Name: Priscilla Stanfield's review of Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
Item: Something Wilder
Rating: 4
Author: Priscilla Stanfield

Christina Lauren

Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession…or much money in the bank. But Lily is nothing if not resourceful, and now uses Duke’s coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn’t leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness—and leave him there. Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they’d barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it’s never going to happen. But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the adventure of a lifetime. From the author of the “heartfelt and funny” (Publishers Weekly) sensation The Unhoneymooners, this page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take fans on one wild ride.

Something Wilder

Nina

Leo had to count his breaths. He was all tightness and longing; there was no space for words. Finally, he was able to tell her: “Missing you was physically debilitating.” 

Abigail | 

The rustle of canvas tent flaps cut through the sound of Nicole humming over the camp stove. When Lily glanced up, her gaze snagged on the shape of a man stepping through time. 

The breath was knocked clear out of her. Lily knew all about mirages in the desert, when light bent and refracted and moved through warmer air, causing the eye to see something that wasn't there. She'd seen this particular mirage before, so it took her a moment to get her bearings and realize that this time was different. This time, it wasnt a trick of the light or the air, or even wishful thinking.

This time, Lovesick City Boy was walking right toward her.

Before she could stop it, a memory filled Lily's head: of a sweet, sweaty, lovesick city boy moving with purpose above her, a blanket-covered pile of hay bencath her back, the stars visible through a crack in the old barn roof.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

This one seriously surprised me. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much and have so much fun reading it. As the plot went on it reminded me of Meet Me At the Lake with the second chance aspect but also reminded me of Season 3 of OBX from the treasure hunt that happened in the book. It was honestly entertaining for me and was really unlike what I expected, since I of course didn’t read the blurb, but by looking at the cover too. It was a wild ride indeed. 

Priscilla Stanfield

Bailey Johnson

Definitely a good read. However, some of it felt like I could guess ahead of time what would happen which made me less willing to pick it up. 1/5🔥 spice. It had some but not memorable

rakshu

Charlsy Sekyere

⭐️3

A perfectly fine book at the end, with an interesting premise, despite my disinterest in second-chance romances. In spite of this, I was anticipating a 4 to 5 star read, after reading the first couple of chapters. Nevertheless, I would rate this book as a 3-star read. 

The spice was meh and I was quite dissatisfied with how quickly Leo and Lily got together. Miscommunication is usually one of my least favourite tropes. Despite this, I felt in a way disappointed and annoyed at the quick resolution of the misunderstanding between Leo and Lily over why they hadn't reconnected in years. Their unexpected reunion had created tension and longing that faded away instantly when they got together, and I became disinterested in their chemistry as soon as it became stale.

I wasn't too thrilled with the high-stakes outdoorsy scavenger hunt/treasure hunt, despite it being one of the main features of the book. It took up most of the book and was centre stage, while the romance was kind of secondary and took a back seat. The high-stakes scavenger hunt presented some dramatic and over-the-top twists and turns, but I thought that they were fine nonetheless.

Cute, easy to read, lots of plot twists, but I was promised an exciting, code-breaking, backwoods adventure, and although there are elements of all those things in this, it lacked excitement 

Kate B-L

The “reigning romance queens” (PopSugar) and New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners present a charming and laugh-out-loud funny novel filled with adventure, treasure, and, of course, love. Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession…or much money in the bank. But Lily is nothing if not resourceful, and now uses Duke’s coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn’t leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness—and leave him there. Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they’d barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it’s never going to happen. But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the adventure of a lifetime. From the author of the “heartfelt and funny” (Publishers Weekly) sensation The Unhoneymooners, this page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take fans on one wild ride.

The twists were a little predictable and I felt like the characters didn’t really have a ton of chemistry, it seemed like mainly just they had the hots for each other when they were young. However the scenery was written beautifully so that was nice

Jenna Moreland

This is the first book I’ve read by the authors. Fun setting, interesting premise and a little more adventure and suspense than I’d been reading in romances recently. I really enjoyed the characters and the tensions between them made sense because of their shared past instead of feeling forced. Overall I enjoyed the read and will be checking out their other works. 

B. R.

Fun, light hearted love story with a little bit of adventure mixed in! Quick read

Zoey Novak

Such a fun romance! I love that this was a second chance romance with a big twist. I gotta say I loved things like the goonies growing up and this felt just like that with some more adult love scenes thrown in. Perfect for CLo fans, goonies fans or just romance lovers in general!

Kerry Kalinoski

Veronica 

4.2/5 ⭐️ 

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. ending was so underwhelming which is why I didn't give it 4.5. and it wasn't good enough to give 5.

