"When he's close, I find those dreams morphing to make room for something else, something I didn't think I wanted to feel again, something I didn't think I was ready for."

Ditched at the alter, business disaster, bad reviews, and evicted, Emmy Shaw has nowhere to go but up. A few drinks, and some convincing from her friend, Emmy has entered to be a part of a new reality TV show called Bild Wild Love Adventure. Only thing is, Emmy never expected to be picked. But it's impossible to turn down a chance at winning thousands when you're deep in debt and living in your parents basement.

After making it through the jungle in nothing but a bathing suit, Emmy arrives at the villa and is just along for the ride, hopefully making enough to pay back her parents, but not expecting or hoping for more. Between all the challenges, recouplings, and emotional rollercoasters, Emmy really didn't imagine she'd fall for anyone or make connections the way she did while on BWLA. While we were rooting for the people in the villa, so was Emmy. She was forming real friendships with them and seeing something worth working for, besides the money.

Emmy and Wes, both with their fair share of personal issues, manage to make a real go of things together, but have to deal with the reality that awaits them both on the outside.

This book is PERFECT if you're a fan of Love Island and/or Survivor. I just finished binge-watching season 5 of Love Island UK and was feeling the show hangover, but this book was exactly what I needed. I not only fell in love with Emmy and Wes, but the other contestants in BWLA too. It was exactly what you want any reality competition show to be. The book was filled with crazy challenges, big romantic connections, and hilarious experiences between the people in the villa.

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Julianna Keyes for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

↠ 4.75 stars

What a perfect summer romance novel! Big Wild Love Adventure mashes up two great tastes that go great together, romance novels and reality TV dating shows. Following the kind of life setbacks that would have many of us crawling into bed and never getting back out, dessert chef Emmy has nothing to lose and everything to gain when she's tapped to appear on a new reality dating show set in the Panamanian jungle called Big Wild Love Adventure. The rest of the TV show cast is made of a lot of very interesting characters, all of whom had very real flaws and foibles, and as the story progressed it was really touching to see their friendships and romantic relationships develop as they worked through some of their issues and grew as people. I love a romance with some personal growth among the characters and this one surely does deliver that in spades. Can't wait to recommend this one to friends looking for an excellent vacation read!

If you like reality shows like Naked and Afraid or Amazing Race then this may be the book for you. This book has a little of everything including Romance, suspense, adventure, and character development. If all that sounds appealing to you then I definitely recommend this novel.

I love Julianna Keyes' novels. They have heart and give all the swoons. Emmy and Wes were adorable. I loved their connection and seeing their romance play out. The adventure/reality dating show was a different type of story from this author but I enjoyed it very much!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review! 4 stars! ~Ratula

I really struggled to get into the book at first because really, how much worse could one person's life get? I get that they were setting a scene and we wanted to understand her desperation but personally, it sat on the cusp of becoming 'trauma porn' and that's not what I want from romances. I want a warm hug and the comfort you get from a cup of sweet tea, whereas everything falling apart in the FMC's life left me feeling anxious and worried for what's to come. As for the game show; it just sort of became chaotic. There were too many elements being borrowed from too many game shows, that trying to keep up with it just sort of took away from the characters and plot.

First, I would like to thank Julianna Keyes and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Overall, the book was good but a bit overdone and gimmicky. It's about Emmy, who after a called off wedding and a major career fail got drunk with her assistant who then submits an application to a reality show. We experience Emmy being apart of the reality (dating?) show, meeting new people and starting to form a connection with a contestant named Wes while completing challenges on the reality show.

Let me start by saying I've watched at least 4 seasons of Love Island UK, and this just kinda felt like reading a transcript of the show, a lot of the challenges felt VERY similar to Love Island, the voting with viewers and then out of the final four the contestants decide the two who go home, the talent show. When the cameras were introduced and rules were made it gave Too Hot Too Handle vibes, then a sprinkle of Love is Blind at the end (iykyk).
I wish there was more secrets from the camera shown about the relationships developing between friends and Emmy and Wes. It kinda felt like we were still mostly just a viewer of the reality show and not experiencing it from a contestants (Emmy's) perspective.

I couldn't get a grasp for what the TV show concept was actually aiming to do, if it was completely a dating show and were pairing people up from their submitted profiles, wouldn't the producers double check what information was submitted to be true?? and then there were no really "new" contestants just ex's of the original contestants. So then was it an adventure competition reality show??

