Rating: 3.5/5

I loved the premise of this book! In reading, I wanted more - more information on the locations they traveled to, more romance, more character depth.

This was a cute, easy read but could have been better.

I picked this one up because of the tagline "People We Meet on Vacation meets The Unhoneymooners." Unfortunately this one completely missed the mark.

Dylan calls a radio station and wins the trip of a lifetime, however there's a catch. The radio host will choose a random person in her phone to travel with her. The person he chooses? An old one night fling. If that isn't awkward enough, she doesn't even remember who he is.

This premise sounded adorable, but where the author went wrong was here-- Dylan chooses to use this trip as an opportunity to hopefully snag a permanent column in the magazine she writes for, but this sudden spike in popularity, reminds her readers of a viral article she wrote about her abortion a few years back.

I understand the author was trying to be relevant and bring up the very important topic of women's rights, but it was incredibly overdone...to the point where it felt like she was preaching to us. There was one conversation, in particular, that went on for SO long i was totally pulled out of the book.

I liked the travel aspects, but I feel like the atmospheric opportunities were missed. I found myself forgetting they were supposed to be traveling, so i think we needed a little more details about the locations they traveled to since this book was literally about people traveling the world. Because the synopsis compares itself to People We Meet on Vacation, (one of my favorite romance books of all time) I couldn't help but also compare the two, and Wanderlust didn't meet those expectations.

There were parts that were sweet, and i did appreciate that the spice was there, but not smutty. I also really loved Dylans relationship with her brother and thought the end was sweet. Overall I think it's a solid two star. I would consider reading another of her books because the idea of this one was fantastic. I just hope the next one is cleaned up a bit. :)

Summer vacation plans? Open your bag, lovingly place Wanderlust inside (we cannot have this beautiful cover get besmirched by any delicious yet messy snacks), arrive at your destination and READ THIS BOOK!

I cannot believe this is a debut novel. Wanderlust is fantastic and aptly described as People We Meet on Vacation meets The Unhoneymooners. Our heroine Dylan is a magazine writer struggling to get her own column when she randomly calls the radio station and discovers she has won a six-week trip around the world. The only catch? The radio station gets to randomly choose her travel partner from the contacts in her phone. When they land on Jack the Posho, Dylan vaguely remembers someone she met in a bar on one of the worst nights in her life. While Dylan is excited about the random opportunity that has presented itself, Jack seems less than impressed with his new travel companion, yet can you really avoid bonding with someone when you are sharing a hotel room?...
The chemistry between Dylan and Jack was pure perfection and reading this, I actually saw them fall in love and not just be told they did. Dylan was a fantastic heroine who was unashamed to be herself and also built other people up while knowing her own boundaries. While this book features an amazing trip and exotic locations, it is also realistic and everything is not always kittens and unicorns. Elle Everhart tackles the topics of cyberbullying, emotional abandonment, and abortion with a deft hand and I will gladly read anything she writes in the future…right after I purchase a physical copy of Wanderlust, out July 4.

Thank you to Netgally and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK. I loved it! It's swoony and fun and takes the reader to fantastic locations. The grumpy/sunshine, uptight/chaos trope works so well here and had me rooting for the two characters to get together from the start! I also appreciated the bi rep and the open discussions about reproductive rights.

Grumpy/sunshine AND travel romance?! Yes please.

I have to say, I am surprised by the low reviews. While I don’t think this book is incredible, I really enjoyed reading it and found Jack and Dylan very cute. I can definitely see the comparisons between Emily Henry and Christina Lauren novels—this is a great one to pick up as you’re traveling or sitting on a beach this summer. I do wish the travel was slowed down a bit in the story; it felt rushed and I wanted more description, but, alas.

This worked for me, so I’ll happily give it 4⭐️

I love the premise of this book! The main character, Dylan, wins a trip around the word from a radio contest, but there’s a big catch. She has to travel with a randomly selected person from the contact list on her phone. That random person ends up being Jack the posho, a guy she made out with in a bar one night and never called.

Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the premise and thought the locations were so fun. I wish a couple of the stops had a bit more detail, but I loved reading about the activities and stops that were featured (robot cabaret in Japan). I also really liked Jack. At first he came across a little stuffy and uptight (hence the posho name), but it was fun to get to know him as he opened up and I think a lot of the uptightness was really just anxiety (based off my own experience).

However, I didn’t really like Dylan for the first part of the book. I thought she was unnecessarily mean to Jack and pretty self-centered. She goes off on a rant because he opened the car door for her, mocks him for not wanting to be late (maybe I’m sensitive to this one because I also hate being late), and she’s very short with him because he’s scared of heights and she’s worried his nerves are going to ruin her experience.

I felt like the book tried to play it off as she was rude because he was so standoffish at first, but in the book she mentions that her friend once told her that she shouldn’t die on every hill and her friend later jokes that there’s a “I survived a Dylan Coughlan tell off” support group. So I feel like you can’t just blame it on her reaction to Jack. It sounds like that’s just her personality, but I do feel like she grows a bit in the book.

