I loved the idea of the story and had high hopes for it but the constant mention of Gia putting on her mask, or taking it off or some other random reference to Covid became really annoying and I did not feel it was pertinent to the story. It took away from the storyline and made me feel irritated the whole time I was reading. I ended up scimming the book after about 40%.

I really enjoyed the adventure aspect of this book. I'm all for food, adventure and travel. I too hope to have adventures like the main character.

This story was definitely an odyssey! I enjoyed the writing a lot, and the plot was cute. It took a bit for me to really connect with Gia. There were quite a few moments she annoyed me, but she had some decent character development throughout. This book really made me want to travel and eat Greek/Italian food and vibe and enjoy life. So cute!

PREPARE TO HAVE WANDERLUST!

I'm sorry it took me so long to finally get to this one! It was so fun, and so sweet!

This was a fun wild ride of a story.

It took a bit for me to really connect with the MC, and there were moments throughout the book where I was a little annoyed with her. But overall I enjoyed her development.

I was annoyed that it took so long for her to realize that her boyfriend was not a great guy, but I guess that's the point.

You'll definitely want to travel after reading this book, so buckle up!

This was a bit slow moving and I felt that the romance felt very secondary to the story, but I really enjoyed the setting in Greece.

I have loved and been obsessed with Greece and it's exciting history and mythos since I was a little kid so was super excited to pick this up and it did not disappoint! I was expecting more romance in the book but it was very much pushed to the background and not much happened with her love interest in the story. I still really enjoyed it and the focus on Gia's journey with her father. The descriptions of food and their travels through Greece were excellent and I really felt like I was there.

This was an enjoyable read. I like Dyer's writing style. This was slower paced than I typically like but I did really love Gia!

An Accidental Odyssey will scratch that wonderlust itch that so many of us have after the past two years.

Tropes: on/off engagement, one-night stand who works with your dad, fixing familial issues.

This was a bit of a slow read, but a sweet one nonetheless.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read this one because I changed my kindle email address and forgot to update it on Netgalley, so it never arrived to my device. *facepalm*

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⛵️ BOOK FEATURE: “An Accidental Odyssey” by KC Dyer (@kc.dyer )⛵️

Berkley Trade Paperback; publish date December 14, 2021

🌀Recent college grad Gianna Kostas is on her way to building the perfect life.
🌀But all of Gia’s plans are derailed when she receives a phone call, letting her know that her father, a man she barely knows, has suffered a heart attack.
🌀Even worse, he is determined to run off to Greece & retrace the journey Odysseus made in The Odyssey.
🌀Gia is forced to follow him to Athens. 🌀But as Gia adventures—and eats—her way around the Mediterranean, she discovers that confronting epic storms, sea monsters, & gorgeous archaeologists might be the easy part.

This ones for you if you love:
⛵️ Greek mythology
⛵️Wanderlust
⛵️ Atmospheric food
⛵️ Family relationships

Thank you to @netgalley & @berkleypub for including me in your tour.

This is painful for me. I just read a LOVED Eighty Days to Elsewhere. I was hungover and mourning the end of that amazing journey around the world with two characters I fell head over heals for, so I immediately started this second book in the series. It feels completely different. First of all, I did not love being reminded of the pandemic every other page. In this book, the pandemic is mostly over but not quite. I kept hearing about masks and social distancing (or lack thereof). The main character, Gianna (Gia), kept referring to the "Before Times". I read for an escape, and since we're still so fully entrenched in the covid-19 pandemic (hi, omicron!) I'm just not ready to have it in my books yet. I'd like my books to pretend this virus doesn't exist right now.

I also found Gia to be a very unlikeable character. She pulls a Ross and, mere hours after an argument with her fiance, sleeps with the first man she sees. I mean yes, I hated the fiance. He's horrible. But the argument ends with him saying ,"we're done, we'll sort it out when you get home". To me, sorting it out doesn't mean they're done. I know I would want some clarity on that before becoming involved with another man. Her fiance apologizes and everything is fine between them the next day. She feels guilty and makes a conscious decision to start overcompensating to better show him her love and make up for what she did. I'm all for vacation flings (and love vacation fling romances), but this sounds like cheating to me. And the fact that she feels so guilty and plans to pretend it never happened means she knows it is. I really don't like stories that involve cheaters, so I should have just quit right there.

But I kept going and then I started to hate Gia even more. The way she speaks to her dad, her voice dripping in condescension and judgment regarding his trip following in Odysseus's footsteps grated on me. He's a grown man. He's happy and vibrant and excited about this and she's being a total helicopter daughter, running along behind him picking apart his every choice and sharing way too many unsolicited negative opinions about everything he's excited about. I wanted to throw her into the ocean, quite truthfully. She's in beautiful Greece, for crying out loud. Either enjoy it or go home.

I can see hints of a romance forming (with the guy she cheated on her fiance with, no less, so that does not look promising to me), so I went and read some reviews and the focus of this story is definitely her babysitting her dad and nothing else, so I decided to stop reading.

An Accidental Odyssey was the perfect fun adventure. I loved Gianna's journey of self-discovery, and Greek food and culture really came alive through kc dyer's writing.

Gianna Kostas is on the cusp of a fairy-tale life. Sure, she's just lost her job, but she's about to marry one of New York's most eligible bachelors. On her way to taste wedding cakes, though, things go sideways. Shocking news sends Gia off on a wild journey halfway around the world in pursuit of her ailing—and nearly estranged—father.

In Athens, she learns Dr. Kostas, a classics professor, is determined to retrace Odysseus's famous voyage. This is a journey her father is in no condition to take alone, so Gia faces a tough decision. When an unexpected job offer helps seal the deal and quash the guilt Gia feels from her disapproving groom-to-be, the journey is on. But as Gia adventures—and eats—her way around the Mediterranean, she discovers that confronting epic storms and ripped surfer dudes might be the easy part.

