Patti Berg’s latest release, Something Wild, at first made me think of the recent trends in series romances; if this were one, it would be titled “The Cowboy Preacher And The Virgin Showgirl.” Despite that (admittedly unpromising) premise, I found it to be a moving tale of love in real life, where things don’t always happen as you’d like them to. It came within spitting distance of the desert isle for me, and was as involving a read as I’ve enjoyed in quite a while.

Charity Wilde is a struggling showgirl in Vegas, and she likes it that way. Even witnessing the murder of a friend isn’t enough to make her shy away from her dreams of stardom, but it is enough to make her realize she needs a vacation. So, she decides to head for Wyoming, where her brother Max of Born to Be Wild (it took me a while to determine just who she was related to) and his wife are holding a family reunion. There she finds an unexpected passion for horses – and for one rancher-turned-preacher named Mike Flynn. But she’s not going to let either one make her forget her real goals in life, none of which reside in Nowhere, Wyoming.

Mike Flynn has a few problems of his own. First off, there’s the death of his wife, Jessie. Six years ago, she suffered a heart attack, and slipped into a coma. Knowing that she was likely brain-dead and that her chances of survival were almost non-existent, he’d made the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support, hoping against hope for a miracle. There was no miracle that day, and he has been haunted by his own guilt ever since, sleeping only seldom, and dedicated only to ranching, to his congregation and to God. And now there’s this Vegas showgirl in town, the last person in whom he should be interested – and the first person in six years to make him question his own personal moral code of celibacy. He’s promised himself that he won’t touch a woman outside of marriage, and since he’ll never leave the land and the people that he loves – and she’ll never leave Vegas and her own dreams – marriage is clearly not an option. So why does he keep wishing it were?

This book hovered on the very edge of DIK-dom for me, and the only thing that really kept it from being an A book was the heroine’s characterization. Despite the fact that we’re told quite a bit about her, I never felt that I really knew her, especially in contrast to the extremely well-drawn hero. We know that she’s adopted, and that her adoptive family was not the most loving. Her father was a fire-and-brimstone chaplain who expected absolute conformity from her, which inspired a rebellious desire to do her own thing. We don’t know anything about her relationship with her (presumably biological) brother Max, with whom she never interacts even once during the course of the week that she’s at the reunion. It’s not that she avoids him, either – there’s just no relationship described at all. We also know that she’s driven to be a star in Vegas, but the reason she wants to be onstage is only hinted at vaguely. It’s certainly not enough to explain her determination to choose such a dead-end career over love. Her reasons for remaining a virgin are vague, and it’s a little difficult to believe that, in her 25 years of life, she’s never been tempted, or even really turned on, as the book insists she hasn’t – until Mike, of course. Equally unexplained is her determination to be a teetotaler, although – and we’re never told why – she suddenly takes up drinking wine in the later part of the book. All in all, she’s left a bit of a mystery, and I was left wishing the book were about a hundred pages longer, and dedicated to understanding her better.

By comparison, Mike is beautifully drawn. He has his dreams, and he also has his secrets. He hasn’t let anyone in until Charity, and, even as he knows it’s an impossible situation, he finds himself falling in love with her. My only problem with him is that we don’t really see much of devotion to God. We’re told about it, but when Charity asks what prompted him to become a minister, he tells her a tongue-in-cheek tale, but never reveals his real motivation. We also don’t seem him praying, or speaking to God at all, other than in a quick, pre-meal prayer to satisfy one of his parishioners, and even that is suspect. And since such a big deal is made of him being a preacher, it seems strange to have such a lack. Otherwise, however, he is a very fully-developed character, and an extremely sympathetic one.

The novel’s plot is basically sound, with only a brief tendency toward predictability at the end. Not so predictable is the very realistic idea that all of a couple’s problems don’t immediately fall away after the marriage ceremony – or the marriage bed. Seeing Charity and Flynn growing apart even faster than they grew together because of his refusal to reveal what quite literally keeps him awake – and away from her side – at nights will make your heart ache for both of these characters.

Overall, this is a deeply involving story with strong, if occasionally mysterious characters. I look forward to Berg’s next book, which will feature Charity’s best friend Logan, who made a tantalizing appearance in this story. While it may not be perfect, I have to recommend this book as a moving and realistic love story. I’m sure you’ll agree.