Spotlight & Giveaway: Wanderlust by Elle Everhart

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Elle Everhart to HJ!

Hi Elle and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Wanderlust!

Hello! Welcome to HJ, all! I’m excited to be here.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

WANDERLUST follows Dylan Coughlan who, after months of struggling at work, impulsively rings a radio station and wins a global travel contest… with the catch that she has to travel with a random contact from her phone. And, of course, that contact ends up being the uptight, posh guy named Jack that she accidentally ghosted.

Jack doesn’t seem excited in the least, and Dylan is hesitant about travelling with someone so frustrating… until her overbearing editor promises to finally give Dylan a permanent column if she’s able to make a series about their trip successful. 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.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I have so many favourite lines! Some, I adore because they’re completely unhinged, some because, even after ten drafts, they still make my heart hurt (in a good way!) every time I read them. Here’s one line that I’m partial to:

She’d come to appreciate this more and more, the seamless way they moved around each other—Jack’s gentle hand at the base of her spine when he brought over cups of tea, the way he moved close to, but not directly up against, her every time he had to reach around her. Each move felt intimate, and the easy way they orbited each other made her whole body feel electric.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This book was so fun to write! I’ve been to a few of these locations myself, but I spent HOURS on Google Maps, following along on street view to immerse myself (as much as possible) in the places I haven’t yet been. I have so much research saved about these locations and most of it didn’t even need to be in the book — but I, for some reason, really needed to know the details over every flight, every hotel, and every possible attraction. Just in case.
• The first scene I wrote for this book was the scene in Iceland, inspired by a trip I had taken a few months before I started writing the first draft in early 2019. There’s a scene of Dylan and Jack beside a glacial lake near Vatnajökull that was really just me trying to relive my own experience of being there. Even years later, that’s a place I think about a lot. I really tried to capture that place, but words just… canNOT do it justice.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Dylan and Jack are very different people on the surface, but, underneath, there is actually a lot they have in common. They’re both creative, both have difficult relationships with their parents, and are both trying to figure out what they want their lives to look like. Those similarities establish a foundation they can build on, but it’s the differences that really solidify their connection.

Dylan is opinionated, determined, willing to go after exactly what she wants, even if there are consequences, and Jack needs someone like her. He needs to see that there are more options available than the ones his parents set out for him. Her determination makes him brave. She makes him feel safe and makes it so that he can stand up for himself. Dylan, similarly, needs safety, but for other reasons. She’s been in fight mode for so long that it’s hard for her to know when to back down. Or how to compromise. Or how to be emotionally vulnerable. Jack helps her take a step back and feel comfortable enough to take those emotional risks.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

There were so many scenes that made me laugh while I was writing them… that’s the best part of writing romantic comedies! There’s a scene early on when Dylan and Jack are in Australia where they have a little back and forth about snakes that, for some reason, still has me in absolute stitches whenever I think about it. It’s just… so absurd.

Snippet:
Dylan dropped her hands onto her hips, annoyed. “Are you coming or not?”
Jack mimicked her posture. “I told you I don’t want my leg bitten off.”
Dylan rolled her eyes. “I doubt they have snakes. It’s paved.”
“Pretty sure pavement doesn’t have some kind of anti‐snake coating.”
“I meant,” she ground the word out through her teeth, “that there are people here all day long. I bet it’s too active for snakes to bother coming here.”
“Wasn’t aware you were a snake expert.” Despite the thick sarcasm, he took a step forward.
“I got a post‐graduate degree in snake science,” she said. “Now come on.”

Readers should read this book….

This is a globe-trotting, uncomfortable-to-lovers (because they’re not enemies they’re just… awkward strangers), so if you love reading stories about travel and/or people who really don’t want to be stuck together (at first 😉 ), then this book is for you! It also deals with some big themes, like reproductive justice and abortion, online harassment, and social media, so if you’re passionate about any of those topics, you should check out WANDERLUST!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently working on my second book! I haven’t announced it yet (or even finished a draft that makes any sense), but soonnnn! It’s going to be a sapphic rom-com and I can’t WAIT to share more about it.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print copy of WANDERLUST by Elle Everhart

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you had to travel the world with a random contact from YOUR phone, who would you be hoping for? Who do you think you’d actually get?

 
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Book Info:

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.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Elle Everhart writes romantic comedies featuring the internet, sarcasm, and lots of queer characters. She is a secondary English teacher in East London and, when she’s not writing or teaching, she’s hanging out with her son and obsessing over the worst shows on television. Wanderlust is her debut novel.
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