City girl Calla Fletcher attempts to reconnect with her estranged father, and unwittingly finds herself torn between her desire to return to the bustle of Toronto and a budding relationship with a rugged Alaskan pilot in this masterful new romance from acclaimed author K.A. Tucker. Calla Fletcher was two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the … isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when her father reaches out to inform her that his days are numbered, Calla knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.
She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional–dear God–outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this new subarctic environment, Jonah–the quiet, brooding, and proud Alaskan pilot who keeps her father’s charter plane company operational–can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.
Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. As time passes, she unexpectedly finds herself forming a bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship–or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried–and failed at–years ago.
It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.
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Loved this book – all three in the series – so much I gifted them as Christmas presents to my sisters. Realistic characters, realistic conflicts, and a love so satisfying you’ll want to move to Alaska and find your own bush pilot to hibernate with. Can’t wait for Marie’s story!
The Simple Wild series has gotten a lot of attention and now I finally see why. Calla’s mother left Alaska and her husband, Wren, and never looked back. Calla hasn’t seen her birthplace since before she was two. Now at age twenty-six, Calla learns that her father’s health is declining. She doesn’t have a relationship with Wren, but she travels to Alaska for the first time since she was a baby to at least visit him while he’s sick. Once in Alaska, she meets Jonah, her pilot to Bangor, and she instantly can’t stand him. Likewise, Jonah isn’t too happy to be dealing with a high maintenance city-girl who has no understanding of the Alaskan wild. The banter between Calla and Jonah is the definition of an enemies to lovers story, which happens to be my favorite romance trope. As much as Jonah is annoyed by Calla’s cluelessness, he goes above and beyond to help her adjust…under the guise of doing what he’s told for “Wren’s daughter.”
I fell for Jonah hard! He is definitely one of my top 3 book boyfriends!
In addition to the romance, Calla’s and Wren’s story is one of regrets, forgiveness, love, and family bonds.
Of course, Alaska itself is featured in such an honest way that it became an additional character in the story, with beauty that continued to change the more I discovered about the people and the land. I love that this book didn’t end the way I expected it to, in more ways than one. K.A. Tucker is an amazing writer and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
I have to admit, it took me a bit to get into this book. Calla (the main character) wasn’t my “cup of tea.” She annoyed me to high heavens. Until Jonah came along, then I fell in love with the book. And thus, Calla’s emotional character development begun.
The growth and love story of this novel is not just addictive, but also executed thoroughly. KA Tucker has done it once again with steam worthy characters you can’t not connect with and a story you will want to read again.
4 stars. Only because as mentioned, Calla annoyed me too much for the first half.
“Just don’t make the same mistake I did and fall in love with one of those pilots.”
I did not expect The Simple Wild to be such an emotional story, but when the emotions hit, they hit HARD. Calla’s journey to Alaska will take you on an adventure through laughs, kindling romance, and heartache. You can’t help but feel deep emotional connections to all the characters you’ll meet at Alaska Wild, and crave to discover the journey ahead in Wild at Heart.
This book suffered from the greatest curse of all–overhype syndrome.
After hearing so many people RAVE about this book, include it in their best reads of the year, and crown Jonah the king of all the book boyfriends, I, of course, had to read it.
It was fine.
Don’t get me wrong–it was in reality better than fine, good maybe great, 8/10 and five stars for me. But it was nowhere near as good as I expected it to be. I found Calla, our heroine, super unlikable. She was high-maintenance in a way where she was in denial about it instead of owning it and being charming. And Jonah, the supposed best of the bookfriends, was great, but I’m not dumping Ronan from Kiss My Cupcake for him any time soon. There’s a reoccurring plot point with Calla, let’s just say, “loosing access to” her luggage that would make me want to murder Jonah somewhere where his body would never be discovered. I just didn’t find the characters as likable as other people seemed to. It also wasn’t as steamy as it was made out to be?
Overall, the plot was good. I liked hearing about Alaska, I like a good fish out of water story, and there were definitely some funny moments (look out for the ducks lol) AND heartwarming moments. I think if I had randomly picked this book without hearing anything about it, I may have enjoyed it more.
