Something Wilder (24 in 2024 #22)

Author: Christina Lauren
Title: Something Wilder
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date Published: 05/17/2022

Read Dates: 11/14/2024- 11/17/2024
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Something Wilder is a dual POV second chance romance. Leo and Lily met and fell in love a decade ago on her family’s ranch, but unexpected circumstances drove and kept them apart. 10 years later they reconnect when Leo’s friends book a western adventure trip with Lily’s company. Things go sideways and the two have to battle unexpected events to find their way back to each other for good

It took me a while to read this one but I loved it! It was a little different than what I’ve come to expect from a Christina Lauren book (more adventure than RomCom) but an excellent read. Definitely worth it!

Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession… or much money in the bank. But Lily is nothing if not resourceful, and now uses Duke’s coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn’t leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness—and leave him there.

Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they’d barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it’s never going to happen.

But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the adventure of a lifetime.