Loved, loved, loved SW&W! Anita Kelly has done it again. Ben and Alexei's story was beautiful. I loved the setting of the PCT (I'm not a hiker and am not familiar with the trail in real life but it felt like the author did their research). 10/10 would recommend! I'm excited for Anita's next one.

Even thinking about writing this review has my eyes welling up with emotion.

Anita Kelly has crafted an exceptional story in Something Wild and Wonderful. Alexei and Ben are two people both hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for their own reasons. Strangers at first, the two end up hiking together learning not only about each other, but themselves as well.

When I tell you that I think about this book every day since I finished reading it, I’m not exaggerating. Kelly writes such beautiful prose that you feel transported to these places along the trail. Their dialogue is so crisp and realistic that you forget these two main characters are fictional. And the emotion. The emotion! It isn’t heavy-handed, but rather manages to soothe past hurts you may not have even known existed.

At a certain point nearing the end of the book, there’s a section that’s written just in letters written by Alexei and Ben. This is when I found myself weeping. Are the letters sad? No. Kelly is just so skilled at capturing specific queer feelings that I found it cathartic, a release, as if I too had just gone through this emotional journey of hiking a 2,500 mile trail.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I always want to be rereading it.

5 stars

This MM romance follows Alexei and Ben as they meet while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Each have their own reasons for spending months hiking the trail, but they agree to travel together for a while. As they spend miles together, getting to know the other and sharing bits and pieces of their past, both grow very fond of the other. And when that fondness grows into more, the two are elated to find someone they seem to fit so well with. But when they leave the trail and their outside lives start creeping in, they will both need to figure out if their romance can go the distance. Oof, this one really found a place in my heart. This was such an emotional yet quiet romance. Kelly is phenomenal at capturing those little moments in a relationship that really get to the core of the connection between the two. Seeing Alexei and Ben so in sync and comfortable with each other, even before their friendship turned romantic, was something I don't find in many romances. I loved how we get pieces of their backstories as the main story progresses so there isn't one big info-dump session. Alexei and Ben are both such complex and complete characters that this was one of those rare romances where it really felt like the two of them were meant to be together. These two have crawled into my heart and I don't think I'll stop thinking about them anytime soon.

I had a hard time getting into this one. A shame because I LOVED the last one. Something about it just didn't work for me.

These two guys were adorable together. I liked reading about the hike, though it reinforces the idea that I never want to do something similar myself.

5/5 incredible! Anita Kelly proves again to be one of my favourite authors. This book blew me away had me sobbing. I loved it

I received an advanced copy of Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly from the publisher Forever via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Homophobia, Disowned by family for sexuality.

What It’s About: Alexei is on a journey on the PCT to close the door on a chapter of his life after his parents have rejected him for being gay. On his first day on the trail, he comes face to face with a rattle snake and then saves a very outgoing and charismatic hiker, Ben, from stepping on it. The trail keeps bringing them together. Ben has made a lot of bad decisions before, and almost all of them involved beautiful men, but he keeps being drawn to his hiking partner Alexi. Could they really find love on the PCT?

What I Loved: This book is delightful! Both of these characters are just so lovable and well developed characters, like the first book I read by Kelly, I just wanted to be friends with these two and hangout with these two. This is a beautiful little love story set on the PCT. The setting is nailed and as you read you can truly see the backdrop and joy of being in nature as you find your person. I also loved Ben’s community. My heart also broke for Alexi and having to deal with his family’s disowning of him and the internalized homophobia he is still working through. The way this is written is with such care and reality and I ultimately got rather teary about this as Alexei finally allows himself to process. These two characters are so well matched and what they need. Just a really lovely romance.

What I Didn’t Like: The book moves a bit slowly.

Who Should Read It: People who love excellent romance novels. People who love hiking. People who love thoughtful and developed characters in their romance.

Summary: Two men become hiking partners on the PCT and begin to fall in love.

Rating: 4.5/5
Warnings: religious trauma, hemophobia, difficult family dynamics
Steam: 3/5
Tropes: found family, friends to lovers, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, autism/lgbtq+ rep

Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Why did I wait to finish this book? probably because Anita Kelly wrote pure perfection and I never wanted it to end. Like seriously, this book was so good!!!!

the swoon. the tenderness. the emotion. the learning to love yourself. and the steam. all of the things.

both Alexei and Ben had things to work through, I think Kelly did an excellent job handling these topics. my favorite part is just the pure kindness they showed each other. Alexei's story was one that hurts your heart but also one that is so authentic to the lgbtq+ community. the setting of the PCT was unique and one that was absolutely beautiful (read the authors note about the authors experience on the trail). I loved Ben's family.

please read this book!

Thank you @readforeverpub for a copy of Something Wild And Wonderful by Anita Kelly which publishes today.

Alexei and Ben both start hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for different reasons, but when they meet along the way and start hiking a portion together, the romance blossoms. This one was highly anticipated for me because I really liked Love And Other Disasters and it definitely lived up to the hype. Completely different couple and setting but the same adoration develops between the two main characters as they help each other through tough times.
Definitely read the content warnings or DM if you have any questions but I think this is a great read, indoor person or not!

A lovely, empathetic and tender love story, with a great sense of atmosphere and setting. Even though I would never hike, I really enjoyed how descriptive the writing was. I felt like I was there on that trail with the characters, who were both so instantly likable and kind of wounded that you couldn’t help but root for them.

