DNF at 17%

Unfortunately this just didn’t work for me. The cover is really cute and the synopsis caught my attention immediately so i had really high hopes but i got bored.

The main characters Micah and John felt very lacking, I didn’t feel any chemistry and I didn’t care for any of the side characters either…

I hate giving negative reviews but this just isn’t for me

Never Been Shipped was written specifically to delight me. Like, I’m suspicious of how deeply this book understood my love language: creative passion, messy band dynamics, second chances, cruises, and a supernatural-adjacent fandom that felt like coming home. I mean. Come on.

Micah’s complicated history with music and heartbreak had me hooked from page one. She’s raw and real and kind of a disaster in the best way. The band breakup? The bad solo choices? The burned bridges? Delicious. And John—soft boy John—is the kind of quietly pining, guitar-playing sweetheart who made me want to shake him and hug him in equal measure.

The whole setup is just chef’s kiss: a reunion on a themed cruise for fans of Nightshifters (which I would die to watch, let’s be honest), complete with cast appearances and a band performance that’s basically a time bomb of unresolved tension. It’s nostalgia, forced proximity, and mutual pining all rolled into one glorious five-day emotional pressure cooker. And yes, I did grin like an idiot through most of it.

Also, can we talk about how Alicia Thompson writes creative longing? The music scenes are visceral. The stage tension is everything. You can feel what it means to lose yourself in the thing you love—and the terrifying vulnerability of choosing it again anyway.

If you’re into second chance romance, band drama, nerdy fan conventions, or kissing your best friend, then this one’s for you.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review—though let’s be real, I would’ve sold my soul to read this early anyway.

This was a decent book that simply didn't stand out to me.

The main characters Micah and John were pretty well-developed but I didn't love either of them. The romance between the two of them was cute but it began so abruptly. They were childhood friends who hadn't spoken in more than. a decade and all of the sudden upon seeing each other again they were both completely obsessed with each other in a romantic way even though they had only ever been friends. John had clearly been interested in Micah back when they were younger too so it made sense that his attraction to her was present again. However, Micah seemed to have viewed John as a friend in the old days so it was jarring to see her lusting after him so strongly. Despite that, I did enjoy them as a couple. I really appreciated the fact that they continued to value their friendship even once they began hooking up. I also liked that there was no major third act conflict. Micah and John handled their feelings and approached their relationship maturely as adults with little to none of the miscommunication that is so often present in romances.

Some aspects of the plot felt a little underutilized, such as John's relationship with his father. It was brought up a few times but never in depth and it felt strange that the author introduces such a heavy topic only for it to barely impact the story. I also would've liked to learn more about Micah's relationship with her ex, Rider. He was an awful person who clearly caused Micah a lot of pain and yet once again it felt like we only scratched the surface.

The pacing wasn't bad, although I did find my attention to be fading somewhat towards the end, and the writing was solid. There was also some nice LGBTQ+ representation. I can see why people might have a great time with this and I would recommend that anyone who thinks it sounds interesting gives it a try. Personally, though, while I did enjoy it for the most part, I just didn't connect to it.

This was a beautiful story of friends to lovers, kind of second chance romance, mistakes, regret, and a deeply intertwined history between our two MCs. Micah and John grew up as childhood best friends and started a band that had incredible success but split on bad terms as Micah went solo. They have been brought back together on a reunion cruise to play music that was featured in a very popular television show. Micah hasn't spoken to the band for over 10 years and they all have to sort through their grievances about how it all went down. As the cruise progresses, John and Micah become closer and can't avoid the feelings they have for one another.

As someone with anxiety and who experiences panic attacks, I FELT what Micah was feeling when she was experiencing them. It can be the smallest trigger to set off a reaction and then you feel like the walls are caving in. John was such a wonderful, steady character who didn't push too much and was right there when Micah needed him. Everyone needs a John.

I loved the casual bisexual and nonbinary representation in the book and Frankie was my favourite side character. They were funny, charming and full of good advice for both MCs.

Thank you Berkley for the advanced reader copy!!

As an elder millennial, this book hit me right where I live. I loved all the characters, from feisty-yet-beaten-down Micah and cinnamon roll John all the way to lovable goober Steve. Absolutely unputdownable!

DNF at 40%

I had really high hopes for Never Been Shipped when the premise was announced - I loved John’s cameos from With Love, from Cold World. Loved the second-chance estranged friends to lovers aspect. Loved the forced proximity on a boat. The synopsis here sold me….the book didn’t deliver.

There is a slow burn aspect here (and I do enjoy a good slow burn), but it takes until 25% into the book for John and Micah, our heroine and his estranged bandmate/childhood friend, to have any sort of meaningful conversation. Then, suddenly, these two who haven’t spoken in years are hot and bothered over each other. This conversation, mind you, wasn’t anything to bring that on - it was two friends reconnecting and sharing a bed (for arguably Romance Reasons), but up until this point there was no hint that John or Micah had ever looked at the other in a romantic light and I was staring at the words I had just read and the words that came after it wondering if I had missed something.

