Ithaca

 

Ithaca- Claire North

Redhook/Hachette

Release Date: September 6, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.

Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 
 
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive. 

_________________________________________________________________

Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed off to war with Troy, as did every man of fighting age on Ithaca. Over the ten years that war raged on the plains of Troy, Ithaca sent money and men who reached fighting age off to Troy, and received songs from the poets about their brave fighters in return. The old men who were left nodded and told the boys who remained that this was what being a man was all about. Seven years have passed since the war ended and none of Ithaca's men have returned- including their king. Outsiders and Ithaca's youth alike are starting to circle, trying to decide how to take the throne from a man who must be dead, but hasn't quite been declared dead- especially by his loyal wife and queen, Penelope.

For seventeen years Ithaca has managed to survive: food has made it to tables, trade has continued in the harbors, farms have continued to produce crops. Suitors are fed and the balancing act of hospitality and greed is kept in check. None of the old men question how this is done- until pirates come to Ithaca. Suddenly they have to do something, and they discover while they think they have been running things, they really have no idea what to do.

Ithaca is the book the Greek poets (and plenty of more modern fiction writers) wouldn't think to ask: what happens when the men leave home to go off fighting? The answer is obvious: the women run everything. But in Greece they are hampered by the cultural problem that they cannot be seen to run anything. In ancient Greece women have a strict place and that is behind the scenes, in the women's quarters, in the women's world. How to handle this catch-22 situation? Ithaca is narrated by Hera, the goddess of wives and marriage, a goddess who knows a few things about toxic masculinity and double standards. She doesn't pull any punches in her assessments of the characters she introduces us to and is willing to call a twerp a twerp if that's what she thinks he is- poetic hero or no. Hera doesn't have much use for heroes or poets. But women and queens, those are different matters. In daylight where Penelope plays the perfect Greek wife mourning her husband, in night's shadows where Penelope hunts for clues about the identity of the pirates and builds an army of women to defend Ithaca, Hera shows us all of Ithaca's secrets. 

In case we, as more modern readers, don't understand the situation Penelope would be in if she just stood up and told the men "You lot are idiots, I'm in charge now", there is a secondary story to bring the message home to us. Penelope's cousin Clytemnestra has been ruling Mycenae openly in her husband's absence. Now Agamemnon is back and while there were a few domestic squabbles about lovers on the side, Hera makes sure we understand that really, it was Clytemnestra's decision to rule openly that has led to her downfall. (And a bit of murder.) By the time Penelope's deception with her weaving is discovered we aren't surprised by the violence that nearly comes from it because we understand now- it isn't necessarily about the act itself but about the woman trying to take some control over her own life (or being perceived to take an active role in the lives of men) that is the real problem, and brings about death. Men must always be in control of the narrative. It is why women, even goddesses, must work in shadow and avoid being seen.  But they get the job done.

If you think that Hera is an odd choice of a narrator in the beginning, it won't take long for you to understand that she is the perfect choice to tell this story of women who are ignored or forgotten, belittled, by the men who rule. Remember, none of the stories you think you know about Hera have been told by women either.

An excellent addition to the popular mythology-alternate genre, fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes will definitely enjoy this new take on Penelope's story.  

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

For the Love of the Bard

For the Love of the Bard- Jessica Martin

Berkley

Release Date: June 28, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Literary agent and writer Miranda Barnes rolls into her hometown of Bard’s Rest with one goal in mind: to spend the summer finally finishing her YA novel, the next installment in her bestselling fantasy series. Yet Miranda’s mother, deep in the planning stages for the centennial of the town’s beloved annual Shakespeare festival, has other ideas. 

Before you can say “all’s fair in love and war,” Miranda is cornered into directing Twelfth Night—while simultaneously scrambling to finish her book, navigating a family health scare, and doing her best to avoid the guy who broke her heart on prom night. 
 
When it comes to Adam, the veterinarian with a talent for set design and an infuriating knack for winning over Miranda’s dog, the lady doth protest too much. As any Shakespeare lovers knows, the course of true love never did run smooth, and soon Miranda realizes she’ll have to decide whether to trust Adam with her heart again.

