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Leo Grady and Lily Wilder fell in love when he spent a summer at her father’s ranch in Wyoming. He intended to stay there with her forever, but circumstances separated them and he ended up back in New York City. Ten years later, Lily no longer has the ranch. She is running weeklong “treasure” hunts for tourists in the canyonlands of southern Utah to make ends meet. Her father had been well known for his archaeology expeditions around the world, but in particular his searches for the money Butch Cassidy stole in the late 1800s. Some believe he stashed it before fleeing the country. Lily knows better, that there is no money. But using his old notebook and maps to make up entertaining excursions for guests is her way of getting by.
Leo and his best friends take a vacation together every year, taking turns planning it. He is astonished when he ends up on a trek with Lily, whom he really hasn’t stopped loving. But she makes it clear there’s no chance of rekindling their relationship. She’s running a business and he’s a client, simple as that.
But then the pretend treasure hunt goes way off the rails, and the group decides that maybe, just maybe, Duke Wilder found Butch Cassidy’s stash and they can find it using his notebook. So they go off on a wild, dangerous hunt through harsh but beautiful terrain. And maybe, just maybe, Leo and Lily can talk through what happened and heal their damaged hearts. If all goes well, they can come out of the trek with a future together, as well as enough money to buy back Lily’s ranch.
Something Wilder is definitely a different type of romance from the usual by writing duo Christina Lauren. They write some fun love stories, but this one is a crazy adventure that’s outlandish rather than a more “real,” typical rom-com. They say in the notes that, after the pandemic shutdowns, they wanted to write something like the movie Romancing the Stone. And they did just that. I really didn’t know anything about the book going in; I just knew they always write enjoyable romances, so it threw me! I was not expecting it. But I went with it and enjoyed the ride, like a book version of Thunder Mountain Railroad. My only wish, though, is that their writing could be cleaner.
Rated: High, for 60 instances of strong profanity, 125 uses of moderate profanity, 35 uses of mild language, and 45 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes several sex scenes with a high amount of detail, but briefer than some of the scenes in their other books. Violence includes a fall to a death in a canyon, people being tied up and left in the desert, a man being beat up, and threats with guns.
