Romona Keene has lived in New York City her entire life and has had no desire to leave the city she loves. Sure, she dreams of what lies beyond, but home is safe, so that is where she stays. Working in her uncle’s secondhand bookstore, Ramona is content with her life and is surrounded by the people and things she loves. All the adventure she could possibly imagine live between the pages of the books she is enveloped by. When the new landlord, along with his sidekick Dominic, shows up and announces that he is tripling the rent, Romy’s safe little world comes crashing down. Escaping to her safe place, the library, to think things through, destiny intervenes, and she stumbles across a flyer for ExLibris Expeditions. They recreate literary journeys and they need help recreating Around the World in 80 Days for a new client, as the book was written, meaning no commercial flying. Throwing caution to the wind, Romy applies and gets hired on a trial basis to make the journey. Along the way Dominic shows up and Romy realizes she has to not only save her uncle’s bookstore but also win a competition she didn’t know she was in.
I thought I knew what I was expecting with EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE, but I didn’t get what I expected. I got more. The premise of this book is intriguing in and of itself (and if there is a job where recreating literary adventures is a thing. . . sign me up), but author K.C. Dyer throws us for a loop by expertly intertwining a distinctly human element that will leave readers breathless. This book isn’t about all the glitz and glamor of traveling and seeing the sights, it’s grit and determination, and seeing the world through the eyes of those that know their worth in the world they live in. It’s the behind the scenes aspect of this book that you don’t see in a lot of novels that make all the difference. Romy travels in cargo ships, flies in sketchy planes, takes a gondola through the Alps, and hitches a ride on a whale-saving boat. Along the way she encounters native people, some who help, some who hinder, and all of them open Romy’s eyes to humanity as a whole. I highly recommend EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE by K.C. Dyer. It had me laughing, crying, but most of all, it left me thinking.
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?
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