Lily is the daughter of well known treasure hunter, Duke Wilder. Lily has decided to start an adventure company of her own and follows Duke’s maps on treasure hunts and camping trips in the Utah wilderness. Lily’s most recent group and one of the guests is her first love, Leo Grady. Leo and Lily are forced to put aside their history and work together when a tragic accident occurs.
Another great book from Christina Lauren! They never disappoint me. This book was unique and different from their other work but I loved it just as much as all the others! If you are looking for a fun, adventurous romance with a little suspense thrown in, grab this book!

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions here are my own.
Lily is the daughter of well known treasure hunter, Duke Wilder. Lily decided to start an adventure company of her own and follows Duke’s maps on treasure hunts and camping trips in the Utah wilderness. Lily’s most recent group and one of the guests is her first love, Leo Grady. Leo and Lily are forced to put aside their history and work together when a tragic accident occurs.
Another great book from Christina Lauren! They never disappoint me. This book was unique and different from their other work but I loved it just as much as all the others! If you are looking for a fun, adventurous romance with a little suspense thrown in, grab this book!

For someone who chose to live in the woods for 5 months in my youth, this book sounded right up my alley. I’m a fan of surviving and exploration, so Lily is a girl after my own heart. Her walls are thick; she’s had to learn to build them since childhood. But, unfortunately, walls are not easily broken, especially when you’ve been let down and abandoned your entire life. So in between what can go wrong, two people are learning each other after ten years apart. What an absolutely dramatic book!

I loved the puzzle element at play in this story. The book focuses on disaster and comedic relief more than the romance, which would have been nicer to explore. I was hoping for more of what happened 10 years ago and more of their reconnection. But the differences make the story unique. This writing duo has said, here’s our story and our villain, and they ran with it. Where others have seen this as a plot issue, I see it as the book’s strong point. As the reader watches things go from bad to worse, Leo and Lily rally to survive the stacked odds against them. This is a fun read, and I enjoyed all the varying elements. Thank you, Gallery Books, for sending this along!

Okay, second chance romances are very hard to do because they often have to involve a miscommunication trope (which is annoying), and it’s harder to build tension and chemistry because the fun parts ready happened. This does not overcome the barriers. It leans heavily into a miscommunication trope, and you get the perspectives of both character who are clearly in love with each other so there isn’t any tension. There also aren’t enough moments for you to see them fall in love again. They are instantly attracted to each other and the only question is if they can make it work and work past the miscommunication from seven years ago.

Now, as for the plot - I kind of love the over the top treasure hunt. The setting is great. HOWEVER, I HATE that a man DIES and it is basically a FOOTNOTE. I don’t care how unlikable the character is, you gotta deal with that fallout and I do not approve of lying to cover it up. Also, a big problem with this story is all the telling vs. showing. We are told up front Terry is terrible. You are told upfront about why Leo and Lilly didn’t work out but that they still love each other without ever showing us why they work in the present.

I am here for over the top. Soulmate Equation was awesome because it was over the top but also had great tension and complicated characters. This missed the mark. It could be how particular I am about second chance romances, but I just don’t think it worked.

And yet - I wholeheartedly thank the publishers for an ARC of this book because it is highly sought after. I loved getting to read it in advance and fully appreciate the opportunity to share my honest review.

Not at all what I expected…it was so much better! I’ve come to expect a great rom com from this dynamic duo, but this story was a great combination of romance with some mystery and western flair. The plot is about a second chance romance, and the authors wrote this very well. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This is DEFINATELY NOT a typical Chrsitina Lauren book.... I was expecting a romcom, steamy romance and this book has that but also truly different as that it has an action/adventure element!

If you enjoy second chance romances, you will def. enjoy Lily and Leo's history and current situation.... and then add a Western vibe with ranch and horses, along with a treasure hunt mystery - this was not what I expected but it (not to be corny) was a wild ride. I loved the descriptions of the Western environment and the side of action, it was a nice change from typical Christina Lauren books. You still get you romance/love element, and if you are a general fan of rom com's, this book def delivered on tension and arguments between the two main characters! Also - the color is just to die for, isn't it? Like bravo. Reminds me of a warm sunset.

