Ashley, it is so definitely deserved. I loved Scott and felt awful for him throughout the book. Ashley...yeah, she was okay. First of all, I'm not sure the author really convinced me that her situation was going to cause scandal and that her reasons for continually hurting Scott were all that strong. Ashley's realization that she was suffering (and causing Scott to suffer) for her own expectations, rather than her parents' was good and I like the amount of growth that Ashley makes here, realizing that she'd been selfish and callous with Scott's heart all this time. But I struggled to like Ashley BECAUSE she was being selfish and callous and she didn't really learn her lesson until kinda too late in the book for me to change my mind. I mean, even in the end, when she realizes that her discreet affair looks like she's been "sleeping with the hired help" she worries what her parents will think. For me, she didn't think about Scott and his feelings enough, so I still struggled to like her. The angst for these two was delicious and their sex scenes together had a lot of chemistry and hotness. So that was another plus. This was a good story, I just wish I liked the heroine a bit more.

[Julianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
The Wilde Side is the fifth story and the second full-length novel in Janelle Denison’s Wilde series that follows two sets of siblings in the Wilde family who are also cousins. The three brothers on one side of the family have already found their HEAs in the previous stories, so this book is the first to feature the other group of Wilde siblings, three brothers and a younger sister. We begin with Scott, who I believe is the oldest, paired with hotel heiress, Ashley St. Claire who was briefly introduced in the novella, All She Wants for Christmas. Things get started between them with a steamy one-night stand, but Scott quickly realizes he wants much more from Ashley who is a bit gun-shy after a relationship gone bad. He then spends the rest of the book trying to convince her they’re perfect for each other. Overall, it was a fun, sexy romp that I enjoyed reading.

Scott and his brother, Alex, took over their father’s construction business when he retired, but Scott appears to be the one who does most of the executive type work. He’s not afraid to get out there and work with his crew, though, when they need an extra pair of hands. He pushes himself hard, trying to make up for a huge mistake in the past that nearly left the company bankrupt, so he’s excited to get a contract to do restoration work for the St. Claire hotel chain. Scott meets a mysterious woman at his favorite bar who tempts him beyond belief, and not knowing that she’s a St. Claire, he agrees to a one-night stand with her. Almost immediately he recognizes that she’s someone he could see himself with long-term, but she didn’t even give him her last name, so he has no way to contact her again. One thing leads to another, and they do end up crossing paths a few more times, but Scott really has his work cut out for him convincing her they belong together. I had liked what I saw of Scott when he was a secondary character in the previous stories, and he didn’t disappoint here. He’s an alpha to be sure, but more the kind of alpha who is confident and oozes sex appeal without being aggressive like some of his cousins are. I liked that he’s more into relationships and isn’t really a one-night stand kind of guy. He only makes an exception for Ashley because she’s totally irresistible to him. When she keeps being mysterious and giving him the brush-off, though, he can’t help wondering if he’s fallen into the same trap as he did with his last girlfriend, who turned out to be a married woman. This leads him to perform a background check on her with his cousin’s help, which I had mixed feelings about, but since he might not have seen her again otherwise, drew the line at digging too deep into her personal life, and it had a favorable outcome, I was able to let it slide. What I really liked about Scott is that he’s more than ready for marriage and kids, providing he can find the right woman, and once he’s convinced that’s Ashley, he takes a step back from all the hot sex and pulls out all the stops to woo her. He’s also a very generous and swoon-worthy lover.