Add to that the way in which the past is info-dumped in conversations between John and Micah, and I couldn’t have cared less about them being stuck on a boat together with their old bandmates. Ryder was an ass and I hated every scene with him, but Frankie was enjoyable for their parts on the page. Steve seemed like a fun guy.

I enjoyed the casual queerness that Thompson had here - with Frankie’s gender-neutrality and Micah’s bisexuality. I also liked the anxiety rep for Micah even though I was beyond frustrated that she wouldn’t get out of her own way about most things. I also loved the millennial nostalgia sprinkled throughout (are we too young for nostalgia?) and the homage to the emo/pop-punk bands of the early 2010s.

But when it came down to it, I just didn’t care by the 40% mark if/when/how John and Micah got together, and as a Romance, that’s kinda the whole point. Also, even this early on into their attraction, there was an obsession with Micah’s nipples (mentioned by other reviewers) that seemed to just appear and never let me know peace. I’m glad her tits are great, but tell me something else about Micah, PLEASE.

This was a swing and a miss from Thompson for me, but I’m sure others - especially friends-to-lovers lovers - will eat this up! Just be prepared for a slow pace and tons of introspection from the characters.

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC! I really wish I had enjoyed the book more than I did!

Never Been Shipped was a delightful, escapist romance about a reunited pair of best friends and their popular band- but dismantled- band. John and Micah grew up together, and despite having intense ~ vibes ~ never officially hooked up. In fact, she dated band mate Ryder instead. (Ryder had no redeeming qualities in my opinion, which is also disorienting because it makes me question the FMC’s sanity, but I digress.) Once reunited on the reunion tour, John and Micah are quickly clued into their obvious chemistry, and the romance that should have been finally blossoms. My once complaint about this book is Ryder- just too easy to hate- but the rest of it, including the other band mates, were super fun. Overall probably a 4.5 for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc.

DNF @19%

I’m not sure why I got this eARC but thank you to the publisher and Netgalley.

Another gorgeous, intriguing cover for an Alicia Thompson book… and another boring, lackluster interior 😬

I was so excited because the playlist is comprised of so many of my favorite songs but TBH I’m just bored.

The two main characters, Micah and John, are boring. They have no chemistry despite being childhood besties and having mutual pining. They’re like the same person and I have no idea what the character arcs would even be because I’m 7 chapters in and know nothing about them other than John is quiet and boring and Micah is… I don’t even know.

This is a personal thing but I can’t stand books where the characters are or were famous and I especially dislike the rockstar/pop star trope. That’s my fault for knowing that and then applying for this book (bc apparently I did?) but oh well.

If you liked Alicia Thompson’s other books you’ll probably like this one. I didn’t care for Love in the Time of Serial Killers but then Berkley sent me this so I felt like I should try it.

I'm a big fan of Alicia Thompson, and much like With Love from Cold World, Never Been Shipped is a romance about fun, flawed individuals. If I have any complaint (and it's a minor one!) it's that the stakes with this one felt pretty low - I never had any real doubts that Michah and John belonged together. In fact, I really wondered why she had ever bothered with Ryder in the first place - it just really didn't seem to track. That being said - I was wishing for just a little something more to challenge them on their path to bliss, but otherwise, this one was a fun, romantic, sexy read in a highly unique setting. Will definitely recommend!

I loved most everything about this book. The setting, the main and supporting characters, the plot. Very readable! It got me to go back and read its predecessor… It was fine but Never been Shipped is much better!

I felt completely captivated by Micah’s journey and her complicated relationship with music. I admired her determination to face her past and set boundaries for herself as she reunited with her old band. I felt her struggle to balance her passion for music with the lessons she’d learned, and I found her resilience truly inspiring. I connected with John’s perspective as well. I felt his longing for the music and the friendships he’d lost, especially his unresolved feelings for Micah. I loved how his quiet strength and hesitation made him such a relatable and endearing character. I felt invested in his internal conflict as he decided whether to take a chance on both the music and Micah this time around.

Overall, I thought this book was beautifully written and full of heart. I felt completely immersed in the characters’ lives, and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a story that stayed with me long after I finished, and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves music, romance, and stories of personal growth.

I wanted so badly to like this book!!! I was so excited the cover is so cute and friends to lovers is just a nice trope. But maybe it was being on a cruise ship, the sparse amounts of Elvis compared to my expectations but this book just wasn’t it for me.

I do think there’s some good things to point out like this writing itself is good! I really liked the representation of sexualities.

But some characters just felt so flat and underutilized.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkeley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Overall, I really enjoyed this. I loved the dynamic between John and Micah. I loved the side characters (Frankie, you have my heart). I thought the push and pull between the two main characters was great and you could really see how they’d been best friends growing up, how it had all fallen apart, and why it needed to fall back together. I really loved Alicia’s prose in this story. The actual words that Alicia chooses to use and how they are used adds so much to the beauty and enjoyment of this story. I thought this was a great friends to strangers to lovers story, and it was incredibly well done considering the story starts for the reader in the strangers part.


