In Ronica Black’s novel, Wild Abandon, we meet Dr. Chandler Brogan, a clinical psychologist and expert in the field of sexual dysfunction. As she and her brother Hank race their motorcycles down the highway, Officer Sarah Monroe pulls them both over for several traffic violations. It is this first encounter that sets the stage for the ensuing battle of wills that will carry each woman to levels of desire and intimacy which neither one has experienced before. Further complicating the situation are mutually dark secrets, a crazed ex-husband, and a myriad of conflicting emotions that set the stage for an exciting and fulfilling reading experience.

Black has managed to create two very sensual and compelling women. Each appears to be functioning quite well in a superficially impersonal way. However, their chance meeting creates that small fissure in their personalities which will ultimately either transform or destroy the selves they strive to be. These are not caricatures of perfect young and successful lesbian professionals which one all too often encounters in today’s genre. They are three-dimensional, flawed, yet aspiring, women who, when confronted with the ultimate and inevitable crises that come with ‘real’ life, react and respond as credible, substantial, and appealing people. The dialogue flows easily and both Chandler and Sarah possess an honesty that is to be valued.

The backstory is intriguing, original, and quite well-developed. Yet, it doesn’t detract from the primary premise of the novel—it is a sexually-charged romance about two very different and guarded women. Black carries the reader along at such a rapid pace that the rise and fall of each climactic moment successfully creates that suspension of disbelief which the reader seeks. The author satisfyingly manages to expound upon a few implicit themes about relationships and intimate interaction but manages to do so in a deft, not heavy-handed, fashion.

This reviewer is the first to admit that she was not particularly taken with Black’s first novel, In Too Deep. However, the style, flow, and transition technique evinced by the author in Wild Abandon has grown tremendously. This is what this reviewer searches for when reading several works by an author. Black has a more mature and confident phraseology in this work. The plotting appears more fluidly constructed, more suffused with plausible dialogue, as well as convincing and intelligible characterization. Wild Abandon is a novel that displays the author’s creative imagination while at the same time boldly exhibits the author’s maturation as an author.