This book made me reallllly want to travel around the world, but we all know that isn't happening anytime soon. I have three small children that I currently homeschool and Rona has crushed any dream of travel in the near future, so I will travel vicariously through books for now.

What I loved about this book:

1. The plot of this novel will appeal to a majority of bookworms. A bookish girl reliving the plot of a classic in order to save her families indie bookstore was everything I didn't know I needed to read. Romy was such a genuine character that was relatable and likeable so that alone makes this a quick fun read.

2. Romy and Dominic's enemies to lovers romance (which is my favorite trope) was a great love story. Everyone knew they were meant to be and the attraction is evident from day 1 even though they try to resist. Their chemistry grows a bit more with each interaction which makes for a tantalizing read. Even though the romance isn't the primary focus of the story the little dashes here and there were the perfect addition.

3. Romy's character growth throughout this book was my favorite aspect of this novel. As she overcomes her fears and becomes stronger than she thought possible I became 100% invested in her outcome. Her character also touches on important topics as she is traveling (such as immigration, refugee struggles, racism, and privilege) in a way that is sure to impact the reader.

This book will be enjoyable for bookworms, world travelers, and romance readers everywhere. I hope y'all enjoy this book as much as I did.

I was so excited when I read the synopsis of this novel. It seemed to be exactly what I look for in a novel, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. The main character was a bit annoying to me and I just couldn’t get on board with her. Thank you netgalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

For a girl who was raised in New York, has a college degree and is almost 30 years old, she is so very helplessly naive. Seriously, each encounter she has just makes me want to hire a babysitter to get ther out of these terrible situations- and it was not charmingly naive, just an FYI. She was incredibly frustrating, at some points I wondered how she managed to survive this long. She would have been more believable as a teenager with her impulsive reactions and pure unadulterated trust, and basically everything positive she experiences is due to others interventions. Which brings me to all the side characters along the way, which were super diverse and full of personality and charm and I enjoyed each brief interaction.

This was every travel lover (as well as classic literature lover since the travel followed along with the classic 80 days around the world) wet dream story. The book was basically a non-stop travel adventure, but not the usual 12 hour flight to Europe stuff, instead it was travel off the beaten path- trains, cargo ships, cable car, gondola, hot air balloon, ect. The locale was well described and it fed the inner travel bug inside me.

The romance aspect of the story was pretty meh, the love interests have like 2-3 quick (negative) encounters until almost halfway through the story. It is very much an enemies to lovers storyline., with a very very slow build romance. I don't think the romance was the focus of the book though, instead it was basically a whirlwind social commentary to point out all the issues going on with other groups of people and for those who have privilege to realize there is more than they know out there.

Overall this was an ok story, just not what I thought/hoped it would be. I wanted a fun cute romantic comedy in exotic travel locations but instead this was a very serious book pointing out issues going on all over the world, with just a touch of a kinda romance.

Loved this. It was the perfect book to read during Covid time and just adored it. I would recommend this to my customers and have a few regulars that I will definitely be pointing in this direction.

Eighty Days To Elsewhere By K.C. Dyer

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Publication Date: 8/11/2020

** Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Books, and of course, K.C. Dyer, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I honestly wanted to escape into the world created in this book!!

Ramona “Romy” Keene lives in NYC and dreams of traveling the world, specifically, Paris. Her goal is to go to a photography school, however, this is placed on hold when her uncle’s bookshop, a second-hand wonder, needs saving. Romy takes it on herself to the bookshop and an opportunity to join ExLibris Expeditions (a literary journey) falls into her lap. The catch? It is 80 days of travel, and she only has 50 days to do this.

This book fed my travel wants for 2020, especially during this crazy year of self-isolation. A perfect escape with wonderful writing. Perfection when it comes to my want to escape!

it’s been a minute, but finally knocked out a book this weekend! my new apartment has the coziest reading spots🤩

eighty days to elsewhere(travel/romance): ★★★

the romance set across the world is my favorite sub genre, so I was super excited about this one, but it took me a loooong time to get into it.

romy works for her uncle’s independent bookstore, which is at stake of being taken over by an “evil” landlord who won it in a poker match. in order to attempt to gain the funds to save it, she takes a job with a travel company dedicated to giving their clientele the travel experience from their favorite novel (which should definitely be a thing). she has to scope out travel options for a modern day “80 days around the world” by jules vergne. the only catch is that she’s competing for a full-time position with a man, who is also taking the same journey.

of course, they continue bumping into each other and team up for part of the journey. my biggest complaint is that the majority of the book consists of them traveling from place to place without spending much time in any of the places they travelled to. I do appreciate that they end up in locations that don’t typically get included in books like these (india, canada, etc), but I would’ve loved getting to spend a little bit of time in each location. I also felt like the romance wasn’t super well developed until almost the end.

overall, a cute read! thanks to @berkleypub and @netgalley for the e-arc!

