This book has a wonderful premise--the main character Romy, who has never really traveled outside of New York City, goes on the adventure of a lifetime following the literary footsteps of the book Around the World in 80 Days in order to secure money to save her uncles' bookstore.
Unfortunately, this book suffers a bit from being too much of a travel guide information dump and too little character development.
The experiences Romy and Dom encounter are wonderful, but without their real background information, which isn't really revealed until about 80% into the book, it's difficult to understand Romy's reticence. One other thing I didn't really like was that they never had issues with finding English speakers. In every country and people group they encountered, at least one person spoke fluent English and could help them out. I think this is not as common as the author makes it out to be, and would have given more depth to the story.
I truly loved the exploration of different cultures and the gentle (and not-so-gentle) ways the characters are corrected with their missteps. I think it's a great lesson for Americans in particular that when traveling, we should attempt to the best of our abilities to not make assumptions and to listen and learn rather than try to push ourselves onto other cultures.
Overall, this book is worth reading if you can get past a bit of uneven pacing and understand that you will get more travel information than overall story.

I am such a sucker for a "save the family bookstore" stories. This one combines the idea of a race around the world to really pull the readers in. This book's pacing was a little too slow for the adventure that is promised. I enjoyed it to a point, but it could have used some more action and adventure.

Eighty Days to Elsewhere was an enjoyable book. I felt like it read more like women's fiction than romance, but I was okay with that. KC Dyer wrote an engaging story that kept my attention. I loved Romy's travels and reading about each stop. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I was a little disappointed in this book - it was marketed as romance but was really more chick lit or women's fiction. There was a love story but not the main focus of the book. Instead, Romy has to find out more about herself as she races around the world for a travel company in order to save her uncles' bookstore. I never felt connected to Romy - she was on the one hand very naive and unworldly and on the other she was able to smuggle a refugee half way around the world and find passage on cargo ships and helicopters. Never felt the connection between her and Dom, the love interest either.

What a delight it was to travel around the world through the pages of this book. K. C. Dyer’s vivid storytelling brought the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the world to this engaging story. I was right there with Romy: getting seasick on the Atlantic... traversing the caves of Paris... flying over the alps of France into Italy... navigating the crowds of India... helicoptering over Africa... in awe of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong... Learning about the indigenous people of Canada... and all the adventures in between. Romy was born and raised in NYC where she works with her uncles at their book shop. When the book shop rent is suddenly tripled by the new evil owner Romy is determined to save the shop and her home. She applies for a job with a company that arranges literary vacations. In order to secure the job she hast to prove that she can arrange a trip successfully. That is how Romy finds herself reenacting Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.”. An epic Adventure with a catch... no commercial plane flights and instead of 80 days Romy has 49.

This book has definite Amazing Race vibes. Romy also had some pretty bad luck during her travels. There is a dash of romance in the story... Romy keeps running into Dominic The “nephew“ of the evil man raising her uncles rent. It appears as though Dominic and she are competing for the same job, and of course there is attraction between the two of them. The romance is a definite sweet slow burn, but I would say this is more of a women’s fiction book. The story is about Romy and her growth throughout this adventure. The book also touches on systemic racism, immigration, and privilege in a thoughtful way. An entertaining story that will allow you to travel places that you currently aren’t even allowed to go in the middle of this pandemic.

This book in emojis 🚢 🚄 🚠 🚇 🚁 🛩 🚌 🗺

*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I canceled my summer getaway (for obvious reasons) so instead, I’ve been spending the summer traveling around the world through books📚. Last week’s adventure was courtesy of Eighty Days to Elsewhere by KC Dyer.

What it’s about:

Born and raised in New York City, Ramona Keene dreams of attending photography school and traveling to Paris, but her reality never quite catches up with her imagination. Instead, she works at her uncles’ quaint bookstore, where the tea is plentiful and all the adventures are between the covers of secondhand books. But when the new landlord arrives with his Evil Nephew in tow, Romy’s quiet life comes crashing down. He plans to triple the rent, something her uncles can’t afford.

