For the first two-thirds of the book, I give it five stars. Zeke and Lexi are sweet together. They work well together, figuring out the problems of surviving being adrift on the ocean in a boat house. They both have personal issues that draw them closer together as a couple when they open up with each other.

Then, the requisite third-act breakup hits, and the reason for the breakup ruins the romance for me. The reason made sense, but the punishment didn't fit the crime. When the misunderstanding clears up, Zeke takes it on the chin like the unrealistic, hyper-understanding man he is, and no one has to apologize for causing him heartache. We don't have time to deal with him having hurt feelings. We have to get the time skip, happily ever after.

Lexi's best friend can continue to suck the rest of her life.

Beth O’Leary is one of my favorite authors. I absolutely adore the characters she creates. This time, the story has a little more adventure! A fun, cute, and often hilarious story that is a MUST read!

Can we talk about the cover for a minute? This cover is stunning, one of the best I have seen in years, and I hate the color purple, so that should tell you something.

Beth O'Leary seems to write books I fall in love with. The writing is lovely. The characters are flawed and frustrating but also sweet and alluring. I found all of this true about Swept Away. It is a unique and heartfelt romance, and I loved the added adventure and minor peril. The plot is undeniably ridiculous, and many reviews point out how much suspension of disbelief is required to accept it. Still, I found the over-the-top nonsense fun, like the story knew it was ridiculous and just ran with it.

Lexi is adrift in life. She has put her entire life on hold to help raise her best friend's daughter. Her character is very relatable, perhaps not with these exact circumstances, but many people put their lives on hold and end up stuck in the process. Now, forced to sit with her feelings, she can reflect and grow.

Zeke is barreling through life, never slowing down to deal with his feelings about his father until Lexi catches him off guard. He wasn’t looking for a love-at-first-sight moment, but he got it. I get that insta-love isn’t for everyone. I rarely enjoy it, but sometimes it just works, and in this case, I think it does. Given the circumstances, it is hard to know how fast you might fall.

As much as I enjoyed my time at sea, the twist was cringe-worthy. It would have been more satisfying to see the characters forced out of their love bubble trying to navigate life back on land.

Overall, I had a great time, and recommend Swept Away if you enjoy forced proximity (at its highest level), books set at sea, minor peril, reflective characters, love at first sight, and past trauma.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another beautifully written romance by one of my favorite authors. As lovely as this book was, I just couldn’t get into it. After day 2 of being lost at sea I became bored. There were some intense moments to try to keep the reader engaged and I appreciated that but it ended up not being for me. I will still be recommending this one because I think a lot of people will love it.

A unique and surprisingly deep book for O'Leary. With such an insular setting and small main cast of characters, creativity was needed to make this one stand out, and it absolutely did.

A great Beth O'Leary romance! Even though the majority of the book takes place lost at sea, the side characters were still great. Eugene!

Thank you Berkley for the free book! #berkleypartner

Imagine getting stuck at sea on a houseboat with your one night stand and not knowing when you’ll be rescued. The premise of this was so enticing and the characters and how they reacted felt so real in this specific scenario. Both Zeke and Lexi felt so really to me!

The story itself did drag a bit in the middle but that felt true to the plot… like what else are you gonna do besides make the most out of being stuck with a virtual stranger in a small space?

Two strangers find themselves stranded at sea together - get ready for longest one night stand ever.

It’s not as cute and sweet as you would expect with the description and that cover. I expected a comedy but got a deep emotional and physical journey for both main characters.

Zeke and Lexi are great together and I love how much they support and heal each other. Their growth and love story feels real and honest - while also being sweet and swoony.

Small spoiler: I didn’t love the age gap because it gets a little icky when you find out about his past (he was just over 18 when some events - not with FMC - happened).

If you like:
- Dual POV
- One Night Stand
- Forced Proximity
- Age Gap (She’s 8 years older)
- Survival Romance
- Overcoming Fears
- Strangers to Lovers
- Lovers to Friends
- Friends to Lovers
- Found Family

Thank you to Berkley Romance for providing me with an advanced copy of this book! I was really drawn into the premise and the stunning cover, but I found myself lulled to sleep by the long days of boredom on board the boat. I found it hard to pick up the story after setting it down. Unfortunately, I decided that this wasn’t the right fit for me and chose to DNF.

Beth O’ Leary is a must-read author for me, and this book was the warm hug I needed. The premise was very fun and as usual, the depth of emotion in the writing made me a puddle on the floor. Highly recommend!!

This is Beth O'Leary at the top of her game. Swept Away is my very favorite O'Leary book to date. Zeke and Lexi are great characters with depth. Zeke is a sweet thoughtful guy who has been having a few hard years after a family member dies. Lexi is a 30-something who helps raise a friend's child. They meet in a bar and end up having a one night affair on a houseboat that Zeke had just bought. In the morning, they discover the houseboat has drifted into the ocean and they are lost at sea. Over the next 12 days they learn a lot about each other, face treacherous challenges on the boat, and discover they are perfect for one another. There's a good twist at the end that is resolved quickly. The ending was sweet and wrapped up things nicely.

I read 8% of this and have no interest in continuing - the romance doesn't feel that real to me, the characters are kind of annoying and the entire premise is a little ridiculous in my book. I appreciate the ARC and hope others enjoy this book more than I did!

