I absolutely loved this book! It was the perfect escape that truly encapsulates the magic of reading by getting to visit wonderful places without leaving the comfort of your own home. Needless to say, I devoured this book in one sitting.

Although some of the locations around the world weren't absolutely necessary to the plot (and as a result were just glazed over), the cities we visit in depth are so fun to read about. Everhart's writing and setting descriptions are stunning, Dylan's voice is so captivating, and the rest of the cast brings so much vibrancy to the pages. I couldn't help falling in love with Dylan, Jack, and of course Gwen (because who doesn't love spunky best friends?)! Both characters exhibited such great growth as a result of being together and leaning on each other, which was so heartwarming to read.

The feminist message is so empowering, well-written, and necessary for women to read in the aftermath of the overturning of that pivotal court case recently (which I won't mention the name of because of spoilers). The discussions of these heavy topics were handled very well, and for that, I truly commend the author.

Overall, this was a very refreshing and quick read to anyone who wants to take a quick trip around the world in under a few hours. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC!

Talk about Wanderlust! This book gave me a serious want to travel. I loved that this covered a little bit of everything- work woes, family issues, abortion, travel, romance. What a fantastic debut novel.

The story follows Dylan Coughlan, a lucky magazine writer who wins a radio station's once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. The only catch is her travel partner has to be randomly selected in her phone. Drumroll, please ... she will be traveling with ... Jack the Posho ... a guy she met at a club and accidentally ghosted.

The premise was interesting enough however, I felt the story focused on the wrong details. There weren't enough descriptions about the places, nor did they capture the excitement of traveling the world. The book is called Wanderlust, but it did not portray Dylan or Jack with a strong desire to travel. Dylan and Jack banter is okay, but Dylan constantly goes overboard and becomes cruel. Even learning about her backstory didn't help me understand her as a character. Jack developed throughout the story, but I felt like Dylan's character development was rushed towards the end and was not believable.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM for sharing this digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

It’s mistitled. It’s not about wanderlust. It’s about a woman winning a trip and being forced to travel to secure her job. Wanderlust is a state of mind and totally missing in this story. Honestly, she lost me completely when she tried to call chivalry sexism. Soooo ridiculous.

This book is an alluring combination of "The Unhoneymooners" and "People We Met on Vacation and "Layover"," with hints of enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity tropes.

Dylan Coughlan is the luckiest person who wins a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world by calling a radio station, but her reward comes with a catch: she must take this trip with a person randomly selected from her phone contacts. That person turns out to be the man she met in a bar and ghosted her afterward, whom she calls "Jack the Posho."

There are many things I enjoyed about this premise, starting with the characters' witty banter, palpable chemistry, and the descriptions of the places they visit. However, I was a little disappointed that even though the book is advertised as focusing on the main character's ghosting incident, there wasn't much discussion or explanation about why Jack did it. Dylan keeps calling him "posh," but there are not many clues about his manners or appearance to support her point.

The other thing that bothered me was Dylan's cruelty in wanting to avenge Jack for not contacting her. It took me a while to connect with her character because her meanness tone seemed exaggerated. It felt like a one-sided enemies-to-lovers trope, where the only one attacking the other was the heroine, as Jack was clearly reluctant to go on this vacation from the beginning.

Overall, the positive aspects of the book outweighed my criticisms, and I decided to round up my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. It's an entertaining, feel-good, self-growth novel, and a great choice for a beach read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM / G. P. Putnam's Sons for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

I don't think it was that bad, just not for me. A half-baked romance with a plot that relies too much on social media, and not even in consistently interesting or realistic ways. 2.5 stars.

This book made me want to pack a bag and travel the world. I really enjoyed the premise. The characters had good depth and their stories were unique, but relatable. The experiences Dylan and Jack had throughout their travels sounded fun, but I wish the story had included more of their adventures together. There is a lot of time spent talking about posting to instagram and dealing with internet trolls. While these are important to the story, it started to get repetitive.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (one scene without a lot of detail, can easily be skipped if that’s not your jam)
I was provided an advanced copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WOW what an insufferable main character. She’s so rude to Jack for the majority of the book. Jack might be on the blunt side, but he’s not outright rude to her the way she is to him. I felt very disconnected from this story because I didn’t care about the character who was doing the telling. I really didn’t have anything to root for, so it was very difficult to get through the book.

