Something Wilder follows Lily Wilder, daughter of the famous treasure hunter Duke Wilder, who left her in financial ruins. Decidedly down on her luck, Lily runs a treasure hunting retreat for tourists in the wilds of Utah with her best friend Nicole. Together, they lead groups of fake treasure hunting tours and “rough it” in the wild, which turns out to be a big hit with corporate tourists. Ready to leave the sham and her father’s legacy behind for good, Lily’s final tour finds her reuniting with none other than Leo Grady, the man who broke her heart years ago and left her in the dust. When their fake treasure hunt unexpectedly turns into a real one, Lily and Leo will have to work together to survive the dangers of the wild—and humanity’s greed.
Something Wilder is escapism at its finest and we love to see it. Christina Lauren said that this book was written to escape from the real world during this pandemic and woo boy, did they deliver.
The switching POVs in this book worked wonders. On the one hand, we have Lily Wilder who’s tough as nails and deals with a lot of resentment for her father whose treasure hunting antics have not only defined her life but have thrown one too many wrenches into her aspirations for the future. Then we have Leo Grady, the man who was her escape from all of it until he abruptly left with seemingly no attempts to contact her after his love-drunk summer with her on her farm. Now, Leo is a staple in the corporate world but really, feels like he’s been an involuntarily responsible adult for way too long. When those two collide and old feelings resurface, so do a lot of questions about what really happened all those years ago. It keeps not only the characters but you as the reader guessing what will happen when all is revealed. Also, Leo is an absolute simp for Lily and that made him such a strong romantic hero because while Lily is trying her hardest to stay on course—meaning that romance is not in the cards for her until she’s got her life back together—Leo’s genuine love and admiration for her are sure to leave readers swooning and silently begging Lily to give the guy another chance. Leo and Lily rekindling their romance with all the odds stacked against them makes for an incredibly emotional reading experience.
What I loved most about Something Wilder is that it is unlike anything Christina Lauren have ever written and yet foregoes none of the elements that make their stories so enjoyable. This duo is known for their lovable characters—fierce heroines heading them—and the witty dialogue you can’t help but smile at.
Now, on top of that, we get a truly fast-paced adventure, a mystery that will frustrate and compel you in equal measure, all set in a vivid, dangerous landscape that heightens the stakes simply by placing man against nature. It just made for such a fun reading experience. You get an edge of darkness thanks to Leo’s friends who have different motives for dragging Leo on this trip and get to exploring just how far people are willing to go—what they are willing to sacrifice—to get what they want just made the whole book that more intense. The romance plot and the adventure plot play off each other perfectly, one heightening the experience of the other. Honestly, you could just really tell that the authors had a great time writing it because even the over-the-top moments that left me gasping out loud because how is this really happening??? were so fun that you couldn’t help but be riveted by it all.
While I don’t want to talk a lot about the plot because I feel like this is one of those books where you should go in with as little information as possible to get the full escapism treatment, I will say that this story has—quite like the cover—a heart of gold in the middle of it. There are discussions of grieving for someone who is still around, losing someone versus thinking you’ve been left behind, the greed of men and the choice to overcome obstacles or let yourself be taken down by them and they all enrichen Something Wilder in the best of ways. If you’re looking for something out of the box that will make you excited about romance (again), you won’t want to miss out on this one, folks.
Christina Lauren manage to throw a curveball at their readers and still hit a homerun with Something Wilder. With unexpected twists and undeniable chemistry between the leads, Something Wilder is a second chance romance that is unlike any other book this author duo has written yet still encompasses what they do best— gifting us unputdownable stories with a heart of gold.
Something Wilder is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 17th 2022.
Will you be picking up Something Wilder? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
This looks so good! I love Christina Lauren books, and anything that let’s me escape from the hell hole that is the current world…well…I’m all for it!