Wild About You is a grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, only one tent kind of a romance. I really enjoyed that it wasn't insta-love, which can happen in YA novels a bit.
Natalie is the black sheep of her family struggling with the loss of her grandmother and worried about paying for college. Finn is an avid outdoorsman struggling with the loss of his father. The two are teamed up in an Outdoors/Camping reality show and have to figure out how to work together.
What I really enjoyed about the novel is it's a great start for my summer reading with hiking, camping, and outdoors activities. The emotional range of both the book and characters was a bit unexpected but so good overall. I found this book sweet and a fast read and just the breath of warm summer air after a gloomy winter. Great Job!

Just finished reading Wild About You! This book was so fun and I loved the characters.

Natalie is fantastic. She’s funny, warm, and trying to figure out life at 19 . I loved that the story captured the challenges of navigating young adulthood, especially when you might not have the strongest family support. She was FUNNY! I laughed so much.

And, Finn. He’s this gruff-but-sweet guy who adds a great dynamic to the story. Their banter is hilarious, and the way they communicate and work through issues feels realistic and refreshing. No unnecessary drama here!

The setting on the Appalachian Trail was really cool. The author did a great job bringing it to life, and while the reality show element played a role, it never took away from the characters themselves. It just added another layer of interest!

Overall, this book is a great pick-me-up. It’s a sweet romance with relatable characters facing real-life challenges. Plus, it definitely fed my wanderlust for the Appalachian Trail (which I also dream of hiking someday!).

If you’re looking for a fun read with great characters and a touch of adventure, check out Wild About You.

Wild About You was a fun, very easy to read young adult adventure style novel with two completely likable main characters. Kaitlynn Hill did a very good job at contrasting her easy breezy style of writing with some real-life problems such as anxiety, panic attacks, and parental issues. The game show format made it easy for the reader to connect to all of the cast of characters while at the same time rooting for our favorite main character duo.

There were several things I liked about Wild About You. These young characters had real-life issues that a reader could easily identify with, the growth of Natalie and Finn’s relationship was steady and sweet, and the competition. Actually that last thing was probably my favorite because I’m a reality show competition fan. All of these things made this story interesting, light, but with a bit of depth- adding character to the right parts of the story. I thought it was very well done!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was so entertaining, full of many laugh out loud moments, making new friends, learning new skills, and falling hard for each other along the way. Their adventures and competitions are taxing from day to day but as they grow more dependent upon each other their feelings for each other grow. There is so much more to this sunshine/ grumpy trope than I thought there would be going in on my first book by Kaitlyn Hill and I fell hard for these two opposites.

This is Natalie and Finn’s story

Natalie and Finn are paired up together by finding the same color backpacks on the first day of the Wild Co-EdVentures reality show. They will have to make their way along a 170 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail, competing each day for a chance to win $100,000 in scholarship money for each partner of the winning pair.

I could totally relate to Natalie and her lack of any experience in the great outdoors. But I felt that to be 19 years old and to be trying to help her situation by going on this competition was so brave, especially with anxiety and without any support system at home except for her friends. Meeting handsome, grumpy, Finn is her savior in this competition. He had it going on with most of the challenges and his outdoor experience saved them for sure. But it was the banter between them and their communication that really made me swoon for Finn.


“It’s a kiss that shows everyone else what we already knew—that we won long before we got to the finish line.”

There was no room for anything but good vibes inside me, while I read this story. It was so full of happiness, desire, attraction, relief, all bubbling together. From them climbing trees, coming face to face with a black bear, crossing a string bridge, it was their ability to bring out the best in each other. If you are a fan of camping or not, you will love this fabulous adventure!
I Loved This!!! Get your copy now!

I received an early copy and this is my honest review!

If you enjoy sweet romances, run now to pick up a copy of WILD ABOUT YOU by KAITLYN HILL!

College students Natalie and Finn are randomly paired as contestants on the reality competition show Wild Adventures. As they hike the Appalachian Trail, they face both elimination challenges and personal demons. With blistered feet and bear spray in hand, Natalie is determined to win the $100,000 prize she desperately needs to pay for school.