I was not familiar with any of K.C. Dyer's previous books so I had nothing to compare Eighty Days to Elsewhere. This is a story about a competition that was based on the Jules Vern book Eighty Days around the world.

Ramona is a twenty-something woman who lives in NYC with her uncles. Ramona lives in the past after tragically losing her parents when she was a young girl. Afraid of what could happen, Ramona is paralyzed with fear of traveling outside of NYC. Desperation to save her uncles' bookstore pushes Ramona to apply for a job that could save the bookstore if she wins the competition.

Once Ramona sets off on her quest around the world, the reader is swept into an adventure that takes her to places she has only dreamt of. It was beyond obvious, in a good way, that Dyer knew her stuff when writing the travel part of this book. This might be one of the best books at describing different places, people, cultures, travel and foods. Her attention to detail was extraordinary and made the story believable and realistic.

This was a great escape and opportunity to travel around the world.

This was a fun read ! I love that it was based on the classic tale Around the world in Eighty Day! The only thing I wished there was more in the was the description of the places she visited. It felt like it was such a world wind and then we were leaving the place. There was not time to actually see or do anything in the countries she visited.

I enjoyed that the race and competition itself, evolved into something that mattered more, which I will not say cause that's a spoiler!! I liked the ending as well, but I wish there was more to it, it felt very sudden.

Overall this was an easy and a good one for anyone likes to travel ! Many Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC!

I enjoyed this book so stinking much!

Let me just say, when I received this book from the publisher and saw that it was just about 500 pages, I was a bit intimidated. Who the heck can write a 500 page contemporary book about a girl traveling to try and save her family bookshop and manage to keep it entertaining!? K.C Dyer can, that's who!

I adored Romy and loved her character growth. She leaves NYC as a homebody who never steps out of her comfort zone and returns as someone who sees the value and joy in experiencing new things and new cultures.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the social commentary. Throughout the novel, Romy meets a cast of characters and has many unfortunate events happen to her, but she learns along the way and starts to understand how different her struggles are from others.

I genuinely loved the characters in this story! The main characters were charming and made me laugh and smile. The villains...made me want to punch them. I just thought it was great. It takes a lot for me to become attached to a character, let alone a whole cast of characters!

Overall, I would absolutely pick this one up if you are looking for a lighthearted and charming read that is sure to warm your heart and bring you on a great adventure!

Review posted on my Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Books-a-million, and Barnes and Noble.

Eighty Days to Elsewhere is the ultimate road trip book and a fun, fast read that combines two of my favorite things – books and travel.

The comps for this novel were Around the World in Eighty Days meets “Amazing Race”. If you’re familiar with this reality show, you know the pace the travelers are on, and how little time is spent in each location, so that should set expectations about her travel experience. This is no slow stroll through Paris! (Her Paris adventure was anything but what she had planned…) I love the idea, too, of a literary trip that follows the path of Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, and to attempt it in a short amount of time is the perfect setup for chaos.

Add the fast pace to Romy’s complete lack of travel experience and the sheltered life she’s led, and you’ve got the perfect set-up for some hilarious and/or unfortunate disasters. She’s awkward, she’s definitely not very worldly, and she undergoes a lot of personal growth in the book. There are a few details that come out late in the book which might have actually explained a lot about both Romy and Dominic (no spoilers).

I think Eighty Days to Elsewhere is perfect for literary lovers who are currently experiencing wanderlust.

