This Wild Heart: a Fake Marriage, Sports Romance (Wilder Family)

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 1,656 ratings

Price: 4.99

Last update: 02-16-2025


About this item


Who forgets marrying a football player? Me, apparently. Turns out countless shots and a bad breakup lead to questionable decision making. But waking up in Vegas with a ring on my finger beside a hot, naked man is hard to ignore. I married Parker Wilder. Thanks to our quickie nuptials, I’ll get my inheritance, and he’ll get his family and their well-intentioned meddling off his back.

Forgetting the wedding was the easy part. Being married to him is a whole different story. Parker is too … everything. Chiseled by the gods good-looking. A heartbreaking kind of broody. The kind of man you know will wreck you for all others. Good thing this is all pretend. And oh, how we pretend. We pretend ourselves right into me ripping the clothes off his body.

It’s all fun and fake marriage until the day he gets a knock on the door with the surprise of a lifetime. Until the bomb goes off and we’re left to pick up the pieces. Until the pretending stops and we’re left with only one question: was any of it real?

From the Publisher

sports romance, fake marriage, single dad, contemporary romance, small town romance
sports romance, fake marriage, single dad, contemporary romance, small town romance
sports romance, fake marriage, single dad, contemporary romance, small town romance

Top reviews from the United States

  • Lisa G
    5.0 out of 5 stars Romance of Two Favorite Characters
    Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2025
    I had high expectations for this book and Karla Sorensen did not disappoint. Parker and Anya were two of my favorite side characters from the Wilder and Ward families respectively. The pacing of this book was so raw and real about healing from grief, heartbreak, and other life issues getting in the way. I can feel their chemistry and their real emotions for each other even though they were afraid to admit them at first. As a big Ward and Wilder fan I enjoyed the cameos of many favorites such as Isabel, Aiden, and Anya’s younger sisters, Logan and Paige, Greer and Becket, and of course, Sheila. Sad to see the series is wrapping up but it doesn’t have to. Violet, Willa, Sage, and Olive need to grow up and have romances of their own. Incredible read, intertwining two great series.
  • Colorado Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Healing with a found family
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025
    On the surface, this is about a Vegas marriage of convenience that's fueled by a night of drinking and a lot of chemistry. Anya needs access to her trust fund and Parker wants to stop the meddling by his matchmaking relatives. Fundamentally, it's a moving story about a man who is grieving the loss of his father and is terrified to fall in love and risk another loss. The plot is complicated by the appearance of a surprise baby on Parker's doorstep. While this found family is everything he needs to heal, Parker will need to find the courage to open his heart. Parker's story is sad, hopeful and emotionally gripping.
  • Emily J-H
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fake marriage with a twist
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025
    Parker has long been this most distant of all the Wilder siblings, staying away while his dad was sick. It was perfect to end the Wilder’s story with his. There were a few moments where I had to remember the ages and timelines of the characters from the other interconnected series… and many favorites returned.

    Parker is heartbroken and a little spirit broken after the death of his father. After trying to fill the hole with promiscuous party-boy antics, he finally is attempting to walk the straight and narrow while trying to figure out a world without his dad. A night in Vegas reconnects him with Anya, who is recovering from her broken engagement, leads to a Vegas wedding of convenience.

    Both characters are working through some major emotional upheavals and there are times this gets a little trying. I love when they come together to really support each other, coming up with a signal for when they feel overwhelmed. As their partnership grows, the story really takes off.