Along the way, as she uncovers family secrets, finds heartbreak, and learns more about a certain archaeologist with a mysterious past of his own, Gia discovers that fairy-tale endings might be messy and complicated, but they can happen anywhere.

I loved this story of self-discovery! Gia's story is the perfect book to read by the beach or poolside this summer -- it's equal parts adventurous and full of depth!

Have you ever been in love with a book just because it made you want to travel the world? Well this book did that for me. I loved this journey. Gia embarks on a trip to Greece to find her dad and give him the medicine that he forgot to take. She isn't planning on staying, she has to get back to her fiance and life back in New York, but when she realizes that he shouldn't be alone, she sets off with him traveling from Greece to Italy trying to uncover hidden truths of Odyssius. With the help of a lot of amazing people along the way, the two of them have the time of their lives and uncover hidden truths.
This is more of a family drama than it is a romance. It is a journey of a woman finding herself and finding family. There is romance thrown in, and I really struggled with the amount of time it took her to realize her fiance was garbage, but I fell in love with the culture and the travels early on. I have been to Greece, I have family there and it really resonated with me.
Thank you to Berkley, Netgalley and KC Dyer for an early copy.

I really enjoyed this fun adventure. You could taste the foods that were described and feel the ocean spray against your face as Gia travels through the Mediterranean retracing Odysseus's famous voyage for her father.

I received an ARC from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own

Visit Greece in this lovely book.

The pandemic has altered my reading patterns dramatically (shorter attention span has been a hindrance). But one positive change has been my desire to read books set in "other" places. That was what attracted me to this book in the first place - though the cute cover didn't hurt one bit!!

I felt the premise that got Gia to Greece was a bit shaky. But one we arrived in Greece, the story picked up and I enjoyed the story and living vicariously through Gia.

I’m a lifelong fan of mythology, and nowadays the greatest myths are being retold through web comics, romance and mainstream fiction. So when I realized K.C. Dyer had crafted a story where the characters are retracing Odysseus’ voyage through the Mediterranean, I was eager to read it.

An Accidental Odyssey is the second book in Dyer’s ExLibris Adventure series. It’s a nice escape into an epicurean adventure that’s neither too sexy nor too adventurous, but is rather just, well… nice.

This sweet, contemporary romance takes place in real time and is entirely relatable. COVID-19 has been a leveling factor in many ways, chief among them the world’s shared experience with isolation and settling into a new normal. Dyer sets the timing for the story by referencing life in the aftermath of social distancing, which is interesting because long after she retires and the world moves on, this book will tell the story of how awkward it was to hug somebody after a lengthy spell of quarantine. So when we meet Gia Kostas, journalist and restaurant reviewer for a small company, it’s no surprise to learn she’s being laid off when her small company doesn’t extend her contract beyond her present gig. On the surface, it feels like she may be okay, though, because she’s engaged to a rich, handsome man and maybe she’ll have a bit of a cushion until she gets back on her feet. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear her fiancé Anthony is a big bag of dicks.

Gia’s accidental odyssey begins when she learns her estranged father, Dr. Kostas, semi-retired classics professor, has had a stroke just prior to heading out on a planned retracing of Odysseus’ voyage across the Mediterranean. And it gets underway when she decides to join him, under the guise of delivering his forgotten medication.

She’s a cautionary tale of the unexpected—which isn’t a bad thing, because sometimes you get what you wish (and take a leap of faith) for. Like when you let down your guard or shake your fist at convention, or when you take a food blogger job on the road, you’ve got to be prepared to achieve that goal. When you flirt with that cute archaeologist and let yourself wonder ‘what if’? When you take the time to get to know your father again, and to understand why the people in his life are so crazy about him. Sometimes gambles deliver, and you’ve got to be prepared.

I’d categorize this as more chick-lit/women’s fiction than romance, as it focuses more on Gia’s journey to self-awareness and discovery, and on rebuilding her relationship with her father. But that cute archaeologist I mentioned above? Unexpected delight ensues when Gia meets Dr. Raj Malik. They have nice chemistry, but Gia is navigating her way through the inevitable end of her long-term relationship with her fiancé. Unlike Anthony she’s no cheater, and besides, she’s focused on the other man in her life – her father.

An Accidental Odyssey doesn’t really live up to the “epic adventure” it’s billed as, and I wish Gia had put on her big girl panties and realized sooner how toxic Anthony was for her so the relationship between her and Raj could’ve developed more romantically - because all that hemming and hawing slowed the momentum. The big winner here is definitely the setting and Gia’s lush descriptions of the landscape and people on the journey. But if you’ve got wanderlust – like me – and count down the days until spring, living vicariously through Gia’s first-person travels will get you through the winter season.

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Gia hops on a flight to Athens after learning her father has checked himself out of the hospital without his medications. The two travel around the Mediterranean following Odysseus’s path.

I think this should have been labeled Women’s Fiction instead of Romance. The main relationship in the book was between Gia and her dad. I really wanted to shake some sense in Gia when it came to her love life, and I think that made it hard for me to relate to Gia. Also, the author included references to Covid and wearing masks. Overall, this was just okay.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Berkley for my ARC!

This was a delightful read. I felt all the Covid mentions were a little over done though. I think it was perfectly fine to set the tone for the post-Covid world but then it seemed to continue to get brought up to add words to the story.

Otherwise I really enjoyed this. The travel, the food, I always felt I was learning something and the descriptions made me feel like I was on this odyssey too.

The ending gutted me as I recently lost a parent and I wasn’t expecting this at all, but I’m glad they had a nice time right before. It’s so important to make sure people know they are loved because you never know when it’s your last day to see them.