I read all the way to the end of The Holiday Cruise hoping that there might be a plot. There wasn't really one but it was an enjoyable enough book if a bit bland. What did concern me, however, was the amount of alcohol being consumed and the lack of concern about it.

Hannah decides to take a new turn in her life and goes to work on a cruise ship after she lost basically everything- her husband, beauty salon and a home. At first Hannah is still hesitating about leaving, because she’s hoping that her marriage can be saved, but her sister is persuading her to go. On the cruise Hannah meets a lot of great co-workers and gets to see a lot of beautiful places, which slowly makes her forget her unfaithful husband and really start living the life she desires. On the cruise there’s a strict rule not to have romantic relationships with clients, but not all rules are easy to follow, when it comes to your heart…

It’s the second book by the author and just like the previous one, I absolutely loved it! I have never been on a cruise ship, but reading this novel totally gave me the feeling like I was part of the close knit friends. I enjoyed reading about all the places Hannah visited, the great friends she made and the romance found in a terrific man. I am eagerly waiting for the next book to be written by the author, I already know I’m in for a treat.

I had enjoyed Victoria Cooke’s previous novel The Secret to Falling in love, so I was keen on reading this new one. Hannah is an endearing character going through a painful breakup. Not only does she have to deal with the humiliation of having been cheated on but she also loses her spa business. What better remedy than go away to get some perspective? This is precisely what Hannah does by applying for a beautician job on a cruise. The perfect gig to travel to exotic places and meet new, interesting people, especially Ben, a jilted groom who decided to go on his honeymoon — wifeless. He’s the perfect candidate for a good chick-lit romance.

Obviously, the plot is pretty predictable, but as a reader, I still very much enjoyed reading about Hannah’s adventures in the Caribbean, Spain and Italy, as well as her process to finding happiness again. The novel is fast-paced, funny and moving. It’s well written and compelling. I also thought the sisterly bond between Hannah and Jen was deep and poignant. The message about finding your own path, being independent and self-reliant was spot-on. I thought it was a positive, empowering message for all women. Chick-lit can sometimes be deeper than you think!

Highly recommended read!

It hasn’t been easy the last few months for Hannah Davis, her husband had cheated on her and left her for a younger woman and now that she’s trying to pull herself together she’s finding she just may lose her beauty salon business too. After closing for several weeks her customers seem to have moved on to a rival business leaving Hannah alone and broke and not sure what to do with her life.

Meeting a young woman with a nail crisis Hannah finds herself chatting away about life at sea. The lady she rescued was on the way to start a job aboard a cruise ship and eagerly tells Hannah all about it suggesting she should apply herself. A cruise was always a dream of Hannah’s hoping to travel with her husband but now with nothing left holding her back and a little encouragement from her sister Hannah applies to work in the spa and begin a new chapter of her life.

Alright anyone who knows me knows that I have a cruising obsession so seeing a book with “Cruise” in the title certainly caught my attention. Thankfully picking up a book with only one word drawing my interest I ended up finding this one a rather nice read and would definitely recommend it to anyone who’d like a virtual sea vacation.

Having been taken several cruises myself I’m a little bit familiar with the jobs around the cruising industry and just how hard those folks work. I questioned a few times how realistic Hannah’s free time in the book actually was but for the sake of the story I just told myself it’s fiction so just enjoy the story. For a fan of traveling though it was nice to hear of all the different ports and activities which is what I’d been hoping for when choosing this book.

As for Hannah and all of her co-workers along with the eventual budding romance I found it all quite lovely. Everything other than Hannah’s spare time seemed to be quite spot on and created a lovely story with great characters that I truly enjoyed reading about. I’d definitely recommend this one to the fans of contemporary romance whether a fan of cruising or not.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book is about Hannah, who has to reinvent herself after her husband leaves her for another woman, her business fails and she needs to find a job to keep paying her bills.
Hannah applies for a job on a cruise ship and soon finds herself travelling in the Caribbean, working in the onboard spa.

This is where I stopped reading the story, it didn't draw me in.

I enjoyed this book. Initially I felt it was a little slow to start although I do understand the author was setting the scene. However, once aboard the cruise ship the story flowed and kept you interested and engaged.
The story tell us of a life changing set of circumstances and we meet Hannah, a down to earth Yorkshire girl who bravely meets that change head on. We travel the world with Hannah and meet loads of interesting characters along the way! It's light, fun, easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable!

Thank you NetGalley and HQ Digital for an ARC of this book.

