Review + Excerpt: Wanderlust, Lauren Blakely

One fiery American woman and one hot British guy? The language of love knows no boundaries…

From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes the hot, new romance guaranteed to sweep you away while scorching the sheets, WANDERLUST! A brand new, sinfully sexy romance, WANDERLUST is now available on all retailers! Get your copy delivered now!

✮✮✮WANDERLUST is here! Grab your copy today! ✮✮✮

From #1 NYT bestselling author Lauren Blakely comes a sexy new standalone romance!

The first time I met him, his sexy British accent almost talked me into giving him my number on the spot. The second time, he nearly charmed the panties off me with his wit. Then I learned he's the key to success in my new job in Paris. The man who tempts me into fling-worthy dirty daydreams has turned out to be my personal translator, and his accent is the hottest thing I've ever heard.

My mantra is simple -- Don't mix business with pleasure.

I do my best to resist him as he teaches me how to converse with my co-workers, navigate the metro and order the perfect bottle of wine at dinner. But I also figure out how to tell the charming and clever man what I most want to say -- that I want him to take me back to his flat -- tonight.

Except there's a catch...

***

One more assignment before I take off on my big adventure...

And it involves the toughest work ever -- resisting the fetching American woman I spend all my days with. But you know what they say about best intentions. Soon, we're spending our nights tangled together, and I don't want to let her go. The trouble is, my wanderlust is calling to me, and before we know it I'll be traveling the globe to fulfill a promise I made long ago.

What could possibly go wrong with falling in love in Paris? Nothing...unless one of you is leaving.

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Review

Paris is always a good idea.

For Joy, it has been a dream for a long time but circumstances have kept her from fulfilling that dream until now, until she got the opportunity of a life time: a relocation to one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world - Paris.
Joy has done her homework and studied the city and the language on her own and even though she can make it just fine with the basic little things, there's a lot of miss translations that will have you laughing out loud and provide you some hilarious moments. Having this language barrier in her work place can be dangerous, giving what her job is, so the company hires a translator to help Joy communicate with her co-workers. This translator just so happens to be the sexy British man she met in a pâtisserie a couple of days before. Just her luck, the one guy she meets in France that she sparked something in her is suddenly forbidden. And what a major tease he is with that attractive accent she is so crazy about.

Griffin just a lost a major bonus that would have had him flying out of France and travelling the world crossing one bucket list item at a time, just like his brother had wanted him to. That day is the day he meets Joy and the beautiful red haired woman holds his attention from the moment he spots her. They hit it off straight away and share a banter filled conversation that will definitely amuse you.
A couple of days later, they spot each other on their way to meet their new tutor/student and it's then they find out they were on their way to meet each other. What a bummer! Pursuing something now is impossible and oh how they both wanted to.

“Fine, so we’re both stereotyping. But what’s the stereotype of a translator, then?” He scratches his head. “Hmm. Good question.” He screws up the corner of his lips. “I suppose just tall, dark, handsome, and completely charming.” I shrug. “Funny. I was going to say, ‘Good with tongues.’” He laughs then leans across the table and whispers in that ridiculously sexy accent, “I’m very good with my tongue.” 

“Models are usually women.” “And chemists usually aren’t beautiful women I want to shag, but now suddenly can’t.” Shag. Dear Lord. The way he says it, the fact that he says it, the sheer sexiness of that word in his delicious accent triggers a wave of goose bumps over my skin. Here it is—the great admission that we weren’t just heading toward a date. We were going to explore aimlessly together, with that exploration being conducted in a clothes-free mode. Le sigh.

 I, however, am so glad their relationship didn't start off as a sexual one. Working alongside each other and so close together alowed them to become good and fast friends. While Griffin helped Joy with her French, they both also helped each other see the city with new eyes. And along the way the friendship they shared became love, and so they couldn't not be together. But their relationship always had a finish line; after the 3 months Griffin was working with Joy were up, he would fly to India to run a marathon, something he always wanted to do, and one of the bucket list items on the list his brother wrote for him before he died.

He glances at my hand. “Tell me what it smells like.” “What?” I ask as if he’s gone nutso. “Why?” He speaks in English. “You have this amazing nose, don’t you?” I laugh. “It’s not amazing. It’s just well-exercised.” He arches a naughty eyebrow. “Like my mouth.”

They made the most of the time they still had together, which wasn't much anymore.They kept on discovering and rediscovering Paris, doing fun and cute stuff and falling in love with each other.

"I think about you. All the time. So much it drives me crazy. So much I want to say screw the friendship rules and kiss you senseless.” “Would you? Kiss me senseless?” Life is short. Events can change everything in the blink of an eye. Plans can crater. You have to take your chances. This is the chance I most want to take. “I would absolutely kiss you senseless.”