All of that makes it sound worse than it is, but I still really enjoyed this book and would give it 4.25/5 stars. I’m going to keep my eyes open for Elle Everhart’s next book.

Wanderlust is the amazing debut novel by Elle Everhart that whisks readers away on the ultimate international bucket-list trip chalked full of laughs, crackling tension, and a slow-burn romance.

Magazine writer, Dylan, impulsively enters a radio contest for a trip around the world… the catch, she has to go with a random phone contact. The random contact that answers the radio station’s phone??? The posh guy she randomly made out with one night at a club and then ghosted. Shockingly, Jack agrees to go! The two could not be more different and the first few weeks of the trip are full of snarky barbs and spats. However, both seem to have taken the trip for the same reason: they are healing from past traumas and facing career crossroads. As their connection grows, so does the social media coverage of Dylan’s writing column leading to unintentional consequences. Can they overcome these obstacles and maintain their connection once the trip is over?

I LOVED this book! I listened to both the audiobook while reading along in my e-ARC and was dazzled by the exotic settings of Marrakech, Tokyo, Mumbai, Reykjavik, and Mexico City, on the edge of my seat for this forced proximity/slow-burn angst, and the author’s unpacking topics of reproductive rights and bisexuality.

Throw it in your beach or pool bag, and be swept away! Congratulations to the author on this amazing debut- I can’t wait to read your next work.

Super cute debut novel. I loved the slow burn romance and watching the character development throughout the story.

First impressions? This book had me from the first words of the synopsis. I LOVE People We Meet on Vacation & Unhoneymooners so I knew I had to read this one and it did not disappoint.

This was such a fun and quick summer read that I cannot recommend enough! It followed Dylan and Jack as they embarked on a world-wide vacation. Dylan called into the local radio station and won the trip of a lifetime with the stipulation that she would have to take a randomly selected person from her contact list.

Dylan hardly knew Jack at first but they ended up being the perfect pair. Although they were total opposites, they also shared a lot of similarities like their hatred towards social media and it’s toxicity. They both went through very different life-altering social media experiences in their past. The way that these two characters COMMUNICATED about their experiences and cheered each other on with their endeavors was fabulous.

As far as triggers? Be sure to make yourself aware that there is talk of abortions in this book.

All in all, if you love a vacation romance, you will LOVE this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for giving me the opportunity to read this book! Look for it on shelves July 4th!

This book was fine. It had a cute premise and I liked the travel vibe, but several things affected my enjoyment level.

Dylan wins a radio contest for a trip around the world, but the catch is she must take it with someone the radio station randomly selects from her phone contact list. Jack is the lucky guy who is picked. A hook-up from a night out that she never called back because her life basically imploded right after they met. Can they get along on this trip despite personality differences and past hurts? Will their relationship turn into something that will last past the holiday?

The best part of this book was the travel spots. I've got several places to add to my to-visit list! It was a fun backdrop to the romance, but some of the places just felt glazed over and probably could have been eliminated. Now on to the characters...Dylan was just not likable to me. She's abrasive, self-centered, and often has a woe-is-me attitude. I think she grew some throughout the book so that's a positive. On the other hand, I liked Jack and his personality. We don't get to know him as much but what we do see, I like. He's reasonable, kind, and thoughtful. I think they balanced each other out pretty well.

Overall this book was okay. It had some heavy topics that I wasn't expecting and seemed to try to cram a lot of them in there. I liked the travel idea, thought the spice level was good, and the writing was solid. It just wasn't the huge hit I was expecting, which is always a risk when you try to market it as a mash up of two of the most popular books of the last 5 years.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

“…She couldn’t possibly avoid gazing at him when his voice sounded like that, when her name on his lips sounds almost reverent”

This BOOK! June must be my lucky month for romances because this one hit so so good!

Dylan, who’s a bi icon, and Jack are so special to me. I loved their growth throughout the book - individually and with each other. Their relationship was tender and the sex was STEAMY. Plus their banter at the beginning fed my soooouuuul.

Things to look forward to:
- BANTER
- Grumpy and sunshine
- major travel fomo (the way my bucket list has increased exponentially after this book)
- lots of hand-holding through scary excursions🥹🥰
- big gestures

I also appreciated the heavy topics that this book touches on, the dangers of social media, harassment, and abortion. I felt like the author seamlessly incorporated them into the narrative in a way that didn’t seem forced.

I really wanted to enjoy reading Wanderlust, due to the hype from many bookstagram friends and the fun quirky cover! However; I had to "not finish" this book at the 55 percent point. I felt that multiple plot points were thrown in the middle of the book and the pacing wasn't right. I wasn't able to keep things straight and this book did not interest me anymore.