Here’s what YOU will win while reading Wild About You:
⛺️Grumpy x Sunshine
⛺️Only one tent
⛺️Dolly Parton references
⛺️Nature puns
⛺️Banter
⛺️Anxiety rep
⛺️Thoughtful reflections on grief

I loved this book. It has the perfect balance of humor and sentimentality, romance and conflict, teasing banter and sweet affection. Natalie and Finn warmed my heart and made me smile. #finnatalie forever!

Wild About You by Kaitlyn Hill is a contemporary young adult romance novel with engaging storyline and relatable characters. The book follows two college students, Natalie Hart and Finn Markum, as they compete on a wilderness survival competition show set on the Appalachian Trail. Here's a brief review and the top 5 reasons to read the book:

Book Review:
The novel has been described as a grumpy-sunshine teen romance where the trail to true love doesn't always come with a map. It features endearing relationship-building between the main characters, charming readers with their dynamic. Also, we have such amazing supporting characters and I loved the group they formed.

Some humor in the book may feel a bit corny, but the themes of overcoming grief, understanding mental health challenges, and believing in one's self-worth propel the story forward.

Top 5 Reasons to Read 'Wild About You':
1. Relatable Protagonist: Natalie Hart is loud, unfiltered, and unapologetically herself, making her a character many readers can resonate with.

2. Dynamic Relationship: The friction and flirtation between Natalie and Finn provide an entertaining read as they navigate their partnership in the wilderness.

3. Important Themes: The book touches on significant issues such as anxiety, grief, and self-worth, offering depth beyond the romance.

4. Adventure and Competition: The wilderness survival competition provides an exciting backdrop for the story, adding an element of adventure.

5. Humor and Heart: Despite some corny jokes, the novel is filled with moments that will make you laugh and tug at your heartstrings.

Overall, Wild About You is a heartwarming read that combines romance, personal growth, and adventure, making it a compelling addition to the young adult genre.

Favorite Quotes:

~ You’re not going to find it because you’ve got the feelings fog clouding your vision. It’s hard to see through, makes everything blurry, then the problem is so much worse. So let’s close our eyes…
and we’ll take a big, deep breath, one …two …three …four …
And let out the feelings fog, one … two … three … four. One more time, okay? One … two …

~ Grieving also requires us to go full survival mode sometimes.

~ “I didn’t know you were a romance reader too!”“Of course,” she says. “All the bad bitches are.”

This is one I was excited to read, I had wanted to read another book by this author, and this was perfect with some of the other “survivor” type of books I’d been reading at this same time. When I started, at first I was unsure if I would be able to connect to Natalie as she talked about bringing all her makeup with her. However her insecurities and the way she kind of babbled when she was nervous at times did remind me so much of myself that I quickly connected with the rest of her. Also Finn at first seemed like someone I might not be able to get to like as his dislike of her seemed a little over the top at first.

The author turned it all around though as the two of them had such hilarious banter and we were soon given a new enemy named Alli, or Enemi as Natalie called her in her head. As the adventure progressed along the Appalachian Trail, we got to know more and more about both Natalie and Finn, and the enemies to lovers romance trope was completely perfectly done. The different tasks they had to compete in were so much fun, so original at times, and some so hard I know I could not have done them! The other contestants also either grew on me as I read, or the enemy status was cemented again and again.

I love how the author showed the growth of Natalie through the trip, and how her growth not only affected Finn, but how he was a big part of her learning more about herself and being able to accept things she’d panicked over before. The relationship between the two and how it developed was so realistic in my opinion. Not just perfect all of a sudden everything is okay. So many more awkward moments, I mean they’re hiking in the wilderness for goodness sake. But also a lot of sweet moments that totally won me completely over to Finn by the end. I mean at one point he had one of the best lines: “I accept your lack of apology.” He knew how to deal with Natalie’s dramatic personality, and give the sarcasm and snark right back, in a good way!

The ending of the competition was so satisfying, even with its ups and downs. And I like that while some problems may have been solved or at least figured out how to deal with, it wasn’t like all of a sudden Natalie’s whole life was perfect. Her anxiety was still there, she’d just learned that she had to deal with it and ask for help. She still didn’t have the perfect parents. And she had to figure out a long distance relationship. But hey, she did figure out how to handle a black bear, and oh my gosh, that was one of my favorite parts of the story!

I hope to read more by this author in the future, and really hope I get a chance to go back and at least read the one I wanted to before, Love From Scratch.

