Audiobook review: Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
Something Wilder is a story with different elements: romance, adventure, suspense and comedy. The romance goes from a sweet first love in the opening to 10 years later as a second chance romance. Lily and Leo fell in love one summer when she was 19 and he was 22. He was a city boy working on her family’s ranch. He gets a call to come home and through some miscommunication Lily thinks he went back to New York and never came back because she wasn’t good enough.
Fast forward 10 years and Leo is once again in Lily’s world. This is where the adventure, suspense, and second chance at romance comes in. A lot has happened in 10 years to the both of them, and they finally piece together the events that keeps them apart when they both thought they would have a HEA when they were younger. Leo comes back to Utah through an adventure vacation with his buddies. They plan a trip every year, each taking turns with the planning. This year Bradley books a tour in Utah that’s takes them on a treasure hunting trail ride lead by Lily’s tour guide company. Need less to say both Leo and Lily are shocked to see each other.
During the trail ride tour they reconnect (rocky start) and feel all the feelings that never really left them after they parted ways that one summer. Lily also deals with feelings about her dad, Duke. Duke was a notorious treasure hunter with wanderlust. Lily and Leo work through their issues and find love again while trying to stay alive when the group is attacked by some other treasure hunters on the trail.
Something Wilder is an enjoy listen; both narrators do a fantastic job. This was my first time listening to Patti Murn and Jon Root, although something about their deliveries reminded me of other narrators. I keep wondering if I had listened to them under other names but never could make a connection.
If you’re looking for a standalone story with a little bit of everything that ends in a HEA you should give Something Wilder a listen.
My Ratings
Story: B
Narration: A+
Jennifer
About the Book:
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.
Author: Christina Lauren
Narrator: Pattie Murin & Jon Root
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adventure
Audiobook Release Date: May 17, 2022
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
Source: Library
Audio Speed: 1x
Purchase info:
Audible/Amazon (affilate link)