BOOK REVIEW: Wilder With You by @serenabellbooks

5 Stars
Smut level: 4/5

Serena Bell does it again! I am a HUGE fan of this "Wilder Adventures" series and was so excited to read Clark's story and it definitely did not let me down!
Firstly, I highly recommend reading this series from the beginning. Although it could be read as a standalone, you will miss out on a lot of the detail if you don't read the other two books first...plus they are amazing!!
This book is about Clark Wilder, who is a widow still grieving for the loss of his wife two years on. He is an outdoor survival expert, bearded, has muscles for days and is the strong and silent, mysterious type of man. I was so excited to get to know Clark more and I adored him even more than I expected. He is so much more than first impressions show and I loved watching his kindness and vulnerability show.
Our female lead is Jessa, a wedding planner who goes on one of Clark's glamping survival trips. I love Jessa! She is so sweet and understanding but also has a naughty side to her. She is a divorcee after her ex husband cheated on her. I loved watching her confidence grow.
The book is a fake dating trope which isn't usually my favourite but I loved this version! Serena Bell is a master at making you love her characters and also completely made me wish I was a part of the Wilder gang! I love this kind of book series where you see how characters in past books are also gettung on. It is a great story, with a lot of heartfelt moments as well as a ton of steamy scenes!
Overall, I loved it! Such a fun read which I read in a day as I couldn't put it down. If you love romance with smut and rugged men with beards, this series is for you!

Please note that I was #gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars ⭐️.
I adored this book. It was a perfect blend of love, acceptance, crazy family antics, adventure and steaminess. This was also cultural rich. A fast paced well written romance with likeable characters.

More than anything I loved that heroine was very mature and bold. She accepted hero wholeheartedly. Hero was a widower and I thought I would’ve a problem with it but thankfully the author pulled it off. And heroine was never once jealous of the late wife. This book also had humour and depth.
Likewise hero was such a good hearted viking. You could see that he was enamoured with the heroine from the beginning itself.

Safe and recommended.

Received this arc for an honest review

A wonderful story that has another brother Clark falling into love. It starts when he is calling out the people's names for the adventure and after he sees Jessa who was a friend of his now-deceased wife, is by herself when her ex begins to talk to her with his girlfriend. Clark steps in and says that they are a couple. Which works, and their plan to break up afterward should be okay except that he can’t before his family gets together and someone asks if he will be bringing Jessa in front of his mother. From there now Jessa is planning his brother's wedding and when they all end up in Vegas for the bachelor party well? Yes, you see it just gets more and more complicated. What you do have is a wonderful story of two people finding themselves and then finding each other if they can find each other at the end. This makes for a very good book along with very good characters.

The Wilder family is famous in the small vacation destination town. Especially the five very handsome brothers. Clark was the first of the brothers to get married - but his wife passed away suddenly. He has been lost in his work running an adventure company and his grief since then. His wife was in a book club with Jessa, and event planner in the same town, before she died. Clark was attracted to Jessa - but never acted on it - and neither did Jessa. Jessa was married to a seriously pretentious jerk - who announced he was cheating on through a thinly veiled biographical novel.

As part of her goal to be more adventurous and take control of her own life - she is scheduled to go on a glamping trip through the Wilder Adventures. When her ex and the woman he cheated with show up on the same trip - Clark comes to her rescue by pretending to be dating Jessa. It works for both their benefits - as it also helps get his family to stop asking him when he's going to start dating again.

Things get more complicated as the fake relationship moves into very real territory - with real touching and real sex - not to mention some very pesky real feelings.

Clark is definitely one of the good ones - and even though he doesn't feel ready for a relationship yet - he is a very good book boyfriend. Jessa has really had some serious knocks to her confidence - especially about her people instincts. Between a toxic employee and her ex - she isn't in a place where she feels confident fighting for a relationship she isn't even sure is real.

I loved the development of their relationship and the very realistic way things developed. I also liked the LGBTQ representation and diversity in the book.

Overall - I recommend as a sweet and sexy small town book - which will give you a lot of feels - but nothing too heart wrenching.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Author Collective 20 for the ARC of this novel. This was a very sweet romantic comedy that did not change anything in the genre but was quite adorable. I was surprised that after the resolution of the characters that there was actually another sex scene. I can't say I am super into outdoorsy men but I was intrigued by the premise and how the story evolved. I also liked the focus on grief and how the main character wants to move past it while still honoring his late wife.

First off, I did not know this is the third book in a series, and now I HAVE to go back and read the first two. I am even more excited to know there will be a fourth book! Back to the review, I LOVED this one! You could literally feel the tension between the Clark and Jessa during the whole story. And Clark has probably become one of my favorite romcom men. Especially when he steps in and saves Jessa from what would have been an extremely awkward situation with her ex husband and the woman he cheated on her with.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my review.