This was the absolute perfect summer beach read! The story of Hannah and how she evolved from living in a small village and being dumped by her husband, having her salon staff and clients stolen by another salon owner, and relying on her sister to take care of her was great. I enjoyed watching Hannah pick up the pieces of her life and find courage to move on. During the book she makes great friendships, finds out how much she enjoys traveling, and meets the man of her dreams, Ben. I want a sequel to this book more than I can out into words, so maybe begging will suffice! Please please write a sequel!!!

I absolutely loved Victoria's first book and, as a writer I know how hard and worrying the dreaded second book can be. But this was even better than her debut. It deals with darker issues in a sensitive way and takes us on a fabulous journey both literally and figuratively.

Hannah is a great heroine who pulls herself out of a dark place to do something solely for herself for the first time in her life. And Ben....oh Ben, what can I say! I was in love with Ben from the moment he walked into the spa! I loved the way he didn't come into the book until it had been going for a while, which kept me guessing who the hero was going to be!

If I say much more I'm at risk of spoiling the book, but it's a cracker with a fabulous pace and sense of place. It deserves to be a huge hit!

I just finished The Holiday Cruise and I'll give it 4 stars just for the setting. I love cruise ships and not enough books take place on them. This novel follows Hannah on a soul searching journey after being blind-sided by her husband of ten years and leaving her for another women. Told in the first person, we read through Hannah's journey as she finds herself and puts her wants first. The setting of the book is so incredible, described so perfectly you could really envision it all. The book started off a tad slow, but I believe it was because I was so curious as to who the male character would be! Once we discover who he is, the book picks up with their covert meetings and romantic dates! This is a super sweet light hearted beach read.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I demand a sequel! Those are the only rational and logical thoughts I can come out with at the second as I'm in awe of how much I enjoyed it.

Actually enjoy was the wrong word, I think I lived Hannah's journey with her, and from my own experiences can I just say that the author was spot on in so many ways with this this book. The descriptions of the ports, it was like I was there seeing them, taking me back to my own previous cruises that have visited some of these places.

And then there is this big emotional I have been feeling for the last 10-15% which I'm not sure whether its due to the writing, or just knowing how it is when a seasonal contract ends, no matter what your future plans are, just how upset and lost you feel, and The Holiday Cruise has brought all of this and more back to me.

It's not just about Hannah who goes to work on a cruise ship after losing her husband, home and beauty salon almost all at the same time. Its not just about the exotic locations, and living on board a ship for 9 months and the close friendships you make. It is a real journey of self-discovery for Hannah as she works out for the first time perhaps in her life what she really wants in life.

I loved hearing about life in the spa on board the ship, I have had on board spa treatments in the past, and I know that Hannah's treatments would have been far better than any I had, if for no reason than there was no mention of the selling products at the end of a treatment, that and of course she is good at her job!

I feel as though I have travelled a great deal just from reading this book, as when Hannah has the time to get off the ship in the various ports, they are described in detail. The unexpected overnight stay in Palma, Mallorca had me laughing in recognition at the messy night out in Magaluf, but since I am close in age to our main character, I completely agreed with her thoughts of the town too!

Then there was the sail in to Kotor, which I experienced a year ago myself, and found it described really well including the early morning to watch it properly. Or there was the tour taken in St. Maarten that was similar to one I took a couple of years back.

And that's not counting the close knit friendships that are gained when working abroad for a fixed period of time, its intense, emotions are heightened and I loved the friends Hannah made, and was also interested in the descriptions of the crew only areas onboard the ship.

If all of that is not enough to entice you in, then the second half of the book has a slight shift in focus to a beautiful storyline, that I adored reading, and that is all I'm saying about it.

I pretty much adored every single second of this book and didn't want it to end, I'm half tempted to go back to the beginning to read it again straight away, but that may just be because I don't have my own next cruise booked yet!

The Holiday Cruise is one of a rare sort of book that spoke to me on so many levels and one I could thoroughly identify with. It would work well as s holiday read, poolside read, cruise read, garden read, wintery read by the fire (and Christmas in the Caribbean does feature)...

....or in other words buy this book now and read it! I loved it and if you like travel, romance, finding yourself or generally just curious about life on a cruise ship then I can see no reason why you wouldn't enjoy it too.

Thank you so much to HQ Digital and Netgalley for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This was such a fun book! Highly recommended for a Christmas time read!!