5 stars – 8/10
A few weeks ago a few gals here on Bookstagram let everyone know this book was $1.99 on Kindle. I’ve never been much of an e-reader, but I figured why not? Fast forward to week two of quarantine and I desperately needed a good book. Enter The Simple Wild. This book had a little bit of everything. City girl in Alaska, dad problems, the big C, and one very hot beared (!) pilot. I am a very big fan of beards and you’d be amazed how often the males in romances are super clean cut and pretty. Not my thang chicken wang. Other than the baggy jeans, Jonah sounded like my kinda guy! I really loved the slow burn romance and a little enemies to lovers thrown in there for fun, but I personally wanted a little more steam. I bought book #2 and will start that today. I can’t wait to keep their story going! .
I really loved the book, I wasn’t expecting to like it this much. There are so many great things that make this a fantastic book, the setting to start with, which is almost like a character in the story.
This book is definitely a slow burn and it’s also a kind of enemies to lovers story. The story has some tragic moments that are real tear-jerkers but also comic parts that have you laughing out loud. I love Jonah, he is one of my favorite book boyfriends!
I gotta read part 2 and 3 now! It was my first time reading this author and it’s great having discovered her. One of my favorite books in 2020!
I would give this book so many more stars than just five. I loved this one so much. I devoured this book. I pretty much read it in one sitting. I was hooked from the very beginning. This book will absolutely have your heart break. Make sure you have the tissues ready! There are lighter moments to keep you going, but you will catch all the feels. I loved Jonah and Calla so much. I absolutely recommend this book.
Epically well written. Im a KA Tucker fan for life.
Remember the tv show Northern Exposure? Well, it’s my favorite show of all time. If you know me IRL, I’m always talking about it’s brilliance. The Simple Wild is modern, romantic Northern Exposure. It’s based on the same, fish out of water, city dweller in small town Alaska premise and features an incredibly fleshed-out cast of side characters/found family. Heart-warming, moving, and as refreshing as a sub-Arctic winter.
After the longest dry spell, I finally found the perfect book for me at just the right time. I swear the planets aligned and angels sang. I could not sleep until I finished The Simple Wild, and when I reached the end at 4:30 am I had the goofiest smile on my face.
This book checked all the boxes for a 5-star read for me and had me deep in my feels. I found myself laughing out loud and clutching my Kleenex. The story boasts a variety of vibrant main characters. They are strong, flawed, and loving in their own ways. I was drawn to each and every one, as well as the unique townspeople.
Calla is one heck of a heroine. I admired how introspective she is and her willingness to acknowledge her areas of growth and open her mind. Calla’s ability to change her outlook without compromising her fundamental personality makes her appealing and realistic. Calla’s relationship with her estranged father is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
Bush pilot Jonah and city gal Calla are like oil and water, and I loved their snarky exchanges. He is unbelievably rude and downright mean to her, which made uncovering the reasons behind his behavior more rewarding. Their animosity made their romance all the sweeter. I also enjoyed seeing the remote Alaskan lifestyle and countryside through Calla’s eyes.
I needed a story to jumpstart my joy in reading, and this funny and emotional book did the trick. The Simple Wild ends on a satisfying note and I was content to imagine what comes next. However, I was surprised and delighted to find out there is a follow-up book. I can’t wait to dive into Wild at Heart. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t disappoint.
I listened to the audio version of this book. I’ll give it 41/2 stars. The narration kept me from giving it 5. It was just a little hard for me to listen to the narrators voice.
The story was good. It was funny, set in the awesome location of remote Alaska, tugged at my heart and gave me the good feels at the end. It also seemed very, very long.
Jonah was my favorite character. He is a rough Alaskan that has no use for city slickers (even beautiful ones with makeup on and wearing designer clothes. He really gives Calla a hard time and half the time she doesn’t even know it. She is pretty shallow at the beginning of the book, but redeems herself before the end.
Do I want to go to Alaska now? Yes! The author certainly did a good job of selling the location and the community.
You don’t know how excited I was to pick this book up after the last 2 weeks have been. The Simple Wild was my first book by K. A. Tucker. I loved this story so much, it made me cry, laugh, and feel like I was in Alaska with them. I wish for more of Jonah & Calla’s story. One year later after reading this amazing book, my wishes were granted with the sequel, Wild at Heart. I can’t wait to get my hands on this.
