Running Wild

 Running Wild
Linda Howard and Linda Jones
Published: Random House Audio
Date: November 2012
Genre: Western suspense
Length: 11 hours 47 min
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Maggie Wheeler
Source: Own the audio

Summary from Goodreads

Carlin Reed lives in fear, off the grid, moving from place to place. So Battle Ridge,Wyoming, a small town in the middle of nowhere, seems like a good place to lie low for a while. But after becoming cook and housekeeper to cattle rancher Zeke Decker, Carlin suspects that she’s made her first mistake. Rugged, sexy, and too distracting for his own good, Zeke is pure temptation mixed with something deep and primal that makes Carlin feel almost safe. Soon things are getting way too hot in the kitchen.

Zeke doesn't challenge Carlin’s terms: cash, dead bolts, and no questions. It is easy to see that she’s a woman in trouble. Problem is, he’s so blindsided by his attraction to her he can’t think straight. Zeke tries to stay all business, no complications—but that game plan is sabotaged the second Carlin gets under his skin. And when her terrifying past follows her to the ranch, Carlin faces a heartbreaking choice: run away from the man she loves, or put him in the crosshairs of a madman.

My thoughts:
I've had this sitting on my iPod for over a month, and didn't get started on it. Over this weekend I have listened to it all.  Very unusual for me, but sometimes just listening to a book is more relaxing than reading.  Actually as I put in the length of the audiobook I think, oh my goodness did I just spend that much time listening - and here's the thing, I wasn't doing any housework or driving while listening!!

This was the kind of plot I have read by other authors, such as Catherine Anderson and Nora Roberts.  Linda Howard and Linda Jones handled it well also and I enjoyed it.  Somewhat tense at the beginning and end, with daily life making up most of the book, but with that edge of tension as you know the bad guy is going to turn up again.  A few other events involved some tension, so the contrast between calm and tense was just right for me.

Carlin is a gutsy heroine, I liked her sense of humour and some of her quick witted responses made me laugh out loud.   She grew as the book developed, the challenges she met along the way called for resilience and learning to take care of herself.

Maggie Wheeler narrated this book, I have never heard her before and would listen to another one of hers readily.