Loved this book from start to finish. Really didnt want it to end. Perfect summer read. Hannah gets dumped by her husband who finds a new younger model. So instead of lying around being beaten she gets herself up and finds a job on a cruise ship. Sees the world, meets new friends and to find out more you need to read it for yourself. The author does a great job at writing this book. Hearing of all the sights they see on stop off days. Lovely characters. Highly recommend this book

The Holiday Cruise is a fine read, but unfortunately I felt the pacing was a bit too slow. To me personally, the part where Hannah leaves for the cruise could have been moved more to the front of the book.

Once the pace picks up, it's an enjoyable book though. I'm looking forward to the author's next book.

The beautiful bright summery cover attracted me to reading this book and boy was I glad I read it.

Poor poor Hannah! From the minute we meet her, her whole life seems to be falling down and crumbling beneath her. She is at the lowest point in her life with her husband cheating on her and when she finally feels ready to start work again she is devastated to learn her staff and customers have left and went to rival business with her arch enemy Cherry.

Hannah spots an opportunity to work in a spa on a cruise ship, completely out of her comfort zone she plucks up the courage and applies for it and before she knows it she is starting her very first day on board the cruise liner.

She immediately builds a close friendship with her roommate and work mate Kristy, Kristy helps Hannah settled in on board the ship and overcome her seasickness.

Its not long before Hannah meets Ben a passenger who comes to the salon for a His and Hers honeymoon package, but all's not as it seems and we see Hannah put her job in jeopardy and start sneaking around determined not to be caught but she can't help her feelings for Ben, and she just wants to spend every minute exploring each destination with him.

The holiday cruise reminds me of Titanic and Hannah and Ben's relationship like Rose and Jack. Two people perfectly matched but are not allowed to be together.

This is a truly fantastic read I couldn't put it down, I was on the edge of my chair nervous for Hannah when she was sneaking about with Ben. I just didn't know if she was going to get caught out or not.

The descriptions of each of the destinations the ship docked at and the ship itself made it so easy for me to imagine.

I just want to go and book myself on to a cruise now!

To be honest, I thought this was going to just be a simple feel good book about a young woman working on a cruise ship. The book starts out a bit slow, as it goes through all the issues poor Hannah is struggling with. Living in a small town, and her husband of 10 years leaving her for a plastic blonde Barbie. Naturally everyone is gossiping. Hannah owns a styling salon, and has two women working for her. Since she is struggling to handle all that her cheating husband threw at her, she cannot handle work too, and lets it slide. On the brink of losing her marriage, her business, and her house, she is lost on what to do. On a whim she decides to sign up and work on a cruise ship for 9 months, and it became her safe place, where she was able to gather herself together again and move on. One thing I really liked about the book was all the people she met who taught her a specific thing. For example learning to take more chances, or appreciating family, etc. And then of course there was Ben, a man left at the altar, who comes on his honeymoon cruise alone. Like follows like, and two people who are broken can now find a way to heal. A lot of hidden nuances to this book, and many are staying with me. Highly recommend this book and author. Great summer read.

This was a great story. Moved fast after she woke up and moved on. I wish I could work on a ship like she did, not sure I would risk my job like that though.

I enjoyed the premise but found the book too drawn out and descriptive in places. Like the amount she talked about Daniel and being heart broken. I felt myself getting bored.

The book starts off so depressing and down. It's sad and a bit predictable. I was skipping over some of it because it was kind of boring. Cheating spouses happen to loads of characters in books and Hanna happens to hide away from reality and her life instead of dealing with this head on. Now she runs away to a cruise ship to find herself or get away from all the prying eyes of the town she is in. It was a very predictable book.

After her husband charts on her and she loses her business too, Hannah up's from her life for a new spa job on a cruise ship after helping a client who works onboard one too!

Leaving Daniel and Tom the kind b & b owner behind for a new life onboard, she meets kind Kristy her coworker, Pete an attractive nice guy along with crazy and classy customers onboard for Christmas too.

Then she meets Ben onboard who's escaped his love and marriage woes to honeymoon alone but upon meeting Hannah, the two form a connection really strong that when he declines her offer of going travelling together to return home at the end of the cruise, Hannah is left heartbroken onboard until someone flies in to surprise her and help her realise things do come back together.

This book really fills you with feels for the two and I was rooting for them as their story played out through lovely things they did together and when bad times hit. I really recommend this book if you want to be on holiday or you are on holiday as it'll make you be jealous you're not there with them abroad too!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this for them!