Thank you to @RHCBEducators for the ARC and opportunity to share this review!

4/5 Star Rating

It took a little time for me to like the main character. However, I did find myself liking her more as the story went on. I feel I would have related well to her life when I was in college. Thus giving me a reason to recommend this to college age students.

I feel the author accurately captured anxiety’s voice inside of the main characters head. I found myself agreeing a lot with how she was thinking and processing things. At times, I felt like the author could have been inside my head! This made the character more relatable for me and would be a main reason I would recommend for patrons.

I love reading stories about thru hiking on the AT! I have had Grandma Gatewood on my TBR list for years. This story encouraged me to seek out a copy now. It also made me ready for hiking season to start.

A fun story! Overall, I would recommend this book for libraries to purchase for their YA collections.

Like a lot of other contempory fiction centered around a reality tv show, it doesn't do a great job showing the contrast between what is shown on tv and what really happens on set. And I found a hard time believing producers would pick such a - for lack of a better word - wild setting where they couldn't have cameras everywhere at all times and control every single action. And I could just imagine the lawyers for the studio having a conniption over the liability issues. And why no confessionals?

But while I had issues with the set up, I loved the characters here - both the two main characters and all of the side characters. The host and all his fakeness was spot on and always hilarious! Natalie was a blast with her ambition, drive, humor, and real struggles, both mental and physical. And the love interest, despite a stiff start, thawed in a realistic manner, and, for once, I was willing to let slide his original grumpiness when he explains the VERY fresh grief he is dealing with. A delightful romance blossoming in a beautiful setting.

A new season of Wild Adventures is on the way. This season will be a little different, with college students pairing up as strangers instead of the usual family/friend combination. The prize? A $100,000 college scholarship.

Nineteen year old Natlaie Hart desperately needs the money to continue with college, not that money is the only problem she's having there. But desperate times and convenient timing, right? Who's going to let a lack of experience and a lot of anxiety stop them?

When Natalie is paired with grumpy, silent Finn hiking the Appalachian Trail and avoiding bears is only part of what she has to endure. As the challenges get under way though Natalie and Finn find themselves becoming more than teammates. As they work together to win the money they may find they've already won.

Wild Adventures drew me in with an amazing cover and the appeal of a reality adventure/survival show. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the challenges and the feeling of being inside a reality show. The survival/nature aspects are nice too. I just wanted more of them as they seem to take a backseat as Natalie and Finn grow closer.

Natalie and Finn are cute and sweet together. It seems to happen a little too easily though. Most of the focus is on. Natlaie and her anxiety. It's important to her character and plays a role in how she performs in the competition. But it also takes up large chunks at a time and some of the chapters feel long.

Wild About You is a light romance, sure to please many readers. The unique setting makes it stand out.

3.5/5 stars

“Wild About You” is the first book I’ve read by Kaitlyn Hill and it will not be my last. I absolutely loved the banter between Finn and Natalie. These two characters have a bit of a rocky start, but they soon learn that they work well together. They learn to listen to the other, know just when to tease and when to encourage.
I requested an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley because it sounded like a fun easy read. I was not disappointed. The grumpy sunshine, forced proximity tropes are a couple of my favorite tropes put them together and how can you go wrong? The unique spin on these tropes being that the characters are hiking the Appalachian trail and competing in a reality show, not something you come across every book. I say that this was a fun read, but there was more depth to it than the cover reveals. The author did a good job (IMO) of describing how hard it is to get a handle on anxiety especially when you don’t have a great support system. I also really appreciated how both main characters were dealing with the loss of a loved one and the understanding that grieving is a lifetime event. You don’t just wake up one morning and stop missing that person and there is not right or wrong way to grieve. I really took that to heart!

Could there possibly be a Zeke and Harper book in our future? Fingers crossed

Thank you to Kaitlyn Hill, Random House, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a honest voluntary review

I am so sad to say that I had to dnf this book. I had really high hopes for it but I just found the main character to be too annoying at times and I felt like they acted younger than they were. I loved the anxiety rep and the talk about grief, however I wish there was a deeper connection between Natalie and Finn. I would 100% recommend this to others because it's a cute fun read, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!!

