Something Wilder Review

Hello, all!

Fun fact about me: I love the movie Romancing the Stone. It's a cheesy adventure-romance movie from the '80s starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, but it's one VHS that I overplayed as a kid. It's just so fun. So when I heard that Christina Lauren's latest book, Something Wilder, was compared to it, I immediately needed to pick it up.

Pub Date: 5-17-22
Adult - Contemporary

Lily Wilder grew up in the shadow of a famous treasure-hunting father. While his ambitions made him notorious, it also meant Lily was left to grow up on her own. Lily always swore she would never follow in her father's footsteps, but with her bank account dwindling, she's left with no other options but to use his journals to take tourists out on "treasure hunts" throughout the canyons of Utah. It may not be the future she envisioned for herself, but Lily will do whatever it takes to get the necessary money to buy back her beloved childhood ranch-- even if that means escorting the man who broke her heart ten years ago and his friends through the winding trails.

Leo Grady has only one regret in his life: Lily Wilder. The two enjoyed a few blissful months together while he was working on their family ranch, but after a family emergency, Leo headed back to New York without looking back. Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first love, but Lily can't stand another heartbreak. But when the trip takes a disastrous turn, the group begins to wonder if the legends might be true. With everything falling down around them, Lily and Leo will have to put their history behind them and work together to find the treasure before it's too late.

I love CLo, but sadly, this didn't do it for me. It had a fun premise, and I liked how it felt way different from any of their other books, but I couldn't get behind it. Many of the incidents Lily and Leo found themselves in just felt too improbable to me. I also had a hard time believing that they each still held a candle for the other when they were only together for a few short months ten years prior. That said, I did like them together, but I thought the chemistry could've been better. The writing was still top-notch, with their signature banter and steaminess, and the way they described all the scenery was stunning, but it just wasn't my favorite by them. 

Rating: 3/5