Synopsis: Micah's relationship to music is complicated. As teenagers, her band took off after being featured on a popular TV show, but the group barely released their sophomore album before breaking up. Now, over a decade later, the band is reuniting for one more performance on a themed cruise, and Micah is determined to learn from her past mistakes -- no losing herself in the music, and no losing her heart along the way. 
 
John misses playing in a band, and mostly he misses Micah, who'd been his best friend until the music stopped. Back then, he didn't take the lead, either in his guitar parts or while he sat back and watched her date another bandmate. John's never been one to rock the boat, but he's faced with another chance now that this cruise has brought music -- and Micah -- back in his life.
 
Onboard, Micah can't help but see John with brand new eyes, and John's feelings only intensify as the discordant band's tension grows to a breaking point. With five days at sea, there's a ticking clock on anything that might develop between them, and they'll have to decide if their relationship is destined to be more than a one-hit wonder.

Absolutely stunning cover! Alicia Thompson is quickly becoming an insta-buy author for me. This wonderful standout best-friends-to-lovers story that follows Micah and John, former bandmates of ElectricOh!, as they reunite for a performance a decade after their band’s breakup. Micah still coping with a failed solo career, living of her old royalties, and John who has now built a new life, both struggling with sooo much pent up tension that is tighter than their guitar strings. With just 5 days on the cruise there is a ticking clock and they must decide whether to face their unresolved feelings or leave the past behind. Thompson masterfully combines heart, music, and undeniable chemistry in this steamy and emotionally charged tale. It's a perfect blend of vulnerability and confidence that had me hooked from start to finish.

3.75 rounded up to 4 stars

I thought this was a super fun and quick read! There were some heartfelt moments and humorous ones. I appreciated the anxiety rep and really liked how multi layered the characters were. I love second chance romances and this one was cute!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i am a sucker for a friends to lovers story, and this one being a sort of ex-friends to lovers, book made me super happy. getting to see the relationship between john and micah rekindle and grow as they realized they had always been more to each other was so precious. both main characters were well written and ive never related to the idea of “fear of success” as much as i did while reading micah’s story. john was just so precious and his love for micah was apparent in everything he did. frankie, i think, was my fav like “side character” and everything they said and did was so perfect and i just adore them. the cruise was silly but i think it was written well and was a good place for micah and john to feel like they could explore the relationship between them. overall, i loved this book, the only problem i had with it was that with third person i don’t feel like i can connect with the character quite as much as i can in first person but it was still written extremely well!! im excited to read more by alicia in the near future :)

I loved this authors other books and this one was so cute! The cover drew me in and the story was precious! The characters have it bad and it was so fun to follow their stories! I gave this 5 stars because it had everything I look for in a rom com!

This was so much fun! I loved the sort of nostalgic emo vibes of the characters and how it was a childhood friends type of second chance. Micah and John really had a deep understanding of each other and I loved how they reconnected. The forced proximity was delicious, and I felt like the external conflict stakes were solid (the performances, Ryder, etc). Fun side characters as well! A great combo of heart, heat, and humor. Would absolutely recommend!

If you were that person in 2007 secretly (or not-so-secretly) shipping Hayley Williams with literally any member of Paramore… oh boy, do I have a story for you.

This book is like a love letter to that era of eyeliner-smudged band crushes, messy feelings, and slow-burning chemistry that makes your heart ache in the best way. Think: fiery frontwoman energy meets emotionally repressed bandmate vibes. It’s delicious.

Trust me—you’re gonna be obsessed.

what an electrifying romance from Alicia Thompson! this was my first read from her and it certainly didn't disappoint. if you're a fan of pop culture, childhood friends-to-lovers and DRAMA, this one's for you. 'Never Been Shipped' sets sail on June 10th 🚢

as teenagers, ElectricOh! took off after being featured on a popular TV show. A decade later, after a tumultuous break-up, the band reunites to perform on a cruise for fans of the TV show that launched their career. not only is Micah (lead singer) forced to reunite with her ex-boyfriend Ryder, but also her childhood best friend John.

i have never read a book set on a cruise, this was so fun and unique! i was hesitant about the third person, but it was dual POV and i still felt like we got a lot of insight into what Micah and John were thinking.

this was funny, self-aware and lively! i loved the parts about fame, performing, and fandom. i find there's often a fine line between being current and cringey when it comes to books about famous people and fandoms, and I didn't find this one to be cringey! i loved the part where Micah was reflecting on fan accounts, as someone who has always run fan accounts. Micah's love for music is a complicated one, and I loved delving into that. I could definitely see some Hayley Williams influence in Micah's character.

the spice is so good!! they have been WAIIIIITING for this, the tension is insane.

also the REPRESENTATION! Micah is bisexual and Frankie (another member of the band) is non-binary and i loved that rep a lot.

I am definitely interested in reading more from Alicia Thompson in the future!

thank you Berkley Romance for the eARC!