This was such a fun and easy read! I'm not usually a romance reader but the premise was too intriguing to pass up. I loved the portion of the story involving the two main characters surviving in the jungle, it was ridiculous and over the top in the best way possible. Although I did find Jolie's personality a little shallow and grating at times, I really appreciated her overall character arch of self-discovery. Kai was an absolute sweetheart, and was definitely my favourite perspective to follow. The focus on the side plots as well as the main protagonists romance was very well proportioned, helping to keep the story fast-paced and engaging. I had such a soft spot of Kai's younger brother Noah, so I'm very excited to learn that we will follow him in the next book.

Exit Through the Jungle by @aliciacroftonauthor was such a fun read! Jolie, an instagram influenecer, sets out on a trip to Costa Rica in order to reinvent her public image. While posing for photos, she stumbles across a burglary in action and finds herself kidnapped by three brothers. When one of the brothers tries to set her free, they end up lost in the jungle with wild animals all around them. I absolutely loved this book and it was laugh out loud funny! This is perfect if you are looking for a quick, rom-com with a twist! I loved Jolie's fiesty personality and I adored Buddy the monkey! This book had everything you could ask for from an animal rehabilitation center, to the tropical rainforest setting, and some steamy romance mixed in! This book comes out August 29th and I already can't wait for the next book! Thank you @netgalley and Victory Editing for the advanced copy!

Review posted on @sams_story_shelf

I loved Exit Through the Jungle by Alicia Crofton. Set in beautiful Costa Rica, it’s one part adventure, one part love story with a dash of finding yourself that makes the perfect beach read. This book was fast paced and an easy read. Jolie is stubborn, creative and intensely likable, she makes a deal with her father that she can make her business work or she’ll return home to work an office job for him. Kia is worried, kind and carries all his family's burdens on his toned biceps. He’s trying to help keep his brother out of trouble when the two are thrown together. I gasped and laughed out loud several times, Crofton is a talented writer whose plot surprised this reader in the best way! Dialogue was great, I loved seeing the interactions in Kai’s family and between him and Jolie. There was a Gift of the Magi moment that made me love Kai and Jolie all the more. This book puts the romance in romcom and is quite spicy. Can’t wait to see more of these characters in the next book!

Romance lovers always have a good time *laugh out loud*. Exit Through the Jungle is a feel good light-hearted contemporary romance . Who could have thought of a romance in a jungle? Definitely not me! I enjoyed the plot and the characters -they were developed so well and so relatable.However the ending felt abrupt and could have used a little bit more romance and bring about the perfect ending. Overally this was written so well that I almost feel like a wildlife bluff . Huge thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange of an honest review

A fun read, certainly deserves to be read, without a doubt that the use of social networks is an advantage that made the story more interesting, it seems very relevant to the current social climate. Each of the characters is interesting and contributes to the story, it's a bit predictable in terms of the ending, but it doesn't take away its magic.
It is a book that I definitely recommend.

This review is currently posted on my Goodreads account and can be found by following the link below.

[3]
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Exit Through The Jungle is a lighthearted contemporary romance that kept me easily entertained without trying to dazzle me with its outrageous plot. The absurdity of which, is not lost on me. Nevertheless I think this book was really enjoyable. It reminded me of a romantic comedy with all the crazy twists and turns that thrust the two characters into unlikely situation after unlikely situation. I loved the setting of the jungle for the two main characters to navigate; however, this made up only a small portion of the novel instead of taking a larger role as initially expected. The romantic tension and build up between the Kai and Jolie fell a little flat for me as well. I think the close proximity of the jungle was a great way for them to develop a relationship, but it felt a bit rushed in hindsight. If more time had been taken to lay the groundwork on building their connection then I would have loved it all the more. Instead I felt a bit indifferent and impartial to the characters themselves outside of the story. There are definitely things to appreciate about this book because it was quite humorous and the premise was entertaining in and of itself, but there were some elements that I found lacking. With regards to my rating, I was feeling that this was more of a 2.5, but decided to round up to three because of how entertained I was by all of the adventure and diversions.

This book has a stunning cover and a wonderful synopsis that really gets the reader interested in the story. The lead protagonist went through a lot of character growth and seemed to find her way. This seems like a "New Adult" genre, but it was also marketed as a romance. I found this book to be more about Jolie and her story. The descriptions of the rainforest were beautiful and I really enjoyed many of the scenes that took place in that setting, I wish more of the book took place there! The scenes between Jolie and her parents at the end of the book were wonderful. I love when a character is able to finally put their thoughts into words and actions. In addition, the inclusion of wildlife organizations and the work they do to save wild animals was important. I personally would like to look into this more.

