I really enjoyed Swept Away, moreso than any of the authors previous books I think. Some of this resonated with me (obviously not the being stranded on a boat bit!) in terms of emotions and feelings etc which is quite rare to come upon. Would definitely recommend this one, it was brilliant!

If you are a fan of Beth O’Leary like myself, you will utterly adore her latest romance, this time set at sea. Lost at sea with the man you just had a one-night stand with? Of course it was going to be amazing!

This had so many tropes which will have romance-readers hooked; forced proximity, grumpy meets sunshine, boy falls first, reverse age-gap. What I wasn’t expecting was a story of survival and hope against the odds- but I should know by now Beth’s books always have a unique twist to them!

Oh, and of course Eugene the seagull deserved 5 stars as star of the show!

Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved this book. Original, well written, completely enjoyable. I loved it.!!!

I’m sat here 1.30am writing notes on this review as I COULD NOT put this book down.

Stunning, absolutely blown away. The storyline was brilliant, so many twists and turns, I was gripped, I swooned, I fell in love, had my heart broken and mended again.

Zeke, I think he just made the best book boyfriend ever. This guy is the biggest green flag. Stop it!! Stop it now!! So considerate of women’s feelings (ok ok maybe not the past Zeke but he’s learned from his mistakes). The need for Lexi’s consent, to make sure he keeps boundaries and makes her feel comfortable. God love him!

Lexi - her need to keep everyone happy at her own expense, she really does deserve to be cherished. Her moments of badass bravery, bloody legend! And the whitty banter the whole way through.

I mean I’ve read a couple of Beth O’Learys books and loved every minute, but this one just went to another level.

It’s got instant bestseller ALL over it, Im so grateful to be given the opportunity to read this, can’t wait for this to be released.


The tea ☕️

1️⃣ - one night stand to lovers
💕 - age gap
🔒 - forced proximity
⚓️ - plot twists
🌶️ - 1.5/5 spice

I love how Beth O’Leary writes characters, they’re flawed and multi-faceted and I totally believed they were falling in love, I liked the parental relationships and I could feel that the author was examining those relationships and I definitely laughed aloud a few times.
But I found it difficult to believe the circumstances which were the main thrust of the plot - them being swept out to sea and surviving there for 12 days and everything that occurred out there.
Especially on the oil rig, her accidentally stabbing him etc, I know it was done to add jeopardy and stakes but it just didn’t fully work for me. But overall a great comforting read when sick.

Our romance Queen. Beth O’Leary shines again in her latest outing, emotional, considered and beautifully done. Beth O’Leary smashes it again.

I couldn’t put this down! A story of love and courage and a life changing connection.
Thank you so much @quercusbooks @netgalley and @betholearyauthor for an advanced copy of this book.

‘Swept Away’ by Beth O’Leary follows a unique love story as a one-night stand are stranded together in the middle of the North Sea on a houseboat. I have never read such an interesting plot for a romance novel. Another completely new and unique close-proximity novel from O’Leary that is unlike anything I have read before.

She says herself that the locational confinements of the novel didn’t leave a lot of wiggle room (paraphrased) but I completely disagree the sea proved to be full of narrative plot twists. The whole thing was bizarre and seemed totally fantastical, but I loved that for the plot and romance, it really made me fall for two characters that I wasn’t sure I would actually like together.

In fact, my only complaint with the novel is that I wasn’t a massive fan of the events that happened towards the end. I thought it took away from the intimacy of the pairing and transformed their characters from people I thought I knew to almost strangers. It was a plot twist that made me gasp though which I was surprised would happen after such an intense narrative.

I would recommend to any one who is interested in romance as it is a guaranteed good read.
4.5

I’ve been dying to read this book since I first heard the brilliant premise and it did not disappoint. Truly thrilling, deeply romantic, genuinely sexy - I absolutely loved it.

Another great book by Beth O'Leary. Very original in it's setting much like The Flat Share. The author has a way of creating characters that you can relate to and warm to. The situation that the main characters found themselves in was probably quite unlikely, but who knows. This book is worth a read, but be prepared to not be able to put it down! I read it in a day.

Another fantastic story from Beth O'Leary. Zeke and Lexi meet in a pub and hit it off, spending the night together on a houseboat. In the morning, whilst disagreeing about who it belongs to, they discover the mooring failed and they are now drifting out at sea with no way of getting help.
Thrust together in the strangest of circumstances, the story is told from each viewpoint as they form an unbreakable bond.
I was hooked on this, such depth to the characters and a fantastic story
5 stars

Beth O'Leary said she wanted to write this book for a long time, but she wasn't sure if it was too complicated. I'm so glad we finally got a chance to share it with her.
Swept out into the sea after a one night stand on a houseboat, Lexi and Zeke are trapped together. The endless horizon, their dwindling food supply, and the arrival of an injured bird, makes for a complicated morning after.
Written with O'Leary's trademarked wit and heart, this was the perfect isolated story of two people finding solace in each other during troubled times, and understanding what is most important in life.

