Feel The Fire Of Nacho Figueras' "Wild One"

27170159 Title:  Nacho Figueras Presents: Wild One
Series:  (The Polo Season #2)
Author:  Jessica Whitman
Review Format:  Print
Length:  301 pages
Publisher:  Forever Romance
Rating: 5 Stars 

Kat Parker thought she'd finally escaped being known as the housekeeper's daughter in the class-obsessed polo town of Wellington, FL. With her first blockbuster screenplay, she'd become the Hollywood It girl-until with one flop suddenly she wasn't. Heading home is her only option.

Kat knows she can write another hit...if only she can find the right story. What she finds instead is the drop-dead gorgeous celebrity athlete Sebastian Del Campo, who's just as well known for his tabloid exploits as he is for his prowess on the polo field.

For Sebastian, everything in life has always come easily-wealth, sports, women. But the perennial party life is starting to feel a bit stale. Especially after meeting Kat. Her easy laughter and candid attitude make him aspire to something more meaningful for the first time in his life.

As Sebastian tells Kat stories of his grandmother Victoria, a woman who could be dripping in diamonds one moment and tearing up the polo field the next, Kat's inspiration fires and soon the pair are back in Hollywood, working on a film together that could make or break both of their careers. And though the chemistry between the two is building, the film's irresistible star has other ideas...



EXCERPT: WILD ONE
Kat and Sebastian took off their shoes and walked along the edge of the sea. The sand was wet and warm, and the water hissed in and out over their bare feet as the tide came in. The beach was empty, and the moon was bright, and when she looked at him, her gray eyes gleamed silver in the pale light.
She was, thought Sebastian, even more than he had imagined she would be. She was beautiful, of course, but in an effortless way. The beauty mark above her lip, the 2-inch scar on the inside of her elbow that gleamed silvery-white against her smooth, tan skin (a childhood accident, she told him, trailing her finger over it self-consciously), the way that her glossy black curls sprang out around her head like an unruly corona in the Florida humidity, the faint laugh lines that appeared around her pretty eyes every time she smiled…
And she was smart, and funny, and she told him scandalous, gossipy, hilarious stories about Hollywood and made him laugh so hard his belly ached. And when he flattered or flirted, her cheeks would flush pink and her eyes sparkled, but at the same time, if he went over-the-top, he knew that she did not buy his bullshit. Not even one little bit. Because nothing got past this woman. Nada.
And now she walked alongside him, laughing and chattering about this and that in her husky, honey-sweet voice. Her legs were long enough that he barely had to adjust his stride, and her swinging hand kept grazing his arm and sending little shocks of pleasure through his body.
He caught her hand and pulled her toward him. “Besame,” he said softly.
She blinked. “Forgive my rusty Spanish, but doesn’t that mean-”
He cut her off by gently placing his mouth upon hers.
Her lips were soft and warm, and he searched them slowly, first with his own lips, and then with his tongue, just barely touching the outline of her mouth until she exhaled and stepped closer to him.
He loved kissing a woman this tall. He didn’t have to bend to her mouth at all, and it was so easy to pull her even closer and go deep. She tasted amazing, like sweet lime and champagne and a trace of salt, and she smelled of that same intriguing bittersweet caramel fragrance he had noticed the first day they met. He went deeper still, and she pushed up against him and made a soft, warm sound in the back of her throat, and suddenly he was flooded with an electric hunger so sharp that he felt that he might lose control.
And so he did what he had been fantasizing about doing all night. He led her away from the water and laid her down upon the warm sand and covered her body with his own.
She broke off kissing him. “Do you think,” she said hoarsely, "that we should find someplace more private?”
He pushed himself up and looked around. The beach was deserted. The only light from the restaurant was far behind. “I think we’re alone.” he said.
He gently kissed her face, and thought to himself that she felt so good, so right, and that he never wanted to be anywhere else. That he would stay here forever if she let him…
And then he laughed softly, because he really had never felt these things before. And honestly?
It kind of scared the living hell out of him.

My Thoughts
Nacho Figueras introduces his readers to a world of polo, ponies, power plays, and film production; in this, the second offering of  The Polo Season series.
But based on the free spirits which seem to guide both leading lady, Cat Parker and leading man, Sebastian Del Campo, toward trouble at every turn.  It is hard to know to which Wild One, the book's title is alluding at any given time.

When a pride sore Kat is called home to Wellington, Florida, after her father suffers a stroke.  The last thing that the once A-List director thinks that she'll find is love.
But as readers learned in the first volume of this saga of fate and fortune.  In the cases of ponies and passion, what you get is often the farthermost thing from what is expected.

Sebastian Del Campo is a man who comes by things naturally.  Charm, looks, athleticism, money, and most of all...woman.
The one thing he can't seem to come by however, is the trust and respect of his family.  Considered a slacking playboy by all who know him.  Sebastian is a man determined to turn over a new leaf.  After one last ill fated drink.

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When his last night of excess finds him on the losing end of a brawl that he didn't start, and unable to play polo while his broken wrist mends. Sebastian Del Campo has no idea that a mission of mercy, as his mother's delivery boy, will put him on a collision course with a soul whose fire burns just as brightly as his own.

Wild One is a story about people who choose to live and love in ways that defy convention.  For Kat, that means refusing to be cowed by one failure in her career, and daring to give her heart to a man who is able to share every part of himself but that.
For Sebastian, it means striving to be more than who and what people expect.  Exploring alternate options for his life and his heart. Choosing to love the one woman that his mind and body won't let him be without.

The story of Kat and Sebastian is one of two beautifully broken halves coming together to create an unstoppable creative force that takes both the world, and Kat and Seb themselves by storm.
And the woman who inspires it all...Victoria Del Campo.

Wild One is also the story that has the least to do with the Del Campo family in terms of their sport.  Instead focusing on those members of the family who, for better or worse, give the family its life, energy and flair.  Sebastian and Victoria...and Kat, the one woman strong enough to bring his heart and her legacy to life.

Readers will thrill in seeing the give and take in all aspects of Kat and Seb's relationship.  Just as hearts will surely crumble, when mistrust, insecurities, and egos are allowed to get in the way.
Both Sebastian and Kat are people trying hard to both understand their place in the world, and be understood.
Who know that the discovery of Sebastian's grandmother's diaries would be their key to accomplishing both.
But the couples' quest to bring the great lady's story to the silver screen could spell the end of their "happily ever after" before it begins.
As well as dashing any hopes that Kat has of box office redemption.
Unless these two are able to think their way out of the devious boxes of others without extinguishing the spark that make each able to see the other for who and what they are now...and are destined to become together.

This is the kind of read that make one believe that there is a round hole for every square peg.
Even you!

*Reviewer's Note:  This is the first novel in a loosely related companion series that may be read in any order.
**This review contains only the honest opinions of the reviewer, and is based on the review copy provided.


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