Thank you netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read this book. This was a cute inspiring story! I really liked that I felt the chemistry in the beginning but it did start to fizzle out for me as time went on. I felt like the romance was sweet but I wasn’t in love with them as a couple. I really enjoyed reading about two people coming together and giving each other the courage to go after their dreams. It was really interesting to see the growth the characters had throughout the book.

Great book and so enjoyable to read. Perfect light story to enjoy poolside or at the beach. I loved the main character. She was so well done.

Wanderlust follows Dylan who enters a radio contest and wins. The contest is an all expense paid trip around the world. But there is just one catch, the radio station will choose a person at random from her contacts to go with her. The person that gets picked is someone named Jack. Jack is the person that Dylan accidently ghosted. The two go on the trip together and it seems like Jack doesn't want to be there. However, as the trip goes on Dylan and Jack end up liking each other.

This book had similar vibes to People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. I liked this book. But I wish it was just a little more unique and not similar to other books I have read. I thought the writing was good. I enjoyed the overall story. I thought it was a good romance book. I am not a fan of forced proximity romance books though. So this one did miss the mark for me a little bit. I do not think I will go back and reread this one though. But I would suggest it.

Thank you Elle Everhart, Putnam Sons, and Netgalley for this ARC.

I stopped reading it about a third of the way through. I was interested in the concept at first, but I lost interest. Cannot really pinpoint why, but I might try reading it again someday, I got distracted while I was reading it and that might have made me lost interest.

I really enjoyed this! As someone who never deletes their contacts, I would probably never go on the adventure of a lifetime that Dylan and Jack go on in this story, so I loved traveling around the world with them for a bit through this book.

Although I think this is already a really solid enemies to lovers romcom, I would have loved a dual POV in this story so that I could have learned a little bit more about Jack and his feelings throughout their journey around the world. I loved the little glimpses we got of his personality, but it was more about his personality in relation to Dylan than him as an individual. I would have also selfishly loved to hear more about the places that they visited together, because I feel they both grew as people in each of these locations.

Overall, I thought this was really great! I loved that it wasn't afraid to tackle big issues while also remaining a pleasant escape for readers. I can't wait to see what Elle Everhart comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC!

Wanderlust felt like a fresh and modernized take on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days".

Dylan is a passionate but uninspired writer for a popular magazine and website called Buxom, and Jack is a stuffy lawyer who has had his entire life mapped out for him by his parents.

When Dylan wins a radio contest that allows her to travel all over the world, with the caveat of having to take a random contact that's in her phone, she quickly hops on it. She couldn't be more excited, until the radio station calls a random contact in her phone labeled as "Jack the Posho", whom she has no recollection of. When the radio station calls Jack, he very much does remember Dylan, and the fact that after a steamy night at the club, she ghosted him. In spite of that, and much to her surprise, he agrees to go on the trip with Dylan.

Watching Jack slowly come out of his shell and open himself up to Dylan was so sweet, and their slow burn, enemies to lovers relationship was very endearing. I really enjoyed watching them both find themselves along the way of their travels, and in turn, finding each other as well.

I would have loved to have seen a bit more interaction between Jack and his sister, Charlie, to help him feel a little more fleshed out and fully realized, but even so, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely find myself reaching for it again!

The premise of this book! Win a free trip around the world, but you have to go with a random contact from your phone? Irresistible. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Dylan and Jack — both the awkwardness between them at the start of their trip, then the way their relationship deepened over time. There was fun chemistry here, but also well-handled family issues and an interesting exploration of social media exploitation. I appreciated both the depth and the lighter moments. Time to go play contact list roulette with my own phone to see who the fates would send me around the world with…

Wanderlust is a stellar second-chance romance about a writer at a popular online magazine winning a radio-sponsored once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world with a randomly selected contact in her phone, who ends up being a rigid, posh lawyer she kissed at a club months prior and she never called back.