I wanted to like this book, but it felt very unbelievable even for a tv show. Also feel like it could have been a lot shorter of a book felt dragged out to just add page numbers.

3.5 stars from me for wild about you by kaitlyn hill!

this was a fairly fast-paced and enjoyable read. i thought it was a little cliche, but took some of my favorite tropes and put a unique spin on them. i thought the characters were sweet, although they were missing some chemistry here and there for me, but overall a sweet progression of their relationship and i loved seeing their separate character development. would still recommend to my audience but not a favorite and probably wouldn't reread!

Finn (MMC) and Natalie (FMC) meet on the set of a reality TV show called Wild Co-Edventures (a version of Wild Adventures). Finn is as grumpy as they come. And Natalie is a bright light to those around her. On this particular version of the show, they’re competing for college scholarship money. And of course they fall in love. Why wouldn’t they?

Read if you like:
-YA romance
-grumpy-sunshine
-forced proximity
-there’s only one tent
-camping + the mountains + the outdoors
-Tennessee (Pigeon Forge, The Smoky Mountains)
-The Appalachian Trail
-reality TV shows like The Amazing Race
-theater

Rep:
-anxiety
-grief

I went into Wild About You completely blind. I’m so glad that I did because I ate this one up. I’m always a sucker for anything YA. While grumpy/sunshine isn’t my favorite trope, I enjoyed this book so much. I absolutely loved the setting and the characters. The banter was hilarious. I 10/10 recommend adding this swoon-worthy YA romance to your TBR!

Trigger warnings: loss of a parent and grandparent

Final thoughts: I am obviously WILD ABOUT TEAM FINNATALIE😂 also infinity stars for the cover! It’s so stunning

Thank you to Kaitlyn Hill, Random House, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a honest voluntary review!

Wild About You follows Natalie and Finn - 2 college students who couldn’t be anymore different - who find themselves paired together as partners on a reality TV show set in the wilderness of the Appalachian Trail working towards winning $100,000 each for their college education.

This story is such a cute little rom - com and moved at a great pace.

I love the setting and imagery of this book - a reality tv show about strangers being paired up and sent through challenges while hiking and camping. From the beautiful scenery that I picture, to the fun of the outdoor adventures, this story immediately pulled me in!

I love Natalie - she may try a bit too hard but I love her enthusiasm and energy. There were moments where she could get to be a bit annoying but I understand why that was necessary for her full character development.

I spent the first 30% of the book hating Finn and thinking there’s no way i could learn to like him but that changed quickly and he grew on me.

The only thing that I feel was slightly lacking in this book was a plot twist. There was a very brief hiccup in the end but I don’t know that I’d consider that a plot twist.

All in all, this is a cute and cozy little read and I highly recommend!

I enjoyed this grumpy x sunshine, one tent, forced proximity wild adventure romance more than I thought I would. It was a bit of a different twist than other one bed/forced proximity romances and it was fun to have so much light shed on anxiety.

While I know there was a lot going on in the book because it was centered around competing on a reality show, we still got plenty of cute moments with the couple.

A part of me wishes that we could've seen Natalie find some resolution with her parents, but frankly, it's not always realistic. Not giving Natalie the complete, whole happily ever after is REAL, especially because she has her chosen family with her anyways.

Omg I absolutely loved this!!

Natalie needs money for college so she goes on an outdoor adventure reality competition show to win a 100k scholarship. Pay no mind that she’s not into the outdoors nor does she do the whole camping thing, but she’s determined to win the money for a college her parents didn’t even want her to go to. The catch? Total strangers have to partner up. Enter Finn-hot, capable and grumpy as hell. Of course that’s who she gets partnered with and neither of them are happy about it. As time goes on, Natalie may just win him over yet! Can they put away their differences to work together as partners and possibly more?

