The book blurb caught me and I was hooked by this unique mesh of forced proximity romance.
Overall, the book was a fun, light read. The MFC is stick in a job she doesn't like and enters a contest on a whim. She is somewhat tossed into a vacation with a near stranger - our MMC, who is personality wise, her complete opposite. The slow burn is... SLOW. In the beginning of the book, it felt like it moved at a great pace - I loved hearing about how our characters grew closer via these travel experiences - though at times was annoyed at the MFC "I should but I won't" fix the problem.

The 2nd part of their trip seemed to be jumped over. While It makes sense for book length, It seemed such a strong contrast to the beginning.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I was really excited about the premise on this one but it fell a little flat for me. One day when Dylan was listening to the radio and heard about a radio contest where the winner wins a trip around the world but there’s one catch… you have to go with someone randomly selected from your phone contacts. Dylan, who loves to travel thought what the heck so she calls in and she became a winner. When the radio host picked the contact from her phone it was Jack (Posh). Dylan had no idea who the contact was but once they call him she realizes she met him at a club years ago. Jack agrees to Dylan’s surprise and they are off on a set of vacations all over the world with a complete stranger.
I was really intrigued with this premise I love to travel and was really looking forward to reading about over the top fun stories from all over the world. This book didn’t quite deliver on that. I will say I enjoyed the travel scenes the most but I wish there were more travel scenes and less at home time. I was kind of hoping for the trip to be continuous instead of multiple week long trips. My biggest let down with this book was Jack, personally I just did not like him so it was a little hard to root for them. The pacing was really slow burn and made it feel a little long for me but the writing was good. I will say it didn’t feel so much a rom com as women’s lit with some of the heavier topics. I hope to read more from this author in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This was a super cute travel read that made me want to get up and get on a flight. I enjoyed getting to see the characters develop feelings for each other and all of the places they got to visit. This was a unique concept for a book that was well executed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Wanderlust by Elle Everhart.

Read this one awhile ago - super cute! I love the travel aspect, and I loved the relationship these two ended up having. This is definitely something ID NEVER do so I loved being able to live vicariously through these characters. Very cute!

A trip around the world with a random from your phone?! Sounds fun and dangerous. I liked the characters of this book. They dealt with real life issues. Definitely should have a trigger warning though.

The premise of this book was so fun and unique - I was immediately drawn in and invested in these characters. The story definitely felt more character driven with the focus on Jack and Dylan's feelings towards each other and their individual confrontation of major obstacles/challenges they have faced in their life. While I appreciated the depth of the story, I do wish we felt a little more of the travel adventure - settings were not strongly developed and the story could have happened anywhere. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

The premise of Wanderlust was so cool and original. A once-in-a-lifetime trip with a random phone contact (the book actually made me go through my phone and delete people haha). I liked the travel angle and I would've liked more trip details for sure. The chemistry between Jack and Dylan wasn't obvious and it really took me a long time to root for a romance to develop. Readers did get a payoff, but I just wish the ending wasn't so rushed.

Book Review
Wanderlust by Elle Everhart

This book in 3 words: Dreamy. Tense. Sweet.

First things first, the premise of this entire novel is SO UNIQUE! Go on a once in a lifetime vacation, but with a random from your phone? YES PLEASE. The way that I was all in, right from the start.

I loved the idea of the characters traveling throughout the world for the novel and thought it gave the author lots of opportunity for cute interactions.

This is definitely a slow burn but I found it enjoyable and easy to read. It also made me want to book a trip, immedaitely.

I will recommend to my audience.

I loved this! Such a fun concept and really great characters. Felt like the outside conflicts weren't explored maybe as deeply as I would have wanted.

When Dylan impulsively calls into the radio station to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip, she manages to win but gets put in an interesting situation. The radio station gets to pick who she goes with, and they pick Jack, a guy she met at a bar one night and unintentionally ghosted. This leads to an interesting physical and emotional voyage. It's an interesting and fun read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC! I'm sorry it took me so long to write it -- anxiety and depression are SO fun!

Dylan Coughlan is sick of London's dreary weather and her boss's drearier attitude when she decides to impulsively enter a radio contest for a two-month trip around the world. The best part? She wins! The worst part? She has to take "Jack the Posho," a random contact in her phone selected by the radio announcer, and while things were hot and heavy between them the night they met, things in Dylan's personal life derailed them getting to know each other more.

