A fun and charming story about Alexei and Ben who meet on the Pacific Coast Trail and are drawn to each other. Both of them have had some personal issues that led them to the trail. Ben is unable to see the many positive traits about himself after failed and toxic relationships. Alexie needs the time and space to figure out what he will do now that his parents have cut him out of their lives when he told them he was gay. I enjoyed the scenes from the trail meeting other hikers, the struggles along the way with weather, the trail and finding water. It was the relationship that grew between Ben and Alexie that was a joy to read. They both had many issues to deal with along the way. This is the second book I’ve read by the author and I’ll read more that they write.
I just reviewed Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly. #SomethingWildWonderful #NetGalley

I'm delighted to say that this lives up to the high bar set by Love & Other Disasters! Something Wild & Wonderful is a very loose sequel which follows London's friend Ben as he hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. Ben has just finished nursing school and is reflecting on the changes he wants to make in his life going forward. On the PCT he meets Alexei, who likewise is hiking the trail in an attempt to start his life over. Their chemistry is instantaneous, but as Ben learns more about Alexei's history (his ultra-religious family kicked him out when he told them he was gay) he worries that a relationship isn't what either of them needs. Despite the requisite misunderstandings and third-act breakup, this was a really sweet story about two fundamentally kind human beings falling in love and trying to work through their baggage, and I really enjoyed the ride!

I’m the couchiest of couch potatoes and yet I found myself entirely caught up in this opposites-attract queer romance between two hikers who meet on the Pacific Crest Trail. Ben and Alexai are each hiking for very personal reasons yet the attraction between them convinces loner Alexai to agree when extrovert Ben suggests they become trail buddies.

Even if you’re not an outdoorsy type, Something Wild and Wonderful exudes joy about experiencing nature. And while joyful and beautiful, the descriptions weren’t quite enough to entice me into hiking because she didn’t shy away from describing the practicalities like no bathrooms or showers plus bugs!

Alexai and Ben captured my heart immediately - so caring about each other even as they struggle with their own emotional trauma. Give me all of the hurt comfort with a sultry slow burn, please! Anita Kelly is so gifted with creating characters I want to hang out with - I loved the scenes with Ben’s family and friends. Plus it was nice to check in with characters from Love & Other Disasters.

I don't like romance so I don't read it often but Anita has created characters that I liked and felt invested in and the romance seemed secondary to me. The main characters are well rounded and seemed like real people that I could know. Their personal journeys while on their journey together were beautiful, and heartbreaking, and joyful, and just all the things you want to see from your characters.
This story is lovely and Anita's writing is wonderful. Highly recommended.

I loved this book! Everything about it was fantastic. The characters, the atmosphere, it was incredible!

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher/author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Ahh I loved this book so much! It was so freaking adorable. Alexei has been recently disowned by his parents for being gay and let go from his job and decides to go on a 2,500 mile hike across America to find himself. He expects to do it alone, but along the way meets fellow hiker Ben who works his way into his heart.

This was marketed as “grumpy meets sunshine” when I don’t think Alexei was grumpy. He just has severe social anxiety. Ben is obviously better at talking to people and is very open and makes friends with everyone they meet. Alexei is more reserved and doesn’t easily speak to others. I can understand that very well. A lot of Alexei’s anxiety comes from his sheltered background and not really knowing how to read people. Ben makes him want to get to know people and be better. Alexei reading his favorite book to Ben as they were traveling made my heart soar.

Ben and Alexei were so down bad for each other it was making my mouth hurt so much from smiling. When Alexei stared acting like a dummy I wanted to hit him upside the head. It was so obvious they were both so blindingly in love. The ending part at the bridge had me crying.

This is also a book about grief. The grief of losing your loved ones in a sense that they might not be dead, but they are gone. Alexei has to deal with the fact that the life he’s always known is over because his parents have removed themselves from him. He also learns that it isn’t his fault and there are people in the world who love you and care for you for who you are. I loved Ben’s family and friends though. They were so sweet and accepting of Alexei.