I loved these two's chemistry, the ease they had with each other and just how they just clicked and were so good together. They were a perfect couple without even really being one. I loved reading about their adventures and dates and just watching them fall in love. Their love was one that seemed impossible when fulfilling their dreams was in the way of them being together, but time passes and dreams change. Sometimes it only takes a little bit of time and clarity for your head to catch up with your heart.

“I’ve been working on a list of my own since I met you. A list of places.” “What sort of places?” I’m floating, as if I’m watching this moment from later tonight, or tomorrow, or a few years from now. I’m living in the present, but I’m also keenly aware that this is a time I will return to, over and over. This is one of those pivots in life. When you see everything through this prism. “Places to kiss you.” 

I loved this book. It definitely got my travel bug squirming. For someone who has wanted to go to Paris since before she was 14, this book was amazing. I adored the little bits of the language and the city. It not only made me want to go there even more but it also made me miss my french classes.
And the little things that they both loved about the city and kept discovering, I wanna go find them on my own. Paris has always been the one city where I want get lost in and just explore without a guide book or plan. This book just made want to do that even more.

Paris, I'll see you soon.

Rate: +5 stars

ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS TODAY!

“Wanderlust is the love story to end all! I laughed, cried, dreamed, and hoped. To say I was transfixed by this story is to underrate its power. I am a romantic at heart and this book spoke to me like no other.”
-Gloria Herrera for As You Wish Reviews

Excerpt

~GRIFFIN~

There’s one word a woman can utter that gets a man’s blood flowing south instantly.

Okay. That’s not true.

There are about twenty thousand that produce that effect, because when you fancy a woman, nearly anything remotely sexy can drive you crazy with desire for her.

Imagine if she says, I’m going to take off a sock.

Boom. Implied nudity. Hard as a rock.

Perhaps she asks, Do you like strawberries?

Obviously that means she wants me to eat them off her breasts. Flagpole raised.

But then there are some that are so direct, so spot on, she might as well be saying, I’d like you to fuck me hard all night long.

Which, for the record, might possibly be my favorite thing a woman could ever say to me. In fact, I might need to make that my own personal addendum to the bucket list.

At the moment, though, the word is proposition.

As I walk to the restaurant Joy has chosen on Rue de Bac, I keep replaying that deliciously inviting message.

I have a proposition for you.

What could it possibly be but some fantastic arrangement where we shag all night and still get along for work? No strings, no pain, no heartbreak. Sign me up right-the-hell now. That would be fantastic. A promise of orgasm-drenched nights, capped off by an uncomplicated good-bye when I take off for Indonesia in a few more months, finally visiting the places around the world Ethan and I marked on a map when we were younger.

As I round the corner, Christian’s words have the temerity to appear in the forefront of my brain.

Don’t you make the same mistake. You can’t mix business and pleasure. We’re lucky to have the jobs we have.

We are lucky to have our jobs. I don’t disagree with his basic premise, but I doubt Joy’s proposition will jeopardize mine. Besides, I really only need to keep my job for the next two and a half months. That’s all she needs me for at her company, and then I’m gone. Who knows where I’ll end up after I take off on my great adventure? We made so many marks on that map. If I found it, it’d be full of pinholes, I’m sure.

Travel everywhere, Ethan wrote.

He can’t. So I must.

There’s simply no way that Joy’s have hot sex with me every single night starting now will interfere with my bigger plans. I can juggle business and pleasure. I can enjoy the woman, the gig, and the checking off of each item on the bucket list.

When I reach the door of Gabriel’s, a restaurant started by a French-Brazilian cook who’s now become a rock star chef in New York City, I’m more certain than ever that I can have my cake and eat it, too. Preferably off Joy’s soft supple belly.

With that enticing image front and center, I smooth a hand down my black shirt, push open the door, and head inside.

“Packed with flirty banter, a slow-building, yet scorching hot romance, and characters that are enchanting, voracious, and delightfully unreserved, Wanderlust is a hopelessly romantic, heart-meltingly sweet love story from Lauren Blakely.”
-Yvette for Nose Stuck in a Book

“Loved this! Wanderlust is a delightful and utterly romantic read.”
-ShawnaLovesRomance

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This prize pack includes a Kate Spade Travel Bag ($500 value), along with a $50 gift card to Bath and
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https://laurenblakely.com/wanderlustgiveaway/

About Lauren Blakely:

A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 90 times, and she's sold more than 2.5 million books. In March she'll release WANDERLUST, a sexy new standalone romance. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter

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