In order to earn the money to help save the bookstore, Romy applies for a job at ExLibris Expeditions, a company that re-creates literary journeys. Romy snags the oddest internship ever: retrace Phileas Fogg’s journey from Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days and plan a suitable, contemporary adventure for a client. The task is close to impossible; sticking to the original route means no commercial aircraft permitted, and she’s got a lot less than eighty days to work with. Shaking off her fear of leaving home, Romy takes on the challenge, only to discover she’s got competition. Worse, Dominic Madison turns out to be the – unfortunately hot – nephew of her family’s worst enemy.

What I loved:

—The traveling. Paris, the Alps, Hong Kong. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading adventure romances this summer☀️. It’s a nice break from the walls of my small Los Angeles apartment.

—The locals. I really enjoyed reading about the locals Romy & Dominic meet at each stop. I also appreciated that there were several teachable moments within those encounters as well.

What I didn’t connect with:

—The length. I wasn’t expecting it to be 480 pages😳 & I did catch myself quite a few times looking to see how much percentage I had left (I read it on my Kindle). That being said, I have to also mention that a lot of that could have just been due to stress. Thanks to the pandemic, there are days I can’t bring myself to concentrate long enough to read a few chapters of a book let alone one that was this long.

—All the issues along the way. It was a very bumpy road for Romy and Dominic. Everything that could go wrong on their journey did. At first I didn’t mind all the missteps, but after a while it started to become almost like a pattern and whenever they arrived to a new location I was just waiting for something to go wrong.

Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

*I received an arc courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I started reading it but I found the storyline to be very cheesy, so I DNF’d it. I didn’t really connect with the main character and I found it to be sort of jumpy. It has an interesting synopsis but I just didn’t click with the story. I’m sure other people will enjoy the book, but unfortunately this one was not for me.

While this around the world journey seems disjointed at times,. this book is super fun and often hilarious. I looked forward to seeing what adventure Romy would find next or what else could go wrong. Since we can't travel the world it was fun to get a snapshot of different places through Romy's eyes. This book was super heartwarming, and touched on a lot of issues in a good way. I recommend for anyone dreaming of travel and looking to books as a way to do that.

“The Amazing Race" meets Around the World in 80 Days as a woman desperate to save her family bookstore falls for her competition. Romy had never left New York City but when faced with an eviction notice to her apartment, her Uncles' bookshop, and their home, Romy sets off on a travel competition to land a job (and a big bonus) to save her home. Throughout the competition, Romy is faced with so many obstacles during her trip around the world, especially since she cannot use commercial flights, the biggest stipulation in the rules.

Thank you @Netgalley and @Berkleypub for my eARC. This review is based on my honest thoughts.

Review:
Eighty Days to Elsewhere is a book full of travels, stories from locals throughout Romy's trip, self-discovery, and facing fears. This book was a bit slower than I would have liked, full of details and obstacles.

While I wished the pace of the book would have gone faster and maybe just a little less detail, I appreciated the story. When we don't leave our bubble we don't get to see what others are dealing with. We think our problems are the only problems that matter when there's so much out there.

Since there's literally no travel in 2020, this book was a great way to experience the world and get a glimpse of how others live. I felt like I was strolling right along with Romy and tasting all of the food.

If you're looking for adventure and stories on how other cultures, I recommend checking out Eighty Days to Elsewhere.

Romy works at the bookstore her uncles owns. When she finds out that the bookstore has a new landlord that has increased rent she decides to try to save the store. She applies for a job that specializes in recreating literary adventures.

Her assignment to get the job: travel the world in 80 days and retrace the steps told in Jules Verne’s famous book while planning an itinerary for the company’s client. If she can complete the task then the job and a huge bonus, which will save her family’s bookstore, will be hers.

Romy sets off on her adventure only to find that the landlord’s “evil nephew”, Dominic, is also in the running for the job. When they are forced to work together to get out of trouble in Egypt Romy discovers that Dominic has his own reasons for wanting the job and isn’t so evil after all... she may even be developing feelings for him. But can she has to push those feelings aside to save the bookstore and win the job?

I really enjoyed the different ways Romy and Dominic traveled to different countries (helicopter, cargo ships, trains). I also enjoyed reading about different countries-France, Italy, Africa, and more. It was good that Romy didn’t just see areas that are “touristy” and got to see other ways those less fortunate are living. I think it definitely helped broaden her perspective of the world as she had never traveled outside of NYC before.