This was my first K.A. Tucker book and I was immediately swept away. It’s a 5 star read for me because I loved the story and fell immersed into the Alaskan landscape. This book seriously gave me all the feels and I bawled my eyes out. It’s an enemies to lovers romance not to be missed.
Calla Fletcher is a 26 year old who lives with her mother and stepfather in Toronto. On the same day that she’s let go from her bank job, she receives a phone call when she learns that her father (whom she hasn’t seen since she was 2 and whom she hasn’t spoken to in 12 years) has lung cancer and may not have a lot of time left. She makes the decision to fly to Alaska for a week to reconnect with the man who she believes chose Alaska and his charter plane business over his daughter.
Her reunion with her father is awkward at best plus she has to deal with the arrogant, rude, yeti of a man, Jonah – the charter pilot helping her father keep the business afloat who wants nothing to do with the city slicker he’s pegged her as. As her eyes are opened to all the beauty and hardship of life in the Alaskan wild, her heart begins to open to the pilot who may not be so bad after all.
There is so much to love about The Simple Wild. I of course was drawn to the enemies to lovers story, but there is so much more to this book beyond the romance. It showcases a community that supports one another, a company that literally saves lives and a piece of the world that is untouched and wild. All of the characters bring this book to life with the relationships that bind them and with the emotions you can’t help but feel in a setting described so beautifully.
The Ties that Bind
The prologue sets the perfect stage for this novel. Twenty-four years ago, Calla’s mother packed her up and moved her across the country to Toronto because she could not take life in the wild of Alaska even though the love of her life was there. And Calla’s father, burdened with a family business to run, could not bear to leave his home even for his wife and child. You could sense the heartbreak from these two lovers and how they couldn’t find a middle ground to make it work for love. My heart hurt so much for Wren and Susan and the repercussions their decisions made for so many to come.
So many were influenced by the love of these two who were separated by miles for 24 years. I adored Simon, Calla’s stepfather who might have had the biggest heart of them all. I loved his counsel, his blinding support and his undying understanding and love for his wife and Calla. I adored Agnes, the woman who put this story into motion and who’s heart had endured so much as well. Her young daughter also provided some necessary levity.
Wren was a difficult man to peg as he was a man of few words. All I really needed to know was that his heart was lost to Susan and that never changed. I would have liked a few more heart to heart scenes with Calla, but overall, I felt for this quiet man who loved in his own way.
Enemies to Lovers
Enemies to lovers stories are my catnip. I love the initial banter that’s filled with teasing and often backed by misconceptions. Jonah certainly did not lay out the welcome mat for Calla when she arrived in Alaska and yet he was quick to help her when it was needed. Of course, his help came with sharp words that didn’t mix any niceties and which could be actually quite cutting I thought at times. It was easy to fall for him though as you could see he was such a nice guy despite his initial behavior to Calla.
Calla was an interesting girl. I’m not sure how it would feel to have a father that never made the trip to visit me once in my life, but I can imagine not great at all. I love how she put herself out there so she wouldn’t have any regrets. Beyond her struggles with her father, it was hard to peg her as a person. She initially came off a bit immature to me, living with her parents and living off their credit cards. Though maybe it was because she was at an unsettled place in her life that she was able to open herself up to her experience in Alaska. Her present story began to unfold like the story of her parent’s past, leaving you to wonder if Calla’s story would end the same as her mother’s.
The best authors make writing seem so effortless. K.A. Tucker swept me away in this story. She left me with a HFN ending so I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.
Check out this review and all my romance book reviews and romance book lists on my book blog, She Reads Romance Books: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/
lyrical writing
4.5
This is my 2nd book by K.A.Tucker and the first book I read was a little underwhelming so I didn’t know what to expect. However, I loved this book and I liked envisioning the world and life of Alaska!