I didn't love the aspects for the show where ex's show up as new contestants... it also doesn't fully make logical sense to me because when the first set of ex's showed up they didn't know that the other person was also on the show which would mean that either all of the original contestants was selected and the ex's were either all recruited or all applied without knowing their ex's did as well??

Also in the book it says one of the games is two truths and a lie but once they actually play the game it's two lies and a truth.

The ending was okay, it made sense why Wes did what he did and Emmy was a bit overdramatic in her reaction. It was crazier that the was an option offered to the contestants just randomly out of the blue.

First, I would like to thank Julianna Keyes and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Wow! What a fun ride! Think Bachelor in Paradise meets Big Brother meets Love Island. I think this was the perfect start to summer. It made you want to go outside, enjoy everything that life has to offer, and fall in love. I am a sucker for the reality tv trope, and always love watching people compete and find love throughout the process. I honestly believe that this was one of the most well done reality/competition/dating tv books I've read. Sometimes it feels like the authors go too quickly through the challenges and skim over the reality tv aspect. I think Julianna Keyes did a fantastic job of showing the challenges, the growth, and the romance between characters.

And speaking of characters, can I talk about how much I love them? Legitimately, I spent the first 70% of the book trying to figure out who was my favorite. You have Emmy, whose life is a little bit of a wreck but she continues to face life head on. There's Wes, who won my heart with small smiles and cute banter. And then there's Tad. TAD! Who quickly rose through the ranks to be one of the standouts of this book. I think the cast of characters in this book is one of the things that makes it so special.

One thing I will say is that it might have been a smidge too long. Without giving too much away, there are twists in the book/competition that happened multiple times and really could've happened once or twice and achieved the same effect. While this book felt like watching a season of reality tv--it really felt like a /season./ Including all of those episodes that feel unnecessary and moments when you're tempted to fast forward through. I think the book could've been 50 pages shorter and just as compelling, exciting, and fun.

Overall, this book was such a great blend of plot and character growth. It moved at a good speed, with the challenges and twists in BWLA to keep it going, but it also gave you moments of heartfelt connection to characters. I couldn't put this book down and devoured it in the span of an afternoon. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get out of their head and escape into the outrageous, blissful, fun world of Emmy and Big Wild Love Adventure. This will not be my last Julianna Keyes book!

While the premise of this story unique and the beginning hooked me, this book ended up being mostly chaos for me. There was so much happening all the time that I felt lost in the many rules of the games and subsequent details of the characters. Because of this, I never felt a true connection to the main characters and their fledging romance and I skimmed some towards the end because the game became cumbersome to read and follow.

"Big Wild Love Adventure" is the first book I'm reading by Julianna Keyes, but it definitely won't be the last! Upon reading the synopsis of a reality TV show that's part Survivor, Amazing Race, and The Bachelor, I knew I had to read this book. The main character, Emmy Shaw, is having a rough year. She was jilted on her wedding day, her business has gone bankrupt, and she's had to move back in with her parents. After lots of convincing from her assistant/best friend, she hesitantly decides to apply to the newest reality TV show, Big Wild Love Adventure. Against all odds, she makes it on the show and the adventure really begins. I enjoyed the funny challenges, lovable characters, and the chemistry between Emmy and Wes.

I really enjoyed this book! If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars. The ending felt a little rushed and I wished we had gotten a bit more of the happy ending, but that's my only complaint. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Big Wild Love Adventure:
Overall, this book was so tropey and wholesome. I just had a really good time reading it. It was a perfect balance of serious and comedic. I've never read a book quite like it before and I'm happy about that. It gave a really good message too.

Things I Liked:
I love the premise so, so much and I think Emmy is amazing.
Bailey and Emmy's friendship is so cute/relatable.
I laughed a lot reading this book. For example, Karly's random act of kindness for Tad had me sobbing tears of laughter.
The exposition was done really well- it felt so natural and I immediately was drawn into the story.
All the characters are equally hilarious and I love it. Also, the fact that all the girls actually support each other? We love to see it!
Oh my god, the first actual kiss scene??? That was so great.
Emmy and Tad's friendship made me so happy. I like how they were really supportive each other too.
I LOVE how Karly and Emmy make up while they're in the woods together. It really subverted a lot of reality TV tropes especially since the rest of teh girls were already so close.
The ending was perfect!!

