This book felt like a warm hug. It’s sweet, it’s lovely and made me smile like a fool.

Ben and Alexei are very different, but work so well together. The setting is also absolutely gorgeous, and it made me want to do some hiking in the Pacific Crest Trail:

One of the highlights for me was Alexei. Alexei is autistic. And the portrayal is done with so much care and understanding. As a ND reader it was a fresh air to read.

Very recommended

This was a warm, cozy hug of a book. Alexei and Ben were such warm characters. Well, Alexei took a bit of warming up to people, but he was earnest and friendly. Ben befriended everyone he met and just exuded friendliness and warmth. They had such an easy, peaceful companionship that they fell into as they walked the Pacific Crest Trail. It was so nice to read.

The descriptions of the trail and the hiking were so beautiful and so appealing. It made me feel like I was there with them and made me want to attempt the hike myself. There's no way I could actually do it, but imagining it feels nice.

The difficult parts were not so much conflict between the two (aside from a few misunderstandings) but rather things each was struggling with internally. For Ben it was the loss of a close relative to Alzheimers and his past abusive relationships. For Alexei it was being cut off by his parents after coming out as gay. These were things each had to wrestle with on their own, and I really like that they weren't swept under the rug when they got together. They took the time and space they needed and came to terms with them, allowing them to build a stronger future together.

It was wonderful to see Alexei being welcomed into Ben's family and friend group, and it was wonderful to see Alexei and Ben's close relationships with their little sisters.

There is a section toward the end where it becomes an epistolary novel for a bit, the sort where most of the letters are unsent. Those are always heartbreaking, and this was no exception. I really, really, like the way it was written. Having the letters be unsent halves of conversations made them so much more impactful.

Most of all, this is a book emphasizing the wonders of queer companionship. As a queer person myself, who values that sort of companionship very highly indeed, this book hit all the right notes for me.

The audiobook performance was beautiful and the narrator imbued the characters with so much personality. I loved listening to it and definitely recommend it.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio for providing an early copy of the ebook and audiobook for review.

I am 100% not an outdoorsy person so I was a little nervous to read a book set on a hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed that part of the story! The real MVPs were the characters though. I found myself completely in love with Alexei and Ben, both as individual characters and as a couple. Between Alexei’s social awkwardness and nerdiness and Ben’s easy going vibe with some hidden baggage to unpack, both of them were fleshed out incredibly well. I loved their vulnerability with each other and how they learned how to be themselves and say/ask for what they wanted. I did think the story dragged in a few spots, but overall the pacing was pretty good. I loved the ending and the epilogue. Both were fine extremely well. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great romance and also into hiking and the great outdoors!
TW: homophobia

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely fabulous new release from Anita Kelly! Alexis and Ben’s journey along the PCT as well as the internal journeys they both experience throughout the book were so flawlessly written. Alexei’s excitement and heartbreak felt so real for someone who has just come out. And the contrast of that to Ben, who has been dating for a long time but never the right person, was just so enjoyable to watch unfold on the page. The chemistry between the characters was palpable and the tension took my breath away at some points.

Thank you to Hachette Book Group and NetGalley for this eArc of <i>Something Wild and Wonderful</i>. All opinions are my own.

It's true that I can cry at books easily. It's also true that I seek out light and easy romcom books because I am generally disconnected enough from the drama that it can't impact me personally. But wow—I was absolutely not expected to literally sob at this book. Anita Kelly, whose first book <i>Love & Other Disasters</i> I also adored, really got me here. Chronicling the journey of Alexei and Ben, two hikers who very much accidentally and literally run into each other while hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, <i>Something Wild and Wonderful</i> is a tale about second (and third and fourth, etc.) chances, about found family, and about finding out that you're good enough just the way you are. Most importantly, this book teaches us that everyone deserves love and to be loved unconditionally.

As a side note, even though book takes place in the same universe as <i>Love & Other Disasters</i>, you needn't have read that to be a part of the story of Alexei and Ben, two beautiful, gentle, lovely men who I would please like to be my best friends.