This is written as a lovers to enemies trope. While I think the relationship between Romy and Dominic had a good banter, there really wasn’t a lot of romance or steam for a romance book. That is totally ok with me because I really enjoyed the travel aspects. I still liked their relationship and think it was a more realistic approach of falling for each other. I feel like they really hated each other in the beginning and had to truly build that relationship up throughout to make it believable that they could fall for each other. No other way to test your love than for some stressful traveling!

This book definitely has me wanting to break out my passport and go on an excursion.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkeley publishing, and KC Dyer for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! Eighty Days To Elsewhere is out NOW!

A bookish book which features travelling as the main theme - can anything get better than that?

Reading Eighty Days To Elsewhere and following Ramona as she travelled around the globe was so much fun! I loved being a part of her adventures. It didn’t feel like that I was sitting at home and reading a book, it literally felt like I was with Romy herself.

The plot of the book was so intricately crafted by the author. It was filled with drama, humor and my favorite – bookish references! I could have cried in RELATABLE. (Does that make sense, though?) The descriptions of different cultures and places were really fascinating to know about as well.

Romance wasn't the main focus of the story, and I'm really glad that it was kept that way. Nevertheless, I liked reading about the romance that developed between Romy and Dominic. The book had many witty and comedic scenes which made me laugh my heart out. I just have one complain though, I really wish the book was shorter. I would have enjoyed the book more then.

I think you can discover a new version of yourself in every place you travel to. I loved how this was perfectly expressed through Romy’s story.

I’ll end my review with my favorite quote from the book –
"I stand in the dancing firelight, mesmerized by the pulsing rhythm of the drums, the rising and falling of voices in a language older than any I've ever known. Sure of nothing-not making it back to New York in time, not of winning the job at ExLibris, not even of the slow, subtle, changes in my feelings toward Dominic, I'm overwhelmed by a sudden wave of gratitude my life has brought me to this place. If I lose everything, I will have seen this. I will have seen this."

This book had a lot going for it, but it was way too long, I enjoyed the different countries and the overall plot. It just needed to have better pacing,

Eighty Days to Elsewhere allowed me to go on an adventure despite Covid. I loved the premise of this book: a girl who applies for a job with Ex Libris, a travel firm that specializes in recreating famous literary journeys, to raise funds for her family’s NYC bookstore which is being threatened with closure.

The job description: travel around the world in 80 days and retrace Phineas Fogg’s steps from Jules Verne’s famous book and plan a suitable, contemporary trip for a client. If she completes the task successfully, the job at ExLibris and a huge sign on bonus is hers.

Shaking off her fear of leaving home, Romy sets on an adventure of a lifetime - not knowing at first she has competition from her family’s landlord’s “evil nephew”, Dominic. Dominic is after the position for reasons of his own and a bitter race between the two ensues. However, she soons learns there’s more to Dominic than meets the eye and she can’t help but fall for him.

I enjoyed this book for its scenic descriptions and the multiple destinations it took me to, including London, Paris and Egypt. It was fun to see how Romy and Dom coming up with clever ways to avoid commercial travel. I have always believed travel widens broadens horizons and gives a better understanding of how other people are living - and I think the author explores that well through Romy whose character starts off as quite insular but throughout her journey is forced to examine her many privileges.

Thank you so much @berkleypub and @netgalley for sending me an advanced reader copy and having me be part of the blog tour.

K.C. Dyer takes us on the adventure we are all wishing we could take but can’t due to COVID-19 in her newest novel, Eighty Days to Elsewhere.

I love everything about the plot and setting of this novel. While I was reading through this book, I felt like I was rocking on the seas, flying through the air, stuck on trains and smelling all the delicious foods described throughout. This book seriously made me so hungry for so many different types of foods! No wonder I couldn’t stop snacking during the few days I read this book…

Romy’s uncles’ bookshop, The Two Queens sounds wonderful. Romy even lives above the bookstore in a small apartment. I’ll have to admit, I think I would be pretty content living above a bookstore where I work! Searching for jobs like this now… :D

The relationship between Dom, Romy and Sumaya was probably my favorite. They felt like such a beautiful family. I felt like Dyer did such a good job describing how tough it can be for a teenager but Sumaya has it even more difficult, she lost her parents and everything else on top of being an average teenager. Both Romy and Dom can connect with Sumaya in this aspect as they both lost a parent/parents.