Overall, I thought this book was a little all over the place. Key plot points would come up, then disappear only to then be wrapped up in a neat little bow. However, when this would occur, it was done choppily, making it a bit hard to completely understand. Especially when considering the impact of the confession at the end? Who was in that car? What happened to Noah? (in the epilogue, it does not seem as though Noah is at the dinner, but his name does appear. However, since his name is similar to Nora's name, I am unsure if this was a typo or if he was actually there. If he was there I would suggest adding his name in once or twice more to make that clear.)

I also thought that the main protagonists were not all that likable and I found myself skimming through their dialogue and inner monologues because some of their concerns were so vapid and "oh poor me" that I found it hard to read. This is a genre that I typically LOVE and I did really enjoy the overall character growth of Jolie. I do think that there needs to be more time in the Jungle (and stick with jungle or call it exit through the rainforest, I appreciate the semantics here, but it was detracted from the overall story line for me. I did learn that Jolie has appeared in previous books written by Alice Crofton, so it is possible that there was more in her family history that had not been documented. Her relationship with her parents was very tumultuous, but we never truly learned why. Since the plot of the book essentially revolves around Jolie's relationship with her father, I feel it would be more beneficial to include more background details. Why is it so important for Jolie to have that specific lifestyle?

I did enjoy Alice Croftman's ideas for this book and I feel there is a LOT of potential for this book and these characters.

This book was really fun. I was attracted to the beautiful cover. At first I thought the story and the characters were not something I would enjoy, but I was pulled in quickly by the funny and upbeat tone of this book. It was an entertaining, enjoyable light read that was perfect for a weekend read where you can get lost in the jungle along with the characters. To me this was like a modern version of an 80's romantic adventure comedy starring Goldie Hawn
This was a light, fun, funny contemporary romance with a bit of action and adventure. I loved that the author also used this story to highlight and raise awareness of wild animal safety in a way that was natural to the story line.

Exit through the Jungle is a fun read. The social media element makes it very relevant, while the plot and the characters reel the reader in as we get to know them. A nice funny romantic read.

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book, the forced proximity trope is one I tend to love and the addition of the rainforest setting made this even more appealing. The writing style was also pretty decent and flowed well.

However, I felt like the pacing of this book wasn't quite right. The first 30% was mainly scene setting and getting to know the characters which was fine, however it did take a bit to get into. Then the majority of the romance and them being lost took place between 30-65%, because of this I struggled to buy the relationship and it all felt a bit rushed. Considering this was the reason I wanted to red the book it was quite disappointing. I would have liked this to have been longer and allowed the relationship to develop more. The last 35% of the book then felt dragged out and contrived.

In terms of the characters there wasn’t anything I particularly disliked about them, but I didn’t become attached to them either.

Overall it was a pretty interesting book, but could have been formatted better to make the most of the story and the characters.

Jolie is a typical modern day social media influencer which is a fun type of character to include in a book. It makes me see this book as really relevant in today's social climate. Kai is a hottie who makes some decisions that don't land him in the best scenario. The ending is a bit obvious, that being said I absolutely love books like this! On top of the typical boy meets girl, there is also the added bonus plot line of adventure, which is gives it more depth and is truly a breath of fresh air. Loved this cute book, would definitely recommend to all my friends! Thank you to NetGalley and Three Dimples Publishing for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I was interested in this book because the description vaguely reminded me of Romancing the Stone (which I love dearly). Also the adventure-romance genre is not nearly as prolific as I'd like it to be.

At first I didn't like the main character (Jolie). She's everything you expect based on the description of the book; vapid, self-obsessed, spoiled, generally annoying (like deciding to go vegan in an attempt to gain social media followers). Kai's chapters early on, however, were a bit more interesting as things for him quickly spiral of of control.

Once the characters intersected, I started to like Jolie a LOT more.

That being said, this book suffers from "two characters who are so heartbreakingly beautiful and the perfect, hottest possible human specimens that have ever existed" syndrome.

Speaking of syndrome: Jolie clearly has Stockholm Syndrome because there's literally no reason she should fall for Kai (other than his astounding hotness and the fact that he was nicer to her than the guy who wanted to kidnap her). Can you feel the aggressiveness of my eye-rolling right now?

I struggled with enjoying this book. The writing itself is compulsively readable, and like I said, I have a soft spot for any adventure 'slash' love story (think The Princess Bride, Romancing the Stone, The African Queen, North by Northwest, The Mummy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Indiana Jones, etc), but the thing that really didn't work for me with this book..?

The characters!

I didn't like them all that much individually, and together they were even worse. They just didn't make any sense as a couple. A crazy (not)jungle fling, maybe. But a legit, rest of their lives couple? No way, I'm not buying it...

This author shows a lot of promise. I'd definitely be interested in reading more of their work (and I'd have liked this one a lot more if any of the characters were just a bit more likeable).

2.5 stars but I'll round it up to 3 because there was definitely some fun and adventure to be had.