Never have I ever connected to a character as much as I did to Natalie. I swear we’re the same person! So of course I found her delectable and hilarious. Like packing a huge amount of makeup for the middle of the woods? Def something I would do lol. She is full of sunshine, loves musicals and is trying to look on the bright side of the situation. Gotta love a girl for that!

Finn was the ultimate book boyfriend. Hot and bothered, but with a sweet side underneath. I loved his story and his reasoning for being on the show. The two of them together were so perfect!

I can’t say enough good things about this sweet, feel good romance! This was fast paced, entertaining, hilarious and wonderfully written!

This was so cute! I am not one to ever want to go camping or hiking, but I loved reading about Natalie and Finn! It was funny, full of adventure and super cute. I couldn't put it down!

For some reason, despite not being a big hiker myself, I have a major thing for books that take place on the Appalachian Trail—maybe it’s because I enjoy witnessing characters conquer things they never thought they could--and Wild about You was no exception. It was entertaining, the banter delivered, and it was just a really cute and romantic, yet very relatable novel about overcoming anxiety and finding someone who’s willing to work through your worst moments with you.

I mean, I’d give this book 4 stars for that letter alone (if you know you know).

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars! This was very cute. The girly girl trying something so out of her comfort zone to win a life changing scholarship and being paired with an outdoorsy grump—it’s a great pairing. Between only having one tent and the plot twist at the end I was entertained. There was a lull at the midpoint for me though. I love books that feature reality tv. I think ultimately I was too old for this, when I read the summary I knew it was YA but I thought it read more like they were early high schools not college students. And I think this is going to rock some young adults world!

Well this was an unexpectedly delightful book. It was so much funnier and action-packed than I thought it would be.

For a cute little YA, that is about a grumpy sunshine relationship while they are doing hardcore outdoor adventure challenges. In order to earn money in a reality competition, there is so much emotional impact that this book has.

Natalie and Finn have never met before, but they are partnered together on a show called wild adventure where they have to do different challenges along the course of the Appalachian trail.

The course of this book and the challenges the two grow closer together to form a real friendship and then it becomes more and you learn a lot about each of them and the struggles that they have in there life outside of this competition.

This does deal with a lot of talk about anxiety that was really well written and was handled in a very accurate but still not fully hard-hitting way.

Love this outdoor setting, loved feeling like I was on a trail or in the forest with the characters. I also felt the characters were very believable and down to earth. Definitely will recommend this to friends and can’t wait for her next novel!

this was cute but definitely a little cliche. it felt more like a YA novel and even though the characters are already in college, they felt younger than that. the main character could be obnoxious at times and wasn’t the most likable, but overall, it was a pretty solid romance.

this book was good, but i didn't like it as much as i hoped i would. i loved the grumpy/sunshine and outdoorsy vibes! i just felt myself wanting to see a deeper connection between natalie and finn.

many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc copy <3

Absolutely adorable book- this is everything you want in a YA novel. Adorable college students, adorable romance, adorable setting. This book was such a great palate cleanser and gave me the warm and fuzzies. Would definitely recommend!

Wild about you (5/21/24)
If you're looking for a sweet YA book about camping, falling in love, forced proximity, and grumpy/sunshine, this is a good choice for you. I am a huge fan of YA novels, and this one dealt with some heavy topics, like grief and anxiety, all while having humorous moments.
Natalie has always felt like an outcast from her parents, and the only person who ever made her feel accepted was her grandmother, who has passed away. Since then, she has struggled with anxiety, which is only multiplied by the amount of stress she has trying to pay for college. This is why she decides to apply for the adventure competition, which has a grand prize of a scholarship.
When she gets to the competition, she is paired with Finn, who is also struggling with grief from the loss of his father. This makes him come across as a grumpy, no-nonsense partner. Slowly, Natalie and Finn form a bond, then become friends, and then eventually more than friends.
This book made me feel so many emotions, and I loved reading about the evolution of the relationship between Finn and Natalie. There was real chemistry, and it showed the importance of being open and honest with someone, because you never know what they are feeling or going through.