Ashley has made mistakes of her own she’s running from. Two years earlier, she got involved with the wrong man, someone who only wanted her for her money and ended up blackmailing her and her family with lewd photos. Since then she hasn’t had any truly serious relationships and doesn’t really trust her own judgment when it comes to men. She’s tired of being the good girl and trying to live up to her family’s social standing. For once in her life, she just wants to let herself go and be a little bit bad. After a long sexual drought, Ashley decides to give herself a birthday present – a one-night stand with a sexy stranger with no expectations attached, and where she can be as naughty as she wants to be without any consequences. She finds all that and more with Scott but didn’t expect to develop feelings for him. She can’t resist going back to him two more times, but when Scott makes it clear that he wants something deeper with her or he’ll no longer be her booty call, she gets scared. Ashley has her life all mapped out and it includes a move to San Francisco to start over away from the influence of her family. Scott shouldn’t factor into it, but she can’t get him off her mind. I liked that Ashley was a confident woman who wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted, and although she was resisting the idea of commitment, like all of Janelle Denison’s other heroines I’ve read to date, she wasn’t being too hard-core about it. She gradually warms up to Scott’s seduction, and I enjoyed watching her grow and learn and figure things out so that she could embrace their relationship in the end.

Overall, The Wilde Side was an enjoyable read. I liked Scott and Ashley really well, and their story was well-written. Even though one-night stands aren’t usually my favorite way to begin a romance, I can buy into it if the author does a good job of developing the relationship, and in this case, she did. I especially liked how she took a break from the sex and allowed them to build a friendship before hitting the sheets again. The love scene are super steamy and just this side of erotic, which was a plus. I also liked the supporting cast. We get to see past heroes and heroine have a wedding and grow their families, plus future heroes and heroines as well. There’s a good look at Scott’s sister, Mia, and her love interest, Cameron, who will appear in the next full-length novel, Too Wilde to Tame. Mia is quite the handful, so I’m not sure how I feel about her yet. Then there’s Scott’s brother, Alex, and his girlfriend, Dana, who are seen a couple of times. They’ll be featured in the next novella, One Wilde Weekend. The only reason I marked the book down to four stars is that, for some reason, I just never quite got super-excited about it. The only possible flaw I saw was that it tends to be a bit narrative heavy, when I wanted a little more action and dialogue, but otherwise, I don’t really have any complaints. It was a fun, steamy read, so I’ll definitely continue with the series.

Note: While perhaps not quite what I would term erotic, this book contains some very steamy content including phone sex, light bondage, and the creative use of a bottle of champagne. IMHO, everything was tastefully done, but it could make some readers uncomfortable.

[Kissyc K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovedddd it! It was the longest in the series so far! It could have had a little more action... but I like action... as far as romance goes it was hot and fun! Definitely romantic... the author is creative as far as sex goes and each character really does have their own personality which is fun to discover in each book!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sexy contemporary romance. I liked the way Ashley and Scott meet. This is one hot read.

[Cherie Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh to take a walk on the wild side.♡♡♡♡

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexy and fun.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have to agree with many of the previous reviews, this was the most boring story of the Wilde Series. I thought the book was too long and would have worked better as a short story or even novella. The two main characters are Scott Wilde and Ashley St. Claire.
By page 3, I realized Ashley was the woman who helped Matthew pick out items for Faith in the third installment of this series, "All She Wants For Christmas." I was pleasantly surprised that she was the female lead in this book.
I thought the first sex scene was too long. I can hear the gasps now. I felt it caused the book to be unbalanced. There is continuance of the adults playing a child's game theme from books one and two of this series. In this book, it's follow the leader and pool tag. The follow-the-leader was done well.
I thought her hiding her idenity was an interesting twist. I thought it worked ok, but went on too long.
By page 84, I got bored with the book. I started skimming. I can honestly state this was the first time in any of the books in this series that I did.
If this would have been a short story, another off shot could have been Ashley's sister Madison and her husband. It would have been great to see have characters who are already married and the stuggle they have. I would've liked to have more on Madison's husband and his point of view.
And as previous reviewers have written, it was great to get caught up with the previous characters from other stories and novel. I really enjoyed the contest between Erik and Steve.
My reading partner was so bored with this book, she skipped to the end. She also had a comment on the cover. She wanted a hotter body with some worn work gloves and tigher jeans.
I give the sex scenes 2 chili peppers-a little warm but not buring up with heat.

[Writerlibrarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the best of the series. The heroine was shallow and didn't have any layers. She was this paper thin caricature of a female lead. Denison has written better and much more interesting heroine in earlier books. The male lead was okay and more developed in comparison but not by much.

