Wild Man

Wild Man Book Cover

Official Book Blurb

While filling her display case in her bakery, the bell over the door sounds and Tessa O’Hara looks up and sees the man of her dreams. Within thirty seconds he asks her out for a beer. Thirty seconds later, she says yes. But after four months of falling in love, she discovers he’s an undercover DEA Agent investigating the possibility she’s involved in her ex-husband’s drug business.

Obviously Tess decides this means it’s over.

But DEA Agent Brock Lucas disagrees. A man on a mission who’s really committed to his job, he’s spent years in the underbelly of Denver with the dregs of society. And spending four months with Tess who’s as sweet as her cupcakes, he seriously enjoyed his job. But during Tess’s interrogation, Brock learns the devastating secret Tess is carrying and he’s determined to be the man who helps her heal as well as take her back as she walks on the wild side.

As wild and sweet mix, they face challenge after challenge of family struggling with history and terminal illness. Not to mention, Tess’s ex-husband, the drug lord and Brock’s ex-wife, who has a very big playbook are scheming to tear them apart.

But Brock Lucas has wild in him and once in his past on the trail of vengeance he let that wild loose, making a mistake that he would have no idea years later will put his sweet Tess in the position to pay his penance.

Characters

• Brock Lucas "Slim" Jake Knox; 45 yo; drives a Harley Fatboy and a very beat up pickup truck, later replaces it with a dark blue GMC tricl; went to UArizona on a baseball scholarship; "He was tall, at least six one, maybe six two. And muscled. He wasn’t slim at all, his body was built of lean, compacted muscle that had some bulk to it, sure, but I wouldn’t call him huge.: Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 645-646). "I listen to Credence, the Eagles, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Thorogood, shit like that and pretty much anything country if a chick ain’t singin’ it." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 1485-1486).
• Tess O'Hara 43 yo; Likes "My Big Fat Wedding" and Fiona Apple
• [[ ]] Tess' sister lives in Australia
• [[ ]] Tess' mother; bitter about her father not loving her; lives in Florida
• Donna Tess' late-father's EMT partner;
• Rex Lucas Brock's son, 10yo; "Joel had Fern’s blue eyes, Rex had someone else’s nose but other than that, features, body shape, everything was so like Brock it was uncanny."Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2859-2860).
• Joel Lucas Brock's son, 12yo; " Joel had Fern’s blue eyes, Rex had someone else’s nose but other than that, features, body shape, everything was so like Brock it was uncanny." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2859-2860).
• Laura Brock's sister "a tall, gorgeous, rounded, dark-haired, silver-eyed woman" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2269-2270). "A year and a half older than Brock, her hair had started to silver and she let it go at that. She got her Mom’s eyes, both her parents’ height (like all her siblings), wasn’t pleasantly rounded like Laura but fit in a sturdy way. She’d been with her partner Fritz for twenty years, they’d never married" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 3414-3416).
• Fritz Jill's partner "a stocky, salt and pepper, close-cropped but obviously still frizzy-haired man" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Location 3492).
• Kalie Laura and Fritz' 18yo daughter; now works at Tessa's Cakes "a very pretty, dark, curly-to-frizzy haired girl who was dressed like she was at a costume party and she was a 60’s hippie" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Location 3476).
• Kellie Laura and Fritz' 16 yo daughter, now works at Tessa's Cakes "a tall, dark-haired girl who was for some reason in late November wearing short-shorts and a thin drapey t-shirt over a camisole (and that reason might be because she was young, she was gorgeous, she had great legs and I was with her, if you had them, flaunt them)" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 3493-3494).
• Austin Laura's husband "a tall, blond man with light blue eyes who was smiling at me like a madman" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 3491-3492).
• Dylan Laura's son, dark hair, about 8-9
• Grady Laura's son, dark hair, abut 6-7
• Ellie Laura's daughter, dark hair, about 4-5
• Olivia McManus Brock's ex-wife "She was beautiful. Utterly, top-to-toe, the definition of beautiful. Shining, healthy, long blonde hair. Fabulous bone structure. Perfectly symmetrical features. Intriguingly shaped bedroom eyes. Cheekbones to die for. Tall and rake thin. Slim-fitting, stylish sweater, two hundred dollar jeans, seven hundred dollar boots and fifteen hundred dollar handbag. And she had extraordinarily beautiful hands tipped with perfect, crimson fingernails. She looked like she walked out of the pages of a celebrity magazine." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2957-2963).
• Dade McManus Olivia's husband; a handsome but somewhat elderly man" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Location 5078).
• Jill Brock's sister
• Levi Lucas Brock's brother; plays summer softball; has season tickets to the Broncos; "a breathtakingly handsome man who, with his tall, lean, powerful, fit body, thick, dark hair but, strangely, since no one else had them, hazel eyes," Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 3495-3496).
• Lenore Levi's girlfriend; she likes football and her little brother plays for Notre Dame; "a young woman (another correct guess, in her late twenties) with a fabulous figure, blonde hair in a pixie cut that suited her very pretty features and a carefully selected outfit that said she wanted to impress but not show off," Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 3496-3498).
• Fern Lucas Brock's mother, radiology technician "an older woman with thick, silver hair and blue eyes and an overall look that screamed, “Grandma!”" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2309-2310).
• Cob Lucas Brock's father "a tall, beer-gutted older man with dark hair shot with not a small amount of silver and silvery-gray eyes" Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 2341-2342).
• Bree Brock's ex-girlfriend who gets raped and turns to drugs until she eventually
• Damien Heller Tess' ex-husband; drives an escalade; Shot to death by Josiah Burkett; "Fit frame at least three inches shorter than Brock and probably more than thirty pounds lighter. Light brown hair. Dark brown eyes. A sharp crease in his well-tailored dark blue trousers. A light blue shirt that I knew had been made specifically for him because he always spent a whack on his clothes. Polished, dark brown, Italian leather shoes." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 6095-6097).
• Donald Heller Damien's father, kind, younger looking than his real age of 72
• Martha Shockley Tess's best friend
• Agent Calhoun interviews Tessa when she's brought in for questioning about Damien Heller; later dates Martha; "A little salt in his pepper hair, not much. Tall. Broad shoulders. A bit of a belly. Nice wrinkles by his eyes saying he either needed to wear protective eyewear in the sun more often or he laughed a lot. Older than me by maybe five years," Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 480-482).
• Ada ex-friend; invited Tess to her baby shower
• Vic married to Vic
• Elvira "mocha skin, hair in stylish crop with blonde highlights at the long bangs, fabulous tangerine top that showed even more fabulous cleavage, skintight skirt that showed this baby had back and she would have been shorter than me if she wasn’t wearing four inch, killer, stiletto-heeled sandals." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 900-902).
• Hawk Delgado
• Vance Crowe
• Nora works at Tessa's Cakes
• Suni works at Tessa's Cakes
• Hector Chavez Used to work with Brock at the DEA
• Shirleen Jackson
• Daisy Sloan
• Camille
• Tracy
• Gwen
• Officer Petri
• Raul contractor that Tessa and Slim hired to renovate her house. They eventually fired him because he kept delaying.
• Jimmy Marker "Jimmy Marker was a veteran cop, highly decorated, intensely dedicated to the job and close to retirement. There wasn’t a cop in the Department who didn’t respect him," Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 7852-7853).
• Josiah Burkett Bree's cousin who raped her.
• Mitch Lawson Slim's partner
• Jordon Olivia's new man, transferred to Portland, Maine

