2020
Seraphina, a Chinese-American cellist who recently got let go from her full-time job playing music for the symphony in Manhattan, needs a distraction, something to do to relax and the healing process. She asks her best friend and occasional bi lover, Harrison, to organize an adventure in nature for the two of them, thinking her wealthy companion will take her to the Swiss Alps for some gentle skiing next to a five-star hotel. Instead, he takes her to a corner of Wyoming for a week-long camping trip. Utterly unprepared for a week of vigorous hiking in nature, and constantly scared about bugs and snakes everywhere, Seraphina and Harrison humorously come off as the worst couple to lead through the wilderness. While their handsome guide Clark is initially exasperated by these spoiled brats, soon into the trip he & Seraphina are sharing his tent. Which leads to sex out amongst the wildflowers, on the rocks, and in the lake. Which leads to Harrison joining them for some hot threesome sex.
The first in Kristin Lance´s "Wyoming Wild" series of erotic novellas, Showing Her the Wild is a sexy series of episodes set in the country´s least populated state. There is a refreshing amount of humor mixed in with the expressions of animalistic lust, and the observations about Seraphina about the beginning of the trip--ie frustrated that she can´t maintain her Paleo diet, not understanding the difference between a poisonous snake and a garter snake--quickly capture the character of this motely crew slowly winding their way through the mountains. With each chapter told from alternating points of view, the reader gets to enjoy a bit more depth within the characters of Clark and Seraphina, and understand some of their resistances as well as desires as they fall deeper into lust, and eventually, love.
The group scenes are erotic and hot, and Lance even welcomes us into a complicated yet believable back-story on Clark, involving his childhood friend Mateo. Positive depictions of bisexual men are rare in erotic literature, and Showing Her the Wild doesn´t leave Clark into the "trauma phase" of his emotional journey. He has done some work, and (with some nudges from his friends Mateo and Charlie) takes the leap into forging an intimate and consistent bond with Seraphina after their lusty camping adventure is complete.
This is strong erotic writing from a confident author, with believable characters in a refreshingly non-urban setting. I look forward to encountering other books within her series in the future.
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