This was such an action packed romance story! I wasn’t expecting so much life or death drama in a story that starts out with a one night stand.
But it was definitely a forced proximity situation once they were stuck at sea together. Then injuries, weather, rations and damages to the houseboat occur. They both grew and learned a lot about each other through this event as well.
Though there is a third act breakup and it’s delicious. I’m sorry but I freaking love 3rd act breakups they give me life and this one was an oooo how will they overcome that?!
Also did I mention it’s a reverse age gap. He’s a sweet little 20 something and she’s in her 30s.
Pick up if you are looking for something unique and interesting! With a sweet romance!

Zeke has sworn off one-night stands. But he's willing to break that rule for Lexi, who may be eight years older than he is, but something about her really catches his eye. They wander back to his houseboat? Her houseboat? The fog, the alcohol, and the attraction make it hard to tell... But what's clear is that in the middle of the night they've drifted away from the dock and out to sea. Now their only goal is to learn to work together in a small space and make it back to land alive.

While this isn't my new favorite book from Beth O'Leary , I enjoyed the premise a lot, and her character work more. You want forced proximity? How about the one-night-stand that turns into much more because you literally can't get away from the other person. There is nothing better in a romance than watching two characters get themselves out of a scrape that they've put themselves in, and Lexi and Zeke are forced to use creative thinking and all their survival instincts to get through their ordeal.

As with all of O'Leary's books, this has a bit of a twist that forces the characters to really examine themselves and what they know about one another, and I ended up liking how she navigates that while staying true to Zeke and Lexi's characters.

This is such a crazy story in the best possible way!

Zeke and Lexi have the most insane one night stand — because it doesn’t end.

It can’t, because they’ve been swept away… literally.

In a comedy of errors, the house boat they tumbled into wasn’t secured at the marina.

Meaning when the sun rises, these two are out at sea with no way to call for rescue.

What ensues is pure love that’s completely forged by fire.

Their adventures out at sea are built from romance, humor — including a seagull named Eugene— and suspense.

I am here for it!

If you want a reverse grumpy/sunshine, reverse age-gap lost at sea tale filled with twists and turns and tons of hope— pick this up!

I love this author, and this story is such a refreshing addition to her incredible list.

Read this as a perfect spring and summer read!

“I’m glad it was you,” he says, so softly I almost don’t hear him over the wind. “On this adventure with me.” ⛴️⚓️🌊

To cut to the chase, this was not the book for me. SWEPT AWAY by Beth O’Leary is just so wildly unbelievable and fanciful that it had me cringing most of my reading experience. {But thank you to @berkleyromance for the #gifted eARC to read and review!}

Two strangers go back to a houseboat for a one-night stand - and wake up the next morning stranded in the ocean…also arguing about who owns this houseboat? From there you get a wild story where our characters are physically and emotionally battered - but still have plenty of physical and mental energy to ogle one another? Even the setbacks they endured while floating out to sea seemed so forced and unrealistic; anything that could go wrong, did go wrong - it felt a stretch too far.

And finally, the plot twist that leads to the infamous third act breakup? It was so heavily foreshadowed that it came at little surprise; the big reveal had zero impact - other than making me dislike the characters just that much more.

At the end of the day, I don’t think survival or action romances are my cup of tea. They all read slightly absurd to me and I think I need slightly more grounding in my romances - unless I am intentionally reading fantasy or a genre where unrealistic is the name of the game.

This was such a different romance book, and I really appreciate it when an author takes a chance, but I'm not entirely sure that as a whole this worked for me.

First off, this entire book takes place with two people stranded at sea after a one-night stand. I LOVED this concept, because I love romances that bud as people are trying to survive some impossible situation (think Six Days, Seven Nights with Harrison Ford and Anne Heche). I think where this book deviated from my expectations was that the characters felt really lost in their situation, and while they did make efforts (especially later in the book), for a large chunk of the book it felt like they were just waiting it out and I started to get quite frustrated with them.

The other thing is the romance. These two people felt really odd, and I didn't quite buy them together at all. I feel like their entire backstory was written to make the twist make sense, but while you are reading it feels a bit random and weird.

The MMC is described as wearing velvet trousers, a vest with no shirt, and three silver chains. And because he is stranded on a boat, he is wearing this outfit for almost the entire book.

Guys, I was picturing McLovin.

Also, the FMC is 31 to his 23, and she keeps referring to him as boyish, young, disarmed, and youthful. I just couldn't get behind this age gap, especially when the MMC reveals (SPOILER) that his first relationship was with a 28-year-old woman when he was 16. The fact that this is statutory rape is NOT mentioned, and the whole thing seems to be there to show that he is into older women, rather than that he was groomed by one.

Thank you to the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 /5 rounded up to 4 stars.

What a wild ride!

A typical lost at sea story but the last 25% is where it really got good. The plot twist and the conflict really made the story different and more interesting to be honest.

I think the writing was great and the plot was pretty good. It felt like reading a comfort story. However , the pacing was way off. When they were lost at sea, it felt like it dragged on. And they when the got rescued (minor spoiler) everything went so fast. Maybe if it was a bit shorter, I would have enjoyed this more.

Overall I enjoyed this arc. Go check this out, out now!

Thanks to Berkeley and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: lost at sea, forced proximity.
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Zeke and Lexi find themselves lost at sea after their one night stand after they don’t properly secure the house boat, and they must work together in order to survive.
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I loved how Lexi and Zeke’s initial attraction for each other developed as they were forced to spend so much time with each other, and how they realized they were more themselves with each other than they had been with anyone else. I loved the development of their relationship and overall this story sucked me in!

This was such an intriguing premise, but it fell way flat. For a book where you accidentally end up lost at sea with your one night stand, the stakes felt relatively low for most of it. The third act was also incredibly frustrating and made me excited for the book to be over. Honestly, I think my favorite character was the seagull they named Eugene.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.