Series: The Wild Ones*
Release Date: June 19th, 2017
That’s Tomahawk for you.
We rank people based on just how crazy they are. And the four craziest families in town are called the Wild Ones.
I’m on the bottom tier of those, so technically I’m not as crazy as the other Wild Ones. In fact, if it wasn’t for my brothers and their endless antics, I wouldn’t be considered a Wild One at all. Ahem. Sure. We’ll go with that.
Anyway, I have a best friend who endures it all with me. Benson Nolans is my one, constant favorite person.
Without him, I’d probably go really crazy, and not the fun kind. It’d be ridiculous, after three years of a flawless friendship, to mess that all up by falling for him.
I mean, even if we did get a little too close one night, it’d be reckless endangerment. Even if we did suddenly feel the chemistry that’s always been there and stop toeing the line, it’d be a foolish risk to take.
It’d be stupid to start hoping a really fun, but completely irrational, night with zero inhibitions might accidentally happen.
Really stupid… Right?
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• No OTT sad parts.
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have OW drama
– Hero proposed to OW in his past because she was pregnant
– He thought the kid of the OW was his, but he found out she was cheating on him with his twin brother the whole time and another OM
– The child is the OMs
– The OW is the hero’s step-sister (his mother married the OW father)
– The Hero didn’t tell the Heroine that the OW is his step-sister, so she finds out from the OW
• Does have unrequited OM drama
– The Heroine’s aunt consistently attempts to set up the Heroine with OM, and it makes the Hero jealous
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a brief separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.75/5 stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
Becoming a Vincent was freaking hilarious. I loved it. Literally, everything crazy that you can think of totally happens. It was so fun and crazy. The antics of Lilah and her brothers are just amazing. Her brother creates these new inventions to drive their neighbours (and loved ones) mad, and many of these are actually quite dangerous in hindsight.
Becoming a Vincent begins with an introduction to Lilah and Benson, who have known each other for the past 5 years. However, they’ve only been best friends for the past 2-3 years. It is mentioned repeatedly how shy Benson is… or at least, how he doesn’t want people to know who he was before he moved to Tomahawk. It is kind of contradictory calling someone your best friend when they don’t actually know much about you, and so begins the set up for the ‘miscommunication’ trope.
The relationship between Lilah and Benson was so cute. They really are the best of friends (at least from Lilah’s perspective). But you could tell early on that Benson was in love with Lilah. But, it took Lilah a while to clue in.
The big plot driver that basically clues in Lilah on her feelings for Benson is when he loses his beard. The Beard Challenge had been going on for a long time and basically meant that no man capable of growing a beard was allowed to cut it in any way. If they did, they’d have to swim the length of a freezing lake, nude. The story stresses that it wasn’t really swimming the cold lake (naked) that kept the challenge going, but that no one wanted to be known as the loser… it became a point of pride for the men in Tomahawk.
Lilah–as an act of revenge–makes it, so her brothers lose the challenge. Meaning, the men are now allowed to shave! All of a sudden, men that were ignored and could never get a date are now hounded by the girls of Tomahawk… including Benson. I think the most amusing scene was when a bunch of girls from the town first saw Benson without a beard and started flirting with him. But, being classic Benson, he gravitated to Lilah–they’re best friends, and he’s in love with her. They were cuddling and stuff, and eventually, he went off to talk to a friend of his, and one of Lilah’s friends complained to Lilah that the second Lilah saw her flirting with Benson Lilah moved in on him. Lilah was both confused and flabbergasted. She told her friend that the guy is Benson… who Lilah’s talked about for years and who is her best friend. The about-face of Lilah’s friend was hilarious, but also served as a wake-up call to Lilah: Benson will no longer be ignored by the girls of Tomahawk.
On this topic, it’s one of the reasons Becoming a Vincent isn’t 5 stars to me. For how into Lilah he was, it annoyed me that he didn’t immediately shut down the girls flirting with him at the BBQ. Although, some of the hilarious scenes were when girls kept going to Benson’s house to lure him with baked goods. Lilah would answer the door (when the girls would drop off their baked goods), or Benson would say that he’s dating Lilah, and these girls would literally run away.
The whole book, though, you could tell that another shoe was going to drop. There had to be some reason that Benson didn’t want to tell anyone about his family. I get it, it’s complicated. But if you really love your girlfriend and want to have a dedicated and respectful relationship, you don’t hide those things from her. I really applauded how Owens made Lilah react to Benson’s lies of omission. It was a very realistic reaction, and she brought up and confronted Benson with how his actions hurt her–he put his own discomfort before the emotional wellbeing of Lilah. Ouch. Now, there is a HEA, but how Benson gets Lilah back is so freaking funny and cute. It’s definitely fitting of a person who is in love with one of the Wild Ones.
Overall, a very cute romance and a hilarious story! The second book is great too! Can’t wait for the third one!
Preview the Books I Mentioned on Amazon Kindle
Lilah and Benson
220 pages
Kylie and Liam
174 pages
Pipper and Kai
282 pages
