Wild Thing

by Anne Stuart

They needed no words between them…

The man has no identity, no past and the mind of a genius packaged in rippling muscles and sun-seared skin. It was Dr. Elizabeth Holden’s job to uncover the mystery of this man, who seemed to speak only the language of the flesh.

His blatant masculinity frightened and excited her all at once. But his savage facade hid a vulnerability only she had glimpsed. And like an animal forging through the deepest…darkest…densest woods, Elizabeth longed to give in to her primitive, unexplored desires. But was she ready to shed her inhibitions and let the real woman within her run wild…?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Harlequin, Audiobook, Category Romance

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 22, 2000

About the author

Anne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better.

Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.

She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.

When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.

Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.

Reviews

[❤️ Dorsey aka Wrath Lover Reviews ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Jungle Love Stars!!!

Anthropologist and Linguistic expert, Dr. Elizabeth “Libby” Hunter arrives on Ghost Island at the request of a billionaire who funds her grants. The island is uninhabited except for the facility built there to study the “Missing Link aka Tarzan” a man living in the wild on the island that he and his associates captured and are studying. As soon as she sees him, she is outraged at his treatment and the more time she spends with him she feels some sort of attraction to the wild man and decides to help him escape. Only it doesn’t go as planned when “John” decides to take her with him.

“I’m really not into this you Tarzan, me Jane stuff, you need Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, not an over-civilized, overeducated woman like me”.

The action is fast paced once they escape and to pass the time Libby talks, and talks.....and talks!!! Just chattering away, It's hilarious how Libby blurts out her life story in English and French assuming he’s not understanding a word she’s saying. For a man who doesn't speak for over half of the book, John was a very captivating character! Eventually we get John’s true story and let’s just say Libby was not happy. He now knows all her deepest, darkest secrets….not to mention everything about her bland sex life!!! I can say more but I don’t want to give away John’s story, let’s just say he has a heartbreaking backstory that brings him to Ghost Island several months a year.

She held her breath, and he put his mouth against hers again, lingering for a long, tantalizing moment. “Just say no,” he whispered in his harsh, strained voice. He covered her mouth, using his tongue again, and this time she didn’t jump. “Oh, God, please don’t say no,” he whispered.

And yes, John and Libby manage to generate plenty of sparks, even though he spends most of the book not talking. I love Anne Stuart, she has a gift for turning the most unlikely characters into hero’s that you can fall in love with. With an epilogue this definitely would have been a 5 star read although, Anne Stuart gave us a HEA and by no means left us hanging on the direction John & Libby were headed, I still would have loved an epilogue.

Wild Thing by The Troggs:
https://youtu.be/gJ-JN1Sgt38

Lyrics:
Wild thing you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing
Wild thing I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
Come on hold me tight
I love you
Wild thing I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure
Come on hold me tight
You move me

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wild Thing" is the story of Elizabeth and John.

AMAZING *claps*

I am obsessed with forests. My dream is to live in them. I love the whole Tarzan fantasy. Add them all, and this book emerges.

When Dr Elizabeth Holden, PhD and expert in anthropology and linguistics is coerced by the moody rich billionaire Edward J. Hunnicutt to travel to Ghost Island to assist him in a project, she never expects the subject to be a wild man!
Trapped in the island with two of his ruthless goons, Elizabeth soon starts sympathizing with "the subject"- whom she names John, and her empathy drives her to rescue him, while putting her life and career in danger.
However, while letting him go, she never expects he would kidnap her, and the truth is very far from what she thought it would be..

Ms Anne Stuart makes me fall in love with her even more with this book. Strong, sassy and vulnerable heroine, brooding and wild hero, SUCH HOT lovemaking, angst, loads of drama and thrilling elements, all culminating in a sweet ending. I adored the heroine and her inner strength so much- the hero..well I can't say much without giving the plot away but he was perfect for her.

My favorite scenes are the coitus behind the waterfall, her chattering his ears off, the whole silent treatment and brownie debacle, and ofcourse, the ending.

