Zoey is a cancer research fellow, trying to find some way to help work toward better treatments for adolescent bone cancers like her sister had. But she's run down, exhausted, overwhelmed, and feeling like she's getting nowhere. When the Handsome (aka Davy) shows up at her lab asking for directions to someone's office, she's immediately distracted, and never really gets it together again. Davy is just trying to start his big cat sanctuary and stay away from people. But Zoey is beautiful and a great distraction herself.

This is definitely a spicy romance. It's one of those lust at first sight kind of books, and they're hopeless for each other in a matter of days and upending their lives for each other after knowing each other for two seconds. But the progression is well written, and the initial flurry of anxiety from Zoey that starts them on their path to each other feels real and reasonable.

This was a silly, fun, light and fast read. It's perfect for anyone that needs a good escapist romance. I enjoyed it.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

The Plan was simple: find a cure for the cancer that nearly took her sister’s life. But for Zoey Fong, something about The Plan isn’t working anymore. When a crucial tissue sample accidentally winds up in the hands of a very distracting—and disarmingly handsome—visitor, Zoey jumps at the chance to follow him home to retrieve it.

Davy Hsieh’s rugged island estate is no manicured suburban park. His plan is simple: establish a legitimate animal sanctuary and embrace life as a hermit to make up for a sketchy past. Zoey invading his fortress of solitude should not, under any circumstances, be a romantic development.

A sweet and quirky book with likable, engaging characters. The plot is not overly developed or complicated, but overall this is a fun, light, and quick read.

I walked away feeling incredibly grateful for the author’s candid approach to the writing. From the achingly realistic and witty characters and the devastating detail of all that is stacked against them to the sheer beauty of their love for one another, this is one those books that is simply unforgettable.

Zoey Fong is your typical Type A personality. She has The Plan and is determined to stick with it come Hell or high water. Currently enrolled in a MD/PHD research program, Zoey is studying the same cancer her younger sister had as a child. The only problem, she hates the research. Overly responsible, Zoey feels guilty even thinking about quitting and feels stuck on her path. Then former boy band member, current wild animal rescuer Davy Hsieh bumbles into her life. When a mix up leads to Zoey’s research slide ending up on the remote island Davy is trying to turn into a wildlife sanctuary, Zoey spontaneously decides to accompany Davy back to the island to retrieve it. When a storm leads to Zoey being stranded for a few days, she and the well meaning Davy get to know each other. The unexpected connection leads both Davy and Zoey to rethink the current course of their lives and consider making some changes. Will they be for the better or end up destroying their lives?

Opal Wei’s Wild Life is a fun, flirty, fast read. Zoey and Davy are quite the characters! Zoey is high strung, smart, and a fierce defender of her loved ones. Her sense of responsibility is so strong, she pushes her own happiness to the side. Davy is sweet and almost naive. He’s leery of being close to those he loves because of his self destructive past. Despite their differences, they can’t help but be attracted to each other. They just spark. Wei’s writing is zippy, campy and hilarious. A throwback to the 1930s/1940s romcoms. “Bringing Up Baby” anyone? Wild Life is a low angst, sweet romance that leaves the reader smiling.

This was a cute book overall and I would recommend it for anyone interested in k-pop love stories.

I think it did the k-pop star love story and did it well - our FMC had no idea who he was, even after she found out he was famous, so it didn’t have that power dynamic ick factor.

Some of the ecology and tiger ethic stuff was a little iffy but I think they pulled through it and managed to give that a nice little bow. I think the FMC could have had a tidier ending after dealing with all of her own emotional drama.

Ultimately, I’d recommend this for a fluffy read.

By turns madcap and seductive, I loved Opal Wei's Wild Life. You can definitely count me as someone who grew up watching the 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, and Wei's gender-flipped reworking is witty and romantic.

While I frequently laughed at the foraging hippie innkeeper, and the antics with the tranq gun, and the riffs on boy bands (always go for the shirtless one), it was the love story itself that I adored the most.

Davy was a perfectly swoony hero: affable, well intentioned, and torturing himself for his (perceived) past mistakes. Plus, he plays the piano--is anything hotter? And his perfect match was Zoey: no nonsense, single-minded, but maybe kinda sorta doubting herself after a lifetime of certainty.

Wei here--and in previous incarnation as Ruby Lang--writes intimacy as well anyone penning romance today. This is a worthy and wonderful addition to her body of work.

great book and loved the mystery through out the book. I loved the characters and how they grew through all of their adventures. I enjoyed this book and this author and will check them out again add them to my reading pile.

Thank you to @Harlequin for the ARC. I enjoyed this book very much. Zoey are main character is trying to make right what happened to her sister as a child but it is not where her heart is. Davy is trying to put his youth behind him and make up for some mistakes made. A mix up happens and they are secluded on a private island with a wild cat. The humor and love story make this book a must read.