The wedding planner and the mountain man

Jessa is a wedding planner near Bend, Oregon who signs up for a survival lite adventure outing with her best friend/business partner, who ends up canceling on her at the last minute. She decides to go ahead with the outing and it's too late to back out when she finds out the LAST person she would want along on the trip is going to be there.

She is rescued, though, by Clark Wilder, who is leading the adventure outing and who ends up fake dating and camping with her.

Loved the humor, the rowdiness, the sexiness, the alternating chapters told by Jessa and Clark, Clark's huge family and much more about this book.

I recommend this rom com if you are looking for laughs and steamy moments.

I received this book from Jelsba Media Group through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book. When Clark pretends to be Jessa’s boyfriend to distract her cheating ex, they come to an agreement to keep the fake relationship going a little longer to stop his family from pressuring him to date. Clark hasn’t shown any interest in a woman since the death of his wife, Emma, and doesn’t feel ready to date for real. But as their charade continues, it becomes harder for both of them to deny their real feelings.

This was a nice, cute read. This has a really fun concept whilst still dealing with some difficult subjects, and I thought the writing was really nice and easy to read. The chemistry between Jessa and Clark was quite gentle at first but it built nicely over the course of the story and I thought they had some really sweet moments together. I liked both of them as characters, although I did feel that they were overshadowed a little bit by some of the other characters, particularly Clark’s siblings’, who had much louder personalities.

That said, I actually thought this novel did a good job at telling the story of Clark’s grief and showing how he came to terms with the loss of his wife. There were some really touching moments in this subplot. I also have to say I think the strongest part of this book was the final bits of conflict between Jessa and Clark towards the end: everything that happened there felt very natural and I thought the scenes between them in this part were very well-written.

Overall, I thought this was a good book and it made me interested to look into other books in this series, particularly as I enjoyed the set-up of some of these characters and plotlines in this novel. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a lighthearted, fun novel with a fake relationship, some forced proximity, and a widower hero.

Content Notes: Death of a spouse (in past), scenes of illness, vomiting, death of a parent (in past), widower hero, divorce (in past).

Wilder With You, the third installment in the WIlder Adventures series, is proving to be my favorite so far. I love a fake relationship trope and this was executed in such an adorable manner. It felt more heartfelt and emotional than the previous two novels and made me feel like I could connect better with the characters. Overall, a quick, spicy and really fun read.

This series just keeps getting better and better. They get progressively more diverse, and each pull me in just a little bit more, and I absolutely could not get enough of Jessa and Clark. When Jessa’s ex husband shows up on her Wilder camping adventure with his girlfriend (from before the divorce), Clark pretends to be her boyfriend, despite not having said more than a few words to her at a time since his wife, and Jessa’s friend, died a few years ago. Fake dating gets complicated with real kissing and real sex, feelings are caught and denied, and it’s messy. And glorious.

Highlights:
I definitely love the whole mountain-brothers-cater-to-people-who-aren’t-wilderness-junkies thing. It’s been the plot of all three books, and it adds some richness to the stories and characters when they have to grapple with looking at the world in a new way, and acknowledging that all kinds of people want to experience the outdoors.

Clark’s grief is handled beautifully, and it was so beautiful when Jessa accepts him exactly where he is, and doesn’t expect him to let go of his wife to make room for her. And Clark enjoyed shoving their fake relationship into Jessa’a ex husbands face a lot, and so did I. Slimy cheaters get no quarter from me.

I really felt swept away by these two, the fake dating was fun, the gradual edging toward actual intimacy, and then the explosive chemistry felt so well paced and organic, I am a little sad it’s over.

Overall, loved this installment, and I’m super excited about Kane’s book that we got teased during the Vegas trip, plus the slow burn of Hanna and Easton in the background, I can’t wait for those fireworks.

I absolutely loved that this story took off right from the first chapter. We quickly got Jessa’s and Clark’s backstory from the get go without having to wait for a long drawn out build up. We also jumped right into the fake dating. BOOM! Everything is happening! I loved how quickly things progressed.

Clark was your typical rugged mountain man, yum 🤤 He was onboard with fake dating and real touching, but real feelings…pump the brakes!! Jessa was definitely in her feels and knew she was falling for the man who was emotionally unavailable. Thank goodness for the readers that they agreed to real sex because the chemo tray between these two was HOT!!

As we all know with fake dating, things don’t stay fake for long!

This was my first Wilder family book, but I loved it and will definitely be going back to start at the beginning. I don’t think not reading the others distracted from this book at all, so it’s safe to say you can read these out of order if you must, but I bet you’ll want to read them all!

This was a fake-dating, small town romance with the perfect amount of banter and laughter to tone down the otherwise serious topics of grief and infidelity that were the foundation of our characters.

