Wildbound

5⭐️3🌶

I just finished Wilbound by Aeva Vox.  This was sort of a impulse read.  I'm reading a physical book but had some time but couldn't pull out the physical book.  Since book two is coming out later this month I decided I should bang out book one.  I'm glad I did because it looks like book two is going to start immediately, the last paragraph of Wildbound set it up.  This was fun.  It has fantasy or sci-fi elements but is otherwise contemporary.  This one is quite spicy but I was craving something more spicy.  Everything I've been reading just recently has hovered around a 1🌶 for me.  

Lex is a English professor who's been so focused on her career she hasn't really pursued friendships or hobbies and she's a bit of an introvert.  Ben is the captain of the boat.  He took over his father's fishing business after he died, but the fishing business is struggling so he does whale sighting expeditions on the side.  The whale watching thing is an initiative set up by the university Lex teaches for and she is begrudgingly coming on this trip.  Ben and Lex do not remotely "hit it off".  In fact they rub eachother like sand paper.  A mysterious force sets upon the whale tour and the ship is sucked through a whirlpool to the shore of a tropical island.  Now this haphazard group of essentially stranges has to survive on this island.  Lex goes with Ben to scout up the beach.  They come across a waterfall and go absolutely feral for eachother out of the blue.  Like feral feral.  The island throws a lot at them and Ben especially has to work through his feelings of failure and inadequacy.  He feels responsible for everyone.  But the group of people quickly use their individual skills to survive and thrive on the island.  I loved the comraderie among the group.  Everyone got along and protected eachother.  This felt like a very happy version of Lost without all the pesky drama between people and no one died in this book.  It was just cozy and fun.  There were some really sweet moments too.  I could really identify with Lex in a few ways.  She grew up on a farm and turned 30 while on the island.  Ben, remembered his own 30th birthday being rough and made hers extra special.  I too had a really hard time with 30, more than I did with 40, actually, so I felt really seen in that part of the book.  Overall it was a great little distraction from all the other books I probably should be reading right now, but it was exactly what I needed.  I'm looking forward to the next book.  I'm definitely not ready to leave this mysterious island yet.