This book really shows us how a stranger’s help/love can go a long way. Imagine all the times Romy was in a bind throughout her journey and if she wouldn’t have had those strangers to help her, she may have given up.

The book also shows how much a person can grow when they put themselves out of their comfort zone. In the beginning, Romy was very set in her ways, didn’t want to leave the bookstore and was even going to settle working for a call center, for goodness sakes. Once Romy took the opportunity to have that adventure of a lifetime, she grew so much and learned a lot about herself that she wouldn’t have if she just stayed with her uncles to watch their bookstore close.

Thank you to Berkley Books, K.C. Dyer and NetGalley for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the ARC of Eighty Days to Elsewhere.

I loved the premise of this book - Ramona was born and raised in NYC and worked at her uncles' bookstore. They were about to get evicted, so Ramona applied for a new job at a company that plans literary journeys. To get the job, Ramona had to recreate the trip that Phineas Fogg took in Around the World in 80 Days (with NO commercial airline travel). Sounds fun, right?

Well. Basically everything goes wrong that could POSSIBLY go wrong. Disaster after disaster. And on top of that, the "nephew" of the guy trying to evict her uncles is competing for the same job and basically popping up all over her trip.

There were parts that I enjoyed, but after the first third of the book, where everything was going wrong, it got kind of old. I sat there thinking "okay what now" for every leg of her trip. I did like the story, but it just dragged in parts.

I actually enjoyed Dom, the "evil nephew" quite a bit. Ramona drove me crazy though. She cried and threw up WAY too much.

Not a bad read, but not the greatest.

Having to DNF this at 26%

This book is 480 pages, which is insanely long for a romance novel. I mean, obviously when the book is great you’ll never want it to end, so a long book is a gift. But this wasn’t great. Reading 125ish pages and it already felt too long. Also, normally after reading that many pages, I feel something for the main character, but she just felt flat.

I couldn’t find it in myself to continue because I knew reading it would feel tedious by the end.

I wanted to like this so much, but really have a hard time with bad choices. I felt like all of the misadventures were due to Romy not paying attention or just making bad choices. It was super hard for me to read. I loved the premise, but it just fell flat.

Thank You Publisher for Sending me and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but just couldn't get into it. I think it could have been really fun but I just couldn't get into the writing style.

K.C. Dyer’s new novel, Eighty Days to Elsewhere, is an entertaining romp around the globe that reads like a mash up of the Jules Verne classic, Around the World in 80 Days, The Amazing Race reality TV show, and Eat Pray Love. The novel follows Ramona (Romy) Keene, a young woman who lives in New York City and works with her uncle in his bookstore in the Village. Although Romy dreams of being a photographer and of traveling, she instead sticks close to home, the charming bookstore a safe haven from the world. When an evil new landlord arrives on the scene, jacks up the rent on the bookstore, and threatens to evict them, Romy is desperate to do whatever it takes to save the bookstore.

She applies for a job at a company called ExLibris Expeditions, an unusual company whose mission it is to create custom adventures for clients based on scenes from their favorite books. (How cool does that sound?!) The custom trips involve a great deal of research, including actually traveling to each destination being considered to figure out transportation, things to see and do, etc. When Romy applies for the job, as part of her application process, she is tasked with doing the legwork on a custom trip that follows the route taken in Around the World in 80 Days. There’s a catch, however, a few of them actually: 1) Romy is given significantly less than 80 days to complete her task because of the timeline the client has given ExLibris, 2) Romy is not allowed to travel via commercial airline since that mode of travel didn’t exist at the time of the novel, and 3) Romy is competing against another applicant who is also applying for the job. Whoever successfully completes the trip first and by the stated deadline will win the job and a $10,000 bonus.

It’s best to watch the adventure portion of the book unfold for yourself, but I did want to share some highlights.