**Thank you to NetGally and publishers Quercus for this ARC in return for an honest review**

I love Beth O'leary's writing. She is incredibly skilled at creating three dimensional, interesting characters that draw you into their troubles. Zeke and Lexi were no different, and I was rooting for them the whole way through. That being said... the setting for Swept Away didn't feel real to me. Believing that these two strangers got swept out of a marina on a somewhat shoddily maintained houseboat and then managed to survive on said boat for 12 days at sea felt like being asked to suspend an awful lot of belief. The book is fast paced and has a ton of drama so it kept me reading, but I struggled to connect with the circumstances that set the stage for the story the whole way through.

Regardless of this, the characters are surprising and gutsy, and there is a new rawness to the emotional vulnerability that O'leary writes about in this book that I look forward to seeing more of in whatever she does next.

Content Warnings: Blood, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content

Wow! A forced proximity romance with a twist and what a twist. After a one night stand on a houseboat, Lexi and Zeke wake up to literally find themselves swept out to sea. There’s alternative but to get to know one another. As jeopardy gets closer will they find salvation as well as each other.
I loved this - and I didn’t think anything could top The No-Show but this possibly dies. The characters at times are raw and honest and you can’t help rooting for them.
Absolutely perfect!

This book was incredibly unusual, and yet it had something up there every day at the same time. One night stand that goes quite horrendously wrong as a couple end up travelling. on a rickety houseboat into the wide open sea. Day after day of them getting to know each other, exposing themselves a little more and discovering who they really are.. Pretences and the barriers that they put up are stripped away as they can’t keep it up as they get frightened as the boat starts to leak and as chances of survival fall away. This is a microcosm of life when nothing and yet absolutely everything changes.

I have read most of Beth O'Leary's novels, and have enjoyed all of them. Swept Away was no different. A great concept, well-executed. A bit more jeopardy in this one than in the others, but that just added to the drama. A solid 4* from me. Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When Zeke and Lexi wake up in a houseboat together that they are both convinced is theirs, the fact that they had a one night stand the evening before seems to be forgotten. Especially when they realise that they aren't bobbing at their mooring, they're out at sea.
This books starts with a bang and I wasn't sure what to expect as I've loved some of Beth O'Leary's books and thought others were fairly average. But I absolutely loved the opening chapter and drama to this novel, so well written and straight away gives you a little information about the pair. Zeke has bought back his dad's houseboat and Lexi is crashing there because the previous owner was her best friend and she decided to up and leave her friend's house after an argument. It's not clear who's in the right, who the boat belongs to and what the hell they're going to do about being in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.

This was one of the loveliest and most heartwarming romances I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it. It had just the right amount of danger and excitement whilst also just being about two people thrown together on a boat in the middle of the sea.

Zeke and Lexi were both so incredibly likeable and I was rooting for them from like two pages in and the world painted beyond their small boat was also brilliantly done and I felt the longing to get back home with them. The elements of found family in the book were so sweet and Lexi's relationship with her best friend's young daughter was utterly wonderful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the eARC.

Beth O’Leary is one of my top favourite authors. I will always read her books no matter what. With her latest title, she delivered again.

I thought she couldn’t get any better after reading The No-Show, but I was proved wrong. This book completely stands out from the rest of her writing. It’s original, romantic and thoughtful. All of which are a constant in O’Leary’s books, but this time it was different.

The characters gelled together in their insular world on the boat as they were ‘swept away’. I haven’t read a romance title like this before.

I was absolutely delighted to be approved to read Swept Away - I’ve read and loved all of Beth’s previous books so started this one straight away!

When Lexi and Zeke meet and have a one night stand on Zeke’s houseboat/lexi’s family houseboat, neither could predict they would wake up the following morning and be swept away to sea….with no sight of land or boats or any other kind of help. They are forced to get to know each other - Lexi talks about her sister Penny, who has a daughter Mae, whilst Zeke reveals that he feels the houseboat holds the answers to his questions about his dad.

There was one part of the book when disaster strikes in the boat and I really struggled to read it as I am really squeamish, so look away if you are like me!

This is a book that I couldn’t predict the resolution of and I feel it will stand up to repeated rereadings. Will be highly recommending.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review.

Lexi and Zeke wake up after a wild one-night stand on a houseboat only to find that they have drifted out into the North Sea. The boat has no power and there is no signal on their phones.
Beth O’Leary has taken a unique twist on the proximity trope and created the perfect blend of romance and suspense as Lexi and Zeke battle to survive with limited supplies, limited skills and only the vastness of the sea for company. Having no distractions they are both forced into some introspection as well as having to spend a lot more time with their one-night stand than expected!
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC