Thank you to NetGalley and Summer Stars Publishing for the opportunity to read the ARC of More Than Shipmates. Eliza is running from past drama of a cheating boyfriend and failures of not getting into drama school. So she sets off on a ship to work for the next 6 months. Creating a way for herself, she meets Tom, who is also a new hire for the cruise line and also has skeletons in his closet and feelings for the new girl. Her trainer Harvey (Oscar) is a changed bad boy gone good, until he realizes his feelings for Eliza 😉. This love triangle was a refreshing read from my usual romantacy. Also, who doesn’t love reading about what happens on cruise ships?! The banter in this story is what makes it so funny. I giggled so much throughout this book. The steam is steamy as well 🌶️

Tropes:
Love Triangle
MM, MF, LGBTQ
Found Family
Close Proximity
Third Act Breakup

Title: More Than Shipmates by Philippa Young

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stars

Release date: June 1st 2024

This story revolves around Eliza Chapman, who has always felt like she’s never been good enough—not for drama school, not for a boyfriend, and certainly not for her insufferable brother’s approval. Determined to turn her life around, Eliza embarks on a six-month stint as an entertainment host on a Caribbean cruise. Interesting setting right? Dream job!

Swearing off men and romance to avoid past mistakes, she focuses on the ship's motto: “work hard, play hard.” Nothing wrong ever comes out of this…..*sarcasm*

However, resisting temptation proves challenging when cheeky American Tom and charming Brit Oscar enter the picture, blurring the lines between colleagues and crushes.

What I Loved:

* Entertaining Setting: The vibrant, dynamic setting of a Caribbean cruise adds a refreshing and exciting backdrop to the story. The idea of working and living on a ship with endless entertainment and nightlife possibilities was engaging and fun to read about. I don't know what it is about a romance on a cruise ship, add in the workplace trope and I'm a goner!

* Light and Easy Read: Philippa Young’s writing is smooth and easy to follow, making this book a perfect choice for a relaxing, enjoyable read. The pacing was just right, keeping me hooked from start to finish without feeling too heavy.

* Romantic Comedy: The book is filled with humour and light-hearted moments that balance out the romantic tension. The cheeky banter and playful interactions between characters had me smiling throughout.

* Relatable Protagonist: Eliza’s journey of self-discovery and determination to improve her life was both inspiring and relatable. Her struggles and triumphs felt genuine, making her a character I rooted for and easy to relate to and understand.

* Love Triangle Dynamics: While I’m usually not a fan of love triangles (in very rare cases I may add), this one was done in a fun and engaging way. The tension between Tom and Oscar added excitement and kept me guessing about who Eliza would ultimately choose.

* Steamy Romance: The romantic scenes were steamy and well-written, adding spice to the story without overpowering the plot. The chemistry between Eliza and her love interests was palpable. Even though I only truly rooted for the one, which thankfully was the one she ended up with in the end.

More Than Shipmates by Philippa Young is a delightful, tension-filled romantic comedy set against the exciting backdrop of a Caribbean cruise. With a relatable protagonist, steamy romance, and an engaging setting, this book is a fun, light read perfect for anyone looking for a bit of romance and humour. Highly recommended for fans of romantic comedies and feel-good love stories!

Thank you to The Publisher Summer Stars Publishing ,The Author Philippa Young & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

This book was such a fun read! It would be the perfect summer vacation read! I loved so much about this book from the setting on the cruise ship, the diversity of the characters and all their antics, I’m obsessed with Oscar, and the spicy scenes with the perfect amount of spice for me! I have four stars because at times I found the main character, Eliza, to be very wishy washy, hypocritical, and borderline annoying. I know she was discovering herself and who she was,so I get it! It was just too much for me sometimes. At the end of the day though, it was a light and fun read that I definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review!

Eliza, looking for a fresh start after some major setbacks, takes a job on a cruise ship for six months. What follows is a whirlwind of laughs, romance, and personal growth. I fell in love with this premise and can see this being one of the more popular romances this summer. The characters are relatable and well-developed, with a love triangle between Eliza, Oscar, and Tom that keeps you hooked. The cruise ship setting adds hilarious and spicy moments, making the story even more entertaining.

If you enjoy 'who will she choose?' stories, this one's for you. Both love interests are so well-written that you’ll root for both. With over 400 pages, there’s plenty of time for the characters and romance to develop.

"More Than Shipmates" is a light, engaging read that promises laughter, swooning, and all the feels. Dive into Eliza’s adventure and enjoy the ride!