If you've ever felt not enough. If you've ever felt like you were trying to let go and figure out how to live your best life. If you want a beautiful love story, please read this book. Just don't yell at me if you cry like a baby.

4.5 stars. A beautiful MM love story with strong themes of self-discovery and acceptance.

Synopsis: Set on the iconic Pacific Crest Trail, Alexei and Ben meet on the 2,500-mile trail. Each arrives on the trail with his own personal baggage. Ben has a long history of bad decisions, usually involving beautiful men, while Alexei grapples with his gay identity and how to love himself when his family has rejected him. What unfolds is a beautiful love story.

Thoughts: This was such a sweet and bingeable story. I enjoyed how Anita Kelly crafted the characters and their backstories, each embarking on different personal journeys. I particularly appreciated that they reinforced the notion that no two life experiences are the same. There was great LGBTQIA+ and disability rep, and I look forward to reading more by this author!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for my ARC & Hachette audio for my ALC.

Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again. It might be coincidence. Then again, maybe there’s a reason the trail keeps bringing them together . . .

Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart. And there are worse things than falling in love during the biggest adventure of your life. But when their plans for the future are turned upside down, Ben and Alexei begin to wonder if it’s possible to hold on to something this wild and wonderful.

I'm still processing this book. In so many ways, this is more than a romance novel. Alexei's family trauma, Ben's dating issues, the incredible endurance it takes to walk the PCT, they all add up to one excellent story. Knowing that this was a romance, I knew the ending wouldn't be a downer, but there also wasn't an easy fix to all the problems. Thank goodness.

Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and forever publishing for access to the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is one I had been looking forward to for a while and it did not disappoint. First, the setting. You can really tell that Anita Kelly put a whole lot of work into really making you feel like you are on the trail with Lex and Ben. I found myself looking up pictures of the places they were describing because the descriptions sounded so beautiful. I am not at all familiar with the landscape in this part of America but they did a beautiful job of describing it for me.

Aside from a lovely setting though, the story was beautiful and sweet and uplifting! These 2 men working so hard on themselves to reach their full potential was both hard to hear at times but also extremely inspiring. And the support they give each other made me cry MULTIPLE TIMES! I wanted nothing but good things for them. They are both cinnamon rolls that deserve all the happiness in the world!

This story did such a great job exploring grief and religious trauma. It also had some of my favorite tropes in it: friends to lovers & found family. There were so many swoon worthy moments that made my heart flutter! Ugh! I want to read it again!

Anyway, If you couldn’t tell, I loved this book so much and now I’m off to pre-order it so that I have it on my shelves when it comes out. Cheers!

Thank you so much to Anita Kelly, Forever and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Alexei had never experienced friendship quite like that. Friendship that wasn't dependent on shared faith."

Alexei decided he wanted to walk the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) as the start of a new beginning to his life. While on the trail, he keeps seeing Ben along the way. Alexei was drawn to him and Ben was as well. Ben decided to stay and walk with Alexei for a huge chunk of the trail and from there, feelings ensue. Together they experience the beautiful trail and meet a slew of different characters along the trail.

"I think I fell in love with someone. And then I got scared and I left."

Alexei's development throughout this book is such a journey. He is very quiet, socially awkward and just wants to be left alone and by the end his personality shines through. And I love the juxtaposition Alexei was to Ben who was outgoing and personable. Alexei's childhood into adulthood is deeply upsetting but I am glad that by the end he was working on making his life better and has a new chosen family. I know there is a huge amount of people who have been through religious trauma and I do not think its talked enough in books. Alexei needed someone like Ben in his life and came at a perfect time for him during this transition phase in his life.

Fun fact (you may or may not know): There is a moment at the end when Alexei sees that Ben got a tattoo during their time apart and author Anita Kelly got the tattoo which you can see on their instagram page. How cool to see the image come to life!