I still had a bit of a hard time grasping WHY there was such a disconnect in the father daughter relationship and such failure of disinterest and seeming to be okay with that. It was a little heartbreaking to see how through those 24 years, there was just no connection of the two characters. But with their time together in Alaska, I enjoyed seeing their relationship grow, though there was a heavy focus on Calla and Jonah coming together and forging their own relationship path different than how her parents handled their relationship. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes now, into the wild!
Oooof, big feels with this one. I smiled, I cried. KA Tucker is a master at writing satisfying romances…but this book was so much more than just the romance. The father-daughter love was so well developed and touching. A great read.
Wow, I loved this book, so much. The setting, the story and the swoon worthy romance, it’s all perfection. Such a fabulous read, heart-breaking and heartwarming…never wanted it to end.
~ Claire
Life in Bangor is simple but it’s not easy, and it’s not for everyone. When Susan fell in love with Wren she had no idea that the life he lived in Alaska as a pilot would be so demanding of his time. She uprooted her life, leaving behind everything, to follow Wren. After seventeen months of fighting the challenges of living in Bangor, she gave it up. For Susan living in Bangor was a deal breaker. She couldn’t embrace the limited resources nor learn to adapt to the weather conditions.
25 years later…a new chapter in her life takes fold and this is where the true story begins. City girl meets rugged Alaskan pilot.
Overall:
Once the phone call came in I thought I knew the direction of the story. I was wrong. In some ways it was exactly what I needed and others too much. Sadly, I began to skim in the beginning as I wasn’t interested in the daily activities in Bangor, Alaska. I did understand how this worked into the story, but all the same it felt like a tour book description.
The most challenging part was reading how Jonah compared Calla’s pampered lifestyle to that of the unprivileged lifestyle of Bangor people.
To be honest, I wasn’t truly hooked on the banter between Calla and Simon. Those cutting quips grew old real quick. The dialogue got better when they removed the cutting quips. I know it was all par for the course. I get the enemy to lovers premise. It was done accordingly, yet I could’ve done without his judgment and I would’ve liked for her to set him straight.
KA Tucker painted an artistic canvas of the way things were in Alaska. For me it was too much. Again the point was made.
I originally thought this was going to be a story about Susan and Wren. Turns out that’s not the story. Then I thought this was going to be a story about Wren and Calla. Once again that’s not the story, only a small portion. Turns out this was about Jonah and Calla. This story is like that saying. “You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.” Jonah very much wanted to take the high maintenance Barbie out of the city.
At around the eighty percent mark the story turns around and I wish the rest of the story held the same caliber as the last twenty percent did.
What I liked is that for the first time the people in this small town didn’t get a bad rep for being close. In fact, they prided themselves on being close knit with each other like family. They looked after each other and helped each other out.
My favorite scenes were when Wren and Calla we’re together wishing there were more of those scenes. The beginning scenes between Calla and Jonah weren’t as wonderful as I had hoped. Once they broke through the enemy phase and became more than friends that’s where the true beauty rested.
After reading plenty of rave reviews for The Simple Wild, I knew I had to experience this story for myself. I bought a copy of it and then promptly waited a long time before actually getting around to reading it. I really enjoyed this book.
The Simple Wild tells the story of Calla, who lives with her mom and stepdad in Toronto. One day she receives a phone call form a women named Agnes that her father is sick and whether she can come to Alaska. Calla has a lot of resentment and hurt feelings toward her father who never in the past 24 years came to visit her, but in the end she packs her bags and goes to Alaska. A trip that will change her life forever.
This book quickly grabbed my attention. Calla is in a bit of a bad situation at the start of the book when she first loses her job, then her boyfriend and then gets the blow of hearing her father whom she never met is sick. It’s a lot to deal with and I liked how these scenes where written. I could relate and feel what Calla was going through, but it never felt over the top or too much. I was really curious to see what would happen once she got to Alaska. There she meets Jonah who is rude and she can’t stand him. And she meets her father, her first meetings with him super awkward and they felt very realistic as well. And she has to figure out how to get to know her father and adjust to being in Alaska and dealing with the annoying Jonah.
