This book made me want to pack a bag and travel the world. I really enjoyed the premise. The characters had good depth and their stories were unique, but relatable. The experiences Dylan and Jack had throughout their travels sounded fun, but I wish the story had included more of their adventures together. There is a lot of time spent talking about posting to instagram and dealing with internet trolls. While these are important to the story, it started to get repetitive.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (one scene without a lot of detail, can easily be skipped if that’s not your jam)
I was provided an advanced copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WOW what an insufferable main character. She’s so rude to Jack for the majority of the book. Jack might be on the blunt side, but he’s not outright rude to her the way she is to him. I felt very disconnected from this story because I didn’t care about the character who was doing the telling. I really didn’t have anything to root for, so it was very difficult to get through the book.

Thank you netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read this book. This was a cute inspiring story! I really liked that I felt the chemistry in the beginning but it did start to fizzle out for me as time went on. I felt like the romance was sweet but I wasn’t in love with them as a couple. I really enjoyed reading about two people coming together and giving each other the courage to go after their dreams. It was really interesting to see the growth the characters had throughout the book.

Great book and so enjoyable to read. Perfect light story to enjoy poolside or at the beach. I loved the main character. She was so well done.

Wanderlust follows Dylan who enters a radio contest and wins. The contest is an all expense paid trip around the world. But there is just one catch, the radio station will choose a person at random from her contacts to go with her. The person that gets picked is someone named Jack. Jack is the person that Dylan accidently ghosted. The two go on the trip together and it seems like Jack doesn't want to be there. However, as the trip goes on Dylan and Jack end up liking each other.

This book had similar vibes to People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. I liked this book. But I wish it was just a little more unique and not similar to other books I have read. I thought the writing was good. I enjoyed the overall story. I thought it was a good romance book. I am not a fan of forced proximity romance books though. So this one did miss the mark for me a little bit. I do not think I will go back and reread this one though. But I would suggest it.

Thank you Elle Everhart, Putnam Sons, and Netgalley for this ARC.

I stopped reading it about a third of the way through. I was interested in the concept at first, but I lost interest. Cannot really pinpoint why, but I might try reading it again someday, I got distracted while I was reading it and that might have made me lost interest.

I really enjoyed this! As someone who never deletes their contacts, I would probably never go on the adventure of a lifetime that Dylan and Jack go on in this story, so I loved traveling around the world with them for a bit through this book.

Although I think this is already a really solid enemies to lovers romcom, I would have loved a dual POV in this story so that I could have learned a little bit more about Jack and his feelings throughout their journey around the world. I loved the little glimpses we got of his personality, but it was more about his personality in relation to Dylan than him as an individual. I would have also selfishly loved to hear more about the places that they visited together, because I feel they both grew as people in each of these locations.

Overall, I thought this was really great! I loved that it wasn't afraid to tackle big issues while also remaining a pleasant escape for readers. I can't wait to see what Elle Everhart comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC!

Wanderlust felt like a fresh and modernized take on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days".

Dylan is a passionate but uninspired writer for a popular magazine and website called Buxom, and Jack is a stuffy lawyer who has had his entire life mapped out for him by his parents.

When Dylan wins a radio contest that allows her to travel all over the world, with the caveat of having to take a random contact that's in her phone, she quickly hops on it. She couldn't be more excited, until the radio station calls a random contact in her phone labeled as "Jack the Posho", whom she has no recollection of. When the radio station calls Jack, he very much does remember Dylan, and the fact that after a steamy night at the club, she ghosted him. In spite of that, and much to her surprise, he agrees to go on the trip with Dylan.

Watching Jack slowly come out of his shell and open himself up to Dylan was so sweet, and their slow burn, enemies to lovers relationship was very endearing. I really enjoyed watching them both find themselves along the way of their travels, and in turn, finding each other as well.

I would have loved to have seen a bit more interaction between Jack and his sister, Charlie, to help him feel a little more fleshed out and fully realized, but even so, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely find myself reaching for it again!

The premise of this book! Win a free trip around the world, but you have to go with a random contact from your phone? Irresistible. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Dylan and Jack — both the awkwardness between them at the start of their trip, then the way their relationship deepened over time. There was fun chemistry here, but also well-handled family issues and an interesting exploration of social media exploitation. I appreciated both the depth and the lighter moments. Time to go play contact list roulette with my own phone to see who the fates would send me around the world with…

Wanderlust is a stellar second-chance romance about a writer at a popular online magazine winning a radio-sponsored once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world with a randomly selected contact in her phone, who ends up being a rigid, posh lawyer she kissed at a club months prior and she never called back.

