Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Tourist Attraction was so much fun. I love stories set in vacation destinations and Alaska is a stunning one. The setting was fabulous and at times I totally felt like I was there with Zoey experiencing Alaska for the first time. Alaska’s never been an important destination on my dream list, but it might just be after this book.
Zoey was a fun character. She was so excited to finally be on her dream vacation. I loved that no matter what happened, she tried to make the best of the situation. She was a really positive person and I liked that. But also, she was someone that tried not to make waves and that annoyed me sometimes. She’s in Alaska with her best friend, Lana. I totally didn’t get their friendship. I get that Lana is a larger than life personality, but I would have liked more backstory on their relationship because I really just didn’t get it. I also didn’t really get why Zoey put up with Lana’s friends. I guess it’s really his cousin and the cousin’s friends, but they were jerks and I really don’t understand why Zoey put up with them, or why Lana put up with them. Despite all of this, I still really liked Zoey and Lana. they seem like such an unlikely friendship that I think that’s why it works.
Then there’s Graham. I didn’t love his extreme disdain for the tourists. I think this was hard for me because I come from a place that only survives because of tourism, so I understand being annoyed and even angry with them. But Graham was a little over the top with his dislike of them. I liked him anyway. He runs a restaurant called the Tourist Trap and it’s totally a place I want to go. The whole appeal is that Graham owns and runs it and is a huge asshole about it. People go there because he treats everyone like crap and loves it. I thought this was hilarious.
Overall, I really had fun with this book. There were a few minor things I didn’t like, but as a whole, I was really invested in the romance. I cared about the characters. The setting was glorious. I definitely think this will be a hit with many people. Also, Jake, the dog was 100% the best part of this book.

As others have said, cute & frothy. It seemed like we kept reading the same scene repeated in different settings. The tension in their relationship stems from "she's only got two weeks here."

Spoiler alert:
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We learn most of the way through that she's been fired from her waitressing job for actually taking the vacation she had requested many months earlier, so there is NOTHING that means she must return. It is also obvious where she could get a much better job in Moose Springs.

💗 Book Review 💗
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Tourist Attraction | Sarah Morgenthaler
Pub Date: 5/5/20
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RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
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REVIEW:
OH. MY. GOSH. This book was SO GOOD!!!! It gave me The Simple Wild vibes but in a more RomCom style book. The chemistry between Graham and Zoey was everything I want in a book couple and they were both so entertaining by themselves! I’m not a big “book boyfriend” type of person but HE IS MY BOOK BOYFRIEND. Their relationship development was perfect IMO - they started as semi enemies (from his POV), then friends and then lovers. Their banter and one liners back and forth just kept a huge smile on my face. The steam was very minimal, and I’m a steam girl and this book was phenomenal even without it!! I stayed up until 3AM finishing this book because I loved it so much! I’ll post the synopsis in the comments but ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR!!
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Thank you so much @sarah, @sourcebookscasa, and @netgalley for the eARC to read and give and honest review!

The Tourist Trap

Could this book BE any cuter?! Adorable rom com alert 🚨 Zoey and Graham are so likable, honest, sincere, and the absolute cutest! You’re rooting for them from the beginning 👍🏻 Fans of Christina Lauren (think Unhoneymooners) will love The Tourist Trap.

Zoey has scrimped and saved, eating Ramen to be able to afford her Alaska vacation. It’s not just on her bucket list ... it’s the entire bucket. Owner of The Tourist Trap, originally set up to be a locals only diner, Graham has a strict “no tourists” policy as far as his personal life goes. That is, until he meets the adorable, quirky Zoey. The storyline is perfect and the characters are all endearing. I loved the author’s use of movie lines... so great! References to When Harry Met Sally and Dirty Dancing are just a couple of examples to pique your interest 😉


I completely relate to Graham’s aversion to the pitfalls of living in a tourism driven town. We get the same thing here ... living on an island 🏝 There are some places you just like to keep a secret ... locals only 🤫

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s a Rom com recommend! 👍🏻👍🏻

This book was absolutely adorable and funny. I really enjoyed the characters, even the "minor" ones such as Easton, Ash, and other town's people. The chemistry between Graham and Zoey was palpable. I loved their bantering back and forth. They just worked very well together. My one hangup was the fade-to-black love scenes. Even the kissing scenes were sometimes a bit lackluster. I'm not saying all romance novels need to have love scenes, but to watch the build up of attractive and want build between them then get the "morning after" bit left me unsatisfied. But I'm a heathen and like my sexy times. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book. My contemporary romance readers should definitely give this a try. I'm interested to see where this goes and whose story is next.