This definitely inspired me to get out on the trails more. I love hiking and wish I could do it more often (my hiking partner's knees don't like it). And as if I didn't already want to go to the Pacific Northwest this made me want to go even more.

Also can we talk about this cover?! I remember being instantly obsessed with it as soon as it was released. I love that the same illustrator who did Love & Other Disasters also did this one. The colors are absolutely stunning!!!

I would definitely check this out if you are a hiker and enjoy the outdoors and want to see a love story unfold during hundreds of miles of walking.

I really enjoyed this strangers to lovers adventure romance about falling in love and finding self-acceptance while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Perfect for fans of TJ Alexander, this big-hearted story tugged at my heart strings and had me feeling all the feels as Alexei tries to work out his feelings after being disowned by his Christian fundamentalist family and Ben does such a great job showing him that he deserves to be loved just as he is. There were some fun cameos from Love and other disasters too which was a lot of fun! If you enjoyed Cheryl Strayed's Wild, this is the perfect story for you. All the PCT stuff was extremely well done! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review!

This was SO GOOD! I laughed, I was in my feels, Alexi and Ben had me melting into a puddle. Such a sweet story! 10/10 would recommend

One of the great challenges in my life as a lover of romance novels - I have little to no patience for the major conflict that seems to need to precede a happily ever after. In my opinion, these usually feel forced and could easily be resolved by the characters just acting like normal people and having a simple conversation, and it’s the number one thing that can put me off a good romance.

In Something Wild & Wonderful, Anita Kelly’s follow up to 2022’s Love & Other Disasters, I knew that was the direction we were headed. From early on, I could sense that there would need to be some sort of conflict thrown into the mix, and I was filled with dread. This time, however, that dread stemmed from how much affection I felt for the main characters; I wanted to skip the conflict not for my own benefit but to spare them the heartache.

Something Wild & Wonderful centers on Ben and Alexei, two men who meet while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Though both had planned to hike solo, they end up making a pact to hike together at least through the end of the desert after Alexei saves Ben from stepping on a rattlesnake crossing the trail. Both men came to the PCT to take time to reflect on their lives and find themselves, and instead they end up finding each other.

Maybe it’s the setting - hiking on the trail is an inherently solitary and introspective process, so the chemistry between the two really gets a chance to blossom. It feels so natural from the reader’s perspective, and I was really rooting for these two to make it work. Alexei comes out to Ben early on and shares that he’s on the PCT to try to figure out his next steps, after his religious parents disowned him after he told them he was gay. Ben decides not to share that he’s also gay at that time in order to avoid overshadowing Alexei’s story, but then struggles to find the right time to confess - until a night off-trail, with a hotel bed and a few margaritas, provides the opportunity for the two to act on the chemistry between them.

I don’t want to say much more for fear of spoiling the novel, because it was truly a joy to watch this romance unfold. I felt so affectionate toward both men, and for once in my life, I understood how the conflict happened and why they couldn’t just talk it out. In trying to protect each other while also figure out their own goals and priorities, they end up almost risking it all. In the subsequent time apart, Kelly switches to an epistolary format to show their attempts to bridge the gap following their separation, and it’s a powerful literary device to illustrate the growth and the heartache that both men experience.

I cannot recommend Something Wild & Wonderful highly enough. It will be released on March 7, 2023, and is available for preorder now.

I received an electronic ARC from the publisher. Forever, in exchange for my honest review.

S0ft, quiet, tender, introspective, this is one of the loveliest romances I've read in some time. Maybe it's weird to call a book healing but at the very least, this book soothed me in ways I didn't even know I needed. Alexei and Ben are two strangers who meet while hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). Over 2500 miles long, it's days and weeks and months of just....walking. And granted, I'm not a nature lover or much of a hiker but this book just pulled me in.

Ben is seemingly carefree and happy, charming and fun, taking a break from the rigors of daily life after finishing nursing school. Alexei is searching for peace, after his very Christian conservative parents kicked him out of their lives when he came out to them. He's not great at socializing, mostly just wants to be left alone to walk in peace.

