Wanderlust

 

 Author: Elle Everhart

Title: Wanderlust
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Date Published: 07/04/2023

Read Dates: 03/02/2023- 03/04/2023
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

Rating ARC’s can be difficult because I review and rate based on how a book makes me feel, but I try to be more objective with these. I will say upfront that I loved this book! The premise was fun and just different enough to put a spin on familiar tropes, but not so outlandish that I couldn’t enjoy it.

Wanderlust is a single POV book that dips into rom com territory but brings along a lot of big issues to tackle as well (abortion, family strife, LGBTQIA+ acceptance, online harassment and threats, and the environmental crisis).

What I really loved:
✔️ strangers to lovers
✔️ slow burn
✔️ grumpy/sunshine
✔️ second chance romance
✔️ forced proximity

There were a few things that had me wavering between 3 stars and 5 stars (so I split the difference) that either just weren’t quite right for me or may be difficult for others.

1. If a liberal view on big topics is a deal breaker for you, then this isn’t your book. I loved it, but some of the issues named above are very sensitive so it won’t be right for everyone.

2. I feel like this book needed more development for Jack to understand his character better. It might have been better as dual POV.

3. The unresolved nature of the ending makes my anxious brain itch! A lot of big issues were brought up and left hanging and huge decisions were made and then… done. I don’t know if this was done intentionally so the author could continue the story in another book, or if other (less neurotic than me) readers would find it a satisfying conclusion but I felt like there was too much left open.

All in all though, this was a really enjoyable book and I’m putting this author on my list to watch for, because I’d love to see what she comes up with next!

People We Meet on Vacation meets The Unhoneymooners in this sparkling debut romantic comedy about two near strangers—and complete opposites—who win a radio contest for a trip around the world.

Love's about to take flight .

Feeling stuck at work and tired of London’s dreary weather, magazine writer Dylan Coughlan impulsively rings a radio station one day only to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. The catch? Her travel partner must be a contact randomly selected on her phone. And of course this stressful game of contact roulette lands on a number listed only as Jack the Posho , an uptight, unbearably posh guy she met on a night out and accidentally ghosted.

The two couldn’t be more different, and as the trip kicks off, Jack seems like he’d sooner fling himself into the sun than have a conversation with Dylan. But more is hinging on this trip than the chance to see the world. For the past two years, Dylan’s been relegated to writing quizzes (and only quizzes) at her lifestyle magazine after an article about her past abortion went viral—and not in the good way. If she’s able to make a series about their trip successful, her overbearing boss will give her a chance at a permanent column. Dylan’s willing to do anything to make the series a hit, even if it means embellishing her and Jack’s relationship to satisfy readers. But as the column’s popularity grows, so does the bond between Dylan and Jack, and Dylan is forced to consider if the one thing she thought she always wanted is worth the price she'll have to pay to get there.