Places

• Tess' house
• Brock's apartment "It was in a small, well-landscaped, quiet, L-shaped layout of condos. Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Location 2785).
• Tessa's Cakes Cherry Creek? "I launched the entire concept. Beautiful cakes that tasted really freaking good bought from friendly personnel who didn’t have vacant looks but easily apparent personalities in a bakery where you either wanted to come back or you wanted to stay awhile." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 5679-5681). "Three robin’s egg blue walls, one of them with a huge, stenciled pattern in lavender of hibiscus blossoms attended by hummingbirds with the back wall behind the display case painted lavender with “Tessa’s Cakes” in flowery script painted in robin’s egg blue surrounded by hibiscus and hummingbirds. This was positioned just a few inches from where the wall met the ceiling so people could see it clearly from the wide front windows facing the street." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 5669-5672). "The floors were wood as was the frame of the old-fashioned display case which was filled with beautiful cakes, cupcakes and delectable-looking cookies, this topped with mismatching but very cool covered cake stands and glass cookie jars. There were battered wooden counters on either side of the display case that also held cookie jars and cake stands and there were shelves on the wall behind the case and counters with even more. Two big blackboards were on the walls on either side of the shelves with the day’s ever-changing goodies scrolled artfully on them in lavender and blue chalk, hibiscus and hummingbirds decorating the corners. There were tables out front if you wanted to hang and eat your treats, these again all wood, again all mismatched the only thing each of the chairs shared was being wide seated, sturdy and comfortable. Each table was topped with a tiny steel bucket with a poofy display of flowers and there was a much bigger bucket filled with a spray of them on one of the counters." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 5682-5689).
• Tessa's Cakes 2 "in Writer Square in LoDo. It was fabulous, great foot traffic, sandwiched between 16th Street Mall and Larimer Square, visibility from 15th Street and Larimer, sidewalk seating opportunity." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 7143-7144).
• Cob's House "Cob lived in Baker Historical District, not far from where Brock used to live. Baker was a great ‘hood, a mishmash of houses, personality and most folks took care of their homes. Cob’s was tiny with a chain link fence, an overabundance of tall trees planted close to the house which would, in summer, totally block out any light and a look that said he didn’t spend much time keeping up with the Joneses even when he wasn’t being treated for cancer." Ashley, Kristen (2011-10-04). Wild Man (Dream Man) (Kindle Locations 5732-5736).
• John Atencio exclusive jewelry store that Olivia loved to frequent
• St. Joe's Hospital where Lenore is taken when she goes into labor early