Wild About You is a cutie cute rom com that follows Natalie Hart as she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime (in desperation to stay out of student loan debt, which like, what a mood). She takes a shot at winning scholarship money on a popular nature survival show called Wild Adventures, where she is paired up with the very quiet, very grumpy (extremely handsome) Finn, who immediately seems to hate her. Can they survive Wild Adventures to keep Natalie out of student loan debt?? 🤭🤭🤭

Okay, I truly love a book with a rom-adventure vibe, and this absolutely scratched that itch for me!! I found this to be such a fun mix of funny and sweet. There was great banter, and I loved the characters. Absolutely recommend!

This was just okay for me. I felt like it moved achingly slow. I understand the reason why with all the challenges but it was very slow in the middle. The romance was also missing some chemistry and good banter. I liked all of the characters though. I thought the storyline was unique and interesting too. I'm in the minority but this was just okay.

3.5 rounded to four

I liked the writing and I loved the heroine, but the whole reality game show frame made it difficult to read except in spurts--it felt forced, and I kept paving to put the book down. Will try more by this author!

Meh this was average. Nothing special. It had some solid points but nothing to run home to mama about.

I enjoyed reading Wild About You by Kaitlyn Hill. . You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

Natalie Hart is determined to win the scholarship prize money... but in order to do that she'll have to win the outdoorsy reality tv show with Finn Markum, a grumpy outdoorsy teammate who is the exact opposite of her... can she survive the great out doors? Natalie Hart is a sunshiny, loud, and talkative theater nerd who lost her merit scholarship and discovers that she has anxiety. Natalie needs the money to go to school and she's already taken out student loans... but she decides to apply to Wild Adventures, a popular outdoorsy reality show. The prize: a $100,000 scholarship prize... but she has to win it with a partner and the person she ends up with is Finn Markum, outdoorsy guy extraordinaire who would rather be eaten by a bear than be her teammate. Natalie is going to need to survive the Appalachian trial and compete against other teams... but with a teammate who is as grumpy as he is outdoorsy, and would rather be partnered up with anyone but her, her chances of winning are slim.... right? The more she gets to know Finn the more she begins to realize that maybe underneath his silent but growly personality is someone who is dealing with his own baggage and reasons for needing to be on this show. The closer they get the closer the end of the show nears... and they'll have to find a way to work together to try and win it all! This was just a really cute and easy read. The story felt like the perfect summer camp read. The romance was sweet and I loved the anxiety and depression representation in this book. Natalie and Finn were fun characters to get to know and their romance was a soft slow burn. It's a fun read and I'd definitely recommend it!

Release Date: May 21,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Romance for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Like I said I really enjoyed the past books from this author and one was no different! She is able to write such good characters and the tension and chemistry between them is so visible. She is so good at enemies to lovers that you can feel the hate between them but then instantly feel the switch when it happens. I really liked the reality show plot. I do enjoy watching a reality show here and there so this was super fun to read! Natalie and Finn were the perfect team and their grumpy and sunshine personalities worked really well for the plot. The setting is perfect and will definitely be a great summer book, especially for campers!! Loved this one! Can’t wait to see what she writes next!

The story follows Natalie Hart, a college student who has recently been diagnosed with anxiety, on a reality television show along the Appalachian Trail. Enter Finn Markum, her "randomly assigned, capital-O Outdoorsy teammate whose growl could rival a black bear."

This YA rom-com was funny and super sweet. As someone who also has anxiety and depression, I loved seeing that representation here (a perfect read for #MentalHealthAwarnessMonth). I am also an avid hiker who lives near and has hiked a lot of the Appalachian Trial myself! (I'm not a thru hiker by any means, but I've done a LOT of hiking in Shenandoah National Park, which a big section of the trail runs through, in addition to hiking a few others sections).

I don't normally read a ton of non-queer contemporary YA, but this one hit a sweet spot for me with the mental health rep and focus on one of my other favorite hobbies. And I really did find it quite funny!

If this sounds like a book you might like, I highly recommend giving it a go!

I enjoyed this book so much.