I am usually a big fan of this duo, but this one didn't do it for me. Maybe because it's light on the rom~com and heavy on the adventure.

All Lily Wilder ever wanted was to take over ownership of her family's ranch, so when her father, Duke, sold it out from under her she is devastated. Add on top of that the love of her life, Leo, unexpectedly had to go back to New York when his mother has a car accident and she's utterly heartbroken.

Fast forward 10 years and Lily now lives in Utah giving tours that are fake treasure hunts. She can't believe it when Leo shows up for one of the tours. Long story short ~ there was a misunderstanding and neither really got over the other and moved on.

I can tell a lot of research went into writing this one. There were a couple heart pounding moments towards the end and a small twist, but overall I wasn't as wowed as I thought I would be. I liked how it went back and forth with Lily and Leo's point of view and I did enjoy how Lily and Leo got their second chance at happiness and how it ended. Also, I loved Lily and Nicole's friendship ~ it was rock solid.

I'll still continue to read their work and hope the next one is a bigger hit for me.

Lily Wilder never chose a life of adventure, a life of adventure chose her.

Well, sort of.

See Lily is the daughter of Duke Wilder, a man whose name is synonymous with real life treasure hunts. Growing up, Duke would be gone months at a time, leaving his family to fend for themselves. Before long, Lily’s mom left them both. But after a lifetime of chasing lost treasure, Duke never found much. Now grown up, Lily has a disdain for thrill seeking, and a desire to distance herself from her dad’s reputation.

But Duke didn’t only leave Lily alone a lot, he left her without much to call her own. Selling the family ranch that Lily loved before he passed was the final straw. A decade later, Lily still finds herself pushing the lifestyle to pay the bills, working as a guide for pseudo adrenaline junkies on fake treasure hunts. So when the latest batch of guys out for a good time just so happens to include the only other man to ever break her heart, Lily finds herself at a loss all over again. Now Lily is going to need more than a map to find what was forgotten all those years ago.

Something Wilder is the latest release from the uber popular writing duo, @christinalauren. A marked departure from their usual fare, this book still has their signature blend of romance, but also a hefty amount of hilariously twisted escapades. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but to think of this story as a Goonies, but for adults. Imagine my surprise when that very comparison was brought up, mere pages later. Obviously this is what the authors set out to do. Needless to say, their mission was accomplished.

As if anyone would need convincing, definitely check out Something Wilder when you get the chance as it is truly, something else.

Something Wilder was very different from Christina Lauren’s usual books. I enjoyed the premise of the book. The idea behind it. However there was a major plot line that I had a hard time wrapping my head around and it made it more difficult for me to put out of my mind for the rest of the story.

I love the author duo Christina Lauren so I was very excited to read this new book and I enjoyed it! I will say it was less romance and more adventure, but that was ok with me! It was very National Treasure-ish but it was a fun read and I like the genre mash up! Looking forward to their next one!

The Wild West, treasure hunting, and romance - - that's Something Wilder in a nutshell. This quick, fun read with its treasure maps and code breaking is a little different, but I enjoyed it. Thanks NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: I enjoyed some of the puzzle pieces of the adventure and trying to figure them out. Getting closure on how the treasure hunt ended is what kept me reading through the end.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: I hadn’t ever read a romcom with so many action sequences, but in this case combining the two made me feel like both sides (the romance and the hunt) were lacking something.

The little romance that this book had didn’t create many sparks for me because it all previously crumbled off of a lack of communication that seemed implausible. I find it personally challenging to love second-chance romances, so that could also be contributing here. I just would have appreciated some flashbacks to Lily and Leo’s past relationship to understand why they still had such strong feelings for each other after ten years apart.

Check out all of my reviews over at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/laurasloaninglibrary/">@laurasloaninglibrary on Instagram</a>

Ten years ago Lily Wilder got her heart broken when her love walked out of her life and her famous treasure hunter father sold his beloved ranch. Ten years later she finds herself barely making ends meet by using her dad’s hand drawn maps to take people on fake treasure hunts in the Utah desert, and his profession was something she wanted no part of. Leo Grady, her first and only love, shows up one day with three friends to go on a hunt. Lily would like nothing more than to leave him stranded in the wilderness, but he seems eager to reconnect. Lily, her work partner and friend Nicole, Leo and his friends all find themselves on one crazy adventure in the desert with some big mishaps. Could the legend of the hidden treasure be true after all? Lily and Leo must work together to find out.