I felt like I was on the adventure with them. Sometimes the codes were a bit much like I know Leo is like a prodigy but they were a little absurd. The book made me want to never stop flipping the pages.

This was the 3rd book I read for Andrea, kiera, and I's book club. And it was a good end to the books

2 words: love Leo.

Kaitlin Cassell

I laughed, I gasped, I swooned, I cheered. This one is fun. 

Listen to my Spotify playlist for Something Wilder: 

https://open.spotify.com/track/2WW4cn...

Sarah Pino

4.75 ⭐️

OH MY GOSH

WHAT A RIDE

romance, adventure, wild, mystery, thrill??????????? YES PLS 

there were things that i could nitpick on but at the moment, this was an incredibly fun book!

Monique Nagel

Why did I put off this book for so long? It was AMAZING!

Catherine Duplessis

I don't even know where to begin without spoiling anything. What I am going to say is : how can a group of friends (even if one is not really a friend) not care about each other THAT MUCH? Also, the whole treasure hunt is fun in a visual form, but in a book it was a bit confusing and I didn't like that it was the focal point of the story. I really didn't care about the treasure. 

Oh, and this couple would NOT last. The chemistry was so off. It felt like I was reading the story about a guy who is trying to get a girl that is way out of his league and she is getting annoyed because he doesn't see that she is clearly not interested.

bella <3

Jess Griffin

i loved this sm!! it was so refreshing to see a second chance romance where the main characters communicate at the very start!!

Kasey Montagnat

this book didn’t do it for me I love 2nd chance but the other bits of the plot thrown in were really weird and his excuse for leaving was weak lol

Boring but the message to live your life was good 

Eliza adkins 

i’m obsessed!!! as a paleontologist and someone has spent lots of time out west in similar terrain as this book, i absolutely loved the vibes and story. i’ve loved everything i’ve read from christina lauren and this has to be up there as one of my favorites. it definitely is not your typical rom com that you’d expect from those two. there were so many moments where i was gasping from how outrageous the situations were and it caught me off guard many times. absolutely loved!

Lindsey Davis Blanchard 

While not what I expected, I found this one pretty enjoyable. 

Um…yeah this wasn’t it. This had me so confused from start to finish. Did Christina Lauren set out to write a romance or a mystery…because both options fell flat. The writing was not it. I found it messy, and hard to follow. It did not flow like it did in Love and Other Words. 

The whole story felt so forced, and I honestly was cringing at how messy this was. The treasure hunting aspect was different and a nice surprise, but it was all so over the top?

The “smut” was embarrassingly written; it felt like they were trying to avoid including it, but wanted to please their readers still. I also just did not feel the chemistry between Lily and Leo. I disliked every single character, but Walter. 

The premise was exciting, but it felt like the romance was over shadowed entirely, and that made me enjoy it less — because then it felt like a really dull and boring mystery / adventure. 

Really disappointed in yet again another Christina Lauren book.

Ella Grace

Allison

More adventure than romance. Could definitely see this as a movie. 

Bawled over Duke’s letter at the end.

Turtle lover

giving this stars for the adventure and leo and lily's love.

Abigail Joyann

Sometimes... authors should stick to what they are good at.

This could have been good. The CL ladies know how to write romance—top tier in my opinion regarding intimacy: the sexual and non-sexual, those skin warming and heart-bursting moments between characters with dynamic and exquisite connection. That is the only reason this book isn't a one-star rating.

Unfortunately, this overall didn't work for me. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a good book. This wild west treasure hunt gone berserk x100 just was off the mark.

*This gets into some spoilers now so exit if you don't want to know*

We have two characters who were hiding their horrible initial reasons for going on this little man's trip. Steal a special notebook, marked with codes and maps across the land to find some hidden away money from the past. So of course—a gun and threats once being found out. But ooooooh we didn't know about the second dude yet at this point but gun guy ends up falling off a cliff and dying. This then leads them on the quest to find the money. Fast forward and two random dudes come threaten the FMC and MMC and tie them up. They escape but then the second dude shows up out of nowhere after telling them he was heading home... Wow look, he's another bad guy that used this trip to walk all over the MMC and the FMC. Police are called, all the bad people get arrested, FMC and MMC find the money and everyone lives happily ever after. Now, this premise would be fine but this stuff just didn't work well. If it would have just been the man's trip and the little quirky games on the initial plan with cute moments of rekindling the old flame/second chance romance, and then the two MC's doing the quest together without all the trauma-inducing drama, I would have enjoyed this much more.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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Join the club

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Something Wilder by Christina Lauren