I am on fire with my romance reads lately, and Eighty Days to Elsewhere was no exception I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was the addition of incorporating another book into it, in this case Around the World in Eighty Days by: Jules Verne. I loved seeing all the places Ramona visited on her journey and Ramona was also a great main character to have, you really feel for her determination to save her families bookstore. I also liked the romance and maybe that is why I loved it so much was because it was not the focus to the story but Ramona’s adventure and the places she visited. Overall, Eighty Days to Elsewhere fun book that features amazing travelling plot and a cute romance

Sophie Kinsella meets Jules Verne in a romance that's as much in love with self discovery as pairing the previously heretofore grounded heroine with a dashing hero. An adventure of a lifetime might just pair with saving Romy's family bookshop and in exchange she gets a lifetime of unfolding stories

A lot of catnip here for me. Especially the travel part. And the bookish part. And the enemies to lovers part.

Perhaps not quite as immersive as I would have liked but a fab concept.



Also featured on twitter and insta

This book had everything I loved – reading about a quaint bookstore that needs to be saved, an Jules Verne’s adventure by traveling all over the world and possibly falling in love with the enemy. Since I read an early ARC Copy, I was not able to appreciate the illustrations available in the finished copy which I definitely will be snagging very soon.

Ramona Keene a New Yorker and our introverted heroine who dreams of travelling to Paris and going to photography school needs to put on hold her dreams to save her uncle’s second hand book shop as the new landlord is set at increasing the rent which means closing down the bookstore. Romy had an opportunity to save the bookstore by joining the ExLibris Expeditions to perform a literary journey in 80 days to travel around the world.

This was the perfect read for me during the quarantine where my travel dreams are put on hold and yet through this book I was taken to so many adventures. I love the beautiful writing that was vivid, and so beautiful. To get to enjoy the characters in this book especially Romy and Dominic was the perfect escape.

I really enjoyed this book so much!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and KC Dyer for this ARC. This was a fun read - especially during these Covid times, this book was a wonderful escape. The premise gripped me right away and I enjoyed the adventure. I will definitely recommend this to other readers.

Eighty Days to Elsewhere is a contemporary romance by kc dyer. The book is billed as an amazing race type adventure, which is one of my favorite competition shows, so I was immediately all in. This book was such a fun literary adventure around the world filled with traveling, hijinks and romance. I really enjoyed this read. It was a lot of fun. There is a lot packed into this book. If you are in the mood for a past paced book lovers adventure around the world, Eighty Days to Elsewhere is a fun book to check out.

In Eighty Days to Elsewhere we meet our main character Ramona, or Romy. Her family bookstore is in dire need of financial help, so Romy decides that she needs another job to try and get some money. She grabs a job at a literary expedition company, which by the way- how cool does that sound? The company plans trips to various locations based on books to create cool bookish vacation trips. Romy’s first job sends her on a trip around the world, as she tries to plan a vacation for fans of Around the World in 80 days by Jules Verne. Romy’s trip takes her all over the place. In this time of quarantine, I loved getting to jet off to all different destinations. Her trip also has her meeting lots of different people.

I thought Eighty Days to Elsewhere was a really fun read. It is very fast paced because Romy is always go go go, and at times that made me feel a bit frantic and rushed as I was reading, but it was very fitting with the events of the book, so I kind of enjoyed that aspect of the pacing. On top of all the jet setting, I also really enjoyed the romance in the book. I thought the romance was going to be a bigger aspect of the story initially. It wasn’t. It is present but it is kind of simmering in the background rather than taking center stage. I think Eighty Days to Elsewhere is perfect for literary lovers who are currently experiencing wanderlust. This is a great way to virtually travel around the world. It was a fun read.

This is one of the those books that will fill your heart and remind you how good it is to be alive. That there is more to these problems and overthinking inside your mind. Because there’s a wide world out there waiting to be seen by your own eyes. Each country reach to offer something new, different but still beautiful as the others. It makes me feel hopeful and warm. The way my cup of coffee does every morning – making me think straight, washing off the weight of last night’s thoughts. It brings me back to my sanity even though some might think that hoping too much is insanity or maybe dreaming too much. But there is no such thing as too much for a person who believes – these characters echo that statement. It also reminds me of my life verse: “if you can?”, said Jesus. Everything is possible for one who believes (Mark 9:23). There’s also a wide perspective from people of different races to learn from. These people’s stories are needed to be heard. I’m so glad the author told them in her vivid way of storytelling – where you can actually trace back where they are coming from. It also taught me how to be more respectful to the people who are not in the same race as mine. We are all human, all lives matter.