5 Reasons You’ll Want to Read Eighty Days to Elsewhere

1. It’s a book of journeys. We follow Romy on her actual physical journey around the world, which is perfect for readers like me who love to travel but have been sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Romy’s trip takes us through London, Paris, Mumbai, Singapore, and so many other incredible destinations. Even though Romy couldn’t stop at any destination for very long because of the contest, I still loved reading and learning a little something about each place she visited. In addition to the physical journey, we also follow Romy on a psychological journey. Romy has been grieving the loss of her parents and that grief has been holding her back from fully living her life. This trip gives her the opportunity to really live, learn, and grow as a person. The Romy who comes back to NYC after her journey is definitely not the same Romy who left.

2. Romy’s misadventures. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’m just going to say that Romy must seriously have the worst luck of anyone on the planet. If something could go hilariously wrong at any of her destinations, it absolutely did. It got to the point where I couldn’t wait for her to get to the next country just to see what went wrong next and how she was able to recover from it. All I kept thinking the whole time I was reading these misadventure scenes was that this book would make a very entertaining movie or series.

3. Serious topics are tackled as well. It’s not all fun and games on Romy’s trip. The author also takes on some serious and thought-provoking topics as well, as part of Romy’s journey of growth. Romy learns about the plight of Somali refugees, racism on a level she has never seen it before, her own privilege, and she even has an encounter with Greenpeace and whale hunters, just to name a few. These encounters make it a very eye-opening trip for Romy.

4. Show stealers. Romy meets an adorably sassy Somali teen named Sumaya on her trip. When Romy meets her, Sumaya has lost both of her parents and is trying to make her way to find her aunt, who emigrated several years earlier. Sumaya is a force of nature, determined that no one and nothing will stand in her way, and she also has a pretty mean stand-up routine, as she wants to be a comedian when she grows up. Sumaya not only steals the spotlight once she joins Romy on her travels, she will also steal your heart.

5. Romance. Speaking of getting your heart stolen, there is romance in the book as well. Be forewarned that it’s a slow burn and definitely takes a backseat to Romy’s psychological journey, but it’s still really nice to watch Romy finally let her guard down and let someone in. I’m not entirely sure what trope it falls under so I’m going to call it a mix of enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers.

Now I will confess that there were a few times along the way when I had to suspend disbelief. Seriously, no one could have the kind of consistently bad luck Romy has. Also, a few of the places in Around the World in Eighty Days are probably not places that Americans would be advised to travel to at this point in time. That said, I finally just told myself that this is fiction and that I needed to stop nitpicking unlikely scenarios and just enjoy the ride. Once I did that, I enjoyed Eighty Days to Elsewhere immensely and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining adventure.

***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***

3.5 Stars

This book is the slow burn romance between Ramona and Dominic...and it's also a slow burn romance between Ramona and travel, adventure, and being willing to trust herself in different places and situations.

I think that is what really drew me to this one, more than anything, the idea of travel. I am not going to lie, travel is my happy place. I am never more alive than when I am planning a trip, or deciding where we are going next, or on the plane, or in a new place (or even one I have been to before but wanted to see again. So, 2020 has been a rough one. Heck, as I am writing this, the State Department *just* removed their 4th level warning on leaving the country, although most of the world is still blocked to US travelers. But, enough about the disaster that is 2020.

Traveling with Ramona, well, it was an adventure and I can't lie it was good for me, and for her, and for the people who met her.

I loved the loosely based idea of travel based on novels and the recreation of the trip even thought it was not able to be 100% recreated.

I also enjoyed the relationship that she developed with Dom as she got to know him better in rooms in Mumbai, on trains, on a rather notable helicopter ride...through all of it, I liked that you watched Ramona open up as "New Romy" and as she opened up to the new her, and to new experiences, she was more willing to let Dom in, and I loved that opening up of her as a person.

I think, as the author says at the end, travel opens you up to so many things that are different, to new experiences and to new ways of seeing the same things, and I loved that you got to take that journey.

I enjoyed and recommend this title...especially for anyone who is more than ready to leave their house, even if it's still from the comfort of your favorite reading spot.