--- title: "You Were Never the Tourist — Jobic Chakalisa" description: "Divorced, successful, and tired of dating that feels like another negotiation, Warren Tolliver has heard the passport-bro promise a thousand times: stop fighti…" canonical: "https://publica.now/creators/jobic-chakalisa/works/you-were-never-the-tourist" --- Literary # You Were Never the Tourist [ ![Jobic Chakalisa](https://fls-a13cb2d7-1b3e-4883-a0bd-297afd110a11.367be3a2035528943240074d0096e0cd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/creators/01kz053q4stf0m732p504r1325/avatars/01KZ056MDJC0KRKXEGGK3E1JPG.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=d29ce3bb571c165c97a702f29f7aee93%2F20260917%2Fauto%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260917T200540Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=3097c1fd75e686de69d8fb2d400b73e8ef70e5f3b31860d95203a0dafc38755a) Jobic Chakalisa ](https://publica.now/creators/jobic-chakalisa) Follow Jobic Chakalisa is a prolific fiction writer and author known for fast-paced thrillers and dramatic novels like Target: Tehran, North Korea's Secret Weapon, and A Dragon for a Debt. His works span mul... $4.99 [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fyou-were-never-the-tourist) Secure payment on Stripe. publica.now never sees your card. Share Link copied Format epub Published Sep 02, 2026 Rating No reviews yet ![You Were Never the Tourist](https://fls-a13cb2d7-1b3e-4883-a0bd-297afd110a11.367be3a2035528943240074d0096e0cd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/works/01m1hxh1585t72sxb842a8f1gh/covers/01M1HXH1ETHXGPPFQZBETP6WVD.jpg?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=d29ce3bb571c165c97a702f29f7aee93%2F20260917%2Fauto%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260917T200540Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=f7714583e9574be6a8578ef7cc47e93fb2bdf881d49a6537d2fa654dd94098d2) ## About this work Divorced, successful, and tired of dating that feels like another negotiation, Warren Tolliver has heard the passport-bro promise a thousand times: stop fighting a culture that doesn't value you. Go where you're appreciated. So the forty-one-year-old Houston business owner gives himself twenty-five days in Pattaya, Thailand. At first, the city seems to prove every argument that brought him there. The attention is immediate. The hookups are uncomplicated. For the first time in years, Warren feels wanted instead of evaluated. Then he meets Tarn. Kornkanok "Tarn" Phanichkul is thirty-four, Thai, fiercely competent, and determined to become part-owner of the marine-tourism company she has helped build. She is warm without being obedient, ambitious without apology, and completely uninterested in becoming an American man's idea of the perfect foreign woman. Warren should be able to walk away. Instead, the woman who fits none of his expectations becomes the first person in years he cannot stop wanting in his life. But Warren isn't the only one carrying a fantasy. Tarn has spent years imagining that an American man might offer something Thai expectations have not: distance, freedom, possibility, and a future that belongs entirely to her. As twenty-five days turn attraction into something dangerously close to love, money, family, fatherhood, culture, and the question of where a future could exist begin stripping away everything they imagined about each other. Soon Warren and Tarn must confront the question neither expected to face: Did they fall in love with each other-or with what they believed the other person represented? Sexy, funny, provocative, and deeply emotional, YOU WERE NEVER THE TOURIST is a contemporary interracial romance about two people who cross an ocean looking for something easier-and discover that real love begins where the fantasy ends. 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