Now they have a whirlwind adventure to get things right.

While I was initially over the moon about the premise, the pacing felt a little scattered with a slow start and a quick end. It seemed as though a lot of romance tropes were danced around but the author never completely gave the characters over to them -- yes, there's forced proximity but I think there might have been a missed opportunity for only one bed, and it seemed to set up an enemies-to-lovers situation but never fully leapt into that either.

I did appreciate the inclusion of a bi main character, as well as a character who chose to have an abortion. However, I felt there should have been some sort of warning that the storyline was coming as it ended up being a huge part of Dylan's journey and was a relatively heavy piece of subject matter.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Wanderlust by Elle Everhart.
Wanderlust is the story of two people on a prize trip around the world. In true romcom fashion, this book is light, predictable, and fun. Easy to read, but without much depth. Unfortunately it doesn't have any strengths that will set it apart from other romantic comedies.

Winning an all expense paid trip around the globe sounds like an ideal holiday. But when Dylan learns her traveling buddy is none other than Jack, the man she ghosted after one night, she fears her trip of a lifetime might be more of a trip from hell. Will the two be able to endure several weeks of close proximity?? Or will they forgo their prize in an effort to stay sane.

The concept of two people getting to know each other while traveling the world was super fun. Especially since Dylan and Jack started off on the wrong foot. The close proximity they were forced to endure while traveling created great tension and aided in the will they, won’t they tug of war.

Despite being a romance, this book wasn’t afraid to tackle difficult subject matter. Everhart effortlessly wove in both the positive and negative effects surrounding social media. I loved seeing both sides represented.

Overall, this was a stellar debut by Elle Everhart!!! Her vocation as a secondary English teacher shines through. With an established voice on her first book, I expect great things from her in the future.

Special thanks to Netgalley, GP Putnam’s Sons, and Elle Everhart for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

*Reader’s should be advised that this book does mention abortion, online harassment, and death threats.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m going to keep this review short and sweet. This is a lovely summer, escapist romance read with some real life/heavy themes thrown in. I loved the vacation of Jack and Dylan’s trip. I did feel like certain elements were done before, however sometimes that is welcome when looking to escape into a love story.

Trigger: abortion

Wanderlust was a cute romantic story, I would read more from this author, the cover art is eye catching and pulls you in and the characters were likeable

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Travel the world with Dylan and Jack. Dylan wins tickets to travel the world the only probably is she needs to bring someone with her. The catch is that someone has to be a random contact from her phone. Jack ends up going with her. As they travel feelings develop. It's not all smooth sailing for these opposite personalities. However as they spend more time together will feelings develop or will they go their separate ways?

I enjoyed this one. I felt like it was missing a really big hook to keep you super interested. However, I love reading books about travel. I felt like there was a lot of character development which was great.

Content: abortion, spicy scene (explicit)- I skipped for my personal preference, swearing, social media bullying

Read if you enjoy:
🗺️Traveling
🧳Wanderlust
🗣️Complex conversations
💗Romance
🧲Opposites attract

I reeeeeally liked this book. Raw and real emotions, tough subjects...I enjoyed it. I listened to the audio & it was a great narration. Makes me wanna travel the world & I loved the romance! Would round up to 5 stars.

Really fun idea but it didn't pan out like I thought it would. I found the characters both likeable and enjoyable to read, but the start was slow that it took me a long time to hook me. Once it did I really enjoyed it!

Such a disappointment.
This book was not bad, but it did not live up the hype that was built up around it, first by the beautifully and thoughtfully designed cover, and then by the GENEROUS comparisons to hits such as The Unhoneymooners and People We Meet on Vacation.

The atmosphere and the vibes are the strengths of this book, but they couldn't carry it to anything beyond a 3-star for me. The characters, particularly Dylan, felt super one-dimensional, repetitive, and (I hate to say this), annoying, while the plot overall landed squarely in the fine-but-not-impressive category.

I would recommend this read for anyone who wants something quick and rompy for a cross-country flight, a beach read, or a those 10 pages you peruse before you fall asleep each night ... but beyond that, the substance lacks.