Things I Didn't Like
The story begins before it feels like it should. I think instead of it starting with Emmy successful, it should start with her at the lowest of lows- instead of sort of being like "oh yeah, I live in my parents' house now", it should've begun with her getting her eviction notice or the letter from the influencer's lawyers. That would've set the tone of the book a lot faster.

A fun, light summer read, Big Wild Love Adventure is a novel that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction and romantic comedies. It has all the ingredients : lovable characters, funny conversation and an intriguing premise (that lead to some great shenanigans) so it’s the exact opposite of, say, all those boring rom coms Netflix keeps putting out. That alone, in my opinion, is already a great selling point.

[...]

You can find the rest of my review on Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4750993684

This book combines my love for rom com novels with my guilty pleasure of watching reality tv dating shows and I couldn’t be happier.

Emmy finds herself in a situation where she‘s living back in her parents basement after she got left at the altar, drove her food truck in a ditch and is evicted from her apartment. What better solution is there than to drown out her sorrows by drunkenly sign up to an adventurous reality dating show. What can go wrong?

I really loved this story. Not only was Emmy very lovable as a main character, all the other participants in the show also quickly became my favorites. The relationship between all these different personalities and how they grow and evolve as a result of getting to know each other is what makes this book special. The slow burn love story between Emmy and Wes is the icing on the cake!

Definitely highly recommend this to anyone who loves the Bachelor franchise and can’t get enough of slow burn romances!

4.75/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing for this arc. In return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review.

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Storygraph accounts immediately and to my instagram account @colada_books upon publication on 20/06/22.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

After a string of events that are all explained pretty quickly in the beginning of the book we find Emmy Shaw, drunk with her assistant, signing up for a new dating-adventure reality show. She doesn’t expect to be chosen, but once she arrives and starts to really know the humans she is with, she realizes the prize money isn’t the only thing on the line.

Normally I am not a reality tv kinda human. I struggle with secondhand embarrassment, and knowing that 95% of it isn’t real anymore really kicks me in the “I just want everyone to have a happy ending” heart. BUT this book was written as if it really was real, and the “stars” were totally in the dark and I just loved how the story flowed. The character development between Emmy and Wes, her moody but really thoughtful love interest, (& a few others really) for me was pretty magical, especially for being a 400 page book, and I found myself looking forward to some of the other couples' stories as well. And honestly, for someone not loving “trash reality tv”, I could read all of them if they are as fun as this one. I totally give this one a ⅘ stars and I cannot wait to read Tad’s story!!

This book was so much fun to read! I love dating shows so it’s no wonder that reality tv rom coms are becoming one of my favourite tropes. If you like tons of drama, romance in a high stake setting, and amazing secondary characters, then this is the perfect read for you!

Our heroine, Emmy, runs into a string of bad luck when her fiancé leaves her at the alter (for his pregnant girlfriend) and her baking business experiences a mishap. In need of extra cash to pay off her debts, Emmy signs up for Big Wild Love Adventure without any desire to experience the ‘love’ aspect of the show. When Emmy arrives in the jungle, she is immediately drawn to the serious and stoic Wes and suddenly finding love on reality tv doesn’t seem so far fetched.

This book is full of all of the drama you’d expect from a reality tv show with sizzling romances on the side and lots of character growth. Emmy signed up for the show for the cash but she ended up getting so much more as she learned to let go of the past and look to the future.

This is the perfect summer read for fans of Bachelor in Paradise and Love Island!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(Review posted on Goodreads on May 28, 2022)

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange of a honest review.

Big Wild Love Adventure isn’t a book I’d usually get into because I’m not a big fan of reality TV but that was not the problem with this book. I totally loved the Bachelor X Survivor thing going on but sometimes I found Wes and Emmy’s relationship frustrating. I also was rooting for so many other characters and the amount of drama in this book also totally made me love it more.

Also the ending was so real I kind of did not like it. It’s not necessary a bad thing but it was a bit too cliche and well expected.
But the whole concept was just pretty amazing along with the smut

The concept of this book was really unique and interesting. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into it as much as I had hoped, simply because I was not as invested in the characters as I should have been. I found that I didn't really care much for Wes, nothing wrong with him, I just think he fell a bit flat. Due to this, I truly did not care about the outcome of their relationship. However, I really loved the concept and there were definitely a few moments there where I had a good laugh.

Big Wild Love Adventure is... exactly that! Big characters, challenges, and drama. Wild locations, reality-show hijinx, and shocking reveals. Love under waterfalls, in private moments, and in front of a national audience. Adventure in the jungle, in each character's own journey of self-discovery and, of course, between the sheets. It is, simply, a joy--lush and verdant like the book's backdrop, but sensitive and soft in the middle like it's characters, who want only to be seen and loved.

