Wild at Heart [Mass Market Paperback]

Jane Graves (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

YOU CAN RUN FROM THE PAST . . .

When private investigator Valerie Parker tails a cheating wife late one night, it’s business as usual—until the woman is murdered and the man she’s with becomes the prime suspect. Val gets an even bigger shock when she discovers the suspect’s identity: He’s Alex DeMarco, an old flame she swore she’d never speak to again. But then Val’s own life is threatened, and before she can blink she’s on the run, side by side with the unbelievably gorgeous man who once shattered her dreams and broke her heart . . . all in the same day.

. . . BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM LOVE

As a cop, Alex knows better than to ignore his instincts, but for some reason he offersthe woman on the prowl a ride home anyway. When she turns up dead and he comes face-to-face with Val Parker, his problems are only beginning. As they work together to clear his name and to protect Val’s life, Alex finds himself drawn once again to the wild, impetuous woman from his past—even as the shocking secret behind the murder threatens to tear them apart forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When hard-nosed police officer Alex DeMarco is arrested for the murder of a wealthy and sexually voracious woman, the closest thing to an eyewitness is PI Valerie Parker, who was paid by the dead woman's husband to follow her. Alex is innocent, but will Valerie hold against him the fact that he had her dismissed from the police academy five years earlier, the day after they spent a passionate night together? After someone takes a long-range rifle shot at Valerie, she begins to believe in Alex's innocence, but a reckless act on her part forces them on the road in search of evidence to clear his name. Once Valerie and Alex begin working in concert, the pace picks up and the chemistry between them combusts. Although some of the details concerning Val and Alex's experiences growing up are cliched-he was abused by his father and she was sexually abused by her stepfather-they work through their issues in a mature manner and forge a stronger emotional bond in the process. Members of Alex's eccentric family, introduced in Graves's previous book (I Got You, Babe), make an appearance, which will please fans, and a red herring helps maintain the "whodunit" tension. Despite a few abbreviated sex scenes, which tease rather than titillate, this is an intoxicating (if far-fetched) tale.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

All police officer Alex DeMarco wants is a quiet evening--a couple of beers and a game of pool. But a rich, sexy woman picks him up at the bar, and when he wakes up in her bedroom, she's naked and very dead. Fortunately, a private investigator has been hired by the woman's husband to trail her. Unfortunately, the PI is Valerie Parker, who's hated Alex ever since he had sex with her one night and got her kicked out of the police academy the next day. Despite Val's misgivings, she finds herself helping Alex prove his innocence, and soon the two of them are fleeing from the law--as well as the man who's trying to kill them both. Readers who enjoy such books as Karen Robard's Walking after Midnight (1995) and Patricia Potter's Broken Honor [BKL D 1 01] will welcome this fast-paced yet sensuous addition to the "on the run" subgenre. Graves' I Got You, Babe (2001) is a finalist for a Romance Writers of America award. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804119694
• ISBN-13: 978-0804119696
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jane Graves is a seven-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's Rita Award, the industry's highest honor, and is the recipient of two National Readers' Choice Awards, the Booksellers' Best Award, and the Golden Quill, among others. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Two of her books, Hot Wheels and High Heels, and Tall Tales and Wedding Veils, appeared on the Barnes & Noble Bestseller List. Jane lives in the Dallas area with her husband and a crafty cat who easily rules the household with one paw tied behind her back.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Tough Guy's The Target!, June 17, 2003

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild at Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

Alex, super-cop, tough guy, rigid-with-the-rules, heart of stone, DeMarco is caught half-naked in the bedroom of a married woman. She is lying dead on the bed, nude, with signs of having been asphyxiated during a session of kinky sex. He pleads not guilty. No one listens...including Private Investigator, Valerie Parker. She had been hired by the woman's husband, who believed his wife had been cheating on him. And all Val saw, from the bar where Alex met the now dead lady in question, to the house where they returned together, was Alex and Mrs. Corpse - no one else around who could have done the deed.

Now Alex & Val have a history with lots of baggage. He was her superior officer when she was in training at the Police Academy, five years before. She was a wild lady who broke too many rules and got too creative with the solutions to be a good cop - so Alex believed. He decided to recommend her dismissal from the Academy. The evening before she was to be told bye-bye, in a meeting with the Lieutenant and Alex, Alex decided to tell her personally. He thought it would be less painful. So he dropped by her apartment, they had wild sex, he left her sleeping in the middle of the night...and he never told her. The next day, at the meeting, she learned she was no longer a police cadet - and she totally flipped out. Wouldn't you?

Val doesn't really believe that Alex, a stickler for the rules & Mr. Control Freak, would commit murder. All evidence to the contrary, he is a basically decent guy. But, no one else was with the victim at the time of her death - and Val knows because she was surveilling the place. When someone takes a shot at her, however, she really begins to believe that Alex is innocent. So Val & Alex wind up taking off to find the murderer.

Adventures ensue, i.e., wild animals, an attack by a Bengal Tiger, a burning barn, an "almost" rape by a sadistic ex-con, some terrific sex, etc., and we meet some interesting folks along the way, including a goofy deputy sheriff who means well but can't make a right move. Who said the path to love was easy, especially when facing a 20 year sentence for manslaughter.

I enjoyed this sequel to "I've Got You Babe." Alex was so hard-boiled in that 1st novel, that I really looked forward to reading more about him. There had to be a softer, more vulnerable side. But this book is not as fast-paced as Ms. Graves's first attempt. And the characters are not as endearing as John and Renee. The action does pick up midway through, and the romance gets passionate - but it just doesn't rate 5 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!!, March 13, 2003

By 

Holly Fuhrmann (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild at Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

Alex DeMarco is a hard man...the man who broke Valerie Parker's heart and destroyed her chance at her dream job. Now, he's accused of murder. Val's the prosecution's chief witness. But despite the evidence she doesn't believe Alex could have murdered anyone...and she's going to help prove it. Along the way old sparks are ignited. Will their passion burn itself out, or can they keep the flames alive this time?

A wonderful romance, with characters you'll love. Jane Graves tells a story you won't be able to put down!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars Are Not Enough, October 4, 2002

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wild at Heart (Mass Market Paperback)

In romance novels, it is not the destination--that inevitable happy ending--it is the journey. No author crafts a better trip than Jane Graves, one of the genre's rising stars.

WILD AT HEART opens with the best first chapter ever; no one who reads those early pages will be able to put down this novel. Graves is a master, with a such a command of language that she sculpts her sentences as much as she writes them.

There is a lively and riveting plot. One of Jane Graves' greatest skills is that she takes a storyline that is implausible, but not impossible, and she makes it actually seem very likely. The scenes at the small town Texas fair and the game preserve as so visual that they beg for a movie, maybe with George Clooney and Julia Roberts in the leads.

The earlier book featuring the de Marco brothers cried for a sequel; this sequel calls for a screenplay. And the notes at the back promise that a third novel in this series already is in the works. Terrific!