Wanderlust is a romantic comedy that follows two people looking for a break from their everyday lives. Our FMC, Dylan, here's a radio contest giving a prize of a 6-week fully funded vacation around the world, but the only catch is they get to pick someone random out of your phone to travel with you. Of course, the person they choose from her phone is Jack, a guy she made out with and then ghosted. Firstly, the banter between the two main characters had me laughing out loud in every chapter. One problem that never got resolved is we never find out why Jack hated Dylan, was it cause she ghosted him? This is where a dual POV throughout would have enhanced the story. Also, in this vein, Jack's character is boring and lacks depth. This led to a lack of chemistry between the characters, and for a romance, this was a big problem for me. I will say this book talks about some heavy topics ( Abortion, climate change… ) in a very realistic way that flows with the plot. I wish the characters were more developed and had a better connection.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

DNF at 30%
I think Elle has the potential to really write a vibrant and fun romance that I will love. There were so many good things about this one that I will definitely try her writing again: loved the premise, the LI is very appealing, and I can't get enough of road/travel trips that force proximity between the MCs. However, I absolutely did not like her main character's abrasiveness and multiple references to harming others (I get that it was in jest, but it was too much). It fields some heavier topics that were a little triggering as well.
Thank you to Putnam and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

What a wonderful love story! It took me away from my day to day and satisfied my desire to travel. Planning a trip immediately!

I loved the concept of this novel - a trip around the world that reunites two opposites who shared a romantic moment once. At first, I enjoyed the forced proximity and undercurrent of tension between these two characters as they traveled across the globe. I'm a fan of grumpy-sunshine and opposites attract tropes so that was right up my alley.

But I wasn't a fan of how slow the romance moved. I became less invested in their relationship over time. This might just be a me thing, but I didn't love the huge focus on social media. And while I absolutely agree with the author's messages about online bullying and abortion rights, it felt preachy at times. The romance took a backseat to exploring these issues, which would be fine if they had set that expectation going in. The comps of People We Meet on Vacation and Unhoneymooners had me expecting something different.

I thought this book would have it all: romance, travel, friends/enemies to lovers. However, too much of it fell flat for me to really fall in love. I have two BIG issues with the book overall, the first being the whole drama between the two main characters relies on a lack of communication (which is so frustrating as a reader and way overused in the romance genre as a whole), the second problem lies in the fact that Dylan and Jack are pretty incompatible as people and their chemistry fell flat.

Dylan is fun and free, she thrives on spontaneity and feels restricted by her position as a staff writer for Buxom-- she very much flies by the seat of her pants and enjoys doing so. Jack, on the other hand, is a straight laced guy who seems to thrive within a plan-- something Dylan teases him for pretty relentlessly throughout the book. In the end, it felt like it was Jack who changed to make the relationship work, with Dylan dragging him along behind her.

And the communication. It felt like the majority of the conflicts could have been resolved with open and honest communication. For goodness sake, it felt like Jack genuinely hated Dylan for a good majority of the book and it was never explained why-- was it because she ghosted him? Was it because of family or job issues? Or does he always just act like he has a stick up his butt until he has a chance to warm up to someone?

Additionally, while Jack's staunch hatred of social media seems a little heavy handed for anyone living in the 21st century (I'm not doubting that some people do hold his beliefs, but I also doubt the same people would give their initial consent to be written about for a popular magazine), it was definitely not professional or honestly even kind of Dylan to publish an article about Jack without allowing him to read it first?

While the locations of the book sounded beautiful (but only briefly explored), the settings weren't enough to make me fall in love with WANDERLUST.

This adorable opposites attract romance was sweet and simple. The progression of the romance was realistic and the chemistry between the characters felt natural. The addition of more serious topics added a nice depth to the story. The use of bisexuality added dimension to the character of Dylan without making it only a plot device.

This is a second chance at love/missed connections story taking place over a 6 week international vacation! We see how social media can be both a tool for self-expression as well as a means of destruction. I loved the two main characters slow burn romance and their genuine connection.

After winning a 6 week trip around the world on a radio show (that still happens?), a magazine writer must take someone along that is randomly selected from her contacts. The mystery man is someone she met on one drunken night and never spoke to again, yet he agrees to go on this vacation with her…

A rough start, but this book really grew on me. I didn’t love the premise, but I love travel stories, and enemies to lovers. I felt that a lot of the voicing and especially dialogues between the characters was inconsistent. Jack seemed overly antagonistic from the start but never acted that way again. There was a heavy plot point on a past abortion and doxxing, and it was handled okay. I just never really felt the stakes were quite high enough.
I did love the short chapters and I wish there had been more details on travel adventures, rather than skipping over entire weeks in certain cities. A lot of the story is told to you rather than letting us bear witness. The romance is super slow burn but I didn’t mind it, other than it just felt like <spoiler> they both woke up one day and decided to let bygones be bygones and be together. </spoiler>

Overall an enjoyable, lighthearted summer romance with a smidgeon of spice.