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.

The plot of this book is right up my alley- animal lover, nature, familial ties, and some drama. I was a little surprised by the pacing- reading the premesis I felt that there was a lot that could have happened between the two MCs but it took forever to really get to that point of “hey, I’m into this”. I did like the past building, and once we got to the point of their interest being obvious I was hooked.

I loved every second of this fun, silly romp! After a run-in in the lab where Zoey works, Davy accidentally walks off with the slide that's integral to her work researching bone cancer. Her quest to get it back lands her on Davy's remote private island, where her only company is him... and his elderly rescue cougar, Baby. Forced proximity really forced proximities here, and obviously they fall in love - but Davy's evil neighbor is eager to destroy the peace Davy's worked so hard to find on the island.

This book was sweet (but spicy!), soft, and kind, but still laugh-out-loud funny! Zoey's cancer research was inspired by her sister's bout with the same kind as a child (she lived), and Davy is a former C-Pop star dealing with the aftermath of fame in a predatory environment. They're so good to each other and for each other, and it was a delight to watch them fall in love. If you loved stressed-out Olive from The Love Hypothesis and kind, thoughtful Zafir from Take a Hint, Dani Brown, you're going to love Zoey and Davy. I can't wait to see what Wei writes next!

This was surprisingly a delight! I loved the Canadian island setting, which gave it a unique feel to some of the other romance out there. You do need to suspend belief for some of the scientific aspects, especially with the sample life that kicks everything off, but it didn’t detract from the plot.the main characters have chemistry and work well together, and the love interest is deserving of a a lot of people’s new book boyfriend title. Give this one a chance and try some thing a little different, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

This romance features two characters who are each running away from their lives. Zoe is in the middle of an MD / PhD program in cancer research. She's frustrated and discouraged with the work. Davy self-destructed previously by trying to please everyone else. He now avoids other people by living in isolation on an island and working to form an animal sanctuary.

Davy and Zoe "meet cute" when he comes to the labs to look for a professor to advise him on the wildlife habitat. There's instant attraction. She gives him a research slide to hold. When she realizes that she forgot to retrieve it, she follows Davy around town, jumps on a boat to the island and helps him to unpack his crates to look for the slide. A storm hits the island and both are marooned together for a few days.

As they spend time together, they realize that they complement each other. Davy experiences crippling anxiety and Zoe is compassionate. He is insecure about his accomplishments and Zoe becomes his passionate defender. Zoe is miserably unhappy in academia and David helps her find her joy.

This pacing on this book was very, very slow. (Both Davy and Zoe are very shy and hesitant to reach out.) In an effort to add drama, the author brings in a villain and a threat during the second half of the book that felt a little bit out of left field. While Davy and Zoe are both likeable, I found the pacing frustrating.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley.com for an advance copy of Wild Life. This is an honest review.

I loved the underlying messages woven through the story but I had a tough time loving the characters. The romance part felt forced and like the characters were lacking the depth needed to stand up to the message the author wanted to portray. Overall very well written and quick to read!

Wild Life by Opal Wei
Check the author's content warnings, they are spot on: anxiety; depression; addiction; difficult family relationships; on-page sex; references to animal abuse (but the animals get a happy ending)

This story is spectacular! This dialogue is so witty, the arguments are hysterical, the adventure is silly.

Things I am here for:
Zoey is brilliant, and she will not stand for the Patriarchy!
Davy is always learning.
Davy's anxiety, panic attacks, and the mental health representation is excellent.
Davy's instant and continued respect for Zoey's fierceness.
Zoey's rabbit hole arguments.
Watch out for Canada Gooses! They are not to be messed with!
Instant love/connection ❤️ swoon!

This is an ARC, and this might not make it into the final edit, but I hope it does. This is my favorite highlight from the book.
“I get swept up in you,” she said. “Every time.”

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

While I enjoyed this screw-ball romantic comedy, I felt it was far too rushed. Davy and Zoey were great characters and the Vancouver/Gulf Coast setting was novel and well-established. I also loved how almost every character was Asian as well as the focus on anxiety and living for yourself. But there needed to be more romantic build-up between Davy and Zoey and the ending needed more fleshing out. As a quick sexy romance, it's a fun read but I really think it could have been much more than that.

Zoey Fong has a plan, that is until Davy Hsieh shows up bothering her about mugs and wildlife, leaving her distracted and handing the slide to him. Once Zoey realizes that her important slide that is essential to her plan of researching cancer in her graduate program is with the handsome stranger, she falls into Davy's world of private islands, music, and a cougar named Baby. Stuck on an island together, Davy and Zoey has to overcome their own struggles and find what it means to fall in love.

I didn't love this book because the relationship was a bit annoying. I just don't like it when two characters are obviously in love but they think that the other person doesn't like them back. It just gets boring to read after a while. Other than that, it's an entertaining book based on a funny premise that has a feel-good happy ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for sending me an e-copy of this book for an honest review!

This was a cute, screwball-y romcom. Protagonist Zoey ends up following Hunk Davy back to his private island to search for a symbolically important object that she accidentally gave to him. Their time flirting on and off the island provides the bulk of the plot and of course both character each have their foibles. I can appreciate that the author specifically wrote the Hunk to be pro-consent and realistic about how at various points both characters were too nervous to make a move, very relatable. Overall this was enjoyable and cute but ultimately a little forgettable. Good to get from a library.

3.25, rounded to a 4.

Overall, the romance and the chemistry between Zoey and Davy was super cute and swoon worthy. I loved their interactions and I love how much they love each other. But their relationship wasn't believable. I feel like the book needed at least another 75-100 pages, in order to flesh out the romance between Zoey and Davy and really amp up the electricity between them. That being said if you want to read a book that's quick and easy to get through, with complex characters that have real problems, and a loveable wild cat named Baby this is your book. Totally worth reading!!

this was a cute steamy rom com. i quite enjoyed it and finished in one sitting! I will definitely recommend and can't for it to be published!!

A wonderfully zany rom-com that also works as a lovely, gender-flipped homage to one of my favorite-ever screwball comedies, Bringing Up Baby. I loved fierce scientist Zoe and sweet, anxious Davy, their romance was really sweet and tender, and I laughed SO many times along the way!

I don't know what I just read. This book was too all over the place. The characters were so wonky I don't know how to explain it. Zoey and Davy were just too all over the place and it did not go well and made it hard to follow the book.

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Davy. Everything about him is top tier book boyfriend material so thank you for that! 🥹 Sophie is a little oblivious but that’s okay, it’s not done in an annoying way so I can appreciate it.

Wonky, sexy romp featuring a beleaguered Cancer researcher student, a former boy band shirtless bad boy turned animal rehab island owner, and a yowling, screeching cougar named Baby.

Zoey Fong and Davy Hsieh crash into each other at Zoey's lab, causing her to misplace her precious slide she needs for her research, and ending up with her on Davy's private island searching for the slide amidst his many crates of essentials he needs to survive mostly alone in solitude out there. What follows is a sexy romp as both Zoey and Davy immediately are attracted to one another and find themselves defending the other's quirks to everyone else they encounter. I had a blast reading this, and i hope you all do too!

Thank you to the publisher for the arc