_________________________________________________________________

Miranda is a great lead, and one we can all find within ourselves. Mostly confident, but hiding behind a pen name as a writer, and humor/snark when uncomfortable, Miranda isn't the most outwardly social person but is loyal to those she lets in her circle. Suffering from middle child syndrome, she always wants to be the peace maker and please everyone, and this summer that means taking on more and more of Bard's Rest's major Shakespeare festival instead of hauling her sisters in to help so she can work on her book. She also has to decide on her feelings for Adam, the sexy vet in town for the summer and helping her dad with set design. Can she get past the fact that he was her high school crush and broke her heart on prom night? There's clear chemistry between them, but a tricky past history makes her wary.

 

I loved that this wasn't just a story about two people falling in love. Yes, it is a second chance romance, a delightful slow burn and sizzle. But it was also about family, the love and dynamics and bonds the sisters share, and rebuilding their relationships after missteps along the way. And it was about Miranda (and Adam) re-discovering what it is they love about their jobs and their lives, for themselves as individuals as well as part of a possible couple.  

A mix of light and serious, this book does have its moments of serious. There is a parent health scare and a hospital scene, so if that's something you're sensitive about, head's up (spoiler alert, things seem ok by the end of the book). A bit of tighter editing in some places might have helped, and I wasn't a fan of the overuse of metaphors Miranda's mental ramblings often take, but that aside, I ended up really enjoying this book. 

Bard's Rest is one of those quirky little towns you wish you could visit, or possibly live in, with humorous Shakespeare twists on everything. The secondary characters flesh out nicely and become full fledged supporting roles of their own, and I am very much hoping sisters Cordy and Portia get their own books down the line so we can keep coming back to Bard's Rest and the delightful world and people Jessica Martin has created.

Fans of Jen DeLuca's Well Met series and romantic comedy in general will enjoy a trip to Bard's Rest to meet Miranda, Adam, and Jessica Martin's delightful For the Love of the Bard.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 

An Affair at Stonecliffe

An Affair at Stonecliffe- Candace Camp

HQN

Release Date: May 24, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Noelle Rutherford would do anything for her young son, Gil. A fiercely independent woman recently widowed, Noelle is determined to raise Gil alone. After all, her late husband Adam Rutherford married her for love, which infuriated his aristocratic family. Gil is Noelle’s whole world, and she will not have him wrested from her by haughty nobles.

But she may not have a choice unless she’s prepared to run.
 
One awful night, Noelle is confronted by Carlisle Thorne, a handsome yet severe, irascible man sent by the Rutherfords. Noelle is horrified when Carlisle offers her money in exchange for taking Gil to be raised at the Rutherford estate, Stonecliffe. Knowing that Carlisle will use any means necessary to take her son from her, Noelle flees, Gil at her side.
 
Thus begins an epic rivalry that spans five years—a battle of wits between two unforgettable characters bound together by fate and fortune. However, when danger threatens, these enemies must come together to protect what matters most… even if it means losing their hearts.

________________________________________________________________

This book in a new series by Candace Camp was so wonderful to read, I ended up not being able to put it down and read the whole thing in one day! You instantly connect to the emotions of Noelle, a young widow trying to raise her infant son, cope with her grief at her husband's death, her fear of being destitute, and then in comes Carlisle Thorne, a friend of her husband's aristocratic family, wanting to buy her baby and take it away from her to her husband's family. She runs and is on the run for the next five years, avoiding attempts of kidnappers to take her son. When Noelle and Carlisle meet again her fear and his exasperation come across as if you are feeling them yourself, and the reader starts to wonder (before the main characters) if there is something else going on- because if Carlisle is not behind the kidnapping attempts, who is? 

There are some excellent plot twists right up to the end to keep you guessing. Every secondary character is well done, and essential, and you instantly want to know more about them. I can't wait for characters like Nathan, Annabeth, and Sloane to have their own books to discover their secrets! Noelle and Carlisle shift from enemies to lovers with what felt like the right amount of timing and tension, and a delicious amount of chemistry and misunderstanding. Noelle may be one of the strongest characters I've read in awhile- she takes everything life throws at her and refuses to break under any of it. 

Beautifully written, well paced, and delightful characters, this is an absolute must read for romance readers. Candace Camp fans will rejoice in the start of this new series!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

It Girl

 

The It Girl- Ruth Ware

Simon and Schuster/Gallery

Release Date: July 12, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.

Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.

Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.