TW: prior death of a spouse, cheating spouse/ex

I had not read any of the Wilder books before requesting this one but it did not deter me from enjoying this story. In "Wilder With You" we meet Clark - a widow - who his family thinks really needs to get back in the saddle and Jessa - a woman who was cheated on by her husband. They both struggle with loving again but they also have great chemistry. What starts off as fake dating turns into something more real and at one point they have to decide whether they want to go on together or separately.
Even though I would call it a romantic comedy, it also deals with heavier topics and I felt like the balance was just right.

This book was addictive and a one sitting read. Wilder brothers are someone whom you can't help but fall in love with. Brody being the one I meet in Walk on the Wilder Side, I knew I had to know how each brother ends up.

In this one we meet Clark and he is just wow! A person who wants to be accepted as is, he has my heart. I felt everything for him and all his pain. He wants everyone to stop asking him to date and move on after his wife's death.

Jessa is a wedding planner and surfacing from a divorce. She signs up for a hiking trip but her friend cancels and she wants to go out of her comfort zone but her ex husband being there makes it difficult until Clark steps up easily saying she is with him. What a shock!

I love both of them. Their chemistry is just hot. They know each other and one thing leads to fake dating but another leads to more. The steam level is a double plus.

The author has written this well with touching heavy topics but also keeping it light and funny. This has fake dating, small town romance, witty banter and is from both POVs. The author brought out all emotions in me, had me laughing, crying, loving, smiling and the hotness, oh my! The Wilder family is charming and lovely.

I urge everyone to read this. I can't wait to know Kane's story which is hinted in this one. Thank you Netgalley and Author Collective 20 for providing me with the ARC.

Rating ~ 4.5✨

The review will be posted on Amazon under Kriti Dalmia on release day and on Instagram under thisreadergirl on release day.

Who knew pretending could be so hot? 

Clark: It started as a joke. After all, I’d never pretend to date a woman just to get my mom and sister off my back.

I would, however, pretend to date her to get her ex-husband off hers.

Now the two of us, the wilderness warrior and the wedding planner, are stuck sharing a very small tent. I had no idea how fast things would heat up in here, or how hard it would be to keep my hands—among other things—to myself.

I also didn’t guess how quickly the news of our “relationship” would spread to my big, nosy family.

We can’t “break up” yet, because she’s planning my brother’s wedding and I’m his best man. Through venue visits, DIY disasters, and Vegas trips, we’re thrown together, and the chemistry’s off-the-charts. But the kicker is, I feel like she gets me.

Maybe that’s what scares me the most. I’m still reeling from the loss of my wife, and she’s still hurting from her ex’s betrayal. There’s no way this can ever be real.

But what if I’m starting to hope it is?

Maria Rose and Dabney are here to discuss the third book in Serena Bell's popular Wilder series, Wilder with You. 

Dabney:  I've read all the books in the Wilder series and have enjoyed them. How about you? 

Maria Rose: I've read them all too. I have to say I enjoyed this one the best of the three so far, but I think that's because I'm in a better reading frame of mind this year than I was in 2021. I found it difficult to enjoy reading in general at certain points of the year (for pandemic and other reasons) so authors that I normally look forward to reading (such as Serena Bell) didn't hold the same luster that they usually do. But I'm happy to say that my reading mojo is back and as a result, this 'fake relationship turns real' romance kept me quite entertained. I think I'm also a sucker for heroes like Clark who show their protective side (without doing it in a alpha-hole way).  

Dabney: Interesting. This is actually my least favorite of the three! I enjoyed it--Bell is one of the best contemporary romance writers around and she's always genuinely funny--but Jessa and Clark's fake dating/real f*cking thing made no sense to me. I also think--and this is a somewhat unfair criticism--that Clark's dedication to his dead wife is uncomfortably close to to Sawyer's, the hero of my favorite Bell book Sleepover. I think she did that trope better in Sleepover so this book's barrier to love felt wan to me. 

Maria Rose:  I'm terrible at remembering characters from other books so I had to check Goodreads to see if I'd read Sleepover (I haven't) so I don't have a comparison with it.  I think the concept of pretending to be in a relationship but having real sex gives the characters the chance to act on their attraction to each other without having to think of what that really means in the long term - it's sex without emotional consequences. And since neither Jessa nor Clark is ready to consider having another committed relationship (Jessa because her marriage has recently broken up and Clark having lost his wife), it's an easy way out for them.  Of course, the sex scenes are always fun to read in a Bell book too  

Dabney: Agree–Bell does love scenes really well. And don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. It just didn’t wow me. If you think of it as a romantic comedy, I felt the comedy was stellar and the romance was just fine. And while I always like checking in with the other Wilders, there was a bit much of them in this book–I found them almost overwhelming.