💭𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
I’ve read three other Christina Lauren books, The Unhoneymooners, In a Holidaze and The Soulmate Equation. This book was so vastly different from the other three and I 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 it!!! What an adventure!! The setting was absolutely everything in this book. It’s it’s own character and now I want to visit Utah so badly. I read this book in two days, which is very fast for me. I just couldn’t put it down! I loved Leo, but he reminded me of my husband so much-even down to his physical description and demeanor. ❤️ The book took some twists and turns I wasn’t expecting, but that’s what made it fun!

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
»𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜
»𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜
»𝙿𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜
»𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝
»𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎
»𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝
»𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜

🛑This book is an open door romance and there is some language.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book. It started off slow for me but I always enjoy these authors. Thank you so the arc of this book!

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren 5⭐️

This was my first Christina Lauren book and I went in completely blind, anticipating what I thought was going to romance and maybe a bit predictable. But there was so much packed into this book!

I was kept guessing through the whole story and I fell in love with the main characters. I found myself holding my breath at times and crossing my fingers for Lily.

I found everything I wanted in these pages: adventure, romance, friendship, thrill, betrayal, family, redemption.

I also can’t wait to read more from Christina Lauren. These two write with such deep detail that I can truly feel myself experiencing moments alongside the characters. I could taste, feel, and see each moment unfolding and it pulled me deep into the story.

Something Wilder releases May 17! 🙌🎉

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren is New Adult adventure and romance fiction, following the story of Lily Wilder, daughter of a famed treasure hunter who leads tourists on fake treasure hunting trips through Utah, and Leo Brady, a city-slicker who wants nothing more than to rekindle with his true love, Lily. When the fake treasure hunting trip goes awry, Lily and Leo are thrown into the middle of a dangerous and extravagant race to discover if the treasure written about in Lily's father's journal is real.

I have a complex relationship with Christina Lauren's writing. I have yet to fall in love with one of their books. Each one I've read always seemingly falls flat in some way. I think this book is probably my favorite of theirs so far. I enjoyed it enough to give it 4 stars but I think so much of the book was carried by the exciting adventure plot.

Though this is framed as a second-chance romance, the earlier relationship happens entirely off page, before the book starts. I think because of this the whole book feels a bit too much like insta-love for my tastes. You only get short snippets of what happened between Lily and Leo before they reunite. I love the premise and execution of the dangerous treasure hunt. The way these two get close over the course of the trip was entertaining however, (again) the love between the two characters really starts on page 1 with no build up. I think the last 50% of the book was way more engaging than the first 50% as the treasure hunting/adventure plot was more fleshed out.

I think this is the most engaged I've been with a Christina Lauren book but like always, there's always one element in their books that falls flat and here it's the build up of the relationships. The characters and their personalities are strong. I love how smart and snarky Leo is and I love Lily's power and determination. I loved the twists and turns of the novel. Every chapter the characters face ad different challenge that sent my pulse skyrocketing. The setting of the book in the Red Canyons of Utah added so much. The way the scenery is described is beautiful and the imagery of the sun setting over vibrant canyons kept my attention. I think my enjoyment of this book relied so heavily on that adventure/thriller aspect and fell flat in terms of getting me invested in the relationship of the two characters. I was way more invested about whether they'd find the treasure rather than Lily and Leo ending up together.. Definitely a Christina Lauren book I liked more than others, but I was still disappointed by the lack of relationship buildup.

Omg I loved this book so much!! This book had everything I love: desert adventure, treasure hunt, riddles, cowboys, second chance romance, strong female leads and mystery! This book was fast paced, fun and full of witty banter and intrigue. This is my favorite Christina Lauren book I've read so far and I can't wait to pickup a copy on May 17th when it comes out!

Thank you so much Gallery Books for this e-ARC! I absolutely loved this one.

