Wild Things is a fantastic queer rom-com that's a perfect summer read. Eleanor is on her year of WILD to break out of her mundane ordinary life. She's spending the year doing things that push her out of her comfort zone. This leads to her buying in on a house in the country with her 3 best friends. But she's been keeping a secret from her best friend, Ray. El's been crushing on Ray for a long time and now she'll be living across the hall from El. What could possibly happen?!?
This is a wonderful slow-burn queer romance that was just lovely. I really enjoyed that El's story of personal growth outside of her comfort zone was a primary part of this story. While El does pine for Ray, it was a perfect amount - not over the top or cumbersome - it was just right for me. I loved the found family characters in this story. Will and Jamie were so endearing and charming. I would regret not mentioning the chickens which just added the cutest thread of humor and affection. I enjoyed this story so much, I revisited it in audio as soon as it was released and I was delighted with the narrator's performance. She did an amazing job bringing these characters to life and I think I almost loved the audiobook version the best. I read this book at the perfect time. I was just swept away and loved every minute!
Thank you to Laura Kay, Penguin Random House, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Nice story, Mainly focused on El who decides to do one wild thing a month for a year, she finds herself, what she really wants in life. Great characters, good feel good story .

Loved the concept so much, but wasn't able to get into the writing. I was so excited for the rep in this book but sadly DNF'd at 40% after not feeling drawn to pick it up.

Wild Things follows a group of (mostly) queer friends as they move out of the city and make themselves a home in the country. The main focus is on Eleanor and the rut she has fallen into with her life at a relatively young age that includes a massive unrequited crush one of the friends in her group. I'm a big fan of coming-of-age stories - at any age - and this one did not disappoint! While I did enjoy it, the pacing was very slow until about halfway through, but I like the author's writing style and wanted to see Eleanor find her confidence and her happiness. The diverse cast of side characters were wonderful and they gave major "found family" vibes, which is one of my favorite tropes. I really started loving the book after the group made their move to the countryside and that is what sold me on it. I wanted way more development of the romance as it was very secondary compared to the rest of the story. Definitely don't pick this.up if you want a swoony British romance. But if you want a comfy ride to self discovery with a dash of romance, this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy. All opinions are my own.

A cute contemporary queer romance about taking a chance and doing "Wild Things." The story had a good flow and takes us along on the main character's journey of doing wild things and being brave. I think this is a book many could relate to and maybe even push them to do something brave in their life.

This is marketed as a romance novel but reads more like women’s fiction. Most of the book is focused on El’s personal challenge to do something wild every month, and on the queer commune/DIY home renovation that she and her friends started. The home renovation and friend group shenanigans were my favorite part of the story. Jaime is hilarious with his IG account “TheVillagePeople69” and his chickens! And I loved the mentor relationship El has with Rozália, who treats El like she’s an embarrassing mom. I basically loved all of the supporting characters but then the romance aspect between El and Ray falls flat. Nothing really happens between them until about 85% in and even then it wasn’t well developed. I don’t recommend this one if you’re wanting romance, but do recommend for light hearted chuckles.
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the dedication: For everyone I’ve ever had a crush on. Thanks for all the material.
the cover: I love a cute cartoon cover- and the chickens!
FMC: El- the shy, timid, keep-your-head-down friend of the group who doesn’t like to take risks… until her forever crush challenges her to a challenge of doing 1 crazy thing a month for the year to bring her out of her shell. I LOVED that at the end of the book we got to read her journal entries 🥰
FMC: Ray- the spunky friend who is effortlessly cool and loves taking risks. She’s all-in when her friends group decides they want to buy a plot of land and start a little gay commune together and live off the land. She takes on a lot of the DIY around the house while seemingly oblivious to El pining after her all along the way.
POV: 1st person, single POV
HEA: yes
spice: mildy steamy. Some flirting and touching but a closed door mostly clean romance
TWs: absent/uninterested parents, cheating (not between MCs),
standalone: yes
final thoughts: I need to buy a commune with my closest friends and live out this fantasy!!! SO CUTE and amazing, loveable side characters

read this book if you love
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🏝️ forced proximity (homeowners in a farming town)
💞 friends-to-lovers
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
💼 workplace romance (kind of- there are a few workplace scenes but not the main location)

An adorable look at all sorts of love -- friendship, LGBTQ+, and self-love -- packaged as a fun romcom with cute writing and characters.

