Wild Card by Lora Leigh

Author: Lora Leigh

Title: Wild Card

Publication: August 26th, 2008

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Genre: Romance

Rating: 4 out 5

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Synopsis: 

A FATAL ESCAPE

It was supposed to be simple. All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombia drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong…and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.
A DANGEROUS DESIRE…

Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years. But she has no idea he’s still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is…even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

Thoughts: This story has an interesting and hilarious plot. Nathan left his home and wife for a mission. Sadly, he got caught and was brutally beaten. When he was rescued, his corpse was so destroyed and had to go under surgery in order for him to have a functional body. A few months later (and after tons of physical training) he was back on the field. Instead of flying back to his wifes arms, he continued to work for the army. Bella, thinking Nathan is dead, morns him for three years. Nathan -- now known as someone else -- had mission that made him go back to Bella. She didn't recognize him because of all the surgery, so Nathan started over.

The story is pretty much Bella talking and mourning her husband in front of her husband. You get a point of view from both of them, and at one point Nathan admits that he's jealous of himself. Bellas love for Nathan is incredible. She's faithful and cares about relationships, which makes me want to hug her for the loss. Even though Nathan doesn't tell her who he really is, the love he has for her is heartwarming. During his time with her, she showed some traits and desires that he never knew she had. He saw a new Bella, and liked it.

The book loses one star for a few reasons. One: I love her faithfulness... it's endearing. The downside is her friends having to hear her complain for her loss for three years. Every time they're together the conversation veers to how she lost the love of her life. I can understand she's sad, but having every conversation end up about him for three years is a bit much. Second: The ending was a weird twist. It's one of the endings where you're like "Where the hell did that come from?" I would like some backstory to why it happened, but you just get random scenes. Otherwise, Wild Card is an entertaining read and will make you laugh.