This was a fun read! I loved the idea of an adventure show, and the different challenges the characters worked through revealed their personality in a realistic way. I thought Natalie was a really witty character!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to Kaitlyn Hill, Delacorte Romance, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, the cover instantly grabbed my attention.

Second, this was so good. I loved Natalie. She made me laugh more than once. Finn my growly man. The perfect book boyfriend.

Some of my favorite quotes:

”I feel lucky that by random chance, I could do this with him by my side. Falling for Finn was the easiest part of wild adventures. I didn’t even have to try, and I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to.”

"The more I learn about you, the more I find myself wanting to know everything."

"I hope it's not over for a long time."

I loved this!! I’m not normally a YA kinda gal but this was so fun and had me all kinds of giddy!! As an anxious girly myself I can very much relate to the things that Natalie was feeling throughout her time in the book! That feeling of never being good enough or constantly overthinking everything that someone says..it’s exhausting and the author did such a great job of portraying the very excruciating details of said overthinking in Natalie’s dialogue. And Finn?!? Come on. I kept picturing Chris Pine type of human for sure. Anyway loved how much I laughed along with the characters and story and cried at their vulnerability. It felt like I was really watching a tv show and fell in love with all the characters..minus Enemi LOL.

**Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!!**

Kaitlyn's books just getting better and better! This one is the perfect summery, outdoorsy, swoony, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity trope where the heroine, Natalie Hart, is desperate for college money after having an anxiety-induced, less-than-stellar first year and has lost her merit scholarship. Desperate for a way to pay, she signs up for a seemingly out-of-her-comfort zone reality-based partner competition that involves hiking the Appalachian Trail. There, she meets her partner Finn Markham, a grumpy, surly outdoorsman who is not impressed with her theatrical skills, nor her face-care regimen. However, as they embark on their journey, they both discover they have deeper parts of themselves than their outsides reveal.

This one has what I love in YA romance--fabulously crafted banter, situational comedy, found family, and deep emotional discovery as both Finn and Natalie are dealing with complex issues like grief over lost loved ones, anxiety, and panic attacks. The Wild Adventure's competition creates lots of challenges that lend themselves to comedy, and I laughed out loud so many times at Nantalie's one-liners and her encounter with a bear is just...chef's kiss! This one made me laugh, gave me butterflies, and had me rooting for Natalie's development as a hiker and a camper who can best the competition even with her face masks and lip balm, all while strengthening her bond and connection with Finn. Strong language and mature situations make this a better fit for older readers, but it's still closed-door and suitable for high school YA collections.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Romance for the eArc.

I did not realize this book was connected to other books by this author, but I read it as a stand alone and completely understood everything. This book took me some time to get into, and to get a connection with the characters, but that also plays into what it feels like when you have anxitety. Finn & Natalie have that opposites attract type of friendship, she is the sunshine & he is a grumpy grouch. I also didn’t realize this was a YA book when I requested it, didn’t look at the category very well, but it was still very entertaining for older adults.

I loved this one so much! Grumpy to sunshine is definitely one of my favorite tropes, and this was done so, SO well.

Natalie is competing in a outdoor reality competition, hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail and completing challenges along the way. The prize - a $100,000 scholarship, is sorely needed after Natalie's poor grades led to her losing her funding. Her parents aren't at all supportive of her college goals, and are ready for her to come back to reality and life at their ranch.

Natalie is determined to do well, with her charm and wit, and 20-step skin care routine. Her randomly assigned partner, Finn, is not impressed with her approach. He takes hiking and all the outdoor skills that come with it seriously, and Natalie's bubbly personality grates at his reserved demeanor.

When Natalie can finally get Finn talking, their banter had me laughing out loud, and sharing quotes with friends and family. Everything is not as easy as it might seem, though I would mark this as a "lighthearted" book. Issues are dealt with regarding panic attacks, anxiety, and grief over the loss of a loved one.

All in all, absolutely would recommend. As soon as it's out, I'm planning a book store trip to pick up my own copy, because this will have to be read again.

I've previously read "Not Here to Stay Friends" by the same author, a novel which I very much enjoyed. This one, though I didn't love. Try as hard as I might, I couldn't bring myself to be interested in the story, which I found very slow paced. Could be just because of me not liking the book at the time I read it, but I do think the writing style wasn't great in this work of Hill's. There's definitely an audience for this book out there, just not meant for me.

Natalie Hart desperately needs money to pay her college tuition, so the theatre major submits her name for the reality TV series Wild Adventures. When she gets selected for the show, her need to win might be thwarted by her surly partner Finn. Natalie keeps up with her skincare routine and applies makeup dutifully every morning before filming begins, much to Finn's chagrin.

Finn is the target demographic for a show like this, and camping novice Natalie frustrates him to no end. But they begin to connect after discovering that they both packed the same non-essential item -- a Kindle. Sharing reading recommendations proves to be a great bonding experience for the partners, and their successes in the competition bring them closer together.

Their forced proximity and the high stakes competition is a baptism by fire for their bodies and their emotions. Recommended for readers of contemporary romance, especially the premise of hiking the Appalachian Trail is intriguing to said reader.

