Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession...or much money in the bank. But Lily is resourceful, and now uses Duke's coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn't leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness and leave him there.
Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they'd barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it's never going to happen.
But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn't a gimmick after all. There's a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke's past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they'll risk their lives and hearts on the treasure hunt of a lifetime.
This page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take you on one wild ride.
Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession...or much money in the bank. But Lily is resourceful, and now uses Duke's coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn't leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness and leave him there.
Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they'd barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it's never going to happen.
But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn't a gimmick after all. There's a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke's past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they'll risk their lives and hearts on the treasure hunt of a lifetime.
This page-turning adventure full of second chances, complicated relationships, and the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest will take you on one wild ride.
Critiques-
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December 1, 2021
In Andrews's latest, widowed Hattie Kavanaugh has a chance to rescue her business by appearing in a beach-house renovation reality show called The Homewreckers, competing with a male lead who could be a new love interest--or her worst competitor ever (300,000-copy first printing). In debuter Ca�a's A Proposal They Can't Refuse, Kamilah Vega wants to update her family's Puerto Rican restaurant but can't get permission from her ailing octogenarian grandfather unless she marries his best friend's son, Irish American whiskey distiller Liam (75,000-copy first printing). In Colgan's Island Wedding, Flora MacKenzie is planning a sweet, small wedding on the Scottish island of Mure when she learns that rich, gorgeous Olivia is returning home to Mure for her own extravaganza wedding--planned for the same day (100,000-copy paperback and 30,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Foster's The Honeymoon Cottage, Jubil Long isn't thrilled that the little sister he's cared for since their parents' deaths wants an out-of-the-way country wedding, but then he meets wedding planner Yardley Belanger, who wishes she could have her own wedding one day (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). Lauren's Something Wilder takes Lily Wilder to the Utah desert, where she uses her difficult treasure-hunting dad's old maps to conduct staged hunts and encounters the one man from the past who always saw her as the love of his life (100,00-copy first printing). A thief since childhood, when he scrambled to support a mother dying of cancer, the ever-honorable Harry Booth feels he can't follow up his feelings for Miranda Emerson--although maybe there's hope if he disentangles himself from the Nightwork he's been trapped into doing for bad-guy Carter LaPorte. This latest from Roberts has a million-copy first printing.
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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March 7, 2022
The bestselling author duo of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, writing as Lauren (The Unhoneymooners), returns with an unexpectedly dramatic contemporary romance. Lily Wilder was just 19 when she fell for Leo Grady, a college boy working on her father’s Wyoming ranch for the summer. Then came the terrible week when Leo abandoned her and her notorious treasure hunter father abruptly sold the ranch that Lily loved. Ten years later, Lily has rebuilt her life, using her late father’s notes and reputation to create a tourist expedition company leading city slickers on fake treasure hunts through the Utah wilderness. The business is barely breaking even when Leo turns up with three friends for a guys’ weekend, shocking them both. Despite long-held feeling of betrayal on both sides, their old chemistry is strong as ever, and when the treasure hunt they’re on turns out to be all too real, it will take Leo’s puzzle solving skills and Lily’s knowledge of the terrain to find the booty—but they’re not the only ones searching. The tone veers from lighthearted rom-com to high octane romantic suspense as the danger ramps up and Lauren packs the plot with quirky characters, vivid scenery, and sizzling sexual tension. This tense, poignant romance is another sure hit for Lauren. Agent: Holly Root, Root Agency. -
Starred review from April 1, 2022
Writing duo Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs (The Soulmate Equation, 2021) strike gold again in this thrilling contemporary romance set in Utah's Canyonlands National Park. Duke Wilder was a famous treasure-hunter obsessed with finding the cache allegedly hidden by clever bank robber Butch Cassidy. Duke's daughter, Lily, gave up on finding the treasure long ago. Instead, she uses her late father's cryptic maps and journal to guide city slickers on outlaw-trail tours. When her past love, Leo Grady, returns after 10 years as part of a guys' good-fun vacation, it throws her world into disarray. Leo fell for Lily the summer he worked on Wilder Ranch, but a family tragedy pulled him back to New York. Despite their deep connection, they lost touch. Now Leo finds that their love is still strong, but his brocation turns deadly serious when one of the guys reveals his criminal intentions. It's a race against time and nature's deadly traps to find the treasure before Leo and Lily lose their last shot at a happily-ever-after. Equal parts exhilarating puzzle-filled adventure and steamy second-chance romance, this cinematic wild-west rom-com is a must-have.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from March 15, 2022
Former sweethearts team up to find potential treasure in the Utah wilderness--but the only thing more treacherous than the hunt might be their feelings for each other. At the age of 19, Lily Wilder thought she had her future all figured out. She'd take over the ranch owned by her treasure-hunting father, the infamous Duke Wilder, and live there with her boyfriend, Leo Grady. But when Leo left unexpectedly and Duke sold the ranch, Lily's dreams went up in smoke. Now it's 10 years later, Duke is long dead, and all Lily has left of him is his journal full of maps and mysterious clues. She makes ends meet by using his maps to lead tourists on expeditions through the Utah desert. She dreams of buying back her childhood ranch, but she's flat broke and miserable at her monotonous job. That is, until Leo shows up on a guys' trip with his friends, ready to get on a horse and find some treasure. Seeing Leo is the last thing Lily wants, but when their routine trip goes shockingly wrong, Leo and Lily will have to work together if they want to figure out Duke's last clue--and survive. Fans of Lauren, the writing duo known for their delightful rom-coms, may be surprised by this shift into the world of adventure romance. It should be a pleasant surprise, though, given that the story is fast-paced, exciting, and still full of that classic Lauren swoon (in between the danger, occasional violence, and plot twists). Lily and Leo's romance is plenty steamy (there's a scene where they're forced to share a sleeping bag), but the real star is the landscape, which is described in sweltering, dusty detail. A vivid escape that's perfect for romantic thrill-seekers.COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