This book definitely needed an epilogue, because I needed to know if everything was amazing in future, but just because it was missing that, I'm giving it half stars less.

Safe and amazing
4.5/5

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extremely generous 2.5 stars.

'Wild thing, you make my heart sing…..'

An alpha male, a brilliant but mixed-up female doctor and a creepy suspense plot.

'Wild thing, I think I love you.'

Hormone glands on overload.

'But I wanna know for sure'

Just who is this guy? And why was she so attracted to him?

'So come on and hold me tight'

Sex.

'I love you.'

The End

~a old 1960s song sung by The Troggs

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Elizabeth (Libby) Holden is brought to a private island somewhere near Australia to help study and validate an incredible find. Her benefactor, Edward Hunnicutt, believes he has within his possession the missing link. A lost child of the jungle who has grown into "Tarzan" who is now locked away in Hunnicutt's observation facilities. At first, Dr. Elizabeth is busy envisioning Nobel Prizes and other major scientific awards, but when she finally sees the mysterious Tarzan, she's suspicious, as well as smitten. When she finally gets through his drug filled stupor, his attempts at communication sounds suspiciously like, "help me." Convinced more than ever that this beautiful and wild man needs to run free, she tries to do just that, only to find herself kidnapped and on the run as well. It seems Tarzan has found himself a mate. He gets them away from the bad guys and plans their escape from the island. Libby thinks her wild man means to get them away by some manmade boat fashioned from banana leaves and sticks, but when she sees their mode of transportation, she knows she's been lied to from the very beginning and if Tarzan wants to keep his mate, he's got a lot of explaining to do.

This was definitely a different story. It was, ah, interesting. Credibility, believability and the voice of common sense are not your friends and are to be ignored when you read this book. Trust me. Or else you will be left trying to believe that someone was stupid enough to think that they could basically knock someone over the head and then drag that person before a carnival freak show and proclaim, "Behold! The missing link! See how it drools and looks confused!"

Just don't bother. Instead, enjoy the ride. :)

Poor John Bartholomew Hunter is just a simple, college professor who enjoys his peace and solitude when he isn't being imprisoned by a megalomaniac billionaire with illusions of grandeur and his nasty little minions. He thinks Elizabeth is another minion, but she rescued him and gave him back his freedom and so he figures he owes her when he drags her with him. For a man who enjoys his quiet, Libby is anything but quiet, for she assumes she can say anything to this wild manbeast who doesn't understand english, so she talks and talks and talks and talks. A very big portion of this book is Libby having one sided conversations where she basically unburdens her soul on John A.K.A Tarzan. Once she finds out she's been tricked, she descends into a world class hissy fit and now she's the uncommunicative one, leaving John trying to unburden his soul to her now stoney silence. It's a wonder how they fell in love with this type of miscommunication.

While I don't believe I would be as magnanimous to any other author if I had read this book, I nevertheless enjoyed this completely ridiculous story by Anne Stuart. Wild Thing misses out on some of Anne Stuart's delightful wit, because John and Libby rarely have full on conversations, but this was still a fun little romp. It was an enjoyable and adventurous trek through the jungle, and if the two main protagonists didn't do a whole lot of good old fashioned mouth to mouth communication, they still managed to get through to each other in other ways. Simple desire and hot sex. Which was just fine with me. Enjoy!

[MBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked:

1- The unique storyline in this novel. I have never read a book of the Tarzan-Jane theme and this was a refreshing change from the usual bunch of romances that line my bookshelves.

2- John. He is one delicious hunk of man flesh which just makes my mouth water. And of course there is a lot to be said for his broody nature, his restless soul that continually seeks something which it cannot find until he holds his Libby in his arms. *sigh*

3- Libby. Lord, she made laugh a couple of times with her sense of humor and her incessant chatter. Was she in for a surprise when John utters his first words at her. The humiliation she feels leaves her seething but in the end it is no match for the strong yearning that takes a hold of her emotions when she comes into contact with her wild man. I loved her sunny nature which comes out to play only when John is around which perfectly complements John’s broody and intense nature.

