Lucy on the Wild Side

„It’s easy to keep things the way they are, to deal with the pain you know instead of opening yourself up to something new – even if that something could rock your world.“ Ever since she was a kid, Lucy Rourke has had one great love in her life – gorillas. Now thirty years old and a primatologist at the local zoo, she has made her dream come true and is even in the running for senior keeper. In short, everything seems to be working out just fine for her. Enter Kai Bridges. The widely known and unreasonably handsome TV personality arrives at the zoo with a film crew to shoot a docuseries over the summer. As if her aversion to being on camera wasn’t bad enough, Kai also seems to be particularly gifted at ruffling Lucy’s feathers... Going into this book, I expected it to be a fun and wholesome read, but it turns out, „Lucy on the Wild Side“ is so much more. I love love love the characters in this book. They are really well-written, fleshed-out and very authentic and I enjoyed them both individually and collectively. Neither Lucy nor Kai have the best relationships with their parents and discovering why and how that’s affected them is really interesting and makes them even more loveable and relatable. The progression of their relationship is amazing and I really appreciate the fact that – even though they frequently butt heads – they are fairly open and honest with each other pretty much from the beginning. Regarding honesty, I have to mention Lucy’s best friends. I adored their friendship and really enjoyed that they offer pep-talks and support as well as reality checks when needed. Usually, I loathe the obligatory conflict near the end of a rom-com, but even that was executed very well in this case. „Lucy on the Wild Side“ is the perfect book for readers who enjoy romantic comedies with depth. The storyline and characters are just great and the unusual setting and focus on wildlife is the cherry on top. Highly recommended!