I really enjoyed this book! It was so fun traveling with Ramona around the world! This book took me to place I've never been; riding a gondola in the Alps, tunnel traveling in Paris, the sights in Hong Kong, it was such a fun journey.
The romance was not really the focus of this book but I didn't mind that at all. It was more about Ramona traveling and learning about different cultures as well as recognizing her privilege.
Overall fun book esp. if you love traveling aspects!

This was a refreshingly different romance that really made me want to travel. The descriptions of each locale helped to bring the story to life so that it wasn’t just a romance. I really hope there’s going to be Instagram accounts for Romy and Dom to coincide with the books release. I really wanted to see all the pics!
It was especially exciting seeing that Niagara Falls made it into the trip. It was nice to think of the beauty of the Niagara gorge and it made me miss my days climbing all those stairs from the river to the top.

I thought this book was pretty good! I have always enjoyed books that deal with some travel, and this one delivered! It was such a fun read to follow Romy and Dom when they traveled the world in 80 days. There were a few times when I laughed out loud.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book.

4.5 stars! This was a fun adventure. The main character was relatable and I enjoyed the travel, romance, and humor. I would certainly recommend to a friend or a patron interested in this genre.

3.5 stars

This is cute! I liked the travel descriptions and the Jules Verne vibes, but I wasn't satisfied by the enemies to lovers romance. It was just okay; I wasn't super invested in the chemistry.

Romy gets the opportunity of a lifetime- travel the world in 80 days, track her experiences, and get a job that will help save her uncles' bookshop. Only she learns that she isn't the only one vying for the job.

Predictable, but cute. I liked how the romance developed but the shining star was introduced almost halfway through the book. I didn't find myself too tied to the main character. But a good, fun, world hopping read.

What a ride!

Set as a modern day Around the World in 80 Days, this book takes us on a ride around the globe! Romy Keene dreams of a big life as a photographer, but her reality has her working in her uncles’ bookshop in NYC, and only reading about adventures in books. When a new landlord demands a higher rent that the uncles can’t afford, Romy decides to accept a strange internship with ExLibris Expeditions, a company that plans travel itineraries based on novels. Her task is to retrace the steps of Phileas Fogg’s journey in Jules Verne’s famous book, without commercial airplanes, and in less than 80 days. But once on the road, Romy learns that she’s got competition, and she may just be falling.

I loved the haters to lovers romance between Romy and Dominic! The competition and misunderstandings between them mixed so well with the romantic tension that sizzled slowly. There were many times when I wanted to smack some sense into them, for different reasons, but they both obviously had good hearts!

Though, while the romance was swoon worthy, the star of this book was definitely in the travel descriptions. There were many times when I wondered to myself if the author is herself a world traveler, or simply an incredible researcher (after reading the acknowledgments at the end, turns out she traveled the world!) The descriptions of all the different countries was so vivid that I felt like I was right there beside Romy. Together we walked the cobblestone streets of Paris, rode up and down escalators in the heat of Hong Kong with sweat dripping down our backs, got lost among the heavy crowds in rush hour traffic in Mumbai, and gorged ourselves on delicious Somalian food in Vancouver. If we can’t travel right now, this book feels like the next best thing!

The only thing missing was being able to see the instagram photos at the start of each chapter!

This book comes out August 11, 2020. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and the author for a review copy.

WHAT I LIKED

Full disclosure, I requested this one on Netgalley because of the cover. So cute, right? It's a modern day spin on Around the World in 80 Days, which I admittedly have never read and knew very little about. I did look up a summary to familiarize myself a little bit, when I was about halfway through this book.
Romy's gay uncles (and bookstore owners) are divine. They're such good background characters, and I love the relationship they have with her. Romy, herself, is an alright MC. We don't get a ton of her background story, just that she has recently been dumped and she works and lives in her uncles' used bookstore. She's using her journey for employment and self-exploration. There are a lot of references to Eat, Pray, Love, but that's just not my jam, so I didn't get it and had to look that up as well. Romy's trying to be more adventurous, spontaneous, and problem-solving. Her adventures are entertaining, as she experiences a lot of bumps along the way.


WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

It didn't constantly hold my attention. Some of the locations and experiences had too much explanation, and I found myself skim-reading pages, as it moved slow, despite the quick travel that was happening. The ending was also a b rushed, comparatively to the pacing of the rest of the story. This book is cute and quirky and adventurous, but not addictive. I liked it but didn't devour it. I'm always thankful for an ARC, and do recommend this to people who are looking for a low-stress read! 3.5 stars!

Romy is relatable and big-hearted. She lives with her two uncles and helps to run their quirky tea and book shop. Until a real estate developer wins the building and decides to increase their rent which is going to leave the three of them without a shop and homeless.

Romy decides to get a job to help with the money situation. The logical choice is to work in a nearby call center. But that's not what Romy does. She applies for a job at a travel agency that specializes in recreating literary journeys. Now Romy who's only been out of the country once is on a race to recreate Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. If she can do it, she's a shoo-in for the job. If not, she and her uncles lose everything.