This is such a sweet and loving book. There are hardships and difficulties but it’s about two very different people very different worlds realizing they are in love. I loved every bit of it. I’m so looking forward to more from the author.

I really liked Love & Other Disasters and was so excited to receive an ARC of this book. Anita Kelly has quickly become one of my favorite authors. They have a way of grabbing you and slowly building the story to the point where all you want to do is find out what happens! I stayed up late last night finishing it and let me tell you I was weeping *WEEPING* during Chapter 27. Tears running down my face reading in bed. It’s written in such a clever way and I won’t spoil it here, but wow. I just loved it.

😭🥰😭🥰😭🥰

Nature has a way of healing and this story takes place on the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) with a meet cute between Ben and Alexei who are both going through some things and hoping the Trail will help them process their trauma. And even though they are on different journeys, the Trail keeps bringing them back together. Is it kismet? There is something magical about Joshua Tree, the desert in SoCal where our story starts, when Alexei saves Ben from a rattlesnake. This is an opposites attract / grumpy sunshine romance, but written in a very creative way with dual POV so you can really understand what each MC is thinking and feeling. Alexei is quiet and nerdy and Ben is vibrant and outgoing. And Alexei’s ability to name a bird based solely on its sound is so endearing, no wonder Ben is a goner.

Alexei has recently come out and been abandoned by his religious parents. Ben has had a string of toxic relationships and wants to not fall for the next man he meets. But of course they have an instant attraction and it’s delightful to watch them grow together and apart and together again. Since this is a romance there are conflicts before the HEA, but the conflicts are very unique and I found I couldn’t put the book down. I love how Ben helps Alexei become more comfortable with his queer identity surrounded by mountains and birds and trees and snow and sunshine.

The found family friend group in this book is delightful. Dahlia & London from L&OD make an appearance as London is friends with Ben, and we get to see how they are doing hanging out at dinner and in their fancy Nashville apartment which is so fun! There’s nothing I love more than characters connected through books.

If you are a fan of queer romance, this is a great one.

– Thanks to NetGalley/Forever for the ARC for a review –

Alexei Lebedev is hoping to put the trauma of being disowned by his family behind him. Ben Caravalho is looking to get over his past relationships and prepare to begin living a more fulfilling life. Their paths cross when both men set out on a solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

After reading this book I feel like I truly know Lex and Ben. We get to see both men grow and figure out how to deal with what is going on in their personal lives as they navigate a budding relationship.

Have you ever started reading a book and realize this is the story you’ve been waiting for? The one that speaks right to your soul?
Something Wild & Wonderful was it for me.
I am so thankful for Anita Kelly’s books. They are truly a top-tier queer romance writer.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

I wanted to like this one but I was not invested in the romance at all. At times it felt juvenile and the dialogue was totally unnecessary in parts... it made me cringe at times.

I actually finished reading this book a while ago, but I've been holding off on writing a review because I was living in that kind of book-haze where you just have FEELINGS that seem far too important for things like "words" that "other people" can read. However, this is a really wonderful piece of writing - both quiet and surprisingly angsty- that I hope lots of other people will pick up as well, so here goes.

The main characters of Something Wild and Wonderful, Ben and Alexei, meet as they are thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a really important element of the book. I would describe my feelings towards nature as "appreciative in theory, skeptical in practice," so I did not expect the setting to be one of my favorite parts of the book, but it absolutely was. To the point where I set the book down at about the 15% mark, thought to myself "I simply cannot finish this inside the four walls of my city apartment" and... booked a trip into Nature? There's something about the way Anita Kelly writes this setting that's just enormously inviting. The book doesn't beat readers over the head with a demand to think nature is great or poetic or awe-inspiring. There's just a quiet, persistent heartbeat of love for the expansiveness the outdoors that sneaks up on you without realizing it. Claiming the setting as a "character" in a book feels almost over-used to me at times, but it finds its truest and best expression here.