Denison is closing up the original Wilde family stories: Steve and Liz from The Wilde Thing are having a baby; Eric and Jill are also having a baby there is a bet going on as who will be a father first; Adrian and Chayse get married in this book and we find out that Faith and Matthew eloped. Mia and Cameron are still prowling around each other. That's probably the next book. All of this doesn't really leave a lot of space for the main couple : Ashley and Scott to grow on the reader and develop a storyline that is interesting and fun. It feels more like they fill the space in between tying up loose plots from the previous books.

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I was surprised that I liked this! It was great!

Although to warn the weak at heart, this book was so full of sex, I'm surprised it had room for the story! AND it was a perfect read!

It is ironic that I hate books with so much added fluff and so many characters, because it gets distracting from the real story. This one however had so much information & background, followed by the reason this character showed up making the fit perfect. So all in all, the pop in and pop out of all of these characters prepared for new books in the series & explained past books. I never once thought "who the hell is that?"

This was a fast paced read, and I will definitely try to track the rest of this story down.

I rated this book according to the style of book & comapared it to the comparable books I've read. Although this book is not the epic tale like other books... In the contemporary romance genre style it was a 5 star book.

[Meryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good one about the Wilde men. This one is about Scott Wilde and Ashley St. Claire. Ashley decides for her 30th birthday she wants to have a wild fling with a man she doesn't know, who doesn't know she is the heiress to the St Claire hotel fortune. She goes to a bar that is not her normal style and picks up Scott Wilde, they have their wild night, but then she finds out that his firm has been hired to do construction work on her hotels. She tries to stay away from him but the spark has already been lit.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked The Wilde Side , it's filled with drama, romance, self-growth and lots of other stuff. I found The Wilde Side to be the kind of book that just lures you in and you can't stop reading until the book is done. I hope to read Wilde Thing , the prequel to this book as well as the other books in this Wilde series, I also hope it's just as good as this one was.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked both of the main characters and the chemistry/sex was good.
Did not like the insta-love on either of their parts, though the guy's side was much more ridiculous. Insta-lust, sure no problem.

Didn't see it coming that James was actually a decent guy just down on his luck, was please with him not being some predictable blackmailer bad guy. Was hoping for the CEO guy who liked Ashley to become a bad sort of guy--could have had a lot of extra drama!

[Sue Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I couldn't put this one down. Ashley has been hurt before and she just wants a no strings attached fling. But she meets Scott and she is afraid that if he knew she was an heiress that he would be like the other guys she has meet and will try to scandalize her and her family. They learn to trust and love each other.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a previous 'Wilde' short story, I had an idea what to expect from this book and it didn't disappoint. Not a book to read if you are looking for high literature, but if you want a fun, frothy (and steamy!) read that passes a few hours, this fits the bill.

Have others from this series on my bookshelf and am looking forward to reading them.

[Bette Stanek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first in this series, Wilde Thing, was OK. Wilde Side received higher ratings than Wilde Thing, so I decided to give the series another shot. So far, it looks like the plot takes second place to the bedroom scenes.

OK, there was a little more here besides the bedroom scenes, but that still seems to take precedence over the storyline.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I had only read a little story of her's in one of those anthology books. I liked the way she wrote so I saw this book and grabbed it. I loved this book! This lady knows how to write! Recommend...off to find some more books by Janelle!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...

[ElaineY · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable. A straight, fast-paced romance uncluttered by suspense that's just thrown in gratuitously. I enjoyed this and am now reading Wilde for Him and absolutely loving it!

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars – Contemporary Romance

[Ladyacct · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book from start to finish.

[Kevin Connery · Rating 3 out of 5]

More stereotyped characters, but well written otherwise.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erotic

[Goge (BARRONS) le Moning Maniac,]

Another Wilde.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner......

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott and Ashley had great chemistry, steamy sexy first night. I enjoyed is one.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemporary - light read although the heroine is occasionally tedious.