This review was first posted on Ruby's Reads. 
 I love Simone Elkeles. She turns out these swoon-worthy romances that never fail to please. If they lack the brilliance of my all-time favorite novels, that doesn't mean I enjoy them less. They're pure confection-completely addicting and I always want more afterward. In fact, I was anticipating the next book in the series before I was even halfway through Wild Cards. 
 Wild Cards is clearly an introduction to Elkeles new series. Although I have no way of knowing this for sure, I doubt it will be the strongest book in the Wild Cards series, but I think it delivers all the same. Ashtyn and Derek are a great pair with simmering chemistry, but I see the potential in the other characters more than I ever saw in them. This is both a blessing and a curse. I love when characters are introduced early in a series and you have to wait (and wait and wait) for a much-beloved character to get his book (*cough*Hawke*cough*) and that's what Wild Cards was for me. It set up the universe and the cast of characters better than it showcased its central relationship. 
 Don't get me wrong-Derek and Ashtyn are fun. They bicker, flirt and yearn for each other in a delightful fashion. I followed their romance with avidity. I did find it a trifle lacking and the, er, culmination of their relationship a little bit precipitate, but I also didn't mind much. I was a bit disappointed that their relationship overshadowed the other elements of the novel. Derek's refusal to play football in light of his mother's death is too easily resolved (and without much introspection) and Ashtyn's father's neglect of her is addressed, but never between the two of them. 
 Despite any reservations I might have had, I raced to the end of Wild Cards. This one didn't live up to Rules of Attraction (my favorite of Elkeles' novels), but I did really enjoy it. Simone Elkeles is compulsively readable and I think I'll always be a fan. There's something to knowing you can expect a happy ending from an author-and something even better in knowing you'll enjoy getting there.