After being disowned by his family for being gay Alexei is trying to work out what it means to live without his family and how to reconcile his personal faith with a church that no longer welcomes him.
Ben is on the trail trying to get his life together. He’s been falling for all the wrong guys and struggling to decide what he wants out of life other than trying to help other people keep it together. He’s determined to swear off guys and learn more about himself first. Easier said than done when he meets Alexei and the attraction is immediate.
They strike up a deal to hike part of the trail together and we get to watch as they begin to bring out the best in each other and find out how they fit together and how they don’t. I really appreciated Ben’s patience with Alexei’s quiet moments as he processed the situations. I’ve never been a church person, but it was so good to see Alexei reflecting over his faith and making choices that respected himself as he processed his trauma and decided that the god he knew was not what he’d always been taught.
I do wish we’d gotten to see Ben’s internal world a little bit more too, I think there could have been some good growth I wanted to see more of.
Loved the ending with the scene on the bridge :) Made me really happy.

Anita Kelly did a wonderful job portraying these two characters who have both had life mold them in different ways. It was fun how they kept running into each other even though Alexei wanted to do the trail alone.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

TW// homophobia, family estrangement, mentions of death, brief underage drinking scene, brief mention of fatphobia, brief mentions of racism, social anxiety, brief mention of sexism, f-slur

Something Wild & Wonderful follows a passionate romance that sparks between two men as they are walking the Pacific Crest Trail. It’s filled with cute romantic moments, deep discussions of family estrangement, and lots of steamy scenes.

I really enjoyed my time with Something Wild & Wonderful. I loved Ben and Alexei as a couple. Ben was so patient and understanding with Alexei. It was really sweet to see. Alexei was a little more quiet on their adventures, but seeing him opening up about his family was really rewarding and I loved how he was there for Ben whenever Ben got scared. I also really connected with Alexei. I’m a part of the LGBTQ+ community and I’m religious. The way that Alexei’s sexuality intersected with his religion was extremely relatable for me. This was the first book that has ever made me feel like it’s okay for me to both be queer and religious.

The pacing in this story was wonderful. It flowed really smoothly and each chapter left me eager to find out where the story would venture next.

The ending of this book was one of my favorite romance novel endings of all time. The characters were able to resolve their problems smoothly and the actions that they took to show each other that they truly love each other were amazing.

I only had one issue with this book. There is a section of this book that contains letters written by Alexei and Ben. I wasn’t a huge fan of that section. The shift from normal prose to the letters was a little jarring. Most of the letters didn’t even hold my attention. Only the two letters to Alexei’s parents felt really meaningful and impactful to me personally.

Overall I really liked this book despite my issue with the letters section. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique queer romance that involves lots of nature.

Something Wild & Wonderful was a cute MM romance between strangers. You learn about Ben & Alexei as they hike 2,000+ miles.

Ben coming from an accepting, loving family - but struggling with grief of a loved one passing. Alexei trying to figure himself out after he came out to his religious family. It was super sweet to see them grow close, going from one word conversations to more in depth ones. The steam was steaming, it'll have you blushing and kicking your feet, giddy for them to be happy.

Obviously, there is some conflict, but I'm happy with how Anita Kelly handles it, because normally I despise third act break up type of deals. But, I think this was done well and I didn't get aggravated for the conflict.

If nothing else, I know I can count on Anita Kelly for contemporary romances from now on since this is the second book I've loved from them!! <3

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly follows Alexei and Ben, who meet by chance on the Pacific Crest Trail and begin to hike the trail together. While doing one of these long-distance trails sounds like an absolute nightmare to me, I loved this book! Something Wild & Wonderful has officially placed Anita Kelly on my auto-buy author list.

This is a very sweet grumpy/sunshine romance. Alexei is from a religious family and still practices his religion, but he has been ostracized from his family for being gay. If those topics are difficult for you, please read with care (although I thought they were handled beautifully). I can't wait to see what Anita Kelly does next. They haven't let me down yet!

Wow wow wow! This stunning romance left me feeling tender and filled with wanderlust. Set against the backdrop of the gorgeous pacific northwest trail, it was a JOY to read as these characters discovered themselves, healed from past traumas and gently fell in love with each other and their futures.

Thank you Forever Pub and Netgalley for my copy.

I LOVE ANITA KELLY. nobody writes romance like anita. a backpacking trip??? like who else can make that so emotional and romantic. NOBODY. i loved this if you all can't tell. read it in one sitting and was crying by the end; the story was that beautiful. READ THIS BOOK.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Two men meet up on the PCT, but their decision to merely tolerate each other for the sake of not going alone turns into so much more. SOMETHING WILD & WONDERFUL is indeed wonderful in having deep characters, an intersting setting, and love at the center of it all. The issues both men are dealing with by walking the PCT comes out organically and really feeds into the fact that they fall for each other. A perfect romcom! Anita Kelly is an always-read for me.

Anita Kelly does it again! This story was everything I have ever wanted. Characters that you easily fall for and a plot that captivates you. It is the perfect queer rom-com for anytime of the year but especially for pride month !

GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL I AM UNWELL I have so many thoughts that I'm too blubbery to put together right now, but this book changed my brain chemistry. It gave me so much romance and joy but mostly it gave me a HEALING JOURNEY, easily one of the best I've ever read. For all the parts where the romance and Ben's journey are given space to take center stage, this is a book about the summer where Alexei learned to heal from the betrayal of his parents unwillingness to love him for who he is. And it was handled with such nuance and comfort that let the jagged edges show, didn't openly vilify anything while still showing a clear and correct point of view. This book is important and incredible.

For as many books as I both read and recommend to people, there honestly aren't many that I think are compulsory reads for anyone who wants to understand my tastes and desires in books/media/stories. This probably just made that list.