When Dylan Coughlan finds herself burnt out at her cooperate job she rings into a radio contest and wins. The prize: a trip around the world. The catch: you must go with a random person listed in the contacts of your phone.
Enter Jack, an uptight lad who Dylan met in a night out and has since ghosted (not fully on purpose).
Will her new travel companion ruin her chance for self discovery or is there more to this man than his buttoned up ways?

This book took me forever and a half to read. I simply didn’t feel connected to the characters. A major portion of this book is travel, however even those aspects were not thrilling most of the time. The miscommunication in this book often felt really drawn out. Due to this, at points it felt as though both the characters were one dimensional. Overall. this one just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited about this because it sounded very unique. However, I had no attachment to the characters, I did not root for them, and there was way too much miscommunication for me to enjoy this story. It fell way too flat for me, and I was ultimately bored and frustrated.

(I will not be sharing this review to social media)

A clever rom-com; this is the perfect fluffy beach read! Dylan wins the trip of a lifetime, but there's a catch! Since its a radio promo, they get to pick her travel partner at random from her phone contacts. Bam-of course, they choose a rando--a person Jack who she blew off and ghosted before they ever had a chance to date. Nonetheless, Dylan sees this as an amazing opportunity to travel and prove to her boss once and for all that she deserves her very own column, so she's agrees. Jack agrees to go and he ends up being a great guy. It has a bit more emotional depth and some of the writing ends up being a confessional as Dylan starts to reflect on her travels and the bits and pieces of her life that she regrets.
My only real critique is that some of the cities are detailed and others are passed through quickly. I feel like there was an opportunity to learn more about each stop and to travel vicariously through the trip's itinerary. Great read from a debut author. I think I will definitely check out the next work! I read this one courtesy of NetGalley.

This romance wasn't bad but it also wasn't great. I thought the beginning flowed well but as the story progressed, I became increasingly lost and annoyed by the main characters. There was way too much miscommunication which is a huge peeve of mine and then there wasn't really any resolution - the characters just ended up together. So a little confusing for me.

I loved this book. The majority of my knowledge of UK class differences comes from Love Island UK when I google to understand the implications of different home towns and accents. That knowledge served me well here!

There was a bit of loose ends and items that could have been explained better between the characters but overall, it was a fun book that served as a reminder that rich or poor, family struggles still exist. The dangers of the internet was a bit heavy handed (my brother is a journalist who is famously targeted by antisemites and even he would roll his eyes at some of that part).

But overall, it was fun and I loved the different backdrops as Dylan and Jack traveled the world.

Honestly this book has one of the most interesting premises I've read in a while so I was very excited for it. Sadly, this didn't work well for me. While I expect miscommunication to be a prevalent trope in romance, sometimes it doesn't make sense. Also, the FMC made very iffy choices and the MMC did not grow on me.

This was such a fun read! I could see it being a great summer beach book. I didn't love the missed communication between the main characters, as that's one of my pet peeves, and the female MC made a lot of dumb choices. Ultimately, I found this book enjoyable and appreciated the break from reality.

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.