3.5/5 Stars

This book was a very nice read and I had quite a lot of fun reading it! There were so many things happening and there was never a dull moment. I loved how Graham opened up to Zoey and also how his mindset towards some of the tourists changed. You could definitely see how Zoey stole his heart. Zoey's amazement in regard to Alaska and her dream trip was the cutest thing ever and I was so happy she had the chance to live her dream vacation.
I think some parts of the book were a bit repetitive, like the fact that they couldn't be together because she was on holiday and their time was limited, we get it. Also, I would have liked to see a bit more of the side characters, they felt a bit one-dimensional to me.
The ending was cute and I'm looking forward to reading more about Moose Springs in the next book of this companion series!

**Review will be posting to my blog/Goodreads/Instagram April 29th! I'll update the links at that time.**

ALL GOOD THINGS.

This was a gem. I had such a good time reading this that I went through it even fast than I expected. When I saw the setting for Alaska my mind immediately goes to The Simple Wild. That’s a lot to live up to in my bookish brain. No, this isn’t TSW, but it IS another great book set in the Alaskan wilderness I would easily recommend this to others.

With a time period of about two weeks you would think I’d be shouting about insta-love. NOPE. Morgenthaler wrote this romance beautifully. It felt honest, cute, and like they were actually into each other. Graham is the trope-ish grump who meets his sunshine in Zoey. I found myself laughing at their antics and the different situations that kept them colliding. Yet swooning when it was clear that Graham was into Zoey. Resistance was completely futile. Not to mention that utterly wonderful rom-com ending was what dreams are made of.

The only issue I had was wanting more depth from Graham. I felt very surface level with him (and most of the other characters). He spent most of the time in one state. A goofy grump who never divulged too much information. If I had gotten just a bit more from him it would have sent this off the charts.

I liked the rotating point-of-view. I love those in romances. It gives insight to both mindsets and decision making. The setting [of course] played a big part in how this book played out. I loooove the wilderness setting and all it entails. Getting a feel of both sides of tourism vs. those who live there.

Cute, low on the steam (huge plus in for me!), and an easy read that will make you smile. And can’t we all use that sometimes? I can’t wait to read Morgenthaler’s next book.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: a little throughout
Romance: kisses / make-outs; a love scene with little detail that fades out quickly
Violence: drunk driving (not by either MC, a side character in a small scene)

A cute light hearted Rom-Com with witty characters and charming moments. It really hit a lag for me though around the 48% mark where it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. I really wanted some heat and a plot twist that I just didn't feel like sticking around to see if that was going to happen. Wish it had some that two chapters ago so I could have enjoyed it more because the characters were likeable and the town had huge potential to pull me back for a 2nd book in the series. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cute, cute, cute. This was a perfectly lovely, light and frothy romance with a beautiful setting in a tourist town in Alaska, complete with quirky, sometimes surly locals, and a friendly moose. Our hero, Graham, runs a dive restaurant called The Tourist Trap (complete with hot dogs made from reindeer meat), is famous for verbally abusing his customers, and likes to dress his blind border collie in fun outfits. He was born and raised in Moose Springs, knows all of the other locals, and barely tolerates the summer tourists that sweep through "his" town. When he meets Zoey, an unemployed waitress who is in town for 2 weeks, spent all of her savings on her "dream" trip to Alaska, and is absolutely determined to maintain a positive attitude in the face of some appallingly bad luck (and sometimes bad judgement), he's immediately smitten, but the problem is, Graham NEVER dates tourists, and any possible relationship with Zoey comes with a guaranteed expiration date.

Watching these two fumble their way to a relationship was adorable. I had a few niggles. Zoey was occasionally a bit TSTL, and the relationship was definitely of the slow burn variety, even though it all took place in a 2 week time period. Still it was a fun ride. I've been to Alaska a couple of times and this definitely made me want to go back.

A story of finding unexpected love. Graham has a strict no dating tourist policy but when Zoey walks in to his diner in Alaska his policy is put to the test. Will Grahma be able to put aside his feelings about tourists and what they are doing to his town to and open his heart?

I was given an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely amazing on so many levels. The characters were fun and relatable and had some amazing character growth throughout the book. The dialogue was witty and I fell more in love with the characters as the story progressed. The setting makes me want to add Alaska on to my list of places to visit, even though it was not anywhere on my radar prior to this book.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. Would I buy it as a gift for someone? 100% yes.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book which comes out on May 5, 2020.