I really had to rush reading this one as I didn't realize the archive date was so soon! Review will be on Goodreads once I re-read certain parts.

Thanks to NetGalley & Summer Stars Publishing Limited for an eARC of this book.

Super stinking cute book. Tom and Oscar were both amazing and hot I'm their own ways. The way that each of the guys were with Eliza and were there to comfort her in...multiple ways, was so great.

I felt a little annoyed with Eliza only because she literally quit everything she had ever done or loved because things got hard. And like maybe it's because I'm projecting and do that, but it's annoying! Okay!?

I wish there was more between the three of them though as well. Not necessarily spicy threeway, but like where they are all together and the guys are fighting for her attention.

There were also super long chapters and I have an attention span of a goldfish, so that's a me problem. Still loved the book a lot.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book at 10% in. I wanted to love it, but it was not for me. Typically I wouldn't give a book a low star rating-- I prefer to just move on. However, I had some issues with this book that I thought others might, too.

Boiling down an attractive male character to a nickname isn't a new or wild concept. However, referring to the boy as "Hollister" after a company widely criticized for its hiring practices seems like a poor choice. But in just the first 4%, there's multiple references to famous people, brands, characters and stereotypes in place of using descriptions. See also: a girl described as an "Emma Stone lookalike" or the captain that "wouldn't look out of place as a geography teacher or librarian." What does this last one even mean???

I could get passed the use of out-of-date stereotypes in place of descriptions for characters until location 290.

"Ladies of all ages and a few flamboyantly dressed gentlemen abandon any sense of subtlety to gawk at him."

Flamboyantly dressed men? Really? Perpetuating this outdated and frankly offensive caricature of gay men was where I finally drew the line and did not continue.

I thought having a romance set on a cruise ship was a fun change! I read a lot of romance and this is the first one I have read on a cruise ship. I liked a lot of the side characters who also worked there and wish we could have seen more of them (Valentina and Obi specifically were my favourites). I didn’t love Eliza’s character, but I enjoyed Oscar a lot more.

Love triangles are my least favourite romance troupe, but I appreciate that More Than Shipmates let’s you know right away that is what you are getting into. I did think the love triangle was dragged out more than needed, but I like how it was all resolved at the end.

I think this book was longer than necessary and I do wish it had been a bit shorter. Overall it was a fun romance that is a change from the normal rom com, but could have been about 100 pages shorter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this arc! This book was really good and I loved the ‘at sea’ concept as I have never read a book with this concept before. I loved thr characters growth and humour, and I loved how the FMC was English as most books have MC’s that are American which gets boring. The only negative thing I have to say is that this book was 514 pages long, and a romance book should not be over 400 pages at most. I will be picking up a physical copy of this book soon, and I will be recommending it to people!

Tropes:
- Love Triangle
- Forced Proximity
- One Bed
- Workplace Romance
- Cruise Ship

This was a good romance. I had a hard time getting invested in the characters but I liked the tropes and how everything came together in the end. Worth a read!

I’ve not read a book that has 3 different POVs before and it was very interesting to be able to get inside everyone’s head. While I’m not usually a fan of the Love Triangle trope, this book didn’t do it poorly. I just wasn’t a huge fan.

The characters were very well written and I did truly enjoy them. The plot was well thought out and I found myself smiling while reading a lot.

This Book was so spicy, funny and loveable! I had such a great time reading it. t
The boys were sooooo hot, holy moly, I can imagine that Eliza couldnt choose at the beginning.
Thanks that i was able to read it. im very happy and maybe ill buy the paperback as soon as possible.

This book was exactly what I envision is the secret lives and behind the scenes action of all of the workers on the cruises I've been on. It was very Below Deck vibes with a love triangle, lots of spice, and lots of cruise ship fun. I enjoyed the spontaneity, and it was even LGBTQ-friendly. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book! It wasn’t what I was expecting but I definitely enjoyed it. I kind of wished they would have ended up in a polyamorous relationship but maybe I’ve just read too much “why choose” troupe. 😅

Oscars dirty talk was *chefs kiss*. Very hottttt.

If you want a quick read with a touch it spice, this will definitely do!

⭐️ Rating: 3/5
🌶️ Spice: 3/5

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes:
Love Triangle
Forbidden Love
Forced Proximity
Workplace Romance

I think I liked this book. It was a really fun premise. Girl blows up life, girl sails away for six months. What I struggled with was two things primarily: the love triangle and the POV. I’ll admit, I didn’t do my research. I saw the cover and thought we were getting a MMF or a MFM storyline. And the promise was there. We got a kiss and then everything quickly fell apart.