This is every bit of the People We Meet On Vacation and The Unhoneymooners blend the blurb promises. It's a romance with depth (two characters with rich, slowly developing backstories and a lot to lose, much like an Emily Henry novel) with two kinda friends/kinda strangers going on a fully-paid vacation together (The Unhoneymooners) but the MMC is in love with the FMC, who is totally oblivious and perceives his awkwardness about feelings as total disdain for her. (PWMOV)

But there's also: a queer FMC whose op-ed piece about healthcare rights and a personal story about abortion goes infamously viral and lands her in hot water for months with her boss, who now demands she write a series about her trip and manipulate readers into believing it's a one-night stand turned second-chance romance despite the fact they never actually hooked up and they're fighting to keep this trip platonic. The FMC is torn between keeping the enigmatic, incredibly sweet MMC's strong preference to stay anonymous online after a social media-related incident destroyed his career and the promise of a new career-launching column she's been dreaming of but will only get if the series does incredibly well.

Wanderlust hits all the points for my perfect romance: likeable MC's with solid character development, believable chemistry, natural conflict, strong pacing, and an attractive plot. Although there's a miscommunication/withholding information trope here and the writing style is a tiny bit too dry for me, it's still well-written and I really enjoyed this one.

4.5 / 5

Thank you Penguin Group / Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Pub date: July 4, 2023

A very strong debut from Elle Everhart! Like many romance novels, the premise required some suspension of disbelief, because I have a hard time imagining a woman just agreeing to go on a trip around the world with a man she doesn’t know, especially given the serial killer vibes Jack was giving off at the beginning of the book. But it’s fiction, so hey, go for it!

Once the trip was underway, I loved Dylan and Jack’s chemistry! Definite odd couple vibes reminiscent of People We Meet on Vacation, but the story was obviously very different from that one.

I think Everhart has a very confident, approachable writing style, and I was honestly surprised this was a debut. She described each of the locations very vividly, which is all the more impressive considering this book was a literal trip around the world. With so many locations, the book could easily have dragged on or felt rushed, but the pacing struck just the right balance.

If I had to quibble—I found it a little weird that Jack and Dylan never really addressed her ghosting him. I thought it would be a bigger deal based on the promotional materials, but it kind of got glossed over. That’s totally fine—it really wasn’t the point of the book—but it felt like something was missing there.

Still five star from me!

3.5 stars rounded up

I will always be up for a rom com that has the added element of travel, especially when it's the dead of winter and I need to live vicariously through fiction. Wanderlust takes you on an unlikely adventure with Dylan and Jack around the world. Although Dylan has literally met Jack once and spent a few hours with him and just happens to be her polar opposite.

What I loved:
- Wanderlust is a total escape!
- This may be Elle's debut, but it was incredible for a debut!
- While I didn't love Dylan at the beginning (I found her to be a bit self-absorbed), I loved her character growth and ended up really enjoying her by the end!
- I could feel the chemistry between Dylan and Jack and really enjoyed it. I love the support they gave each other and they felt like real people.

If you're looking for an escapist rom com, give this one a try!

A massive thank you to NetGalley, Elle Everhart and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this ARC!

What a solid debut by @elleeverhart! Thanks to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this ARC of "Wanderlust" in return for an honest review.

4/5⭐
I love to travel and the title immediately caught my eye. Dylan and Jack go on an around-the-world trip courtesy of a local London radio show. It's a bit awkward at first since their only history is a snog at a club months back and Dylan couldn't even place who"Jack the Posho" was on her phone.

I initially thought it might be a light-hearted rom-com for the potential hijinks one can get into while traveling but this book has so much heart and gets into some serious topics, such as cyber bullying, doxxing, consent, abortion, and lack of parental support. It caught me my surprise but in a good way. I love when there's depth to romances.

Everhart does a great job developing the characters and providing their backstories so you know who they are and why they react in certain ways. The only aspect I wish was explored further was Dylan's bisexuality. It was almost a non-factor in the plot. Otherwise, a solid story.

Wanderlust by Elle Everhart was such a fun and sweet rom-com!
And for this to be her romance debut she killed it.

I loved the connection. And the characters were just so much fun.
The writing was engaging and delightful.
The banter was great… And the romance was fabulous. I couldn't have picked a better book to devour.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.