4.5

It took me longer than I expected to get into this book, but once I did I was sold. Don't let the cute cartoon cover fool you, this is a sweet romance but it's even more so about accepting and loving yourself. Alexei and Ben are both on the PCT in an attempt to better themselves. Alexei because he recently came out to his very religious parents and was disowned, and Ben as a way to feel more settled before starting his nursing career. They are so sweet and I loved watching their relationship grow, and I loved their personal journeys. The letters from the third act breakup section had me actually crying, and reading them was so cathartic.

I also loved that we got to see London and Dahlia from [book:Love & Other Disasters|55297669]. It would be fun if Anita Kelly continued threading characters through their books- I would love to see a Ruby book next!

If you're a fan of the outdoors and cute queer romances that also dive into very real and vulnerable themes, then PLEASE pick up Something Wild & Wonderful!

While I really enjoyed Anita Kelly's book Love & Other Disasters, Something Wild & Wonderful blew me out of the water. It made me laugh, tear up, get frustrated alongside the characters, and just overall left me feeling so happy. I'm not a big fan of hiking and camping, but it was so fun following Alexei and Ben's journey on the trail and watching their relationship grow and develop. Both characters struggled internally, and it was honestly beautiful to watch them grow together as they navigated their pasts, beliefs, and feelings for the other person while living isolated. Ugh, this book was just so fun and is definitely a favorite of 2023 so far!

CW for sexual content, homophobia, separation from religious family because of queer identity, toxic manipulation (in past).

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC of Something Wild & Wonderful!

This is my first book by Anita Kelly, but I'm so excited to read more! I loved this book so much! The slow burn romance was well developed, with lots of great banter between the characters. While I liked both leads, I especially loved Alexai as I too am a a spreadsheet nerd who doesn't make connections with that many people.

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves queer love stories, anyone looking for neurodivergent rep in romance, and anyone who loves a good slow burn romance.

I loved Anita Kelly's first book, and this one lives in the same world but works as a stand alone.

Alexei and Ben meet while hiking the Pacific Coast Trail and their journey is both literal and figurative as they come to terms with what being queer means for them as people and as an eventual couple. They truly compliment each other and Kelly so beautifully weaves in the experience of life on the trail that I felt like I was there. It's a truly mature romance in that the characters communicate and share and the ending was sweet perfection. I can't wait to read what Kelly writes next!

4.5 stars

Thanks to Forever for the copy to review.

Never have I ever thought... hmmm maybe I could hike the PCT, until I read this gem of a book (spoiler alert - I can't hike the PCT with my bum knees)

No surprise to me that Anita Kelly wrote another really great book with dreamy love interests who were forced together in literal close proximity that could not fight their attraction to each other!

I completely forgot this was a second book to Love & Other Disasters until I picked it up and in popped London as a side character!

This was such a delight. First of all, I loved the setting: getting a taste of the PCT was a great addition to this romance. I also loved how the romance developed between Lex and Ben. The third act conflict didn't feel as forced as in some other romances and I loved the grand gesture at the end. Overall, this was a really fun romance.

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly could NOT put this book down. It’s adventurous, romantic, sweet, has beautifully written characters, and constantly had me rooting for the main character, Alexei and Ben. As someone who has backpacked before it took me back to that nostalgic place. I love that the romantic and intimate scenes put a strong focus on consent. The story is witty and charming and I’m so happy I read this. Easily one of my favorite stories.

Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly is a wonderful representation of queer love. Alexei and Ben meet on the PCT unexpectedly and what follows is a tender love story. Highly recommend this read! Anita Kelly is bringing a new voice and perspective to the romance genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC - Something Wild and Wonderful is our now!

This book was charming. I sometimes am slow to warm up to romance, despite it being one of my most read genres. It sometimes just takes me a little while to find the rhythm and come to care for the characters. In this book, though, I was immediately pulled in by our leads. I appreciate that they met so early on in the book. I found the premise to be excellent and original. A great romance rec for pride month. Thanks for the ARC!

I absolutely adored Love and Other Disasters, so Something Wild and Wonderful was very high on my most anticipated list. I came for a love story, and I stayed for the incredible character growth and especially Alexei's journey with dealing with religious trauma and being disowned by his parents.
Something Wild and Wonderful is set on the PCT trail, that goes from Mexico to Canada. Our main characters, Ben and Alexei are both hiking the trail for reasons of personal growth: Ben is trying to have a fresh start as a nurse, and avoid toxic men, and Alexei is trying to become Alexei 2.0, someone who is confident and independent. They have a very romantic meet cute where Alexei saves Ben from stepping on snake. From there on, their paths on the trails are forever mingled.
Alexei was definitely my favourite character, I related to him so much. He grew up very sheltered by religious parents, he then loses said parents when he comes out and has to deal with the grief and trauma that comes with losing something that makes up a huge part of his identity: the community that comes with being religious. I loved that he didn't lose his faith after coming out, that he developed his own relationship with his god. Religious queer characters are very close to my heart. Also, the fact that he's autistic? the icing on the cake.
Anita Kelly blew it out of the water again. The romance was incredible, and again, the character growth was just beautiful to read (I did cry) 5/5 stars

I picked this up after a friend read and loved and am so happy that I did. The hike reminded me a little of one of my all time faves, Happiness for Beginners, and the threads of self discovery and acceptance were so well done. I thought Kelly approached faith and Alexei's relationship with both God and his parents with such a perfect touch. It was relatable and personal without being heavy handed. I thought Ben was handled just as well. His personal struggles were harder to see but needed care. It's a great mix of steam and depth and emotion that kept me so invested.