All I kept thinking while reading chapter one is, why does the author keep repeating the characters names all the time? Graham and Zoey. Almost every sentence starts with their name, it seems like! Seriously... Why?

At one point I thought is this written by a British person...because what the heck is a cudgel? Luckily I was reading it on my kindle so I could look some things up, But it was funny to read and know that this was taking place in Alaska but yet the writer used many words that aren't familiar to this American reviewer.

Man, I am so bummed to be putting this book down but I could tell early on it wasn't for me.  I think that this book will appeal to a lot of readers, but unfortunately for me, I'm not one of them.

If you're looking for a light, funny, feel-good read featuring some excellent banter and charming characters, then I recommend picking up The Tourist Attraction. The Alaskan backdrop is beautifully described, but there's also a solid serving of humor that brings the town of Moose Springs to life. I loved the relationships between the residents (including an actual moose named Ulysses).

I didn't give this book five stars because the plot just wasn't there for me. I didn't find there to be anything driving it forward or creating tension, and I got a little restless waiting for it to go somewhere. However, the humor and charm of Moose Springs almost makes up for that (and I feel like a lot of readers will enjoy it regardless).

This was a super cute clean romcom! I enjoyed Zoey and Graham a lot and their banter was enjoyable. I wasn’t a fan of the fade to black after all that tension though.

Rom com at its best: set in Alaska, grumpy hunk, cute dog, witty dialogue! I absolutely loved this book. It was exactly what I needed in my reading life. I can't wait to recommend this one to fellow rom com lovers!

This was such a cute, fun romance! Exactly what I needed right now.

I think my favorite part about this book is how funny this was. Our main characters keep finding themselves in situations that are less than ideal, and while it kind of ruins Zoey's ideal vacation, it makes for a very fun time for the reader. I laughed out loud numerous times, whether that is because of the unexpected plot twists or because of something the characters said. If you're looking for a fun book, look no further!

*3.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Sarah Morgenthaler for the chance to read this digital ARC.

I was thrilled to have my wish for The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler granted by NetGalley but unfortunately I couldn't get into the story. I struggled to connect with the characters and consequently couldn't buy into the romance (insta-love) between Graham and Zoey. I also felt that the story spent too much time exploring Alaska through Zoey's eyes and not enough time building the relationship between Graham and Zoey.

With that said, I do think Sarah Morgenthaler has a witty and quick-paced writing style that will be perfect for many contemporary romance and rom-com readers.

NetGalley ARC | GAH, I LOVED THIS SWEET ROMANCE SO MUCH. Of course, I love reviewing books set heavily in a destination (Alaska), especially when they talk about conscious tourism and tourists vs locals. Plus, at a time when the world is a hot mess, I needed The Tourist Attraction as a sweet escapist love story.

You can find my complete review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/may-2020-book-releases/ or find it on TUL 50 States Books reading list: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/50-states-books/

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I LOVED this book.

I am VERY into the trope of a big curmudgeon who is super soft for the people he loves: namely, Jake the clothed, blind border collie, and Zoey the tourist. Graham is so grouchy and constantly annoyed at the tourists who flood his restaurant and keep him from his woodcarving hobby. He kind of hates them, until Zoey. Zoey isn't like the other visitors; she isn't rich and on a luxury vacation. She saved every cent for years so she could visit her dream spot: Alaska. He's smitten pretty immediately, and I love how he welcomed her into the places that were important to him, and how she understood how meaningful that was.

I love how fierce Zoey is, how she is proud of herself and her job, how she refuses to be beaten down, how she sets boundaries and keeps them. It's so important to have leading female characters who are complex: she's charming, soft, and sweet, and she's also tough, adventurous, and proud. I super appreciate how Zoey was allowed to be really genuinely and unabashedly enthusiastic about things. And even though Graham was the opposite way, he didn't shame or belittle her for it, but appreciated and loved that part of her. Yes for opposites attracting and bringing out the best in each other!!

The voices of both characters were clever, sharp, and fun. The emotions they went through felt sincere, and I 100% believed in their love story and was rooting for them. I think barely breathed as I read the last 20 or so pages. Is there going to be a sequel? With Zoey accomplishing her plan of learning to fly and doing her own tours, and Lana going forward with the private condos and still doing right by the community? And Jake wearing MORE clothes? Please let there be a sequel!!

I was thrilled to be approved for an ARC of this book, but unfortunately, just could not get into the story. I had trouble connecting with the characters. There was a lot going on, which made it more confusing for me. I did enjoy some of the banter between Graham and Zoey along with the Alaskan setting.