A lot of the book is them walking and learning about each other, supporting each other, encouraging each other. When the dark moment comes, you can't help but feel for both of these characters even though by all appearances, it's really 1 person at fault.

The ending is sweet and makes you wish for all the good things for these two lovable goofs who finally understand their own true worth on their journey to finding love and peace.

CW: homophobia, toxic parents, parental estrangement, toxic past romantic relationships, family death due to Alzheimer's.

-alexei’s journey with his grief and faith was obviously the main arc of the novel, but i loved that we got to see ben grow and have his own journey as well
-the pacing was really great, i was worried a book set solely on a hiking trail would get monotonous but it never did
-i had a bit of trouble keeping track of side characters since they were so rarely mentioned, but i loved the mentions of dahlia and london!
-i didn’t know parts were told in letters, which is something i LOVE, so that was a great surprise for me
-the main reason i didn’t give it a full 5 stars was because a lot of the ending of alexei’s journey was told rather than shown and that was a bit disappointing to me

RATING 3/5 STARS

This book is a very gentle and sweet love story. I lost interest a little bit midway, though. Fans of slow burn, soft stories involving nature will enjoy this.

This book is the most phenomenal book I've read this year - full of heart and honesty, I cried happy tears and sad tears and healing tears. I also want to highlight how Kelly did an amazing job of capturing the beauty of the PCT, the community, and also the solitude that can be healing and harmful. Plus, Tamora Piece!

Disappointingly plodding. I barely made it through the first half of the book. The scenic descriptions were beautiful. Unfortunately that was all there was. It read like like a boring teen journal of a hike. There was no meat to it. I knew in the first many pages were it was going to end up and took a long fairly boring time getting there. The second half of the book got more interesting, but was still a watery soup with a few noodles and pieces of meat. I went from being engaged and empathetic to being overwhelmed by teen angst. There was a core of the story that I could relate to and understand. The weakness was it was overplayed. Maybe that is a standard for a young adult book. Not being in that age range of working with that group of readers does color my judgement. I have read novels in that genre and not found them as weak. I came way, after finishing the book, feeling that it was aiming to hit all the "right" themes for a young adult novel (the man bun, the teen angst, the gender neutral pronouns, the hetero-normative bigotry being corrected immediately by the PC person immediately after Alexei's self awareness, ...) . A subtler hand and more meat would have added stars to my review and made it a fully enjoyable read,.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.
It was so good!!!
This book is about our two main guys, Alexi and Ben, and their journey hiking on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). They are both solo travelers, but they meet in the first third of the hike because Alexi "saved" Ben from a snake and from there they start their journey together.

This book was so cozy and I just loved reading about their adventures together and learning more about each other. It's a tender kind of love <3

-dual pov
-queer <3
-hiking adventures off the grid
-D&D references
-birds
-neurodivergent rep
-Alexi + quiet, calm demeanor
-Ben = golden retriever vibes
-Discussions of religious trauma
-letters

This book is SO GOOD!!!!
I absolutely loved Anita's writing and I will be reading more of their books stat!!!

Romcom books - always! Wild and Wonderful is precisely that. Ben and Lex have stuck with me for weeks after finishing my ARC. I’m not sure if it’s the thought of a very sweet and heartbroken Alexei making his way across the PCT and struggling to find the words to make friends that really hit me in the heart or if it was the exuberant and joyful Ben who quietly understands him, that won me over. Nevertheless, this book has had a stranglehold on me. I can’t wait for everyone else to read it. Anita Kelly hit all the right spots with this. Absolute perfection. From the moment they meet, until the end of the trial, I was in love with each unexpected nuance. Told with love and grace, I expect it to be one of 2023's biggest hits.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) & NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC

What a delightful and fun read. I also really enjoyed the description of the hiking; what an incredible experience that must be.