Wild Side by Elsie Silver

Elsie Silver’s third installment in the Rose Hill series, Wild Side, delivers a compelling enemies-to-lovers romance wrapped in a marriage of convenience package. Just when you think fake marriage tropes have been done to death, Silver breathes new life into the concept with complex characters carrying significant emotional baggage and chemistry that practically ignites the page. As the follow-up to Wild Love and Wild Eyes, this novel continues to expand the small-town universe of Rose Hill while delivering a satisfying standalone romance that both series devotees and newcomers can enjoy.

Unmasking the Story

Wild Side by Elsie Silver introduces us to Tabitha Garrison, a fiercely independent chef who runs the local Bighorn Bistro in Rose Hill. When her sister Erika dies unexpectedly of an overdose, Tabitha is devastated to learn that her nephew Milo’s guardianship has been granted to Rhys Dupris, her sister’s secretive landlord. Tabitha blames Rhys for evicting her sister, which she believes led to her relapse, making him the last person she wants raising her nephew.

Rhys, a professional wrestler who competes under the masked persona “Wild Side,” has his own reasons for accepting guardianship—promises made to Erika that he intends to honor. When immigration complications threaten to separate Milo from the only home he’s known, Tabitha proposes a marriage of convenience that would allow Rhys to stay in Canada while keeping Milo in Rose Hill.

What unfolds is a relationship built on mutual distrust that gradually transforms as layers of misunderstanding are peeled away. The discovery of Erika’s journals reveals that Rhys never evicted her, and Tabitha begins to see him not as an enemy but as a man who genuinely cares for her nephew. Their physical attraction, which simmers from their first meeting, eventually boils over into a passionate relationship that challenges both their preconceived notions about each other.

Character Depths and Dynamics

Silver excels at creating multi-dimensional characters who feel authentic in their flaws and strengths:

1. Tabitha Garrison: A force of nature who has spent her life picking up the pieces after her sister’s addiction issues. Her fierce loyalty and tendency to hold grudges make her initially difficult for Rhys to penetrate, but beneath her prickly exterior lies a woman desperate to be loved and valued for herself. Her journey from viewing her sister through rose-colored glasses to accepting the complicated reality of who Erika was forms one of the book’s most poignant arcs.
2. Rhys Dupris: The mysterious, brooding wrestler carries significant childhood trauma from growing up in foster care. His reticence and difficulty trusting others stem from never having experienced family stability. The contrast between his public persona as Wild Side and his private vulnerability creates compelling tension, especially as he learns to let Tabitha in.
3. Milo: Though only three, Milo serves as more than just a plot device. His relationship with both Tabitha and Rhys drives much of the emotional core of the book, and Silver portrays a realistic child rather than an idealized one.
4. Supporting Cast: The Rose Hill community comes alive through characters like West, Ford, Rosie, and Bash, whose bowling nights and friendly banter provide both comic relief and a sense of the found family that both protagonists need.

Strengths That Make the Book Shine

Wild Side by Elsie Silver demonstrates several noteworthy strengths that elevate it above standard genre fare:

• Emotional Intelligence: Silver doesn’t shy away from exploring the complex emotions surrounding grief, addiction, abandonment, and forgiveness. The journal entries from Erika provide a gut-wrenching perspective that complicates both Tabitha’s grief and the reader’s understanding of the situation.
• Sexual Tension: The chemistry between Rhys and Tabitha sizzles from their first encounter and builds naturally throughout the story. Their banter has bite, and their eventual physical relationship feels like an inevitable culmination rather than a forced plot point.
• Wrestling World Building: Silver clearly did her research on professional wrestling. The behind-the-scenes glimpses into Rhys’s career feel authentic, from the physical toll to the politics with management. The wrestling storyline adds a unique dimension rarely seen in romance novels.
• Mental Health Representation: The book handles topics like addiction, childhood trauma, and grief with sensitivity and nuance. Tabitha’s journey to process her complicated feelings about her sister feels particularly realistic.
• Community Building: Rose Hill emerges as a character in its own right, with the small-town dynamics feeling lived-in rather than quaint or idealized.

Areas That Could Use Improvement

While the novel succeeds on many fronts, there are aspects that could be stronger:

1. Pacing Issues: The middle section occasionally drags, with several scenes of daily domestic life that could have been condensed without losing their emotional impact.
2. Conflict Resolution: Some of the central conflicts resolve too neatly, particularly Rhys’s career decisions and some of the immigration issues, which wrap up without the complexity the setup promised.
3. Secondary Character Development: While entertaining, characters like Bash and Gwen feel like setups for the next book rather than fully integrated into this story.
4. Tragedy Timing: The initial grief and processing of Erika’s death sometimes feels rushed in service of getting to the romance, though the later journal scenes help rectify this.

Steamy Scenes and Emotional Resonance

Silver doesn’t hold back on the steam factor, with intimate scenes that are both explicit and emotionally resonant. What makes these encounters particularly effective is how they reveal character—Rhys’s need for control balanced with his gentleness, and Tabitha’s fierce independence melding with her vulnerability. Their physical relationship evolves alongside their emotional connection, making for a satisfying progression that doesn’t feel formulaic.

One particularly memorable scene involves Rhys’s wrestling mask, blending his professional persona with their intimate relationship in a way that symbolizes the merging of his compartmentalized life. These moments aren’t just sexy; they’re pivotal to character development.

Thematic Depth

Beyond the romance, Wild Side by Elsie Silver explores several compelling themes:

• Family is what you make it: Both protagonists learn that family isn’t necessarily blood relation but the people who show up consistently.
• The masks we wear: Rhys’s literal mask as Wild Side parallels the emotional masks both he and Tabitha wear to protect themselves.
• Forgiveness and moving forward: Tabitha’s journey to forgive both her sister and herself demonstrates that holding grudges ultimately hurts oneself more than others.
• Trust after trauma: Both characters must learn to trust despite histories that taught them to expect abandonment.

Comparative Context

Fans of Mariana Zapata’s slow-burn style will appreciate Silver’s pacing, though Wild Side by Elsie Silver moves a bit faster than Zapata’s trademark crawl. The wrestling elements might appeal to readers who enjoyed R.S. Grey’s Scoring Wilder or Helena Hunting’s hockey romances, which similarly blend sports with romance.

Within Silver’s own bibliography, this book feels more emotionally complex than her Chestnut Springs series (Flawless, Heartless, Powerless, etc.), with higher stakes and more deeply wounded characters. The fake marriage trope is handled with more nuance than many contemporaries in the genre, closer to Lucy Score’s Things We Never Got Over in its emotional authenticity.

Final Verdict

Wild Side by Elsie Silver is an entertaining read for its compelling characters, emotional depth, and sizzling romance, despite some pacing issues and occasionally too-neat resolutions. It successfully balances the fun of a small-town romance with weightier themes of grief, family, and personal growth.

Silver has crafted a romance that feels both escapist and grounded, with characters whose happiness you genuinely root for. The eventual epilogue, showing the couple four years later with a daughter and Rhys retiring from wrestling, provides a satisfying conclusion to their journey while setting up intrigue for the next book in the series, Wild Card, which appears to focus on the grumpy fire pilot Bash.

Whether you’re a returning visitor to Rose Hill or discovering it for the first time, Wild Side offers an emotionally rewarding reading experience that will leave you eager to explore more of Silver’s work. Just be prepared for a few tears along the way—and perhaps a sudden interest in professional wrestling.