4- Ah! This story does prove that Anne Stuart can in fact write an ending that would satisfy her legion of readers. I loved how this story ended with an insight into their lives 3 months after they get together when finally John realizes that at last he had found the other half of his soul in Libby after his latest walkabout.

I Disliked: Nothing comes to mind. I loved this story from start to finish!

Memorable scenes/quotes from the story:

She held very still, trying to be calm as he kissed her, but when he pushed his tongue into her mouth she jumped, panicked, trying to scoot away from him.
He didn’t let her, catching her shoulders and hauling her back. “That’s nothing, Libby,” he said. “You may as well relax and get used to it. My mouth, my tongue, my fingers. I’m going to touch you, taste you, everywhere, until you don’t know where you end and I begin. And all you have to do, love – ” he brushed his lips against hers ” – is say no.”
She held her breath, and he put his mouth against hers again, lingering for a long, tantalizing moment.
“Just say no,” he whispered in his harsh, strained voice. He covered her mouth, using his tongue again, and this time she didn’t jump. “Oh, God, please don’t say no,” he whispered.

For the full in-depth review: http://bit.ly/etxatp

[Dina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the reviews I read before starting this book, I knew that I had to check reality at the door to enjoy it. All I can say is, I'm glad I did. Wow, what an unbelievable plot! I won't go into details here - you can read Holly R's review for a better take on the story - but I think I mastered the eye-rolling thing while reading this book, LOL.

Since I knew what to expect and braced myself for it, I ended up having some fun. Libby's initial non-stop babbling and subsequent silence treatment were funny, even though completely out of character - I mean, the woman was supposed to be a genious but didn't act the part. As for John, I never got to "know" him, since he was mute and "unreachable" for more than the first half of the book. In the end, I'm not sure their falling in love is believable and that (almost) always ruins a book for me.

[Carol Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish -- the hero was an ape-man, always a major turn off for me. The heroine kept whining about being far away from cities and junk food, with an "ain't I cute" smirk on her face. Another big turn off. The two villains were like Cockney versions of George and Lennie from "Of Mice And Men."

The one thing I will say is that I admire Anne Stuart. She really doesn't give a rat's ass what readers want or expect. If she's turned on by an ape-man being strapped down and pumped full of drugs, that's what she's going to write about. Take it or leave it, fans!

[fulano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but not great. It’s not very romantic, but there are still some good scenes. It definitely needed an epilogue though, as the ending was very abrupt. And this was a story that needed closure because of its premise and what both characters wanted for their futures, which are very different. Realistically, the characters separate in the future. It’s hard to see them last very long together, so if you are reading this for the romance, don’t expect much from the ending and enjoy the story for what it gives. But it was still very easy to read though, it just lacks romance.























TW/CW:
“savage” slur, violence, kidnapping, past grief, trauma, past loss of loved ones.

[Aneca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying a holiday yesterday gave me time to finish Anne Stuart’s Wild Thing and start a new book. Wild Thing is a book about a doctor hired to study a savage man found in the woods believed to be some sort of missing link.

I was worried before starting this one because the theme just didn’t appeal to me, I guess one Tarzan was enough for me. But as soon as I started it I could not put it down.

Dr Elizabeth Hunter arrives on a deserted Island where millionaire Ed Hunnicutt has built a modern facility to study the wild man found on the woods. As soon as she arrives she feels some sort of attraction to the wild man and decides to help him escape. The trouble is he decides to take her with him. The action is a lot more fast paced once they are on the run and it's hilarious how Libby tells him everything and we are already guessing that there must be a twist somewhere to explain the mystery.

This book read like an adventure romp and you do have to suspend your disbelief at such an outrageous plot. But the truth is that it worked for me! I had great fun reading it and because of that this a B+.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featured in 'Anne Stuart's Out of Print Gems'.