Wild Things was a light, enjoyable book by Laura Kay.
It’s advertised as a romance but to me it was more of a friends, coming of age type of book.
At times it was a little slow for me and the romance was a slow burn but overall a really sweet read.

Thank you Netgalley and Vintage Anchor for this ARC

📖Review
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 63/100
📚Wild Things
💫Genre: Romance/Rom-Com
✍️ Laura Kay
🌈👩‍❤️‍👩🌈👩‍❤️‍👩🌈👩‍❤️‍👩🌈👩‍❤️‍👩

Synopsis 📝
El is in a rut personally and professionally and makes a promise to herself and to have a year of “Wild Things!” Every month she’s committed to doing one wild thing out of her comfort zone. An opportunity to move out of the city and into the country in a queer commune, and she jumps at the idea. El now will share the house with her friends which includes Ray, the girl she’s been crushing on for five years. Yes you heard me, five years 😁

Thoughts 💭
I honestly didn’t think I’d like this book as much as I did because for one, I do not like slow burns mixed with miscommunication. To my surprise this gem had more to it, and I loved the friendship aspect to it. Oh and those chickens and IG Fan Account were a great add-on 😆👌
The self-growth and self-development aspect to it was my favorite part as we watch El evolve. The love story was a bit draggy, but I promise the rom-com in-between the story line makes it plenty enjoyable 😃 Great cozy summer read ☀️Does El get the girl ? Does El get out of her rut? You’ll just have to read it!!! This was a fun read to read during pride month🌈🫶🏻 This is my first Laura Kay book and definitely not my last!!!

✨Thank you @netgalley & @vintageanchorbooks for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
📌Publication Date:
May 23, 2023
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#bookstagrammer #bookstagrammersunite #romcombooks
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This was a slow burn for me. It took me longer to get through the first quarter than the last three. There was a lot I really enjoyed, especially the love between the friends and their hopeful commune. I also really liked that there wasn't (spoiler) a big blowup between the friends that made them consider selling or realize that it had been a horrible idea. I liked that Eleanor got herself together and found her own happiness, or path to happiness, before the romantic part came through. But there was just something missing for me.

✨ Wild Things - Laura Kay ✨

🪴 🌾💛 4 ⭐️

𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵.

El was challenged by her friends to spice up her life by doing something wild every month. She and her friends decide to move to the countryside where they can make a queer commune together and raise chickens and garden. The only problem: she has a crush on her girlfriend Ray and moves into the room next door. El must confront her feelings for Ray.

I absolutely adored this story! It was definitely a slow burn, majority of the book focusing on El’s “wild year” and setting the scene for moving to the countryside with her friends. I loved the lgbtq+ representation and the friendships formed between the group. If you like a friends to lovers, slow burn, countryside living tropes this is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy! In stores TODAY! 💛

I loved the premise of this book, and the found family aspect was really appealing but honestly this came across as a book with Sally Rooney characters trying to be insufferably funny or quirky. Sometimes that style works but sadly it has hardly ever worked for me. Give it a try - it may be up your alley but unfortunately I couldn't stand this novel.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Synopsis; In WILD THINGS, Eleanor (“El”) is challenging herself to do a year of wild things, one each month. Some of these things include getting a tattoo and being part of a threesome (although that second one didn’t go as planned). One of those things isn’t telling her best friend Ray about her years-long crush on her. When El, Ray, and their friends Jamie and Will agree to buy a house in the country together, that one wild thing may just have to happen.

I love a good rom-com, and this definitely had some good moments of both, but the humor dominated it. Between Jamie’s antics and the rapport between everyone and the motherclucking Twilight chickens, this book had me hooked on the humor alone. I also LOVE books about chosen family, and this ragtag bunch stole my heart.

However, the lack of solid plot and the romance didn’t live up. The first half of the plot was pretty much them buying the house and the second half was El eventually confessing her love to Ray, but the house buying came earlier than expected and the romance was a slow burn, but not a great one. It felt like a Ray had little to no attraction to El, even though they *spoiler-ish* end up together at the end. It felt forced, and I really wish there was a dual pov for this book. That would’ve helped solidify the eventual couple. The trek to get to their romance was kind of boring, honestly. The only thing keeping me going was the chaotic antics the rest of the cast brought.

I expected more from this book, and I really wanted to enjoy it, but some things weren’t wild enough for me to give it more than what I gave it. I had originally rated it at 4 stars, but eventually dropped it to 3.5 after some consideration.

If you’re looking for a little less plot but a lot more chaos, this book is it. Thanks again to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

My friends and I have a joke that we want to sell all of our belongings and move to a commune together, so the description of this book made me giggle. I think this book had SUCH a good plot, but I cant help but get angry when it comes to miscommunication tropes. Its frustrating, especially when its over something so simple but these adults cant talk.
I really enjoyed the journey this book took me on, I just wish the conflict was not entirely based on miscommunication!

While I enjoyed this book and really WANTED to love it (queer commune! chosen family! queer romance!), it sadly fell a bit short for me. It dragged a bit in the middle. My main issue though, was that the author did too good a job making me annoyed at the love interest and not enough winning me back over towards her at the end. (SPOILER ALERT: they get together at the end - shocking for a romance, I know.) I was so frustrated and had hoped our protag would wind up with someone else. At the end I bought it, but I just wanted to be more invested. That said, loved the personal growth and side characters, but I'd have loved to see the side characters be granted a bit more personality and story.

Thank you to vintage anchor and netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book. El is bored in her life - stuck in the same job, has a flatmate that she does not get along with, and has been secretly in love with her best friend Ray. To break out of her shell, El resolves to do one radical thing a month. However, despite this - she still feels stagnant. The book starts with her involved in an unsuccessful threesome and texting Ray while she leaves, driven by sheer awkwardness. The premise of the story continues with El, Ray, and two other friends moving out to the English countryside to live together. I quit this book around 10% - I found the characters uninteresting, I didn't see the appeal of either El or Ray. It does seem like a sweet read that is full of found family elements but it was too slow burn for me and the cast wasn't engaging enough.

This was a really fun and sweet book. As a fellow queer who would love to leave it all behind and move to the middle of nowhere with all my people this book was really fun. I really liked how heartfelt and sweet this whole book felt.
This is definitely something I would recommend as a sweet and easy summer read.

What a fun, sweet read! As a member of the queer community who talks about moving onto a commune with her friend group at least once a week, I really enjoyed reading someone's take on what that would actually look like in practice. I was a lot more interested in the friend group dynamics than the romance aspect of it (which is shocking for me, although I wasn't a huge fan of Ray admittedly), but I thought this book had many heartfelt and tender moments that made it worth the read.

I wanted to start Pride month off with finishing this on June 1. Well, it’s June 10th and I’m posting my review the day I finished. ☀️

What to say about this book? Although it took me a bit to get into it, I deeply fell into this group of characters for what each were to each other. The story follows El, but we get to go along for the ride with Jamie, Will, and most importantly, Ray.

Now, I don’t read synopsis’s before I read the book. I try not to, anyways. And this was the cutest, and most real slow burn between 2 people. 😮‍💨

We meet the most important people in El’s life and see how they progress with their relationships with her as well.

One of the biggest parts of this book, you can see by the title, “Wild Things”. El is on a mission to have a Wild Thing year where she includes something out of the ordinary for her and I really took a lot out of that. How lost and stuck in our own minds we are and we always stick with the “norm” but it’s those “wild things” in life that kind of help us move along and enjoy life a bit more. I think that is why I truly enjoyed this book. It made me think of my own life. And the relationships I have.

The only difference between my life and this book? I don’t have a commune in need of fixing up. 😝

Thank you to @netgalley for approving my request for this, and @lauraekay for writing this beautiful, thought provoking book.