This is a story of learning to believe in yourself and realizing that just because you had a plan it’s okay to change your mind and start over. I think this story will touch a lot of people who are questioning their self and their decisions. 10 out 10 highly recommend!

More like 3.5. Adorable characters. Great pining. The plot is a little thin but the plot didn't feel like the point. I loved that it kept reminding me of Bringing Up Baby but not really because a cougar is a cougar. Davy and Zoey were great. I would definitely recommend this romcom to someone with a free weekend.

Wild Life is such a fun read that gives a different take on your standard small town romance. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it early!

I really enjoyed this while reading it. Its fun and romantic.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Wild Life by Opal Wei is an enchanting romantic adventure that is sure to captivated my attention from the very beginning. This delightful tale took me on a thrilling journey as the characters embark on a quest to find a lost slide while facing various unexpected challenges and disasters.

Firstly I would like to say I love the cover and the premise/setting of this book. A burnt out graduate student plus private island turned wildlife sanctuary seems like a fun time!

Unfortunately this book did not work for me for various reasons (mild spoilers ahead):

The writing style- I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about the sentence structure and dialogue felt completely off to me and kept pulling me out of the story. There were a lot of sentences starting with “but” and just odd language in general that interrupted the flow of the narrative. A lot of of the dialogue (both internal and external) felt completely different than what a typical person would say/think, which made it hard to immerse myself in the story. Here are a few sentences I annotated that had me scratching my head:
“Zoey felt the impatience build up like steam behind her eyeballs.”
“Her emotions should have been tired from all the swooping and plummeting they'd done in the last hour, day, week. But all she could feel was energy bubbling up everywhere.”

The plot- Much of the plot did not make sense to me. Their initial meet cute comes when he stumbles upon her working in a medical research lab while he is trying to find a wildlife expert that works on the same campus. As someone who works in a research lab- there is no way this would happen, especially with someone looking for a person in a completely different department? He then accidentally steals and important slide (how? good question, I’m not sure either) and it ends up packed in a crate being sent to his island. Instead of allowing it to be mailed back like a normal person, Zoey embarks on a journey to his island to find it in the crates herself. The slide then spends the rest of the book getting absolutely mistreated (she stores it in her bra??), and (the most infuriating part to me), at the end of the book she mails it back to her advisor. This whole set up aside, the author introduces a completely unnecessary villain in the third act, plus multiple side plots/characters that do not have time to be explored in any depth within such a short book. The result is a slightly convoluted plot with rushed pacing that really takes away from the romance. Which brings me to:

The romance- These two characters really meet and fall in instalove, but internally have reasons that don’t really make sense for why they can’t be together (he’s wealthy and she’s not!). They work through some issues, and then he is moving to the mainland to be with her and she is dropping out of her PhD program (with no plan) to be with him. This is all within days of meeting, along with a full “I love you” confession.

The comedy- There were parts of this that really felt they were trying to pull off the comedy part of a rom-com, but mostly consisted of characters acting like complete weirdos. This I found completely unfunny and I wish this book would have tried less hard to be comedic.

Overall I did not enjoy reading this and I definitely would have DNFed if this was not an arc. I do hope this works for other readers though who maybe have different taste!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an arc to review.

Wild Life by Opal Wei is a steamy romance about a med student and cancer researcher, Zoey, who encounters Davy when he comes into her lab looking for someone else. Davy is a seemingly simple rich guy and Zoey is laser focused on "The Plan", to find a cure for bone cancer.
It took me several days to read this book. It is well-paced, and the characters are intelligent and have realistic internal conflicts. However, I did not emotionally connect to them. I read to escape, and the severe anxiety and self-doubt are perhaps too well-described.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Fun, silly, effervescent -- exactly the tonic I needed to escape real life for a few hours! An enjoyable read to brighten your day. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it early!

Thank you to Netgalley and HARLEQUIN for an ARC of this book. I liked this book, I didn't think it was anything too special but I enjoyed my time reading it. I didn't feel too connected to either of the characters but their chemistry felt very real. I really liked how important messages were subtly put in through the text. One thing I took away from this book is that if you aren't happy about where you are in life there is no shame in taking a different path than you thought you would. This story conveyed beautiful themes and I had a great time reading it.

I was very excited to see comparisons to Bringing Up Baby. While there are a few similar ideas, this story is very different from that movie. Honestly, I almost didn't finish this because I wasn't a huge fan of some of the dialogue early on. There was one scene in particular that I didn't understand why she would possibly be thinking that in the moment. It was awkward. I took a break from the book and then I decided to keep reading. I did end up enjoying it a little more. I liked the anxiety representation and the lessons the characters learn.
I enjoyed the ending. Be aware this is a very spicy read with multiple scenes.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Fun story set in British Columbia. From the beginning of the story, the plot moves interestingly through a romance story. The characters evolve into thoughtful adults. It was fun to see their transition.