The character-characters are pretty great themselves, though. This felt, fundamentally, like Alexei's book: he's on the trail to try to figure out his place in the world after a traumatic estrangement from his family. This plotline was treated, I thought, with exquisite care, despite its heavy emotional nature. While the book is very candid about Alexei's sadness and confusion - over his own situation of estrangement, but also more broadly over the ways in which the world hasn't been welcoming or accommodating to him - he never wavers in his knowledge of who he is. Nor does the book ever suggest he should. There's an extent to which his story is about loving yourself when the world doesn't seem to love you - and while Alexei's love interest Ben provides some of that support, a lot of it is internal, and it's really well-done.

I won't give too much away, but I do have to talk somewhere about how this book has maybe one of my top-three low moments of all time. I'm marking it for spoilers because everyone should get to have the delicious experience of being simultaneously ambushed by "jesus fucking christ my feelings" and "oh my god this is masterful writing" the way I did.

**SPOILERS** The entire low moment is epistolary, done via letters between Ben and Alexei - some of which they send, some of which they don't, and it fucking *wrecked* me. It was quite simply one of the best marriages between plot and tone and form that I've ever encountered: Ben and Alexei are both incredibly lonely through this low moment, and yearning for each other so much, and honestly is there anything that better expresses loneliness and yearning than an UNSENT LETTER? Not to mention that the format - letters written sometimes weeks and weeks apart - allowed each character to express how they've grown individually, and to take the time they need to heal. I was a mess. I've re-read the section two or three times since, and cried every time. END SPOILER


I know it's not for everyone, but if you like to wallow a bit on the way to the safety of your HEA, this is the book for you.

Anyway, maybe I'll write more eventually, but for the moment, I'm clutching this book to my heart, a bit protective of my feelings. What a lovey, caring, accomplished piece of writing it is.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

This is the second book that I've read by Anita Kelly. I loved their first book, 'Love & Other Disasters', but this book has a much slower pace. It took me some time to get into this book because I wasn't expecting such a slow start. Kelly's writing really takes you into the journey that Alexei is making on the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm from Philadelphia, and I have never been to that part of the country before. The descriptions really created great visuals of the trails and landscapes in that area. As someone who has never really hiked before, I feel like I learned so much about what it means to hike the PCT and how dangerous it can be. I felt like I was transported there along with the characters.

The main character is Alexei, who is hiking the PCT because he is feeling lost in his life. He has recently come out to his parents, and they have disowned him. He also lost his job, and he thinks that the trail will be a good place for him to reinvent himself as Alexei 2.0. He uses a journal to write down his thoughts on ways that he can improve himself as he begins a new chapter of his journey.

Along the trail, he meets Ben. Ben is the opposite of Alexei. He is outgoing and charming while Ben is quiet and reserved. They begin to hike the trail together, and sparks begin to fly. Kelly's writing again creates such a a beautiful picture of their romance. They really know how to write to make the reader feel as though they are a part of the romance.

I think one of my favorite parts of the book is the section that is told entirely through letters. I loved this insight into how the characters were feeling. I really liked how some of the letters were unsent, but the readers still were able to view these letters to better understand the characters.

Overall, this was a beautifully told and well-written love story. I really appreciated that the main characters from 'Love & Other Disasters", Dahlia and London, had a connection to the characters in this story. That was a very welcome surprise!

Thanks for NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an ARC of this book! I can't wait to read Kelly's next book in 2024! They are definitely on my must-read list of authors now.

I cannot say enough good things about this book truly! It was so sweet and absolutely delicious to get to read through this. I cannot wait to see what Anita Kelly graces us with next! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!!

Alexei and Ben may both be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, but their reasons for hiking are vastly different. Alexei is hiking after being rejected by his family after coming out to them and is trying to find “Alexei 2.0” to move forward. Ben is hiking before starting a new career while also processing grief and moving on from a negative relationship. They run into each other along the trail and decide to start hiking together. And of course they build a strong connection on the hike!