[romancelibrary]

Why am I just finding out that Anne Stuart wrote a Tarzan romance?!?!?! CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS!!

[Kristiej · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book many years ago and loved it. Anne Stuart is a an author I hope today’s romance readers discover. She is brilliant at writing morally ambiguous heroes. In fact I’d say she’s the queen though I didn’t find the hero ambiguous in this book, I just want to give Ms Stuart a plug.

Elizabeth Holden is a rather nerdy and naive heroine who is hired and brought to a nearly deserted island to study a wild man who was captured. He’s been kept under heavy sedation and treated pretty bad physically, most telling a deep mark around his throat as if he had been strangled. But all is not as it seems. Elizabeth feels a great deal of sympathy for the man and helps him escape. Only when he does, he takes her prisoner.

At this point I can’t really say much else less I spoil things. So all I can really say is this is a great book, a great romance and it gets 5 well deserved stars from me. I read it first well over 20 years ago now and it’s one of those books that has stayed strongly in my head since then.

I strongly urge that if you are a fan of Tarzan, jungle type books, you give this one a read. I also think it’s held up very well over time.

[Caitie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 tranquilizer darts. I mean stars.

Wild Thing? """"Wild"""" Thing more like. I felt bamboozled.

There was a staggering lack of romance; he wasn't even attracted to her for a good chunk of the book. ☹️ Maybe I could've accepted the plot twist more if the romance had at least been captivating. Also, there were a lot of punctuation mistakes, but again, if I liked the book enough I really wouldn't have cared.
With a plot this out-there, it could have been zany and fun (and... wild?), but instead I felt like I was reading it just to get to the end and say I finished.

I kept picturing Mick as Drop Dead Fred and I have no idea why. I guess I found ways to amuse myself. Also, the map at the beginning (as simple as it is) is probably like 0.2 of that 1.5 star rating. It's just cool for a book to have a map in it, okay?

[Sandra R · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Well written as usual by this author. This book is a reprint, originally published 2000, so be aware that there is no mention of today's technology. I really enjoyed this, as it has an uncivilized jungle man (hero), a female scientist (heroine), called in to study him, a tropical island, kidnappers, escape and adventure. Throw in some steamy romance scenes, a waterfall, the beach and it hits the right spot for entertainment. It's not a very long novel, but for it's size I really thought the author did an excellent job at rounding out the story and making it fun. I think it could have been expanded upon, as it would have only made it better as the ending whizzed by a bit too quickly.

[Sage Halford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use an app to read and listen to books since I go through so many. I honestly chose this one because of the cheesy cover that the app shows. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed the book so much I tried several more by the author. The others werent as good as this one in my oppinion but still good to pass the time.

[Anne in VA · Rating 2 out of 5]

"They needed no words between them...", Sadly that's the truth. This was an odd read. Very abrupt changes in situations and by the end, I was completely confused with how and why these two fell in love.

[Foxfire · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story started off well. Female anthropologist is called in to study a man who appears to have grown up in the jungle. I was expecting in interesting story of how they learn to communicate and how we find out about his background.

It turns out he is a normal male who likes living in the jungle and had temporarily lost his voice so he couldn't speak. Instead of attempting any other means of communication, he fosters the mistaken belief he is a wild creature, which leads to him being drugged, kept captive, and abused in the name of science.

The spinsterish scientist decides to set him free. She is supposed to be super intelligent, but she never pauses to think about the consequences of her action.

Once they are hiking through the jungle on their escape, she proceeds to incessantly babble at the "wild man", going on about how gorgeous he is, how lousy her sex life has always been,and how she has erotic fantasies about him. These monologues are puncture by frequent repetition of "Thank God you can't understand what I'm saying" - when of course he does.

She proceeds to seduce him. I felt a tad uneasy about the heroine throwing herself at a man she thinks may have been grown up without any human interaction, and who may also have suffered brain damage. It is morally unacceptable to seduce someone without the mental capacity to understand what is going on, whichever sex is doing the seducing, and at this point the heroine still believes the hero to be a creature of potentially limited intelligence.

