Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Evergreen Desires
SERIES: Wildheart Chronicles
AUTHOR: Kelly Dee
PUBLISHER: GEMZ Creative Press
LENGTH: 216 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 5, 2025
BLURB:
He’s running from his past. He didn’t expect to fall for a Sasquatch shifter who could break his heart—or save his life.
Jake is on the run—bruised, broke, and done trusting anyone. When his car dies in a misty Washington town, he doesn’t expect to land in the arms of a gruff, ridiculously handsome Christmas tree (and cannabis) farmer who carries more than muscle under that flannel. Beau’s hiding a secret as wild as the forests he protects—he’s a Sasquatch shifter, bound to the land and ready to fight for what’s his.
Including Jake.
As desire crackles between them, danger circles. A corrupt councilman wants to ruin Beau’s farm—and he’s willing to use Jake as a pawn to get it. With Jake’s past closing in and threats turning deadly, Beau faces an impossible keep Jake safe by pushing him away, or risk everything for the one man who feels like home.
Evergreen Desires is a steamy, slow-burn MM paranormal romance packed with small-town intrigue, found family, and a love that’s worth fighting for. If you like protective shifters, vulnerable heroes, and tension that simmers until it explodes—you’ll feel right at home in Evergreen Desires.
REVIEW:
Jake is on the run from his controlling and manipulative ex. His car breaks down in a small town late at night, so he sleeps in his car. The next day when he tries to get breakfast, his bank account has been drained. The local police chief covers it and Jake goes back to the library where his care broke down to try to figure things out (although I have no idea what he did because clearly at the end of the day, nothing had changed and he had no further clue of a plan).
Beau is a local who owns a Christmas tree and cannabis farm. He goes into town to grab some beer from the convenience store and as he’s leaving he literally runs into Jake. Something about Jake startles him. He’s drawn to the guy. He introduces himself then Jake goes into the store. Beau can’t figure out what draws him to the guy. But when Jake is trying to shoplift some food and the police chief shows up again, Jake collapses and Beau rushes to get to him. Jake has previously told Mateo, the police chief that he’s gotten out of a bad relationship so Mateo makes sure it’s not Beau that Jake was running from 🙂 Far from it.
Beau offers to take Jake home with him offers him a place to stay until he can get things figured out. Jake is highly suspicious especially after how things went south with his last boyfriend. He wants to trust Beau, but he’s not sure. Beau’s best friend/honorary brother is working on his dead car too. Jake is very uncomfortable accepting things from Beau. He’s just waiting for the “price” to come due. Beau insists he’s not going to ask Jake for anything. He even offers Jake a job updating his website and taking new pictures once he finds out Jake’s interest in photography.
As they spent more time together Jake knows he is attracted to Beau as well and he’s having a hard time keeping things purely platonic. The closer they get though, the more dangerous things become. Because Beau is in the crosshairs of something nefarious. Somebody wants to shut down his business. And they are willing to try to go through Jake to get what they want.
So I am giving this a “recommend” with some caveats. The bones of the story was fine but there was a bit too much repetition for me and some things strained credulity too much. Anyone who is running who is not in imminent danger generally at least has SOME plan and money. Jake mentions that his ex has access to HIS inheritance? This made me question his intelligence and how serious he was about running from what was not a physically threatening situation. Why did he not have cash set aside? Why did he not change the access to HIS bank account? Seemed just really unbelievable to me. And leaving a laptop behind? Come on. There is no one today who leaves a laptop and phone behind. Then he didn’t try to contact the bank? I don’t know. It just seemed unreasonable to me that anyone who is in their 20s wouldn’t have thought things through if they weren’t running for their lives. Another pass of edits might have tightened up the story. I’m also not a fan of the 3rd act breakup – particularly when done in the name of “protection” without explanation or transparency and agency for both parties. Luckily it was for a short period of time here and nobody really accepted Beau’s decision. He was miserable and made everyone else miserable. His best friend put him in this place and kept him out of the way in the nicest possible way. Will is honestly my favorite character in this story if I’m honest. I’m glad his book is next 😉
RATING: 
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