The book was filled with fun and hijinx. The crew activities were great. Even following the friendships and relationships on deck was entertaining. I don’t know if the love triangle was necessary considering how it played out. For a portion of the book I was like, “Wait, isn’t there another guy we were following?”

Let’s talk about the POV. And again, this is my fault I could have read more going into the book to be prepared, but…. It’s a 3 person point of view… kinda. The first 10 chapters, yes 10, are solely the FMC’s perspective even while interacting with the other two MMCs. Then it flips between them, sometimes by chapter, sometimes DURING the chapter, and sometimes you don’t know who’s POV you’re in until you get to dialog. While the love triangle was triangulating, we got all three. Then one fell off, and we were in a dual POV situation, but the duals who remained still interacted with the other MMC. This probably sounds confusing, so was following the POV situation.

When it comes to spice… There was a lot of talk about salacious activities but very little acting on it. The spice we did get was fairly tame and as expected for a rom-com. Overall this book was enjoyable. The second book in the series isn’t set up as a love triangle and as I enjoyed the setting and crew of the first book, I plan to read the second.

This book was such a fun read! This book follows Eliza who was rejected from her dream school that would lead her to her perfect life. Feeling like a failure, she wants to give herself a new start and accepts a job on a cruise ship for 6 months. As all good love stories go, she meets a guy (well actually 2 guys) even though she has sworn off a workplace romance and men for the time being. You have Tom the fun and playful match and then you have Oscar the (seemingly) quiet and shy match. Along the way there are twists and turns and a ton of fun boat games played by Eliza and her coworkers. The love triangle is the perfect amount of drama without it being repetitive and overwhelming. I loved the friendships that Eliza made and how they developed throughout the book. Overall, this was a really fun and entertaining read!

I thought this was a really fun quick read. The story follows the FMC Eliza on her journey to find herself working onboard a cruise ship for 6 months. It is a forced proximity/ love triangle story which was a bit frustrating at times and confusing to follow. While I love character and scene development I feel like there was a bit of extra added things that didn't do a whole lot for the plot of the story that could have been left out. Overall it was a fun read that I would pick up again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars
I will admit as being a fan of Below Deck this book definitely interested me. Elizabeth has just got a job on ship when she meets Tom. Eliza and Tom quickly become friends and they both are paired with buddies. Eliza is paired with Oscar. This book is spicy and fun with each character having something they are escaping from. This book is a very good romance. Thank you to Philippa Young and Net Galley for allowing me to read this.

First, I want to express my gratitude to Philippa Young and Summer Star Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I rated this book 4.5 ⭐️.

Where do I begin with this book? First off, I’d like to say that I was Team Oscar the whole time! His personality and charm hooked me. The way he carried himself and showed vulnerability made me fall in love with him even more. Second, I appreciate the author for creating realistic and flawed characters—it made me love them even more.

I loved everything about this book, from the banter to the spicy scenes to the emotional roller coaster it took me on at the end. Also, I appreciated the triple POV. When it came to Oscar’s POV, I was ecstatic.

For me, it reminded me of the dramas I grew up watching as a kid with my mom. We were both suckers for drama and romance, which this book had! It features a love triangle, miscommunication, and lust. However, I did get a bit worried about Eliza at the end, but I’m glad it took a complete 180.

The only reason I deducted 0.5 ⭐️ is that the beginning was too slow for my liking.

Overall, I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. I’m excited to see what happens in Tom’s story, but I also hope Philippa Young writes a story featuring Maddison, Valentina, and Daniel (he needs a redemption story, please).

(P.S posted on my goodreads and amazon (waiting for it to be approved) as of 06/08).

Edit: Added it to my story graph as of 06/11/24

Edit: Amazon review is live as of 06/12/24

Love this book and reading about the background workers of the cruise industry. As I do come a cruise family, the setting was perfect and unique. Cant wait for the next one!

Firstly, I am obsessed with this cover - it is so pretty!
Secondly, I am equally as obsessed with the storyline and characters of this wonderful story.
I am an bit of a sucker for a love triangle romance, and this was utter perfection - it was super spicy and so much fun, and it left me wanting more. Eliza, Oscar, and Tom completely have my heart, and i am going to need more books by Philippa Young immediately because I'm hooked!