I stopped reading about half way through as the story was becoming too ridiculous and in poor taste. Shame, because the opening chapters were good.

[Crista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it up to Anne Stuart to write a book like this. I wonder if she spends time thinking "What's the most unlikely of heroes?," and then sets out to make that person just that...a hero.

This time it's "Tarzan!"....and it works. What I really liked was the humor. Stuart's humor catches you off guard at times because it is so unexpected in the backdrop of her "dark" story lines. In this one Libby is a scientist hired to "study" this "wild man". She feels sorry for him, let's him go,...and he carries her off into the jungle like a sack of potatoes! She TALKS INCESSANTLY...prattling on and on, until she realizes what reality is...then she SHUTS UP and won't talk to him at all! I loved it and recommend it!
The love stories a bit rushed, but what can you expect in 250 pages!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Stuart has a gift for turning the most unlikely characters into heroes that you can root for. In this case, it's kind of a spin on the Tarzan story. You'll need a little suspension-of-disbelief, but still a very fun (and funny) romp. John and Libby manage to generate plenty of sparks, even though he spends most of the book not talking.

[Tanisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly how she can create totally out of the line plots.
She is the only author I know, whose multiple books can be read in one go and not get bored.
Each and every book have its own style and characteristics.
She is like a gold mine, I m just loving it.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this little story. So different from the dark romance she usually writes, Wild Thing is wickedly erotic just because Anne Stuart did the writing. Definitely worth reading if you are an Anne Stuart fan.

[Ajnadenver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Anne Stuart. A little loony with the bad guys, but it'll completely redeem itself by the end. Great little romance!

[Jacqueline J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short read. Decent but just that. Not much really happened. Pretty implausible on the whole

[Sanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the first half it is absolutely ridiculous, after it gets better. The only thing that saves it is Anne Stuart's no-nonsense writing. I think she had a helluva good time writing this little story.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not great. But it wasn't unreadable, either! I enjoyed the fast pace and stripped-down plot, making this a quick, fun read. The story is completely unbelievable, as other reviewers have mentioned, and Libby doesn't come off as intelligent as she is supposed to be, but John is an intriguing character and I think I would have preferred a whole novel from his POV.
Again, go into it knowing what it is, and don't expect to be inspired by literary, thought-provoking ideas; instead, look for some lusty sex scenes and daydream-worthy locales away from all civilization, and you'll be fine. :-)

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been awhile since I chanced a harlequin type romance. They usually have far out very fun plots, but the under developed everything else. This was like a five star harlequin, three star over all. I almost stopped reading when i thought i could see the whole rest of the plot in front of me, but then in quickly shifted and didn’t do anything else I expected. I’ll probably indulge in more of this author.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading Wild Thing wondering how Anne Stuart could pull this one off and it just got better and better as I continued to read. It seems my undying love for dark, tortured characters has found it's match in this beautiful story of a modern-day Tarzan and Jane. This is a must-read for Anne Stuart fans and I sure will be getting back to it time and again. A great read.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wild Thing had some good moments (the description of the waterfall and the lagoon and Libby's problem solving), but I like other Anne Stuart novels more. I think the ending was a bit abrupt and there needed to be more of a focus on the relationship.

Edited to add: this edition (ebook) had some copyediting errors.

[Elisa Vangelisti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rilettura. Non so perché l’ho conservato, la prima volta. Forse perché avevo appena scoperto Anne Stuart e il suo stile mi emozionava. In breve è la storia di una scienziata che viene assoldata da un riccastro per esaminare un ragazzo selvaggio. Il fatto è che lui non è affatto ciò che sembra essere. E lei, ovviamente, cerca di liberarlo dal laboratorio in cui è rinchiuso da mesi. Carino, ma una volta basta.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

It was fine, but you shouldn't expect too much from this story or you'll be sorely disappointed. The beginning was intriguing but the story didn't go far, and it wasn't believeable.

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