    Finishing this series makes me want to go back and reread them all again.
  • Jennifer J.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Parker and Anya
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2025
    FMC: Anya Hennessy
    MMC: Parker Wild
    Spice: ????️????️????️
    Pages: 397
    Tropes: Vegas Wedding, Football Romance, Marriage of Convenience, Hurt/Comfort, Fake Relationship
    Setting: Portland, Oregon

    Thoughts: I’m so sad to see this series end! After binging it and the interconnected series that came before it in the past month and a half, it seems even more like the end of an era. Parker Wilder has been my most anticipated Wilder sibling and he ended up being the perfect one to end on. Anya was his perfect match and gave Karla Sorensen a reason to revisit the Ward family again. Everything about this book was so well done! I will say I saw the twist coming, however it was a well kept secret and I only saw it coming because it’s one of my favorite tropes.
  • Kyle Mundhenke
    5.0 out of 5 stars save the best for last
    Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2025
    This book had me in all my feelings. Smiling, laughing, crying. Also healing. My Father in law passed away recently and this book/series is so transparent with all the facets of grief. Thank you for this moving and wonderful Wilder family.
  • Kelly - KCBookLover
    5.0 out of 5 stars What an ending to this series! Loved Parker and Anya!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025
    What an ending to this series!!! This story felt like the culmination of so many of my favorite series from Karla all coming to a beautiful end! I have loved the Wilder’s from the first moment that we met them and then add in the fact our heroine is Anya from the Ward Sisters series and I was full of so many emotions! I knew Parker was going to be a tough nut to crack but his love story was worth it all.

    “He was going to rearrange my world, and oh, I couldn’t wait.”

    On a vacation to recover from a cheating ex, Anya made a drunken decision in Vegas that changed everything, she was now Mrs. Parker Wilder, and the whole world knew it. I loved the accidental marriage and how they both just decided to go with it, what harm could it do? And oh my were they in for the surprise of a lifetime!

    “I didn’t want to breathe. I just wanted this. Just wanted him.”

    Parker had closed his heart of to being hurt again after losing his Dad and he truly wasn’t prepared for the way Anya would absolutely upend his carefully crafted life. I loved watching them navigate the consequences of that one drunken decision and seeing them embrace the chemistry that sparked between them. Their story was the perfect ending to the series and Parker’s grand gesture had me absolutely smiling so big! I definitely got emotional at the epilogue and wish this series could go on forever!
    Customer image
    Kelly - KCBookLover
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    What an ending to this series! Loved Parker and Anya!

    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025
    What an ending to this series!!! This story felt like the culmination of so many of my favorite series from Karla all coming to a beautiful end! I have loved the Wilder’s from the first moment that we met them and then add in the fact our heroine is Anya from the Ward Sisters series and I was full of so many emotions! I knew Parker was going to be a tough nut to crack but his love story was worth it all.

    “He was going to rearrange my world, and oh, I couldn’t wait.”

    On a vacation to recover from a cheating ex, Anya made a drunken decision in Vegas that changed everything, she was now Mrs. Parker Wilder, and the whole world knew it. I loved the accidental marriage and how they both just decided to go with it, what harm could it do? And oh my were they in for the surprise of a lifetime!

    “I didn’t want to breathe. I just wanted this. Just wanted him.”

    Parker had closed his heart of to being hurt again after losing his Dad and he truly wasn’t prepared for the way Anya would absolutely upend his carefully crafted life. I loved watching them navigate the consequences of that one drunken decision and seeing them embrace the chemistry that sparked between them. Their story was the perfect ending to the series and Parker’s grand gesture had me absolutely smiling so big! I definitely got emotional at the epilogue and wish this series could go on forever!
    Images in this review
  • Romance Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, Loved it, Loved it.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2025
    This has been one of my favorite series to read, each book Wars incredible. Parker's story was heartfelt, fun, and a great way to end the series. I am sad that this is ending and would love to see an epilogue written in the future to catch up with the wilder family.
  • Sara E. Hughes
    4.0 out of 5 stars the end of the Wilder’s
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2025
    “I wish I could’ve met you when I wasn’t so *messed* up”

    I knew Parker Wilder’s story would gut me just because of how his story has slowly been building throughout the series.

    This man did not handle his dad’s death at all and now he’s gone and married Anya!

    There is so much to their story and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but please know it’s wonderfully done!

    I love a family saga and the Wilder’s did not disappoint!

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