This is every bit of the People We Meet On Vacation and The Unhoneymooners blend the blurb promises. It's a romance with depth (two characters with rich, slowly developing backstories and a lot to lose, much like an Emily Henry novel) with two kinda friends/kinda strangers going on a fully-paid vacation together (The Unhoneymooners) but the MMC is in love with the FMC, who is totally oblivious and perceives his awkwardness about feelings as total disdain for her. (PWMOV)

But there's also: a queer FMC whose op-ed piece about healthcare rights and a personal story about abortion goes infamously viral and lands her in hot water for months with her boss, who now demands she write a series about her trip and manipulate readers into believing it's a one-night stand turned second-chance romance despite the fact they never actually hooked up and they're fighting to keep this trip platonic. The FMC is torn between keeping the enigmatic, incredibly sweet MMC's strong preference to stay anonymous online after a social media-related incident destroyed his career and the promise of a new career-launching column she's been dreaming of but will only get if the series does incredibly well.

Wanderlust hits all the points for my perfect romance: likeable MC's with solid character development, believable chemistry, natural conflict, strong pacing, and an attractive plot. Although there's a miscommunication/withholding information trope here and the writing style is a tiny bit too dry for me, it's still well-written and I really enjoyed this one.

4.5 / 5

Thank you Penguin Group / Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Pub date: July 4, 2023

A very strong debut from Elle Everhart! Like many romance novels, the premise required some suspension of disbelief, because I have a hard time imagining a woman just agreeing to go on a trip around the world with a man she doesn’t know, especially given the serial killer vibes Jack was giving off at the beginning of the book. But it’s fiction, so hey, go for it!

Once the trip was underway, I loved Dylan and Jack’s chemistry! Definite odd couple vibes reminiscent of People We Meet on Vacation, but the story was obviously very different from that one.

I think Everhart has a very confident, approachable writing style, and I was honestly surprised this was a debut. She described each of the locations very vividly, which is all the more impressive considering this book was a literal trip around the world. With so many locations, the book could easily have dragged on or felt rushed, but the pacing struck just the right balance.

If I had to quibble—I found it a little weird that Jack and Dylan never really addressed her ghosting him. I thought it would be a bigger deal based on the promotional materials, but it kind of got glossed over. That’s totally fine—it really wasn’t the point of the book—but it felt like something was missing there.

Still five star from me!

3.5 stars rounded up

I will always be up for a rom com that has the added element of travel, especially when it's the dead of winter and I need to live vicariously through fiction. Wanderlust takes you on an unlikely adventure with Dylan and Jack around the world. Although Dylan has literally met Jack once and spent a few hours with him and just happens to be her polar opposite.

What I loved:
- Wanderlust is a total escape!
- This may be Elle's debut, but it was incredible for a debut!
- While I didn't love Dylan at the beginning (I found her to be a bit self-absorbed), I loved her character growth and ended up really enjoying her by the end!
- I could feel the chemistry between Dylan and Jack and really enjoyed it. I love the support they gave each other and they felt like real people.

If you're looking for an escapist rom com, give this one a try!

A massive thank you to NetGalley, Elle Everhart and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this ARC!

What a solid debut by @elleeverhart! Thanks to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this ARC of "Wanderlust" in return for an honest review.

4/5⭐
I love to travel and the title immediately caught my eye. Dylan and Jack go on an around-the-world trip courtesy of a local London radio show. It's a bit awkward at first since their only history is a snog at a club months back and Dylan couldn't even place who"Jack the Posho" was on her phone.

I initially thought it might be a light-hearted rom-com for the potential hijinks one can get into while traveling but this book has so much heart and gets into some serious topics, such as cyber bullying, doxxing, consent, abortion, and lack of parental support. It caught me my surprise but in a good way. I love when there's depth to romances.

Everhart does a great job developing the characters and providing their backstories so you know who they are and why they react in certain ways. The only aspect I wish was explored further was Dylan's bisexuality. It was almost a non-factor in the plot. Otherwise, a solid story.

Wanderlust by Elle Everhart was such a fun and sweet rom-com!
And for this to be her romance debut she killed it.

I loved the connection. And the characters were just so much fun.
The writing was engaging and delightful.
The banter was great… And the romance was fabulous. I couldn't have picked a better book to devour.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This started out as a solid 4 star read as I loved the premise of winning a trip around the world, with the catch that you have to do it with a random person selected from your contacts. I was a literal basket of nerves as they selected who she would go with and appreciated the anticipation and build up the author was able to portray.

But...as we dove into a enemies to lovers trope, I couldn't help feeling somewhat misled. I would have liked to have seen more of a flashback to when the two MC's met. There was a mention, but it was definitely a positive experience even though the timing was bad for one of them. As previous reviewers have mentioned, this book with all the misunderstandings and miscommunications between characters, would have benefited from a dual POV timeline.