This book was not what I was expecting, in the BEST way. Calling it a romance doesn't do it justice! I was a little nervous about reading this book, as we've all been stuck at home for the past (almost) six months and I have a bit of the travel bug - I thought this book might make me sad, or give me FOMO. It definitely gave me FOMO, but it didn't make me sad! In fact, this book was the perfect way to "travel" the world while sitting in my bed staying up way too late trying to finish reading it! I loved Romy's character, not just because she was brave and determined and caring, but because she was able to recognize her own biases and correct them and learn from them throughout the trip. She was able to recognize that she lived a privileged life in New York, and her growth throughout the book was a treat to read.

In a time where we are being told not to travel, I find myself wanting to read more about people travelling to live vicariously through them. Finding this book was a gift because it is right up my alley right now, however something about this was just not clicking. I thought maybe I just wasn't focusing on the story, so I'd restarted it multiple times and still, I was not interested. I don't think the writing was bad - although I skimmed it a LOT so maybe it was - I just think we weren't a good fit. Maybe when it is released I will give this another shot because I really was looking forward to this one and to end on a "meh" note doesn't satisfy me.

Eighty Days to Elsewhere by KC Dyer felt like it was a book made for me – my two absolute favourite things to do are reading and travelling. This book molded both of those loves perfectly.

The protagonist, Ramona (Romy) Keene is a born and bred New Yorker who is working at her uncles’ bookstore while dreaming of photography and Paris. She is happily living out her dreams through the adventures in the books when their new landlord threatens to triple the rent, making the bookstore unaffordable. Romy decides to pursue a strange internship in order to earn enough money to keep the bookstore; she is required to recreate the original route of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. Romy is nervous to finally leave home, but knows that she must in order to help her family, she soon discovers that Dominic Madison is also taking on the challenge and he happens to be the nephew of her new landlord. Romy feels like she needs to hate Dominic on principle for his attitude and his greedy uncle, but she finds herself drawn to his good looks and witty personality.

If you couldn’t tell right from the first line, I really loved this book. There was less of a focus on the romance aspect and more on Romy travelling and learning more about different cultures and of herself. In the times we are living in at the moment with travel so restricted, it was great to be able to live through the pages and see different parts of the world with Romy – kind of like what she was doing at the bookstore herself! This is a very fun book with lots of quirky conversations and great character development with the backdrop of the world.

I really enjoyed reading about Romy as she travelled and realized her privileges growing up in New York and how she developed as a character throughout the book, from a shy bookworm to becoming more confident in her dreams and ambitions. I love a good female lead! Her “nemesis” Dominic was also very charming and I could feel the chemistry between them jumping off the page. Their romance is a slow burn and they go from enemies to friends to lovers. The focus of the book is more about Romy growing as a person with these experiences than about the romance of it. It was a very nice change from a lot of the romance novels that I have recently read, especially the enemies to lovers ones that often have both parties just consumed with each other and nothing else.

Overall, this is a very entertaining and fun book while still being though-provoking and smart. I highly recommend for anyone who is a fan of travel and romantic comedies.

~ Harshita

Fun, engaging, and entertaining - Eighty Days to Elsewhere is such a treat to read!

Ramona (known as Romy) has dreams of travel and photographing it all, but life is not matching up with her dreams. Instead, she is working for her uncle at his bookstory in NYC. Life is moving along steadily when suddenly her uncle gets saddled with a new landlord and his Evil Nephew. Yep, they want triple the rent and they want it ASAP. Well, Romy's uncle can't afford it and options are limited. What's he to do? Fortunately, Romy decides to earn the money via a company called, ExLibris Expeditions. Basically, the company recreates literary journeys for their clients. Romy is tasked with Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. Talk about a tough job! Not only does Romy have less than 80 days to plan the journey, but she's got competition - Evil Nephew. Yikes!

Dyer has written a delightful story that will cheer you up on a rainy day. I sure enjoyed getting lost in Romy's adventures as she worked her way around the world planning her client's dream journey. Such a great story - drama, books, photography, romance, and traveling! Love, love, loved Eighty Days to Elsewhere by K.C. Dyer!!