Of course, there's a boy. Once she's already started her journey, she realizes that she isn't the only one trying for the job. She discovers that Dominic, the possible nephew of the evil real estate developer, is trying to beat her out.

Super cute enemies to lovers. The chapters begin with descriptions of the photos that Romy takes to document her travels and I wish I could've seen them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the DRC.

This was, quite possibly, the most satisfying book I’ve read in a long time. Maybe that’s the stay-at-home order talking, but honestly? This book ticked off a lot of notches for me. Quirky characters? Check. Slow-burn romance? Check. Relatable main character? Check. Witty dialogue/narrative that doesn’t make me cringe? Check. Focus on the actual plot versus the romance? Check.

I can be really picky when it comes to books that are meant to fall in that romance/chick-lit/millennial aged realm, but this one actually works. The premise is a modern day spin off of Jules Verne’s classic, Around the World in Eighty Days. Romy works at her uncles’ bookshop and finds it in danger of being shut down when the new landlord raises the rent and demands full payment by May 1st. To try and keep that from happening Romy takes a job trial where she recreates Phileas Fogg’s journey around the world using various means of transportation (no aircrafts, thank-you-very-much). Of course she finds herself competing with the new landlord’s nephew. And of course she has never traveled outside of New York City before, has a case of anxiety, and has only what she has read about in books to essentially guide her. These are all classic setups for a romantic comedy, and in this case, they all deliver.

Romy is a relatable character, possibly because I recognize her need for organization and her de-stressing methods as things I’ve done myself. She’s not a perfect character — she has flaws, and she learns from them. I love that she’s not nearly as knowledgeable about the world as she thinks she is, and that she grows throughout her journey. I love that her background isn’t as bogged down as it could have been, and that she always jumps to the worst conclusion even when things are going well.

Her relationship with Dominic is realistic, as are her interactions with each of the secondary characters throughout the story. Things didn’t feel contrived, and they didn’t all magically, or easily, fall into place, which I also loved. There was definitely a natural feel in the flow of the story, despite the hectic pace around the world. That’s not an easy balance to maintain in a book sometimes, so I really appreciated that there was breathing room in this story.

Every snag and obstacle in the journey also felt like a natural part of the story — and I think the author did an extremely good job at bringing readers along on the journey. Even without reading the author’s note at the end (which everyone should read just to better appreciate the adventure in the story even more) you can tell a lot of research was put into the setting and misadventures.

And I really hope this book turns into an expanded universe sort of deal. I mean, the premise of ExLibris Expeditions is a total, setup, right? Because I would totally read more literary themed adventures like this. Can you imagine the possibilities? I’m so on board for more…

Jules Verne’s books extorted out the hidden hungry bookworm disguised in my regular ordinary chubby kid fur and made me explore the adventures at the places where I couldn’t imagine and helped me escape to the places where a nine years old kid could find her own happy place! So you might imagine why I clicked so quickly to request this book : A classic Jules Verne story’s remake meets romcom project.

It sounds so tempting: an adventurous vacation at the fabulous places in all around the world by a bookish introvert librarian and enemies to friends then to lovers formula, so many impressive social media sharing and slow burn, growing, entertaining romance. Yes: I’m sold!

Only thing didn’t work for me about the ARC: I couldn’t see those fabulous photos the heroine shared during her journey and I already over imagined and visualized those images and their total likes ( That means as soon as the book releases I should get the hard copy to add to my collection which will help me compare my visual images and the real images the books’ illustration team shared with us)

Let’s give you some quick summary about the story-line: Our heroine New Yorker heroine Ramona (at first I found her so flat to be New Yorker but her nature for being willing to take the risks and desire to finish the impossible task to visit the places all around the world in 80 freaking days helped me empathize with her. (her story reminded me of my days when I was in my twenties)

Yes, she dreams of travelling to Paris to attend to the photography school but she already stuck at her uncles’ quaint bookstore for procrastinating her future projects. Then evil nephew of landlord appears at the store to triple their rent amount that they cannot afford which pushes Romy/Ramona gets out of her secluded cocoon/ comfort zone to take risk and join the ExLibris Expeditions: literary journeys: in 80 days to travel around the world: which means she is gonna be female version of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise’s most popular movies character) to accomplish the impossible mission ( I can hear the famous theme music of the series/movies : this tape/disc will self-destruct in five/ ten seconds)to complete the journey just in time.

And her nemesis and charming Dominic will be more competitive to prevent her accomplish this impossible mission. Oh boy, this irritating nemesis is way too charming! How could she resist the sizzling growing chemistry. Don’t go there girl, you have too much to lose. But she already lost her way, didn’t she?

Overall: Feel-good, swoon, soft, charming, entertaining rom-com earned my 3.5 stars rounded up to 4! I got quality time and it truly fit my expectations.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this entertaining ARC with me in exchange my honest review.