Small Town Romance: Wild Goose Chase by Kilby Blades
A small town romance of a single mom and the ex-firefighter turned chef who’s always loved her, even when she was married to his best friend
Hi Librarygoer!
If you’re in the mood for a cozy, small town romance … welcome to Green Valley, Tennessee.
Here you’ll find the most swoony, slow burn (but indisputable spicy) romances featuring fire fighters, the people they love, and deeply layered mysteries. This, Wild Goose Chase, Is the third book in a series inside of a series (but you can absolutely read this without engaging with the others).
One thing I especially love about this series, all of the heroines are Black. Black small town romances are so few and far between that I grab onto them whenever I find them and this happens to have some of my other favorite elements. Hilarious banter, children with main character energy, a man who’s been into her forever, and an on-page mystery that needs solving.
Violet and Chase are such a joy to experience on page and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Here are the stats!
CW: Death of a spouse, historical & off-page.
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What is this story about?
You (Violet) are a single mom in small town Tennessee to two adorable kids. You’re rebuilding your life after your firefighter husband passed fighting a wildfire two years ago. You have an amazing support system around you. You have your girls, your kids, and you have him. Chase.
Chase has been your friend since forever, since before you knew your husband, who happened to be his best friend. After your husband passed, he gave up firefighting and took over the family farm. When the insurance company refused to pay out your late husband’s policy, Chase invented a job for you. You took that job and turned it into a major income stream for the farm. You loved it so much that you went back to school, to become an interior designer. Which is where we find you, handing Chase your notice.
Only Chase is absolutely not having that. He’s been in love with you since before you knew your husband but stepped aside to let you all have your happiness. He never felt right about making his move but with you threatening to leave, he has a choice to make.
As do you. You’re trying to get your life back on a track that moves forward. Finishing school, raising your two littles, dating (eek!) and it feels like Chase is always around. It feels good to have him in your life but also, too intense. I mean, he fights with the school administration as much as you do. He’s the father to your kids in all but name because they were too young to know your husband. Crossing the line with him feels like something you absolutely should not do when he becomes a firefighter again. You’ve already lost one partner, you cannot handle two.
What you don’t know is that Chase is a firefighter again to help right the wrongs of the insurance company all those years ago. A Wild Goose Chase of sorts.
In your mind, there are as many reasons to say yes as there are to say no. What choice will you both make?
What are three words to describe the tone of this book?
Longing, rejuvenating, and mysterious.
Who would I recommend this book to?
Anyone who loves:
🚜 Small town romance
👩👦👦 Widowed single mother
👨🚒👨🍳 Firefighter-turned-chef
🥀 Unrequited love
🛑 Forbidden romance
💗🫶🏻🫂Friends-to-lovers
👧🏽👦🏽 Children with main character energy
🫂💕 Found family
😭 Tearjerker
📖📖📖 Interconnected standalones
😍 He’s always loved her
What made this work for me?
This book has some of my favorite microtropes. I love children as side characters and some of their appearances were the most emotional and others were the most hilarious.
I also appreciated the slow burn of this book. Chase cared for Violet in the exact perfect way he needed to do in each season of their lives together so I love that they took their time before getting busy. I will say it was well worth the wait!
This feels both friends-to-lovers and second chance romance-ish because Chase has got it bad. He has it so bad that literally everyone in their lives knows how bad he has it with the exception of Violet. There’s also some fun friends coaching him toward wooing Violet moments. This is just everything small town romance dreams are made of.
Do you need to read the rest of this series to understand this book?
No, this series is pretty unique in that it is a series of eight books with multiple authors. Kilby Blades has 3 books in the series but authors also include Juliette Cross, Lauren Connolly, and Allie Winters.
I haven’t read any of the series not by Kilby Blades (but they are on my list!) Characters from the other two Kilby Blades characters all show up in Wild Goose Chase but you don’t miss too much context without having read them. I will say they are fabulous and absolutely worth reading.
Is this small town contemporary romance going to the top of your TBR?
Thank you to Valentine PR for providing this ARC of Wild Goose Chase!