Thoughts💡
The grumpy sunshine trope was strong in this one with an extremely peppy MC who happened to be a total theater nerd. She wasn’t an outdoorsy person though, which made competing in a tv show, very similar to Survivor and Endurance, extremely tense.In fact there were a lot of scenes in this book that brought back memories of the Discovery Kids show for me.
Luckily Natalie’s love interest, Finn, was a hiker and nature enthusiast. He had hopes to win the competition so he wasn’t happy with his assigned partner. He also had a reason to be grumpy but it took him a while to open up about it; and his issues often caused him to overlook the creative ingenuity his partner displayed in order to win a challenge. Which caused all sorts of internal drama for our girl Nat.
Nat continually battled her inferiority complex and crippling anxiety which all created a very dramatic cycle. One that didn’t let up because they had to share resources, including a tent, and rely on one another to get through all the difficult challenges. Forcing this grumpy sunshine duo together long enough for sparks to ignite.
Overall I thought the author was funny and created a beautiful story that pulled on my heartstrings. The narrator had impeccable delivery and timing with just the right tones and inflections as she was reading.

So why read it?
☝🏻 It’s a steamy grumpy sunshine with an Amazing Race in the woods reality showmance.
✌🏻 As a girl from the Appalachia region, I loved all the little tid bits and history facts that were incorporated into the story in entertaining ways.
🫰🏻 It’s a Love from Scratch spin-off that you can read as a standalone.
🤌🏻 Somehow the only one tent trope turns into only one sleeping-bag.
🖐🏻 The theater nerd MC learns to embrace the outdoors and channel her inner bad ass.

Stats 📊
Characters 💙💙💙💙💙
Audio & Narrator 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
YA Romance: showmance, coming of age, grumpy sunshine, close proximity, only one bed, grief, hurt & comfort 📕
First Person, Present Tense, Single POV

Wild About You is an entertaining and emotional YA romance by Caitlyn Hill. This fun opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine love story takes place on the Appalachian Trail, which is such a fantastic backdrop for the story. Natalie, desperate for the prize money but not experienced in the wilderness, is a contestant on a reality show and is partnered with Finn, a grumpy but more experienced player.

Natalie and Finn are opposites in many ways, but they work together so well. I love how both characters learn so much about themselves and each other on the trip and how their physical journey parallels their emotional journeys. I thought Natalie was a great protagonist, and so easy to like. She's bubbly, chatty, and funny, and she's totally clueless about camping, which is comical since she's on a reality show that takes place outdoors. Finn is great, too. The grump to Natalie's sunshine, Finn is much more experienced with camping, and though the pair is initially unhappy to be put together, they slowly begin to break down walls.

Natalie and Finn have such a sweet love story, and I think they grow closer because of their forced proximity. Added to that, both are grieving the loss of loved ones. I like how they open up to each other and grow closer and how their relationship grows into friendship and then something more. Their story is sweet and funny and emotional, and the banter between them was so fun!

Something else I really like is the realistic and relatable portrayal of the physical and emotional struggles Natalie goes through. Though she is the sunshine to Finn's grump, we learn quickly that the sunshine and grumpiness mask deeper feelings, and Natalie is struggling with a recent anxiety diagnosis. I totally related to her feelings and the obstacles she faced, especially as she dealt with the loss of a loved one. Both characters have suffered significant losses, and that, combined with other obstacles, makes them easy to relate to.

I would definitely recommend this read to people who like fun and emotional YA contemporary romance with quirky characters and an awe-inspiring setting. Special thanks to TBR & Beyond Tours for having me on the tour today. All thoughts are my own.

Reality Game Show themes in books seems to be the trend lately. This book was hard to get through and I did not really love the characters. It would be a decent read for a young adult but not so much for adults.

Kaitlyn Hill has done it again. She always writes the cutest romances and I am obsessed. Nat and Finn are adorable and I loved seeing them bond. Finn opening up about his dad and why he was such an ass at the start was a really good moment. Finn encouraging Nat every step of the way and letting her know that she could do it was everything.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This is such a fun YA Romance, set on the Appalachian Trail where an unlikely pair find themselves teamed up for a reality show and a chance to win life-changing prize money.

The grumpy/sunshine trope is always a fun one, and the story is lighthearted and funny. It does touch on anxiety and grief in a thoughtful way without feeling too heavy..

Overall a really cute YA rom com & a fun summer read!