I also had two other small issues with the book. One was the reveal about Barb seemed to me to be a bit odd–it sort of felt like checking a box than something that was intrinsic to what we know about the character. I also really didn’t, as someone who works in medicine, understand the thing that killed Clark’s wife. It wasn’t well explained and didn’t hold up to scrutiny. I just don’t get why authors don’t do a better job of vetting medical things!

Maria Rose: I agree with you about Barb, I didn’t think the clues were really there to come up with that reveal (no spoilers!).  As for Clark’s wife Emma’s death, it made his overreaction to events later with Jessa make more sense but it was a somewhat vague way to remove the character. In the end though, the reasons for her death don’t matter as much as how Clark has dealt with it (or not dealt with it in this case). It was good to see him reach a catharsis and those scenes with him and Emma’s mom made me tearful.  I definitely noticed that this series in general is more lighthearted and funny than her Returning Home series which deals with a lot of trauma (though they are some of my favourites by her). 

I was fine with all the family interaction (and as you said there is a lot of it). The Wilders are a big family of siblings and with some of the earlier series characters getting married in this one, I’d expect a lot of interaction with them. It’s given us an interesting heads up into Kane’s book too! 

Dabney: I’m hopeful for Kane given that Easton’s love story has been staring us in the face since day one. I hope there’s more to it than just enemies who secretly love each other! Kane’s book looks like a secret baby book– it will be fun to see what Bell does with that trope!

I really do love reading about the Wilders – they’re such a loving, funny family. This book isn’t my favorite of the series but it was still a fun, sexy read. What grade would you give it? 

Maria Rose:  I’m going with a B+ for this one. I liked all aspects of the book and was really happy to see Clark overcome his grief and realize it was okay to be happy again.  I too am looking forward to seeing what happens with Kane and Easton’s stories! What did you decide on for a grade? 

Dabney: This is a B for me. It’s a fun, strong story, just not quite into DIK territory for me. Thanks for chatting with me!

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This was fun and steamy and just wildy entertaining. i loved every second of this book and I easily want to read more from this author now. There is adventure and heart ache and growth from the characters. Its a journey that your heart will love.

I greatly enjoyed this story. Great characters in our leads and our supporting characters. While it's the third in the series, it's stand alone. The romance had a nice balance of sweet, heat and humour. It also gave a little glimpse into grief, and how guilt isn't always rational when met with an unexpected death, esp when you don't talk about it. Overall, a great and enjoyable story. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

Thank you to #NetGallery and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review. It is set to be released on February 15.

This is another one of those series that I have to admit I've arrived late for the party to. #WilderWithYou is Book 3 of the Wilder Romantic Adventures series and I will definitely be going back for more. The Wilders are one of those families, and Rush Creek one of those small towns, that I definitely want to get to know more. I also loved how the author even dropped the seeds for how the next book will begin!

This is another fake dating book, of which I've read a fair number of lately. Gilderness guide Clark puts that into motion when he claims Jessa to be with him in front of her quite recent ex-husband and his new girlfriend, whose affair was the reason for the end of this marriage. Clark is big and manly, yes, but also a total softy at heart.

Words to melt your heart:
"What made you change your mind?"
"The short version is that I realized I was in love with you, and everything else stopped mattering." I mean, come ON!!!!!

As sweet as it is, it also has a decent amount of smut which I felt really balanced it out. Clark definitely has certain moves, let's just say that!

This book definitely deserves a spot on your TBR!

I am going to be honest, I loved the first one, could give or take on the second one, but this one is a WINNER!

I felt so much right off the back for Jessa, and just wanted to wrap her in friendship hugs and love. Clark is a man with so much guilt about so many things including losing his wife, and wanting one of his wives friends is just so hard for me. These two were wonderful throughout the hold book and how Clark thinks the world of Jessa and shows it in little ways just made my heart melt. A great read and looking forward to the next book in the series.

I have posted this review on Goodreads, see the link below. I will also post the same review on instagram @readingwiththecatlady on February 14th

While scrolling through NetGalley I saw the cover of this book, and it intrigued me. I read the synopsis and I am a sucker for a fake dating trope especially with a grumpy/sunshine type story so I had to request it! After getting approved I realized it was part of a series but I gave it a try and didn’t feel like I missed out on anything, and I now need to get my hands on the first few stories.

What I loved:
- Wilder family, I am a sucker for books with large families it creates such a fun dynamic within the story
- Fake dating, this is one of my favorite tropes and I love how/why it even starts
- Mountain man/city girl, these are always fun to read about since there are a lot but I liked how these two work together
- Spice, I like a spicy romance and I was not disappointed with this book!

This was my first experience reading Serena Bell’s books but I can guarantee you it won’t be my last! Anyone who likes a fake dating trope, a spicy romance or just a great story about growth through grief this is the book for you!!