Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America–the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria’s a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan’s a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they’ve got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can’t run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Hubbard has once again written another mesmerizing contemporary novel that I felt the need to stay up all night and finish. I was honestly a bit unsure from the synopsis, but I love Wanderlove.

Bria has lived a pretty strict and sheltered life. Bria has just had a bad break-up. She’s pretty much thrown away her only passion – art. To get away and prove a point, she goes on a trip to Central America. She thinks her tour group is for teens, instead she gets stuck with middle-aged tourists. Determined to make the best of it, she sneaks away to do some exploring and runs into Rowan. She ends up setting off with Rowan and his sister.

I LOVE Rowan and Starling. I would love to get a prequel to Wanderlove to explain their personalities a bit more. They each spend a lot of time working and backpacking around Central America. I’m completely drawn into this world. I’m probably one of the few people who has never considered backpacking anywhere. I guess, I’ve always really considered backpacking too close to camping. (I have a major aversion to camping. I always get rained on. About the time I fall asleep, but that’s another story.) I have always wanted to go explore some of these countries though. The thought of breaking away and exploring Mayan villages, islands, and all of the other goodies Bria sees, I’m intrigued.

Hubbard is one of those authors whose writing is, simply put, beautiful. Her characters in Wanderlove are so multi-dimensional. Throughout the book we witness them each grow in different ways. Her description and details aren’t overdone, but make you feel like you are really there in Guatemala.

I received Wanderlove from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

 


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