__________________________________________________________

In this new psychological thriller Ruth Ware introduces us to an unlikely group of friends at an Oxford college, all orbiting around "It Girl" April- rich, beautiful, intelligent, and talented who seemingly has it all. Yet by the end of their second term April is dead, murdered in her rooms. A decade later it comes out that maybe the man sentenced for the murder didn't actually do it- which naturally makes you wonder, if not him, who did kill April?

This is the second Ruth Ware book I've read (One by One was the other) and I definitely liked this one more than I expected to. The book is split into alternating "Before" and "After" chapters (as Hannah's life is divided into 'before April's murder' and 'after April's murder'), introducing us to narrator Hannah, "It Girl" April, and their friends Will, Ryan, Hugh, and Emily, as well as building them up over the course of their college experiences. In the "After" sections it is ten years later, Hannah and Will have moved to Edinburg and are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April dies in prison. They are pushed back into the trauma of the murder and the media circus surrounding the murder and the trial and you get a really good sense of how traumatizing both events were for Hannah, Will, and the others- and how they reacted to it in very different ways. But you also see, before she does I think, that while Hannah might see herself as weak, she is anything but- when the idea comes up that Neville might have been innocent Hannah does face it and does start to confront the memories surrounding that time period, asking herself what she might have gotten wrong and who might have killed April if not Neville. She's a far better friend, in life or death, then April probably deserves, because she doesn't let it go. It effects her marriage and her health, but she feels like she owes it to April and to Neville, a man who sexually harassed her at college, to find out the truth. Is she naive, innocent, and in over her head? Yes. Is that annoying? Yes, often. But it somehow makes her the character you've read a hundred times before and at the same time someone you can pull for the whole way because you see something new through her eyes. You want her to understand that April is a vicious, nasty piece of work while at the same time hoping that Hannah was somehow making April a better person. You want Hannah's innocence to remain intact while knowing it won't, which makes you worry about what will be left when the dust settles- because you care about her and her marriage and her friends through the spell that Ware casts page by page.

There are well-written descriptions of Oxford and what the college and college life are like; wrenching psychological cases of survivor's guilt and looks into our morbid cultural fascination with "it" murders and what they do to the people left behind in the cases; tension weaves through the pages even before anything happens without you able to quite identify why; red herrings leap like spawning salmon; excellent twists and turns getting to the 'who', 'how' and 'why'; and friendships and relationships that will haunt you to the last page.

A must read summer psychological thriller for the mystery lover!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Bitch: On the Female of the Species

Bitch: On The Female of the Species- Lucy Cooke

Basic Books/Hachette

Release Date: June 14, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: A fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom  

Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like a sad freak. Not because she loved spiders or would root around in animal feces: all her friends shared the same curious kinks. The problem was her sex. Being female meant she was, by nature, a loser.  

Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones—dominating and promiscuous, while females are dull, passive, and devoted.  

In Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex female albatross couples that raise chicks, murderous mother meerkats, or the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, one where females can be as dynamic as any male. This isn‘t your grandfather’s evolutionary biology. It’s more inclusive, truer to life, and, simply, more fun.

___________________________________________________________________

I start this review with a confession: I absolutely picked up this book because of the cover. Hyenas are among my favorite animals (even more so after reading Bitch) and a cover featuring a hyena? I wanted to know what that book was about! Reading the synopsis I was a little concerned the science would go over my head, but I knew I had to read this book (or listen, as the case may be- I listened to the audiobook, excellently narrated by author Lucy Cooke herself). So kudos to the cover designers for drawing me in, but after that it was all Lucy. Along the way I started sharing bits with my co-workers and they came to expect updates after lunch breaks. I think I sold this book to all of my colleagues at the indie-bookstore where we work before the book came out based on "So I'm eating my sandwich and learning about . . ." One day this included a customer who was looking for a book to send to her daughter doing a semester abroad in England- her boyfriend had just dumped her for being too "feminist and empowered". I told her that was (unintentionally from his point of view, sadly) the best compliment to give someone and mentioned this book, and that it was probably already out in the UK. A fabulously well done mix of science facts both past and present and female empowerment, it seemed the perfect recommendation for a teenager who had been dumped for being "too feminist".