My favorite part of this book was seeing Calla change in multiple ways throughout the story. Her getting to know her father, seeing Alaska and learning what really matters to her. Struggling with what to do next and how to handle things and seeing how she got through it all. The author has this pleasant writing style that had me wanting to keep reading to see what would happen next. The romance is a big part of the book, but it definitely wasn’t the main or sole focus. I enjoyed seeing Calla adjust to live in Alaska and finding her way and getting to know her father. The story took a few directions I hadn’t expected, but they were handled well and I thought how things got resolved felt very fitting and realistic.
One thing I struggled with was the romance. Jonah and Calla have a typical hate to love romance and add in an expiration date and you have two of my disliked tropes in one book. I guess it’s not too surprising I struggled with it. Jonah is totally rude to Calla at first and while we find out why that is and I could partly understand it, I also thought it was just too much. Both Calla and Jonah could be pretty judgmental toward the other and their way of life. Jonah thinks the simple way of living in Alaska is better and Calla with her city way of life and her luxury expectations and make up is wrong. It just irked me wrong how he acted and thought about Calla and how Calla again had her own share of those type of thoughts about Jonah and his way of life. There are some things both of them do that was supposed to be cute banter or funny practical jokes, but I thought they both went to far. With the haircut, the make-up and the luggage for example.
One the one hand I understand the message of how Jonah wanted to show Calla she didn’t need make-up or suitcases full of clothes to be beautiful. And while I like that thought and message, I thought he definitely went about it the wrong way. And that haircut scene had me so annoyed. It felt to me like they both try to shape the other to their ideal image and that just didn’t work for me, although they get better later on at accepting the other for who they are.
And they hardly ever have a real normal talk, just this sort of banter layered with insults and these weird practical jokes. It just didn’t work for me. And I never fully warmed up to their romance. I hope the next book will make me like them more now that they finally are together. I did like getting to know Jonah better and you definitely get a better feel for him as the story progresses and you can understand his behavior better. And it was clear how much they came to care about each other by the end, I just never fully felt it. The scene with the crash was probably the best one in terms of me feeling Calla’s feelings. And at the same time I am really curious about book 2 and how they will make things work as we don’t see them in a relationship a lot and most of what we see is them sleeping together. I also wish they would talk a bit more about things. It felt like they never really talk about things and maybe that’s just how they are, but it felt like they never addressed some things or took the time to work things through together.
What I did love about this book was the group of side characters and how the author makes me get a feel for the side characters and care about them even with only a few sentences at first. Simon probably is one of my favorite side characters. I liked how the author decided to make the step dad just as likable and real as other characters. I liked his sort of counseling role in Calla’s life and how with his psychology outlook he asked the right question to make her think. I also felt sorry for him as it was clear his wife still loved another and I can’t imagine what he went through in this book. Calla’s mother come to life as well and we learn a lot about her even with in how few scenes she is. How much she still loves Wren even though their relationship didn’t work out and it was just sad to see. I also liked what she did toward the end of the book. Then there is Agnes and Mabel. Agnes who cares for Wren in her own way and how accepting and caring she is. And Mabel was awesome too, it was clear she was close to Wren as well and her childlike wonder and behavior added some light to some scenes.
It was interesting to read a book mostly set in Alaska as I haven’t read many books that take place there. I liked how the author gave us a feel for the place. I sure learned a lot more about life there and it was fascinating to read about this place and how the people live. How different life is there.
To summarize: This book grabbed my attention form the start and I liked following Calla along on this journey that completely changed her. Seeing how Calla changes throughout the book ad seeing her deal with the things that come her way was one of my favorite parts of the book. I thought her character was well written and realistically done. I also really liked the side characters and how all of them come to life and feel like real people. I was especially fond of Simon, but Agnes, Mabel and Calla’s mom and dad are all interesting characters as well. One thing that didn’t fully work for me was the romance. Hate to love and romances with an expiration date are not tropes I usually care for and that’s only part of why I didn’t fully care for the romance. I thought both Calla and Jonah could be judgemental and rude to the other and I didn’t really like that type of behavior. I thought they went a bit too far with some of their behavior toward the other. By the end it was clear how much they care about one another and I look forward to book 2 and seeing more of them together as they only get together toward the end of this book. I liked the setting of Alaska and how the author showed us more about this place and how the people there live, it was interesting to read about. All in all I really enjoyed this one and I am looking forward to book 2.