I recently started reading books by CL and I fell in love with the plot lines and characters so I knew I HAD to read this one. Just what was needed for the warm weather, perfection as always from Christina Lauren!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! wait...did I mention I loved it?? Christina Lauren have been one of my favourite romance writing duos since the days of Beautiful Bastard, and like a fine wine, they've gotten better and better over the years. SOMETHING WILDER is a Second Chance romance and I am pretty sure that Lily & Leo are one of my favourite CLo couples to date. While it has elements that you come to expect from this duo, it is also incredibly different to what they've written before,..but guess what?? I loved it ;-)

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Empress Crowned in Red

Christina Lauren books feel like coming home, you know what to expect - theyre cozy and feel good and the same can be said for something wilder. I loved it and Lily and Leo. The twists werent predictable which Ireally enjoyed!

Something Wilder is a wonderful tale of first loves and  second chances, mystery and adventure. But aside from the romantic relationship ❤, this story is about family, friendships and finding your place in the world.

I really liked Lily and Nicole. I enjoy a book with strong female characters. Lily though strong had a vulnerability to her - a sadness even - that somehow made her more determined.

And as for Leo, he's sweet yet sexy and undeniably loyal.

This book has a lot going on and the plot keeps you guessing while offering up some heartfelt moments.

Thank you to Netgalley, the authors and publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Christina Lauren's books just feel cozy and easy and Something Wilder was no exception. This is the perfect Summer Romance if you’re looking for something a little different.
Remarkable characters, who will stay with you for a long time. A true escape within the pages of a book, filled with adventure, rekindled romance and second chances.

Wow, wow, wow! 😍

Another amazing CLo story, this time involving a second chance love story and an actual treasure hunt - National Treasure style, no less 😅

Absolutely loved it. Loved Lily and Leo and how they came back to meet again after 10 years.
Loved the adventures they had in Canyonlands - sounds like a truly spectacular place!

Thank you @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for my advanced reader copy!

Did I love it ? Well no, but did I have a good time reading? Too right I did its a little bit chaotic and keeps you on your toes . In saying that it’s fresh,it’s new and it is a little bit different for Christina Lauren.

It’s a good time and definitely perfect for reading over the summer holidays!

This is only my second Christina Lauren book, but after loving the unhoneymooners I had high expectations for Something Wilder, and it smashed it out the park.

I came into this book for the romance. I got that romance, I also got mystery, drama and so much more.

I loved the strong friendships in this book, and I truly didn’t see a couple of the twists coming.

This was easily a 5 star read for me.

Whoa! This was one heck of an action packed ride into the canyons on a treasure hunt with attraction sizzling and second chance love palpating in the pages of the book. I loved each word written in the story, got the audiobook too. The characters were etched with a loving hand where Lily and Leo were gentle, nerdy, but extremely tough, proving their fortitude in each lap of their journey to hidden treasure. Yes, it was a bit of treasure hunt too with maps and riddles and ciphers and puzzles. Overall, a fun read, complete escape from the day to day life.

This book felt completely different to the ladies previous books!
That's not a bad thing, but it took me alittle longer to get into it.

What was the same throughout was the humour, the heartache, the friendships, the love. And with the added bonus of some mystery in this book, I had a great time reading it!

I think Leo may well be a hit with alot of ladies & men reading this! He had me swooning for sure!

Is it my favourite of theirs?
No, but that's OK.
It was still fresh, funny and emotional, which is what I like to see in my stories. I just wasn't the biggest lover of all the treasure hunts ect. And the bandits at the end were alittle cringe.

However, It's perfect for lazy summer days when you want to escape from reality.

Romance, a bit of suspense, and treasure hunting are just some of the elements of the brilliant and addictive new novel by Christina Lauren.

When Lily Wilder was nineteen-year-old she met and fell in love with Lovesick City Boy Leo Grady, but he left her without a word or an explanation. Ten years have passed and, in the meantime, Lily has lost the family ranch she loved and her father and now she leads tourists in fake treasure hunts in Utah with the help of the journal left by her father, a famous treasure hunter. When the latest group of tourists arrives at her camp, Lily is shocked to find Leo among them. She’s never forgotten him and neither has he and, as the fake treasure hunt turns very real and stakes run high, Leo is determined to fix things with Lily and maybe have a second chance, if they manage to survive the hunt…

I loved Something Wilder. I really did. I was completely engrossed in it and I read it in less than two days. How could I not? It includes a badass female protagonist, a math genius lovesick male protagonist, treasure hunt and wild adventures in Utah, a great love and second chance romance, only one sleeping bag (to share), puzzles to solve, a Wild West car chase, a few twists that I didn’t see coming, two adorable secondary characters, witty dialogues, and an entertaining and gripping plot.

Something Wilder is not my first novel by Christina Lauren, but it is one of my favorite. It is the perfect summer read, thrilling, immersive, and witty and with fantastic characters that you can’t help but love.

I saw another review that said it was a chaotic Wild West national treasure . Yes ! Completely! It was a bit weird and the romance was just off for me . Sorry. Sure lots of people will love it though. Maybe I just like my romance simpler

This book should have been perfect for me, I am a die hard national treasure fan and obviously love me a rom com but this was just a bit….chaotic? I know that a Wild West treasure hunt was never going to be that realistic, but the ‘event’ that sets this little treasure hunt in motion genuinely felt so left field and random that I could not take it seriously from then on. It felt like they’d thrown everything and anything into this and it was just way too over the the top and unedited.