This is SUCH a special book! Alexei and Ben both absolutely melt my heart and their relationship was a joy to read about. Alexei is so sweet that I just wanted to give him a hug. I loved reading the communication between Alexei and Ben because it was so mutually respectful. Hearing about Alexei’s relationship with his family and seeing it contrasted with Ben’s family relationship was heartbreaking. And the LETTERS!!! No spoilers but my heart could barely handle them.

I can’t recommend this book enough if you are looking for a tender, sweet love story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the advanced reading copy!

I deeply enjoyed this book because of its sweetness and emotional honesty. The personal struggles of the main characters, especially Alexei's struggle with how his queerness conflicts with his upbringing, really resonated. It was also super exciting to get to see the main characters from Love and Other Disasters enjoying their happily ever after. I can't wait until it's available for sale so I can boost it more!

This was heavier than I was expecting but wow. It’s a beautiful and emotional step by step journey of two characters figuring themselves out and finding each other. It’s quite and tender.

I loved loved loved this book. I’m a character driven reader so I got very attached to both Ben and Alexei but was especially attached to to Alexei. I recognized a fellow nuerodivergent soul and loved him. I’m so happy Ben loved him for him, bird facts and clear directions and all. I loved the complicated feelings the author explored in regards to his family and religion, it felt so real and raw.

I don’t hike but man this book made it seem so romantic, I live in the PNW so I know how beautiful it is! I also chuckled because I used to live near the Cabazon dinosaurs and have visited them…the whole book was a hug and I can’t wait for my preorder to come so I can hold this beautiful book in my hands.

This book will live in my heart forever. Alexei was so incredibly special to me. Anita has a voice that I need more of so I hope they continue to write these heartfelt stories that give unique voices a chance to be heard.

On the surface, this book is about two strangers who meet while hiking the Pacific coast trail when one saves the other from stepping on a rattlesnake.
Alexei is afraid of hiking the desert, and Ben afraid of the snow. Both of them looking for the long quiet hike to help them figure some things out while their lives are changing. They decide to walk together for a while…Well Ben decides they’ll walk together and Alexei decides maybe he’s okay with it. They start by building a friendship, but wonder if trail magic will give them something more.

Beyond that though, this book is about So Much More -
Finding yourself, and deciding who you want to be. Grieving family members who haven’t actually died. People who are only in your life for a moment, but have an impact for life. Making tough decisions, when one dream is at absolute odds with another. Unsent letters - I thought my heart would crack in half reading some of those. And most importantly - finding what you want and then fighting for it.

I want everyone ever to read this one, it is beyond good. I don’t even have the words, I kind of just want to shove it at people and shout READ THIS.

Thanks (so much) to netgalley and forever/grand central pub for the ARC

Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book was PHENOMENAL. When I finished, I was a puddle of emotions and I am still thinking about it several days later. It pulled me in right away and pulled me in deep. Alexei and Ben are both hiking the Pacific Crest Trail solo and end up hiking together, and of course, fall in love.

Alexei is there to heal from the trauma of being rejected by his religious and traditional parents for being gay. Ben is also there to find himself in a lot of ways. Alexei is quiet and more reserved, while Ben is more of a sunshine personality.

I absolutely loved how deep we got into both of these characters in the book, their personal journeys, and how they develop and negotiate their relationship over the course of the book. There is a lot here about boundaries and communicating needs and expectations, and then what happens when mistakes happen. There’s an epistolary element towards the end that just about wrecked me. I loved the setting on the trail, it made for really beautiful moments of connection.

This book is deeply romantic and satisfying, and I will for sure be re-reading it in the future. Highly recommend!

🌶🌶🌶/5 moderate-high steam

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the variety of characters and how genuine they felt. I also liked that the PCT was a character. I appreciated how the mental health issues were dealt with and how the characters worked on themselves first.