"Something Wilder" is a delightful new Christina Lauren romance- a desert adventure turns treasure hunt with Leo and Lily getting a second chance at life and love when neither expected it and both might be exactly where they need to be for it. Ten years after they first meet, Lily is down on her luck and leading tourists on desert adventure trails to make ends meet. Leo, a NYC computer coder, is going for a surprise vacation with friends and gets the surprise of his life when he sees his old flame Lily again. The trip takes a turn sideways and Leo and Lily find themselves in a race for hidden treasure against some people definitely prepared to kill to get it first.

Lily is fantastic- she needs no help from anyone, has learned not to expect help, or in fact anything, from anyone, and to stand stubbornly on her own two feet as her world crumbles around her. Her mother abandoned her, her father would rather look for treasure and play with codes, and the one guy she thought was hers took off and never contacted her for ten years. She and her friend Nicole are fully capable of being the only women in this part of the 'man's world' and holding their own, standing up for each other, and too bad for anyone who says otherwise. Her dreams of buying back the family ranch and having a life that is her choice and not the result of other people's poor choices is admirable, and you feel terrible for her as we go through the book and learn that maybe her father kept things from her that he really should have shared. I did like how Christina Lauren explained that in the end (I'm not giving anything away with spoilers here so will be purposely vague!) but I still felt bad for the emotional trauma Lily's father caused her. Poor choices, poor planning, and Lily was left thinking neither of her parents cared for her at all and she had to face the world by herself. No wonder she tries to protect herself from loving Leo when he comes back into her life!

Leo blossomed into a man you could count on in the worst of circumstances and trust to have your back through thick and thin- just what Lily needs. He loves codes and puzzles, works with computer codes in NYC and only realizes when he's out in the desert how empty his life has been without Lily in it. Fortunately, he's also brave enough (and smart enough) to figure out quickly that he wants Lily in his life and he's willing to be flexible enough to do whatever she needs so he can be part of her life. He's so completely and simply in love with Lily (not again, not back, but always) that you melt with it and want to beg her to give him another chance even while the other part of your brain is agreeing with her that how in the world do they work?

This is definitely one of those books where the less you talk about the plot the better for the next reader- the fewer spoilers the more fun!- but let's say it is both like and unlike any other Christina Lauren book I've ever read and I loved it for that. Action, adventure, beautiful and deadly deserts, possible treasure and potential disaster. The higher the stakes the more we see the best and the worst that can be seen in people. Somehow Christina Lauren manages to pack in high-stakes adventure and fast-paced plot while also expertly unwinding enough insanely complicated emotional bombs to make a team of therapists weep. Lily and her obviously complicated emotional relationship with bother of her parents, her trust issues; but also Leo and his parent issues, being a parent to his little sister, having to grow up faster than he expected; and friends with let's just say some issues of their own. How that can all fit into one book and work really well I don't know, but it it did.

"Something Wilder" is fast-paced, witty, and entertaining, with sparkling writing, delightfully quirky characters, and just the right level of slow-build hot romance. Just the sort of fun, rom-com adventure to read over the summer (or winter, or on vacation, or ever, and really one you'd love to see on the screen someday . . .) that makes you appreciate true friendship, the occasional gun to the head moment, and outwitting the bad guys who deserve it in so many ways. Possibly my new favorite Christina Lauren book, "Something Wilder" is a second chance romance full of action, adventure, surprises, friendship, and love.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I’m glad I gave this one a try. I haven’t loved the past couple of CL’s books, but this was a fun read. I mean what could be better than a fake treasure hunt with a little steamy romance. You will fall in love with the characters and all their adventures. Thanks, Netgallery for the ARC.

This was an adventure!

I went into this one TOTALLY blind and had so much fun with it. This was a little unlike anything else I have read from these two and I am here for it!

What kid didn’t love the idea of treasure hunting? I sure did! I was always off in the woods looking for buried treasure. Begging my parents to make me scavenger hunts, looking for clues… And this book scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.

This was fun and a little on the darker side. This was adventure and riddles and lost love coming back into your life, reminding you of things you forgot were so important.

Well done with this one Christina and Lauren!