With that as a background, in case you can't tell, I loved this book and was fascinated from start to finish. Lucy Cooke, an author, National Geographic explorer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker with a master’s degree in zoology from Oxford University, has a brilliant writing style that is both irreverent, witty, and direct. Whether describing Charles Darwin's original evolutionary theory or her own experiences scooping orca poop (yes, that is a scientific thing) you feel as if Cooke is talking directly to you and sharing stories that might interest you. Or shock/enrage you as you come to understand that the "pure science" myth they teach in school is just that- a myth. Females have been sidelined from more than just conducting scientific research since Victorian times, Darwin and the Victorian patriarchy considered females the passive sex and focused their studies on the active, more interesting, males in the animal world. This has carried over far longer into the twentieth and twenty first centuries than I expected, often influencing studies by scientists who would ignore data to get the results they wanted, marginalizing and limiting the amount of research done on females (human health care isn't mentioned but I think we all would agree its an example that would fit here!).

Cooke takes us across the globe and around the animal kingdom, from my beloved hyenas to lesbian albatrosses; from the dark side of matriarchal meerkats they probably don't show on Discovery Channel documentaries to menopausal orcas; a wide variety of spiders and insects and why they eat their sexual partners; sexually promiscuous song birds who completely freaked out scientists; a wide range of matriarchal species defying stereotypical male domination; and "Evolution's Rainbow", perhaps the new theory in evolution as modern science evolves to accept a non-binary approach to nature, redefining what gender means and its place in the natural world.

Bitch: On the Female of the Species takes a humorous but thoroughly researched look at evolution and nature, and (I think) fairly successfully demolishes the stale and sexist myths of a male dominated animal kingdom once and for all. Cooke highlights research done by scientists of all genders to show that moving forward is a new world of thought, working hard to question everything the patriarchal establishment has entrenched as dogma over the centuries. Here, females have their day, their spotlight, as scientists try to learn more and show us what their lives are like, asking the reader to question what they think they know about the world around them, including what it means to be "female".

If you love animals, science, or want to learn about a new avenue of feminism, you absolutely need to read Bitch: On the Female of the Species.

  

I received a free ALC from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review

River of the Gods

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, & Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile- Candice Millard

Doubleday

Release Date: May 17, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was  a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires.

Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs.
 
From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate,Speke shot himself.
 
Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.
 
In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

_________________________________________________________________________

Candice Millard's (Hero of the Empire) newest book delves into the search for the source of the White Nile by British explorers Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke and their invaluable, extraordinary guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay. Over multiple trips and many years the men traveled hundred of miles and encountered endless dangers together. With other expedition members, porters, guides, and guards they used (then) Zanzibar as their jumping off point to search for rumored lakes believed to be the source of the Nile River, often nearly starved, died of diseases, insects, and worse. On their second trip, with Burton too ill to continue, Speke and Bombay reached Lake Nyanza (which Speke renamed Lake Victoria), where Speke believed the Nile to originate. Speke didn't prove this to Burton's satisfaction and this doubt was one of the many instances that came between the two explorers to create a rivalry that would last the rest of their lives. 

River of the Gods shows mid-nineteenth century British exploration in all of its complexities: the positive, the negative, and every political, emotional and ethical shade in between. Millard does a good job of balancing Richard Burton and John Speke in the same way. Neither are complete heroes, neither total villains, in their own minds each are completely right in the actions they take and justify themselves along the way. In hindsight we know that the exploration of Africa by England of other countries isn't "just" about the need to fill in blanks on a map- it is leading to complete colonization and further exploitation of people and resources across the continent. We see the contrast of places like Zanzibar: a beautiful paradise of white sandy beaches and clear blue waters, while at the same time one of the worst slave auction sites that bothers even many slavers. Burton is generally someone who takes people as they are, interested in their customs, cultures and languages for what he can learn (whether or not he should) while at the same time being European enough to look down on Africans as a lesser race until the end of his life, while Speke looks down on everyone. What I appreciated about Millard here is that she put everyone's thoughts and actions in the context of their time and not in our modern day sensibilities. We know what we find racist and abhorrent today, so I'd rather know what was the cultural norm at the time and how it changed over the time frame Millard covers, which I thought she did well.   

It is toward the end that she reminds us that there was a third main explorer who deserves as many accolades as Burton and Speke: Sidi Mubarak Bombay. Enslaved as a child, he returned to Africa as an adult and was a trustworthy guide, interpreter, and friend to European explorers like Burton and Speke- and later helped the famous journalist Stanley find Dr. Livingston. Bombay helped shine a light on the native guides and interpreters that Europeans needed to succeed in being "the first" to do so many things, from finding the source of the Nile to climbing Mt. Everest, and that today historians must try to discover the little told stories of these men and women and celebrate them just as much as their more famous (or infamous) European counterparts.

