I am not a hiker. But I will love a book about hikers and also non-professional hikers! I loved Something Wild & Wonderful – literally read it in a few days! Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again. It might be coincidence. Then again, maybe there’s a reason the trail keeps bringing them together . . .
Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart. And there are worse things than falling in love during the biggest adventure of your life. But when their plans for the future are turned upside down, Ben and Alexei begin to wonder if it’s possible to hold on to something this wild and wonderful.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: homophobia
Having enjoyed every book I’ve read from Kelly, I was so excited for Something Wild & Wonderful. But what I loved immediately was the ways in which we are able to so clearly see and get to know the characters. All the things we first notice about a person? Those careful details and considerations are one of the ways I love Something Wild & Wonderful. The characters are instantly clear and detailed to us. And Kelly is only getting started!
The characters Alexei and Ben hold their own as individuals. As Alexei is tackling his relationship with his family while Ben is trying to figure out his own future. Something Wild & Wonderful is a story about love and dreams. About why each of them find themselves on this path. From the beginning, their chemistry was so fantastic! I adored the way Alexei and Ben exist and interact as individuals and together.
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Something Wild & Wonderful was aching, tender, hopeful, and loving all at once. About the ways in which we always have to learn to establish boundaries. To see models of families and relationships. To ask ourselves the difficult question of if this could work for real? If you love contemporary romance and adore characters who are a little lost, then you have to read Something Wild & Wonderful. Find it on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.