Eighty Days to Elsewhere
-
-
4.0 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
“The Amazing Race" meets Around the World in 80 Days as a woman desperate to save her family bookstore falls for her competition.
Born and raised in New York City, Ramona Keene dreams of attending photography school and traveling to Paris, but her reality never quite catches up with her imagination. Instead, she works at her uncles' quaint bookstore, where the tea is plentiful and all the adventures are between the covers of secondhand books. But when the new landlord arrives with his Evil Nephew in tow, Romy's quiet life comes crashing down. He plans to triple the rent, something her uncles can't afford.
In order to earn the money to help save the bookstore, Romy applies for a job at ExLibris Expeditions, a company that re-creates literary journeys. Romy snags the oddest internship ever: retrace Phileas Fogg's journey from Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days and plan a suitable, contemporary adventure for a client. The task is close to impossible; sticking to the original route means no commercial aircraft permitted, and she’s got a lot less than eighty days to work with. Shaking off her fear of leaving home, Romy takes on the challenge, only to discover she’s got competition. Worse, Dominic Madison turns out to be the – unfortunately hot – nephew of her family’s worst enemy.
Can Romy win the race and circle the globe in time to save the bookstore? And what happens when she starts to fall for the very person who may just be the death of her dreams?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dyer (Finding Fraser) takes readers on an adventurous trip around the world with this high-concept rom-com. Romy Keene's life revolves around the introvert paradise of her uncle's New York City bookshop, so when Frank Venal takes over the building and threatens to evict them (saying "nobody in their right mind reads books anymore"), Romy will do anything to save the store. In a moment of rare boldness, she applies for a lucrative position with ExLibris, a travel firm that specializes in recreating famous journeys from literature. To land the job, Romy must successfully retrace the path of Phileas Fogg as a test-run for a client who hopes to mimic the Jules Verne character's trip from Around the World in Eighty Days. To make this impossible task harder, she discovers that Frank's "Evil Nephew," Dominic Madison, is competing for the same position with ExLibris, leading to a neck-and-neck race around the world. But as their far-flung travels continually throw them together, Romy realizes there's more to Dominic than meets the eye, and before she knows it, she's falling for her rival. Like Romy's journey, the plot sometimes wanders off course with an abundance of misadventures, but Dyer keeps readers engaged with scenic descriptions and a sweet, slow-burning love story. This is a delightful romp.