The book perfectly captures what we love about reality shows--it's absurd, wild, and over-the-top, but the characters within the bizarre and hilarious machinations of the show are sincere and often vulnerable, literally wading through mud for a chance at love. They are all of us--looking for meaning and connection in whatever means possible, even if it means racing through a candy-themed obstacle course or professing their most intimate feelings for all the world to see.

Emmy, a hilariously self-deprecating hot baker, is an absolutely charming narrator. As she enters the absurd world of the Big WIld Love Adventure show, hoping only to stay in long enough to win some cash for her failing business, we roll our eyes along with her at the dramatic reveals, behind-the-scenes machinations, and over-the-top challenges one expects from a Bachelor meets Amazing Race reality dating show. But as Emmy faces challenges that ask her to work outside her comfort zone, and gets to know the full three dimensions of her fellow contestants, she grows despite herself, and it's a joy to watch. We see through Emmy that sometimes life's most absurd situations can create its deepest connections.

Big Wild Love Adventure is a funny, sexy, absolutely hilarious romp through the jungle, complete with hot dentists, candy-themed obstacle courses, surprise and shocking reveals, and, of course--love.

I love the reality TV trope (it’s totally a trope, right?), and this story certainly delivered on that front! It gave us Love Island meets Survivor, and there was definitely NOT a shortage of drama.

I loved that while Emmy was the MC of the story, we had a front row seat to the other contestants’ stories and relationships. It was honesty like watching a full season of a reality show-you fell in love with certain characters, you rooted for some, and you loved to hate others.

Emmy and Wes’s relationship was, as Wes says, unexpected, but it was also frustrating and wonderful and exactly what they both needed! Honestly, the ending kind of frustrated me. I love that they found each other, and I get why they made the decisions they did, but it still made me mad. I applaud the author for making the ending complicated and a bit messy because real life is just that, but man did I want a picture perfect ending 😂

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGallery, Julianna Keyes, and Victory Editing Co-Op for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

First off, let me just say - I am LOVING the trend of reality dating show books that are coming on the market. This is a fun 2022 trend! I have a guilty pleasure with reality tv (aka trash tv) - and this definitely hit the mark for me! It was a hilarious rom-com experience that was mixed in with adventure, and Bachelor in Paradise vibes (but different).

Poor Emmy - she has just been going through it. Being left at the alter... and facing financial difficulties so many business owners face (and more on the viral front). I love that her friend peer pressures her into drunken shenanigans and applies to be on this show. She never imagined it would actually happen! So when she is presented with the reality (hehe) of becoming a cast member on this show BIG WILD LOVE ADVENTURE - it has the potential to be life changing!

I felt like I was actually watching the show, but I loved that the narrative allowed the reader to get inside of the contestant's mind to see what was really going on underneath the facade of what viewers see on a tv. After being thrown into the Panama jungle, Emmy never expected... Wes. Suddenly more than just money is in the line here.

I really enjoyed the development of Emmy and Wes's love story. I loved how this experience helped her emotionally heal, and learn her worth. She is a FMC that is inspirational. I am looking forward to purchasing a physical copy of this when it launches next month!

This book was the perfect mix of two of my guilty pleasures - rom com books and reality dating shows. It reminded me a lot of the show Love Island, but BETTER because you get inside one of the person’s minds as she navigates through the craziness that is Big Wild Love Adventure!

After being left at the altar, crashing her food truck, and becoming a viral hashtag (#emmystrashtruck), Emmy drunkenly applies for a new reality TV show called Big Wild Love Adventure. Next thing she knows she’s in a jungle in Panama competing for the chance to win $250,000. Emmy desperately needs this money to turn her life around, so she’s not all that focused on the “love” part of Big Wild Love Adventure. UNTIL she meets her hot and sexy fellow cast member, Wes. To many Wes may seem too boring or serious, but throughout their journey in Panama Emmy starts to see how thoughtful, kind, and witty he can be.

While I loved watching Emmy and Wes’ connection grow throughout their journey, I also loved watching Emmy’s emotional healing. This girl has been put through SO MUCH in the past year. It made me so happy to see her begin to realize her worth and how awesome she is.

Needless to say, this book is AMAZING. I literally felt like I was watching a show as I read the book. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone!