Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin Publishing Group) for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟 3/5 stars

Wanderlust follows Dylan, a writer who wins a trip around the world in a radio contest. The catch? She must take the trip with random person from her contacts that the radio host has chosen. The lucky winner is Josh, a man she met briefly one night before her life imploded. The two are forced together on the dream trip. Will sparks fly?

This was a cute read with an emotional subplot throughout. I loved the storyline, but wanted a bit more from the romance. I was more invested in Dylan’s personal journey vs. her romance with Josh. Overall, this was a slowburn romance with plenty of emotion and heart.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun different read, but something was just missing for me. I have a feeling I would love this book when I’m cozy in a blanket during fall. So I will deff be doing a reread if this then!

What would you do if you were allowed to travel the world? All expenses paid. The only caveat is that you must go with the person randomly selected on the contacts of your phone.

Dylan is a writer who is feeling stuck in life. She feels like she is constantly having to prove herself to her boss that has unrealistic expectations. Dylan wants to do bigger things but thought that she is missing the mark.
One day, a random opportunity came up and she called the radio show. With that, she won an all-expenses paid around the world. But the thing is, the only requirement is that they have to select a random person on her phone. The person they selected was a man she met at a bar named Jack and hasn’t met since. Awkward. But he agreed to do it anyways.

Elle was able to use that time to write about her experiences in hopes that she would be able to do more at her job. So even though they were at odds with each other, they still traveled and got to know one another.
I wish I got a POV of Jack. Just to understand his life and character. I really wanted to go deeper and felt that I wasn’t getting that from a single POV.

Even though it was about traveling, there wasn’t much description of the places they visited. The appeal of this book is that they got to see a lot of places and I didn’t get much of that.

Even though this was a romance book, there were a lot of heavy topics in this book that I wasn’t prepared for. This wasn’t a light and fluffy read for sure.

Thank you Putnam for this ARC of Wanderlust By Elle Everhart!

I loved parts of this book. It’s the story of Dylan, who wins a radio contest where the prize is a trip around the world. The catch is that the radio station picks a random contact from Dylan’s phone to go with her. They randomly choose Jack (who she once kissed at a bar) & the story takes off from there. At its best, it gave me slight People We Meet on Vacation vibes. Which is great because that’s my fave Emily Henry book! The first 30% or so, I was in. Unfortunately, I wanted more from the travel portions of the book. Once the story got going, it kind of fell apart for me. I had a hard time picturing the locations. I wish there were more vivid descriptions to make the travel destinations really come to life. I totally appreciate what the author was doing with Dylan’s work focused plot. She works as a writer & was targeted & harassed for an article that she wrote about having an abortion in college. It delves into how scary online harassment can truly be. While I appreciated it, I wasn’t expecting such a heavy plot point, and it did throw off the tone a bit. It became much more serious. Less romantic comedy & more drama with a love story folded in. The love story between Dylan and Jack had a slow burn which really worked. I wish we would have had a couple of chapters from his POV just to get a better sense of his character. I felt a bit disconnected from him. Overall, this was a three star read for me. There were parts I enjoyed, but it just didn’t completely work for me. I will still definitely read what she writes next! I really liked her voice & the setup was spot on :)

Dylan wins a radio contest for a trip around the world! The catch? She has to bring with her a random contact from her phone, which ends up being a guy she met at a bar one night and ghosted.

This book was light and fun while still tackling some big issues like abortion, unsupportive families, and the harshness of social media. Both main characters are so unproblematic, nonjudgmental, and supportive of each other, which was so refreshing and heartwarming! The banter between the main characters was wonderful, and the book just flowed so well. Definitely adding Jack the posho to my growing list of book boyfriends. I also loved the bi representation and Dylan’s best friend and brother (will we get a story about one of them? I hope so!). Also, the travel *swoon* was described so vividly and with so much beauty and wonder. The destinations were also depicted so accurately (I’ve been to a few—most recently Australia and Iceland), and I now have the itch to go to the cities I haven’t visited yet. Such a perfect travel/summer/fun romcom! This debut is going to be a hit! Preorder yours or grab it when it hits shelves July 4!

Read if you like:
🧳 forced proximity
🧳 will they/won’t they slow burn
🧳 travel

Thanks to the author, netgalley, and Putnam books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a good read! I really enjoyed it as a summer read. I would recommend it to others and read more books from this author.

I would give this book a 2.75 rating. This is a story about a woman who wins a free trip around the world… with a stranger. For two whole months. It’s every wanderlusts’ dream scenario.

Elle Everhart does a great job of describing some of the cities and the energy they exude. It makes me want to pack up and head there. I liked that she touched on a few heavy and controversial topics, but overall the book fell flat to me. I can see how traveling with someone for two months can bring about a love connection, but it’s not illustrated well in the writing. There weren’t enough moments in the book where it made sense that the two main characters fall for each other- it kind of just happens. They go from bickering about anything and everything, then after one conversation, they’re suddenly attracted to each other. The author is very literal with the attraction- she tells us that they get closer, but I would prefer if she showed us instead (e.g. acts of service to provide evidence of the attraction).

I feel like the story would have been more enriched if it was told in dual POV. We’d be able to better understand why the MMC was attracted to her and why he ultimately fell for her despite their rocky start.

Overall, it was a quick read, but I would only recommend it if you’re into the insta-love type of story. For those looking for a swoony romance, this book is not for you.

This is a fun and cute romance! I'm a huge travel lover so this plot was perfect for me!
I loved Dylan and Jack! Dylan wins a trip around the world and has to take someone she randomly selects from her phone, which happens to be Jack, a guy she met out once and ghosted. It was such an adorable plot! I loved their chemistry.
There were some topics I didn't quite expect and made the book more serious than I expected at times but I still really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this author! Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read it!

“Wanderlust” is the story of two near strangers who win a radio contest for a trip around the world. “The Unhoneymooners” meets “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” in this debut romantic comedy.

Feeling stuck in her job as a magazine writer, Dylan calls in to the local radio station on a whim for a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world, and, to her surprise, she is the lucky tenth caller. The catch? The radio station gets to randomly select her travel partner from her phone contacts. When her partner is chosen, it is none other than Jack, a guy she met on a night out and ghosted. Although Jack agrees to go on the trip, he doesn’t seem excited about it at all and barely speaks to Dylan in the weeks leading up to their departure. Will the two hit it off on their trip of a lifetime? But more is riding on this trip for Dylan than just her relationship with Jack. Her boss has given her the opportunity to write about the trip for the magazine. If the travel series is successful, Dylan will get a permanent column. As the column’s popularity grows, so does the bond between Dylan and Jack.

I loved the premise of this book, but sadly it missed the mark. There was a lot of telling rather than showing, which was disappointing in a book about traveling the world. I would have loved to have read more about each place they visited. The biggest challenges for me were the heavy topics discussed in this book. If you are sensitive to the topics of abortion and doxxing, I would skip this one.

On a positive note, I did enjoy seeing Dylan and Jack’s relationship blossom. If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and second chance romance tropes, then you will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was much more fun than I was expecting! From the very beginning, I loved Dylan's voice and humor, and the animosity between her and Jack was so much fun to read. I do wish we got Jack's POV and watch him pine and fall for Dylan too, but not having it didn't detract from the novel either. The conversations around "internet fame" and abortion were really well handled and felt organic to the story without getting too preachy which happens sometimes when discussing topics that illicit strong opinions. Even the third act conflict felt natural and not contrived just for the drama; yes it was miscommunication, but understandable miscommunication.
I've seen comments from other reviewers about how they wished there was more content around where they traveled, but I think there was a perfect amount. Any more and it would've detracted from the romance and actual narrative, and what we did get made sense and added to the atmosphere of the moment.
Overall, I was truly impressed by Everhart's debut and will definitely keep an eye out for her future projects.

I really enjoyed this book and can't believe it's a debut novel!

Dylan is a writer who has...been through a few things recently, more on that later. On a whim, she calls into a radio contest and wins an around the world trip but with a catch. The radio host chooses a random contact out of her phone as her companion for the trip. It happens to be "Jack the posho", a bloke she snogged at a club a few months before.

Her boss sees this trip as an opportunity for Dylan to "earn" her column by writing a "second chance romance" about the trip and Jack.

As the trip goes along, we learn more about each character, their quirks, and why Jack accepted the trip. Each have parent issues, self esteem? doubts,

The humor, mostly sarcastic, in this book was hilarious. The author wrote a slow burn in a way that made hand holding steamy!

Wanderlust is a story about a woman who wins a radio station contest to visit 9 different countries- the only catch- the radio DJ gets to randomly pick someone out of her phone to invite. The lucky person ends up being a guy she kissed in a bar once and then never saw again.
This was a very cute premise, with a terrible execution.
I was ready to be immersed in the nine different countries. I wanted imagery, culture, food- and I got the bare minimum.
In terms of the second chance romance I wanted banter, romantic dates and excursions, humor, characters to root for- I got nothing. Totally boring characters with no real romance.
I am thankful to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this early copy (comes out next month,) but for me it was totally a dud.

thank you netgalley for the arc of this title. i did not like this one. both of these characters annoyed me. jack was such a grumpy, person and dylan was annoying to no end. sure, they got a free vacation and they needed a plot of enemies to whatever they are but there was no chemistry.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I would probably not call this a romance, and more of a general fiction.
I liked the way the author tackled the various issues Dylan and Jack had to face with their families and occupations. While I appreciated the sights of the destinations, there wasn't much in the way of chemistry until the very end.
The issue of abortion is a big deal to many people, so I was lucky that I felt the same way that Dylan did; her body, her choice. Hopefully the readers will agree.

I’m wondering why I requested this one. A sparkling blurb perhaps? In any event, it’s a work of tremendous cliche, both in micro and macro terms. Having just finished Caroline O’Donoghue’s delightful The Rachel Incident, this one seems all the more pedestrian. No doubt there’s a market for it, but it’s no more than generic.

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ "It's hard to believe in yourself when no one else does." ❞

❓ #QOTD If you could get an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go? ❓

🦇 On a whim, Dylan Coughlan calls a radio station and receives a once-in-a-lifetime, all-expenses-paid trip around the world. The catch: the station gets to randomly select a contact on Dylan's phone as her travel companion. She's paired with "Jack the Posho," an uptight almost-one-night-stand she unintentionally ghosted. They immediately butt heads, which doesn't make Dylan's work assignment easier: to write about the trip as a second-chance romance series. If the series succeeds, she'll finally get her own column. Is it worth the backlash when her past comes back to haunt her?

💜 Elle Everhart's debut romcom isn't just a case of the warm and fuzzy feelings we often associate with the genre; it gives far more than that. What looks like a forced proximity, grumpy versus sunshine match-up is really a well-balanced, polar opposites pairing. Both Dylan and Jack are familiar with the soul-sucking existence derived from living a life that fits their parents' standards. Dylan refused to walk that line and has been forced to pay the consequences—in her social life and professionally. Jack plays the role his parents wrote for him, only for it to make him miserable. Dylan is unabashedly confident in her decisions and whom she's become because of them (rightfully so), and that bravado eventually inspires Jack to do the same. Though it takes them an excruciatingly long time to reach an understanding, their both better off for it by the end. The character growth between them is as beautiful as some of the landscapes they encounter on their travels.

🦇 The miscommunication trope plays a big part in this story, and if you've read my previous reviews, you know that's a pet peeve. Dylan makes assumptions about Jack based on his reaction to the radio call and a few texts, but never makes an effort to learn more about him in person. Jack seems to mean well but Dylan's abrasiveness sets him off, making the first act a little tiresome to read. Fair warning: there is a bit of smut 🌶️, but the moment is ruined by the mention of Edward Cullen and sparkly skin (I definitely put my Kindle down with a groan after that).

💜 A great read that goes beyond the cute and fuzzies of typical travel romcoms. Recommended to anyone who has that itch to travel deep in their bones. That's one of the best things about being an avid reader; you have a thousand little adventures at your disposal without having to worry about the airfare. Happy reading!

❝ "The more she wrote, other things started to unravel, too. She'd been scared of her parents' rejection for the vast majority of her life, a symptom of eldest daughter syndrome and being queer as hell, but she deserved more than tolerance or a lack of outright rejection. They should have loved her no matter what, been proud of her no matter what." ❞

✨ Tropes ✨
✈️ Travel Romance
🏔️ Forced Proximity
🚂 Frenemies to Lovers
⛱️ Opposites Attract
🗽 Slow Burn

🦇 Major thanks to the author @elleeverhart and publisher @putnambooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

On a whim Dylan calls into a radio station and ends up winning a trip around the world. The only catch is that she has to go with whom they randomly select from her contact list. When “Jack the Posho” gets selected, Dylan isn’t even sure who he is! It took a while for it all to come back to her, it was a random guy from the club. When the trip begins, its apparent that Dylan and Jack are complete opposites. Dylan works for a lifestyle magazine, except she’s stuck writing cute quizzes after news of her abortion came out a few years ago. Her editor agrees to give her a regular column if she writes about her romance with Jack and it goes well. Except there is no romance. How will Dylan pull this off and come out of the trip unscathed?

This was such a fun debut! I really enjoyed the premise and the story, but I did feel it lacking at times. I wish there would have been less of the Instagram talk, and more talk of each of the places they visited. This was also very much a slow burn romance with the spice only coming in the last 10% or so of the book. I wish that Dylan and Jacks relationship would have developed a little faster. I really enjoyed how this book touched on some social issues. Dylan also mentions being bisexual, but I felt that this part of her was underdeveloped overall. I would have enjoyed learning more about this part of her character. Overall, this was a wonderful read and a great debut. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

Thank you so much to Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Netgalley, @Netgalley for gifting me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Additional links will be added once posted.

I’m very bummed to report that I couldn’t finish this book. I genuinely loved the plot and the characters and was ready for a wild trip around the world until about 25% when the author decided to hit every single political view possible within a few pages. I feel like this could have been an excellent book but sometimes it’s hard to look past a whole agenda, whether it be left or right. I consider myself VERY moderate but I don’t want to read about books that swing one way or the other - especially when it has nothing to do with the storyline. I’m here for an escape when I read, not a continuation of the talking heads in the real world.

Magazine writer Dylan wins an all expenses paid 6 week trip around the world from a local radio station. The only catch is that she will have to travel with someone the radio station randomly selects from her phone contacts. “Jack the Posho” is the lucky pick, and after initially forgetting who Jack is, Dylan remembers that he is an uptight, preppy guy that she met one night at a bar and accidentally ghosted. Dylan is able to leverage her time off for the trip into a chance at a permanent column at the magazine as she writes about her travels, and her editor urges her to push the second chance romance angle. Dylan is determined to make the trip and her time with Jack work so she can write some juicy stories to secure her dream, despite how unbearable she finds Jack. But as the two spend more time together—and find themselves while traveling—Dylan comes to realize that Jack isn’t all that bad, and she’ll have to decide if achieving what she really wanted is worth the price she has to pay to get it.

Thank you so much @netgalley, @putnambooks, and @elleeverhart for the advance copy! I read this while on vacation and it was the perfect summer travel read. I really enjoyed all of the different destinations that Jack and Dylan were able to travel to, and it made me super jealous that I didn’t win that trip! The banter between Dylan and Jack was fun and hilarious. The book also had a lot of really great and healthy discussions around women’s rights, fear of failure, respecting boundaries, consent, and sexuality. A great summer read for those who love travel, self-discovery, and romance! Wanderlust hits shelves on July 4!

This is cute but I have 2 issues with this book
1) there in insufficient dialogue between the two leads. Jack is supposed to be quiet but there is so little talking it’s hard to see the chemistry develop between them
2) there is too much talk about instagram. I know it’s relevant to the plot but I wish there were less of it.