Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Bishop Sullivan loves his family’s ranch. He loves living there and working with the horses. Bishop knows he’s expected to take it over one day, but there is no place he would rather be. He also knows he expected to get married and carry on the family name, but Bishop is more interested in spending as much time as he can with Porter Dixon. Bishop and Porter sneak off to the river whenever they can and, although they don’t talk about it, they both want nothing more than to spend forever together. There are long-standing family rivalries that have Porter keeping his walls up with Bishop and, while they are the best of friends, Porter disappears one day without a word.
Porter always felt second best around the ranch and with Bishop. It’s been years since Porter has seen Bishop and work has him finding his way back to Bishop’s family ranch where Bishop will now be his boss. Their history stands and the chemistry is still there and it’s difficult for Porter to be angry all the time when he’s around Bishop. But old hurts, a troubled past, and family secrets may end the hope of a future together for good.
There are so many things I liked about this book before I even started it, with Porter and Bishop going from best friends to lovers and the setting of the ranch. The atmosphere is well done and the setting becomes visual as life on the ranch unfolds. Bishop’s family is close and their cattle ranch is the pride of Colorado. It’s hard work, but Bishop has no desire to be anywhere else and, when Porter is by his side, it’s for the better. But they sneak around and no one knows the heartache Bishop suffers when Porter leaves.
There is a long-standing land dispute between Porter and Bishop’s families that goes back to their great grandfathers and it has overshadowed Porter’s life. As much as he loves working on the ranch and as much as he loves Bishop, he tries to keep himself in check with a hard outer shell and tells himself he only needs to rely on himself. The pull between Porter and Bishop is strong and it’s easy to see their friendship and love for each other, but lots of personal issues doesn’t make it easy for them.
This book is good, but I have read many ranch stories and there is nothing that makes this one stand out from all the rest. There is a plot line about Bishop’s sister that felt added in and not fully developed. And there is a reveal during the book and the evidence of that was so ridiculously easy to find that it disrupted the end of the book for me. Wild at Heart is a lighter ranch book with minimal angst where two best friends get the HEA they always wanted.
