The Tourist Attraction
The Tourist Attraction, the debut from promising new contemporary romance author Sarah Morgenthaler, takes place in a tiny town in Alaska where the tourist/local divide is a chasm. The story is between Graham – the local who loathes tourists – and Zoey – the tourist who falls for Alaska’s charm (and Graham’s). It’s charming and witty and I finished the book eager for the next installment.
The plot is a slice-of-life. We meet Graham first, whose POV informs us that he loves his town and loathes the tourists who have started taking over. This loathing mostly seems to do with their entitled wealth and how they treat his home like their personal playground. He intentionally treats them horribly when they come to his diner, but his TripAdvisor reviews simply say that it’s part of his charm. It’s through his eyes that we meet Zoey, who is a tourist, but not the kind he hates.
Zoey has been scrimping and saving for years for this dream vacation and cannot wait to soak in all that Alaska has to offer – but she was not prepared for Graham. They clash at first, but it’s not proper enemies-to-lovers. More like wary-but-attracted-to-sexy-times.
The main conflict really isn’t between Zoey and Graham – they kind of amble along a very lovely and normal path for couples with perceived expiration dates – but between Graham and his idea of Moose Springs. It’s the resolution of that plot that I can’t wait for in Mistletoe & Mr. Right, which comes out later this year.
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Recent Comments
I found this better in the idea than the execution. One problem is that I got no sense of Zoey’s life beyond Alaska, which is fine if she and Graham were just having a vacation romance, but doesn’t work long term. Either there is a conflict or there isn’t, and I got no sense why there might even be one since Zoey didn’t have a back story to help give it life.
I liked the dog and the secondary characters, but there were just too many plot improbabilities, such as the airport scene, for example. Maybe the author was trying to channel Love Actually, but I think airport security would behave entirely differently. And I kept wondering, just how common are Lamborghinis (or whatever fancy cars the rich folk were driving) in Alaska? (Maybe they are common enough, but the question kept taking me out of the story.)
So, while I enjoyed the premise and the pop-culture references, I really needed better description/explanation of the characters, setting elements, and plot.
I’ve been interested in this one for awhile!
New contemporary romances (non suspense) are a mixed bag for me, and this one is getting wildly divergent reviews on Goodreads. Knowing I’m looking at light contemporary romances with a jaundiced eye right now, I’ll pass on this one. Thanks for the review.
I think I’ll give this a whirl. After finally having gone to Alaska in 2019, I’d love to see it portrayed fictionally.
Jealous!! I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska and do enjoy books set there. I think this sounds interesting.
I’d wanted to go for years–my husband has been twice–but not camp. (I am NOT a camper.) My daughter and I took a cruise which was our first and loved the state. Glaciers are cool!