Oh The romance storyline unfortunately wasn’t enough to pull it back from the weeeeird direction it took (which by the way just gets brushed off by the characters? Was so unnecessary!), the chemistry was a little mediocre and I just found it hard to invest in them.

It redeemed itself some through the fun adventure filled scenes, but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This is such an intriguing and fast paced book, I finished it in 1 day. I instantly loved these characters and was sucked into the witty writing. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going another plot twist showed up. And they were all so good! The treasure hunt gave such an extra energy to the story. I adored Leo and Lily; Leo being such a gentlemen and Lily being the ultimate female bad-ass. Also, I just want to live on a ranch now. Christina (and) Lauren have done it again, what a book. Must read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short Chapters
Second chance romance
Quick read 🤓
Treasure hunts
Good plot twists

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
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 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 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.

I really needed this right now, I was heading into a slump and this pulled me right out! When this author duo publish a book Im always interested, and so far everything I have read by them has never disappointed. Lily and Leo were a couple who broke up due to circumstances beyond their control, neither fully got over the other. When 10yrs later they are unwittingly thrown together as part of a wilderness trekking holiday Leo is on.(Lily is the guide) But before they can fully get their closure the holiday turns into trasure hunting adventure through the wild trails of Utah. (With puzzles and riddles!) This one has a different feel to their usual books purely based on setting and I loved how the landscape was brought to life ( I looked up slot canyons, and wow theyre magnificent!) "Second chance" romance trope is one of my favourites, but it is so rarely done well. (Funnily enough, they also did another second chance romance that I adore!) I liked Lily and Leo and they worked really well as a couple. I loved how they both were willing to talk about their past to get closure. This one was a fast paced, plot driven story, with likeable character that I was able to root for. And Im already hoping other characters will get their own book! Definitely would recommend to romance lovers and anyone looking for a fun Indiana Jones style read.

(4.5 stars)
This is my first Christina Lauren book and it definitely won’t be my last. I loved it! The characters, the relationship, the storyline and even the plot twists, it was amazing! It was such a fun read and I loved the adventure in this book. It also has one of my favourite tropes; second chance romance, so it gets extra brownie points for that :)


I just wish that we got a little bit more at the end-like some further insight into the future

Did someone ask for a second chance romance with adventure and treasure hunting? Because oh my! This book was so so good! I found it hard to stop reading and I absolutely didn't want it to end. Leo is wholeheartedly in love with Lily and it is just so incredible to read that. Whilst I've seen similar stories on the screen, I had yet to read one and I don't think any cowboy adventure romcom could top this for me. I rather enjoyed the characters, however I did think Terry was stereotypical and cheap but I think that's my only qualm! Lily is headstrong, stubborn, fiery and so obviously cares for what's important in her life- I found her very relatable. Leo is incredibly smart and to put it simple: a golden retreiver. I found their chemistry to be top-notch. Something I desperately appreciated was the lack of miscommunication They cleared the air quite early, there was no tiptoeing around the past and they acted like adults which I find some romance novels can lack.

This book was so fun to read, all the adventures the characters go on never ended how I expected it to every time I think I know what's about to happen the complete opposite happens. The banter and the tension between each of them was so good I caught myself giggling. GIGGLING!!! ON THE TRAIN. LIKE WHO DOES THAT???

I fell in love with Leo almost immediately that man is so freaking cute


Some of my Favourite things about the book:
Second chance romance
Lovers to strangers to lovers
Close proximity
TENSION!!!!
Lots of banter between the character
Treasure hunt with unexpected twist

This book was so fun to read! If you love a good old treasure hunt, second chance lovers and a lot of comedic relief you’re gonna absolutely devour this.

It was nice reading about two people that, even though they’ve had their differences in the past, come back together and actually listen to each other and communicate their problems. Lily and Leo both understand each other perfectly and it just felt nice watching them rediscover themselves; personally and in a relationship.

I won’t lie it did drag a little for me in the middle and the little plot twist with some of the characters felt slightly forced. However the storyline is never that serious which makes this super easy to read. I liked that as it drew me into a world that never got too deep.

Overall would definitely recommend this and my love for CL just keeps on growing!

Lily Wilder, daughter of the legendary treasure hunter, Duke Wilder is barely scraping by. She survives by taking tourists around Utah's treasure trails, resentful of the mess her father left her in, and with only the memories of Leo Grady, the only man she ever loved - but lost. When her latest tour group arrives, she's forced to face the ghosts from her past.

I think it's important to clarify this isn't the usual CL romance. This is 'Romancing The Stone' meets 'Indiana Jones', with all that entails. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot, but I very quickly grew to love the main ragtag bunch of characters, especially once they really start their adventure... In particular, I pretty much fell in love with Walter from the first page. He is the quintessential cinnamon roll. Of course, he isn't the love match here, but please, please, please can we have more of that adorable muffin in the future?

There's plenty of the signature Christina Lauren humour, but also a lot of drama (some shocking), plenty of adventure, and of course, a lot of simmering tension and feelings. I would say that it focuses less on the romance than the adventure, but I don't personally consider that a negative, as both are interwoven so seamlessly that you are rooting for them both personally and in their hunt. That's not to say there isn't plenty of romance or passion. It's just not the book's sole focus. Leo and Lily are instantly engaging, and I loved their chemistry and banter. I also really appreciated the themes of family, expectation, loss, and finally understanding. Honestly, the final pages had me in tears.

If you want an unexpected, rip-roaring romance with plenty of surprises this one is for you. Also, It would be CRIMINAL if this didn't get made into a movie! Just saying...

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥
Emotional Rating: 💔😂🥰🥰😱😡😍😭

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*