Review: Call of the Wilde by Jenn Stark (Immortal Vegas #8)

Call of the Wilde (Immortal Vegas #8)
Jenn Stark
Published: Sept. 5, 2017 (Elewyn Publishing)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free it will reference previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Getting Wilde.

After keeping her mother from being called into being by the evil Gamon, whom we also found out is the current head of the House of Cups, Sara Wilde was ready for a vacation. Which is exactly what she thought she was getting when the Magician invited her to do just that. Turns out, the Magician has other plans on his mind. Plans that involve Sara calling forth the deity Hera from beyond the veil to fill in the Empress position within the Council.

Doing so, however, causes other beings beyond the veil to sit up and take notice, using this brief breach to begin to tear at the fabric that protects the earth from the gods and goddesses that would destroy it. Sara knows that battle is coming and it’s time to step up as the head of the House of Swords, but she can’t do it alone. She’ll need the full support of the other Houses if there is any hope of winning. However, finding the illusive House of Wands begins to prove problematic especially when there’s a mysterious new player in Vegas and he seems to be gunning for Sara Wilde.

Call of the Wilde for me, and so far in the series, has been the stand out best. I loved seeing Sara finally step up and start to prove her mettle. Not just within the House structure but with her Connected powers and immortality as well. We see her start to make decisions that might, in the long run, be her undoing, but at the time were essential. This comes through in Sara’s interactions with Gamon—who didn’t fare so well after her encounter with Sara’s mother. Sara needs Gamon’s help even though she fully anticipates being stabbed in the back at a later time. Also, even though Sara is not sure of all she can do with her powers yet, she wielded them in a more comfortable way than we’ve seen from her up to now.

Call of the Wilde deceptively pushed the romance aspect between Sara and the Magician to the backseat. Deceptive because in actuality it’s probably the most progress we’ve seen in the growth of their relationship thus far. Albeit, Jenn Stark takes a very subtle approach, but I really liked this turn of events and I hope things continue to build up in this way between them in the next book.

We leave Sara Wilde in a very precarious position at the end of Call of the Wilde, but with quite a nice set up for Running Wilde. With the continued character growth and the fast-pacing with interesting twists and turns, Call of the Wilde is a perfect example of why this series has become one of my favorites.

Sexual content: references to sex