Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Katelyn Doyle
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: June 24th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the beloved author of Just Some Stupid Love Story, an irresistible rom-com about what happens when a cruise ship romance goes…overboard

Hope Lanover needs a vacation. Her relationship has imploded, her creative ambitions have flatlined, and she can’t seem to locate the badass girl she used to be. So when her best friend—a lifestyle influencer looking for a rich husband—invites her along a luxury cruise, Hope goes along with it…despite hating cruises, and having no interest in a fling with their elderly clientele.

Felix Segrave can’t imagine anything worse than a cruise. Sober, determinedly single and a workaholic chef, he hates leaving his restaurant and routine. But when his parents surprise him and his sisters with tickets to celebrate their anniversary, he can’t say no—he’s disappointed them too many times in his troubled past.

Hope and Felix are prepared to grin and bear it—until they lock eyes at check in. Suddenly, a ten-day fling in the Caribbean with a sexy stranger doesn’t seem so bad, despite all the ballroom dancing lessons and cheesy karaoke nights. That is, until Hope’s romantic demons catch up to her, Felix learns that the woman he’s falling for has not been entirely honest with him, and they find themselves stranded together—and at each other’s throats—in paradise. Forced to work together, not to mention share a bed, they must either navigate the stormy seas of love, or face romantic shipwreck.

Thank you Flatiron Books for the gifted ARC and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook.

KIND OF A MISS.

I did like the audiobook and thought the narrator’s did a good job. The story just didn’t roll out in the best way for me.

Initially interested I enjoyed the idea of a cruise ship romance. There’s some good flirty banter and other moments that I were fine. I think my favorite part was the friendship between Hope and her best friend. There relationship and communication was better than the romantic one.

BECAUSE SO HELP ME THE THIRD ACT. And there was a fourth act too?? I’ll admit the fourth one made a little more sense but the third one had me exclaiming out loud my displeasure. I’m also really tired of ex-boyfriends showing up unannounced?? Repeatedly???? GO AWAY.

I think the chemistry was lacking, the spice came on too soon, and the lack of both of those things made them both immature and inopportune moments.

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary Romance
• Language: moderate
• Romance: 3-4 open door
• Content warnings: alcohol addiction (recovery and sobriety discussions)

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