Millard's brilliance for a truly riveting, engaging writing style is evident from page one in River of the Gods, drawing the reader in and refusing to let them go until the final page.  Every step in the exploration, every twist in the bitter verbal sparring between former friends, keeps you emotionally engaged and waiting tensely to see what will happen next.  It isn't just the adventures in Africa that read like adventure stories, it is the entire book.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Something Wilder

 

Something Wilder - Christina Lauren

Gallery Books

Release Date- May 17, 2022

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: 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.

From the author of the “heartfelt and funny” (Publishers Weekly) sensation The Unhoneymooners, this page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take fans on one wild ride.

_______________________________________________________________________

Something Wilder is a delightful new Christina Lauren (The Honey-Don't List) romance: a desert adventure turns treasure hunt with Leo and Lily getting a second chance at life and love when neither expected it and both might be exactly where they need to be for it. Ten years after they first meet, Lily is down on her luck and leading tourists on desert adventure trails to make ends meet. Leo, a NYC computer coder, is going on a vacation with friends and gets the surprise of his life when he sees his old flame Lily again. The trip takes a turn sideways and Leo and Lily find themselves in a race for hidden treasure against some people definitely prepared to kill to get it first. 

Lily is fantastic: she needs no help from anyone, has learned not to expect help, or in fact anything, from anyone, and to stand stubbornly on her own two feet as her world crumbles around her. Her mother abandoned her, her father would rather look for treasure and play with codes, and the one guy she thought was hers took off and never contacted her for ten years. She and her friend Nicole are fully capable of being the only women in this part of the 'man's world' and holding their own, standing up for each other, and too bad for anyone who says otherwise. Her dreams of buying back the family ranch and having a life that is her choice and not the result of other people's poor choices is admirable, and you feel terrible for her as we go through the book and learn that maybe her father kept things from her that he really should have shared. I did like how Christina Lauren explained that in the end (I'm not giving anything away with spoilers here so will be purposely vague!) but I still felt bad for the emotional trauma Lily's father caused her. Poor choices, poor planning, and Lily was left thinking neither of her parents cared for her at all and she had to face the world by herself. No wonder she tries to protect herself from loving Leo when he comes back into her life!

Leo blossomed into a man you could count on in the worst of circumstances and trust to have your back through thick and thin- just what Lily needs. He loves codes and puzzles, works with computer codes in NYC and only realizes when he's out in the desert how empty his life has been without Lily in it. Fortunately, he's also brave enough (and smart enough) to figure out quickly that he wants Lily in his life and he's willing to be flexible enough to do whatever she needs so he can be part of her life.  He's so completely and simply in love with Lily (not again, not back, but always) that you melt with it and want to beg her to give him another chance even while the other part of your brain is agreeing with her that how in the world do they work?

This is definitely one of those books where the less you talk about the plot the better for the next reader- the fewer spoilers the more fun!- but let's say it is both like and unlike any other Christina Lauren book I've ever read and I loved it for that. Action, adventure, beautiful and deadly deserts, possible treasure and potential disaster. The higher the stakes the more we see the best and the worst that can be seen in people. Somehow Christina Lauren manages to pack in high-stakes adventure and fast-paced plot while also expertly unwinding enough insanely complicated emotional bombs to make a team of therapists weep. Lily and her obviously complicated emotional relationship with bother of her parents, her trust issues; but also Leo and his parent issues, being a parent to his little sister, having to grow up faster than he expected; and friends with let's just say some issues of their own. How that can all fit into one book and work really well I don't know, but it it did.

Something Wilder is fast-paced, witty, and entertaining, with sparkling writing, delightfully quirky characters, and just the right level of slow-build, smoking hot romance. Just the sort of fun, rom-com adventure to read over the summer (or winter, or on vacation, or ever, and really one you'd love to see on the screen someday . . .) that makes you appreciate true friendship, the occasional gun to the head moment, and outwitting the bad guys who deserve it in so many ways. Possibly my new favorite Christina Lauren book, Something Wilder is a second chance romance full of action, adventure, surprises, friendship, and love.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review