Title: Something Wilder
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4/5
“Just because thoughts are loud and constant doesn’t mean they’re right.”
Lily’s life did not turn out the way she had planned. Lily’s dream of owning her own ranch was quickly ripped away after the love of her life left her unexpectedly and her father, Duke, suddenly passed away. Unable to support the ranch on her own, Lily decides to profit from Duke’s love of treasure hunting, something she, herself, was never interested in. Lily begins giving guided treasure hunting tours out in the canyons of Utah using Duke’s old hand drawn maps. When the man who broke her heart suddenly shows up on one of her tours, Lily doesn’t know whether to run and hide or kiss him. Through their journey, they learn that the treasure hunt may be more real than they had once thought. Finding it would change their lives and make their dreams come true, but of course, it won’t be easy.
“I think the problem is that I’m not the kind of person to fall in and out of love.” And now her pulse was pounding. The implication landed heavily. But she asked anyway: “What do you mean?” “I mean, I fell in love once and stayed there.”
I had high expectations for this book because Christina Lauren is one of my favorite romance authors. Although her books aren’t very spicy, they always have strong female characters and lots of comedy. I enjoyed reading Something Wilder, but it wasn’t my favorite book of hers. The treasure hunt itself did not seem that thought out. A lot of the clues didn’t make sense and the way the characters came to conclusions didn’t add up with the information that was provided. I also felt like the plot twists were very predictable and the romance was a little dull. I feel like Christina Lauren was trying to execute an enemies to lovers trope, but the tension between Lily and Leo was lacking.
With that being said, the book was a fun and easy read. There were a few characters that I really liked such as Walter and Nicole. Both had interesting personalities of people that I could see myself being friends with. Walter is a soft hearted guy who would be impossible not to love and Nicole is a quick witted woman who you would feel confident having your back. These two characters alone added a lot of humor to the story which I really enjoyed.
“Had to remind myself that once upon a time I was good at something other than sitting at a desk.”
The concept of Something Wilder was new and refreshing. I have not read many romance books that encompass a treasure hunt so I really liked this new take on a romance novel. Romance books can start to get repetitive when most of them either take place in a tropical destination or in a big city. Christina Lauren brought something new to the table and I hope other romance novelists follow suit.