Two men hiking the Pacific Crest Trail meet by chance and decide to hike together. Kelly builds a carefully layered friendship and meaningful individual story arcs as the two fall in love. What a gorgeous book. Somehow funny, steamy and emotionally resonant, Something Wild & Wonderful is more than the sum of its parts. One character is adrift professionally, feeling like he's not accomplished anything with his life (he's a damn fine nurse though) and the other is trying to come to terms with the place of religion in his life after a disastrous coming out to his fundamentalist Christian family. Kelly handles the subject matter with great care as usual, but there's that spark of something more in their writing. The emotions are just... elevated. These two jellybeans deserve the whole world.
I strongly recommend this romance, even if you don't like hiking!

***

Content Warnings: religious trauma, homophobia, anxiety. For a more complete list, I recommend Leigh's review.

Anita Kelly is one of those authors that I just adore. Every book I read by Kelly has something magical about it and makes me love it. For starters I LOVED the setting. While I enjoy the outdoors and would do a nice hike in the summer there is no way I would do through hiking like this. However I adored reading about the setting and the PCT experience. The setting was just so vividly laid out and made me feel like I was in the wild with Alexei and Ben.

The other thing I loved about this is how soft and sweet it was, but not in a sickly way. I love soft romances that aren’t completely full of drama and angst, but there was a lot of trauma and emotional things to work through for both Ben and Alexei. I loved that they were both dealing with things and trying to figure out thier lives and what they want to do about what they’re dealing with.

I really loved Alexei and how he was working through his feelings and trauma on the hike. It was really sweet to see him and Ben get close and open up to each other. Also the letters! I’m not spoiling anything but dang, what a hit to the system! They were so sweet and sad at the same time. I loved it all. I also really loved how Alexei learned more about himself and found out he was autistic. It was really cool seeing him grow and understand himself better, plus find somewhere and people that make him feel happy and safe.

This slow burn romance from the author of Love and Other Disasters shines. I'd heard a lot of hype about this one, and I'm happy to say that it mostly lived up to it. Definitely recommended for fans of romance, hiking, and heartfelt stories.

I really enjoyed this romance, even though there was a lot of hiking! The two leads and the friend circles were well drawn

This book was very sweet. The characters felt real and so did their struggles. My favourite part was definitely the growth we got to see in the characters as the book progressed. I will definitely be recommending this one

Another triumph from Anita Kelly. It should be obvious but I super love their writing. We follow Alexei as he hikes the Pacific Crest Trail, meets Ben, and the two get to know each other while fending off the mortal peril of the wild. There’s a lot to live in this book, but for me it’s the learning to love yourself, just as you are. We all put so much stock in what others think of us and so often fail to acknowledge what we think of ourselves.

One of my new top favourite books! This was such a beautiful story about two people finding themselves and finding each other on the Pacific Crest Trail. So many ups and downs - I loved that it wasn't a straight 'trail' to instant happily ever after. The characters were so relatable in all their beautiful complexities and challenges. This book is great for fans of Casey McQuiston and Allison Cochrun!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Something Wild and Wonderful” by Anita Kelly. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

The beginning was so cute! I liked the premise a lot. I was impressed with how the author made me instantly root for the couple. I also liked the setting a lot. I have no desire to do such an intense hike but I really liked reading about it.

I do wish this had two different narrators for the dual POV but if you’re reading physically that wouldn’t be an issue. I have to pick up a lot of books on audio so I thought this was worth mentioning.

There were lots of time jumps but I think it works ok. There were a couple scenes I would have liked to see that were just referred to in the time jumps.

Schnitzel the ugly dog was hilarious. There were also cameos from the previous book but it’s been a bit since I read that so I couldn’t remember all the friends. I liked the first book too.

I feel like we lost momentum at the end with the exchanging letters although it was an effective way to do more time jumps. It felt like the couple should have done more inner work before they reconciled but that seems to be a common issue with contemporary romances.

Overall I enjoyed this especially at the beginning. I think contemporary romance writers should read this book if they want to see how to write a really effective meet cute that makes readers immediately root for the couple.

4/5 stars

“…maybe it was the detours that actually counted the most.”

I keep typing and deleting words, trying to come up with a way to tell you just how absolutely perfect SOMETHING WILD & WONDERFUL is. Described by the author as “WILD, but make it gay”, it’s a queer love story between two men who fall for each other after a chance meeting while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Alexei is in turmoil after his religious parents cut him off when he finally comes out as a gay, and Ben is nursing a wounded heart and corralling a scattered spirit in the wake of a toxic breakup and the loss of his aunt.

I love books with a physical journey, and this one is especially immersive: we experience the aches, the exhaustion, the sweeping vistas, and the songs of birds alongside Ben and Alexei as they hike up through California into Oregon. There’s simmering chemistry, tender intimacy, aching grief, and gorgeous, high-flying hope. As a person who used to be deeply embedded in a religious community, I felt so much of Alexei’s process around his own faith. Seeing him allow himself to experience God, to find everyday holiness in the outdoors and his love for Ben, healed something in me. I also loved how pure their affection is: Ben and Alexei are both such unique people, with different ways of processing and socializing, and they are constantly delighting in each other just as they both are.

It’s a love letter to the trail, to the wilderness, to the wild parts of ourselves that seek to be free and to find a home in another person. This story broke my heart wide open; I can’t recommend it enough. Also, the audiobook, performed by Mark Sanderlin, is lovely. Thanks to Forever Books and Hachette Audio for the review copies!

Content warnings: family rejection, homophobia, religious bigotry, loss of a loved one, injury, toxic relationship, panic attack