I would also like to address the pacing and references to time. Some of the destinations were described in glorious detail, while others were more of an afterthought. There were references made they would be traveling for months, but then it would say 6 weeks. Then there would be mention that they would be done in a few weeks, but really a month or more was left. A lot would happen and then you would find out it had only been a few days, when all of a sudden, they are at the end of the trip and you felt like you missed a lot of what had to have happened during that time.

While I really appreciated the LGBTQIA+ representation, I wished the author could have come up with more varied descriptions of the MC than simply, "queer as hell". The first time was great, but the other two times were just repetitive and felt more performative. The MC could have gone a little deeper into her feelings and experiences being bisexual and I would have liked a little more exploration of that.

Finally, as a professional photographer, I was annoyed by a character who played around with taking pictures on his iphone and suddenly decided to become a free lance photographer. Seriously, it's a legitimate career with training involved and proper equipment. Sure, people can do a lot with iphones, but let's not pretend for a minute that one can quit a lucrative career and just have a love of taking pictures and a phone with a good camera and suddenly become a "photographer" just because a girl, with no photography background, says you're really good. I'm all for second careers and doing what you love, but the reality is that you do it on the side until you learn enough and become good enough to create a business. This whole plot line just felt unrealistic.

Overall, a fun premise and entertaining read. First half was 4 stars, second half was 3 stars for me.

TW: abortion

i really enjoyed this book! it was smart, witty, and just fun. i loved the premise, it was really original. and i love Jack, i thought he was very sweet and every time we learned more about him i loved him more. i liked the commentary on what should be shared on the internet, asking for permission to share others, trolls, and the consequences of sharing yourself on the internet. i thought that was a really interesting take that i don’t think is talked about a lot especially in this way. maybe it’s my own bias and things like that but because of it the stakes seemed kind of low, like it was pretty obvious jack was going to forgive her (beyond knowing it’s a romance and hopefully had a HEA), i thought there maybe should’ve been something that gave us more devastation and the thought that maybe they wouldn’t make it. but it was still a super sweet and fun read, definitely great for everhart’s debut novel!

I loved the idea of this story. Two strangers who met in a club traveling together across the world. Adventures & beautiful scenery that both characters couldn’t have dreamed or anticipated seeing. Some work drama between both characters & their jobs makes for some twists and turns you didn’t see coming. The end becomes quite spicy and it feels a little forced because the MC’s travels are ending. Overall not a bad book. The writing style was easy to read for most of it & the MC’s are easy to love.

I liked this book. Do not take my 3 star review as something bad, as for me it marks a relatively average read, but one that I still enjoyed.

Wanderlust follows Dylan, a writer for a magazine who is trying to kickstart her own column with the magazine she currently works for. In a random chance, she wins a radio contest to travel around the world, but the catch is that the station gets to choose one person at random from her contacts to go with her. They end up choosing Jack, a guy she made out with in a club a few months back and never called again. We follow the two of them as they make their travels around the world and bond together as a pair.

I'll start with the stuff I think is really well handled. I think that the discussions around really tough topics are handled very well and with an amazing amount of grace, and I like that both of the characters have very separate problems that they are dealing with. When the pair does eventually get together, they are very cute together and I love their dynamic once that happens. The places that are explored in the book are really cool and vibrant, and I really enjoy the way the author described the locations, and it does give a very real picture of just how exhausting a trip like this would be.

I do have a couple of things with this book that knock it down from being great to being just good or okay, even. The first major thing I have is that I found our main character, Dylan, to be really self-absorbed through the first part of this book. I mean it took me until about the 50% mark before I started to not roll my eyes when she would say things. She treated Jack pretty cruelly through a large portion of the book, and while I think we are supposed to think that Jack is acting distant from her and giving her reason to act the way she is, there's enough about Jack given to us that even through Dylan's perspective, I could see that she was being way too harsh on him. She also goes way beyond the boundary of what I would consider acceptable a couple of times, and while she does acknowledge that she's messed up in the book, and I think it's perfectly fine for characters to make mistakes, I just simply don't buy these two getting together in the end.

There's a lot of telling, not showing when it comes to Jack's character (like he's supposed to be very posh, etc, but really we only get like 2 descriptors of him that might support that? Otherwise it's just kind of Dylan assuming that he's a posh guy). I feel like I would have really enjoyed this book if it was either from a dual POV or if there was more of an exploration of Jack as a character that would justify Dylan's reaction, or maybe even written in such a way that Dylan wasn't quite as antagonistic of Jack right off the bat, this could easily have been a 4 or 5 star read for me.

This was everything I want in a romcom—hooky premise, opposites attract, excellent tension and humor throughout. I was rooting for them both, and getting to see their relationship develop around the world was wonderful! What a joy. Can't wait for more by Everhart!

Let this serve as a reminder to delete people from your contacts when you are no longer interested in communicating with them. A funny romp with serious attitude.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.