Author Elsie Silver is putting her take on the enemies-to-lovers trope with the third book in her Rose Hill series, titled Wild Side.
The book — which hit shelves on Tuesday, March 4 — follows the story of protagonists Rhys and Tabby and the “emotional stakes are really high” as they navigate their newfound marriage, much to Tabby’s dismay.
“They both come in with their guards up and don’t trust each other,” Silver told Us Weekly exclusively about her latest novel. “Part of their enemies-to-lovers journey is learning to trust one another enough to open up and find the other side of that other person.”
As a self-proclaimed fan of the book boyfriend herself, Silver knows how to write a perfect one — and Rhys is no different.
“I love creating a hero — and a heroine for that matter — but a hero who feels really different from the last book, and Rhys is certainly that. He is kind of one of those people who is so much more than meets the eye,” Silver told Us. “He is big and muscle-bound and handsome and this professional athlete, but he’s actually quite shy and a really thoughtful, tender type of person.”
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Silver explained that there’s “two versions of him” and, of course, Tabby becomes the “only person who gets that private version” of Rhys.
“I think one of the most romantic things about Rhys is, because he is so quiet, he really watches,” the writer continued. “He can see past her defenses too because he’s really attentive. … I think that’s pretty romantic.”
Keep reading for Silver’s answers to Us Weekly’s burning questions about Wild Side:
Us Weekly: How did you know that it was time to write Rhys’ story?
Elsie Silver: In this case, we started with Ford Grant [in Wild Love] and he comes to town. From his perspective, it’s like you are arriving with him. He has established relationships, but new relationships, and that’s how you get to know everyone. For Rhys and Tabby, I knew that I wanted — I love teasing things on Instagram, but I love teasing them in my books too. I knew that I wanted there to be a little bit of mystery around him and that people wouldn’t really know what his story was. It’s almost as though the reader knows as much as the other characters do too. There’s a level of intrigue that comes with it.
Us Weekly: It seems like you are a big Easter egg person when it comes to your books. What is something you teased that sticks out the most?
Elsie Silver: Back in book 1, the teenage daughter is watching wrestling and says how much she loves Wild Side. That was almost a year ago that that book came out, I’ve been waiting a while to thread him through … Some people just skimmed over it. Not very many people picked up on it.
There’s a mouse in book one that’s definitely a tertiary character, or even less important than that. Planting one tiny scene or little moment with that mouse throughout this series for some reason has been fun for me.
Us Weekly: As a romance author, you’re known for your more intimate — or spicy — moments. Is there one in Wild Side that sticks out the most?
Elsie Silver: That’s my favorite part to write, the back and forth, the almosts. I think that forcing them together or into situations where they have to work together, have to live together, have to cooperate in some way so that they’re interacting on the page a lot. Of course there’s always secondary characters, but I don’t want a chapter where I don’t see some sort of interaction between those two characters.
There is a scene in [this book] — actually the scene happens in all three of the first books, but from different perspectives which has been leading towards this book. It’s at the bowling alley, and it’s from Rhys and Tabby’s perspective. They bump into each other in the back hallway of the smalltown bowling alley, and no one else is around. The confrontation gets a little bit tense in all the best ways.
Us Weekly: What made this book harder to write than others?
Elsie Silver: This book was a little bit, I don’t want to say heavier than some of my other books, but maybe. There were definitely some more serious subject matters, and I put a lot of work into representing those as well as I can. There is a scene where everything that she thought about him crumbles around her, and she finds out that in his own quiet way, he’s kind of been supporting her all along and really protecting her when she didn’t really recognize it or appreciate it. Not only is she having this moment of crumbling personally, but she’s feeling a lot of guilt for how she’s treated him. That was a hard scene to write.
Us Weekly: You have one more book in the Rose Hill series, what can you tell Us?
Elsie Silver: Wild Card is the final book in the series. It is about Bash, who has been sprinkled into all the books so far. He is the grumpy older man on the team who comes off, kind of, harsh and maybe not super into some of their goofing around, but he has his moments and it’s part of his charm. He softens up for the woman in Wild Card for sure. We meet her in Wild Side. … She’s a lot of fun and unlike other heroines I’ve written before. I had a lot of fun with her and their dynamic. It’s definitely one of the more forbidden tropes that I’ve written before.
Us Weekly: Do you have an update on Clyde?
Elsie Silver: I know people were worried about Clyde, the old conspiracy theorist guy that pops in and out and has had some health issues. He doesn’t get his own book, but he is definitely a key player in [Wild Card]. You get a little bit of everyone in this last one.
Us Weekly: Tell Us about the book cover smudges and how that blew up on TikTok.
Elsie Silver: The covers have a little bit of oil stains on them or distressing, as do all of my books so far. … I don’t know why I like this vintage dirty look, but it adds character. It’s just part of the western aesthetic that I’m shooting for. Watching people dig through [books], there were moments where I was like, “Oh, my gosh, this was a mistake,” these poor people. I wanted to be like, “Girl, they’re all smudged in the same spot.” But there were some viral ones. Now though, it’s almost like everybody knows.