Representation: single parent with disability

Really cute story and I love the Survivor/Reality TV angle. I love the FMC, she's very vibrant and likable as a character and I was rooting her right from the start. I also liked that she understood how to play the game and played to the camera. It gives the book a feeling of breaking the 4th wall, similarly to the latest season of the Kardashians where they share a lot more about the behind the scenes of filming a show, which I find fascinating.

The only hangup for me was that I never quite understood why the MMC didn't like the FMC and was so cold and rude to her. I feel like having more info about him or getting his perspective for a chapter here and there would've helped round out his character. Without that, it made it difficult to believe that they could turn things around so much for that happy ending. And, because he's so quiet and standoffish, it doesn't give the reader any opportunity to connect with him.

The cover of this book is great. The story line failed to hook me though. It was slow and I didn't feel like there was enough tension. The characters are nice and it probably would have been a great movie or tv series, however, reading it was a little rough and I almost dnf unfortunately

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC! I'd give it 3.5 stars. The romance between Finn and Natalie had its strengths, particularly with a well-written, believable reality TV setting and engaging outdoor challenges. Natalie’s humor and Finn’s positive character development were highlights and the diverse cast was realistic and likable.

However, the abrupt transition from dislike to romance felt unconvincing, and Finn sometimes seemed unrealistically perfect. Despite these issues, the story was cute and clean in terms of the overall storyline, language, and romance.

I was very bored with this book. I feel like the aspect of them outdoors on this game show was a very unique storyline that I enjoyed. I 120% believe that if you want to do the grumpy/sunshine trope then you HAVE to have dual POV or else it makes the MMC just look insufferable and a jerk. I could not come around to liking him because he was too grumpy. Natalie was also a mess and very annoying to me. I did not care for her character at all. Finn and Natalie really lacked the depth for me to really root for the both of them. I feel like the cover of this book is very cute but the contents in it definitely need some work.

3.5 Stars

This was such a fun and sweet romance. I loved that Natalie and Finn were partners on a reality TV outdoor adventure show. I enjoyed the competitiveness of Natalie and how she was unapologetically herself. Initially Finn was quiet and grumpy but by the end he came out of his shell and was the sweetest. Their relationship was realistic and gradual but I was rooting for their relationship and for them to win the competition. If you’re looking you a light hearted romance with a little bit of adventure, check this one out.

I am pretty sure this was my first book by this author. I loved the cover and the blurb definitely made me want to pick this one up!

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Natalie Hart. She has made it onto a reality show all about outdoors survival. She really isn’t that type of girl either and the contestants are ruthless when it comes to who they team up with and who they will be friends with. Some were just rude from the get-go and I didn’t understand why, but I guess that is what happens during a competition.

Natalie was a good character. She did her best to win people over, like Finn, and wanted the world to see her for who she was. I liked her little bits with the camera and recording herself. The relationship between her and Finn was fine, but I feel like the enemies-to-lovers was pushed too much. I also didn’t feel the sparks between them, but at least there was cute moments between them!

One of my favorite parts of the book was the setting. I don’t live too far from the Smokey Mountains and it was cool to imagine it all happening.

Overall, this was a good book. I enjoyed the setting and seeing what would happen next with the reality show!

This book was cute but felt a bit too young and immature for me - definitely more of a YA novel. I liked Natalie for the most part but her dialogue tended to get a bit annoying for me. I also felt like there was a complete black and white switch in Finn pretty quick which I wish was given more time to develop. I really liked the premise of the book but it didn’t come through for me like I hoped it would.

This was a cute coming of age romance! A great anxiety rep as well as processing grief! The adventure in this book is also a great, think amazing race for college kids!

This was a cute YA contemporary romance! I’m a big fan of the tv show, Amazing Race! I’m also a big fan of hiking and the Great Smokey Mountains! So, this really was the perfect book for me.

I loved all of the different competitions. It was a little repetitive at times, but didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. I enjoyed all of the nature references. I really felt like I was there in the woods. The bear made it even more real.

Finn and Natalia were two very complicated people, but I enjoyed how they worked together. There is a fair about of assumptions being made and miscommunication between the two, but they are young so it makes sense. The way they came together in the end was especially sweet.

Read if you like:
💕 Grumpy/Sunshine
💕 Anxiety Rep
💕 Reality Shows
💕 Outdoor Settings

This book was really cute and the wilderness setting was honestly done really well.

I wish I would've liked it more but the thing that its keeping me from giving it a higher rating is that I didn't fall super in love with the characters. Other than that the book was well done but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Please do not let my review deter you from reading this book. There are a lot of people that will love this book but it just didn't click with me

Thank you netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book!!

this was my first read by Kaitlyn and it most definitely will not be my last…as I’m kind of obsessed now 🤭 im a sucker for YA romance because they’re typically fun and lovey-dovey, if you will, and this one delivered for me!!

i really admire the fact that there were both an anxiety and grief rep, as both hit close to home in a good way 💓 Natalie and Finn were so funny and great together; this was a cute read overall!

Cute, YA romance. I enjoyed it, but I found Natalie annoying as can be at the beginning. She gets more tolerable, but ultimately doesn’t all the way redeem herself. I wish it had been a dual perspective book, as I’d have liked to get Finn’s perspective on all the situations.