Wild Life

Wei (House Rules) puts a modern, gender-swapped spin on the 1938 film Bringing Up Baby in this zany rom-com. Zoey Fong has always obsessively stuck to the Plan: finish medical school and dedicate herself to researching a cure for the bone cancer that nearly killed her little sister. Her life’s thrown into chaos, however, when she meets handsome, wealthy, and whimsical Davy Hsieh, who comes into her university lab hoping to find someone who can help him open a wildlife sanctuary on his private island. Zoey shoos him away, but Davy accidentally leaves with her precious sample slide in his pocket. Things take a sharp turn when the slide somehow ends up on the cargo ship leaving for Davy’s island off the coast of Vancouver. Zoey insists on traveling there with Davy at once—despite worrying that her undeniable attraction to him could derail her Plan. The characters’ frequent sexual musings (mid-conversation, Davy “found himself wondering about her underwear, probably also practical, a plain covering for something extravagant and beautiful”) are as over the top as everything else and can be jarring at first, but Wei balances their relationship with delightfully wacky comedic scenes. This whirlwind opposites-attract romance offers plenty to enjoy. Agent: Tara Gelsomino, One Track Literary. (Jan.)