Thank you to Red Adapt Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC 🙂

The Loathe Boat is a story about two people who have recently broken up, but won a cruise and are both too stubborn to stay home. Add to the mix that it's not just any cruise, but a LARPing cruise and you have a story with a great premise that I had high hopes for. Sadly, I was really disappointed with the story, for multiple reasons.

Firstly, the main characters, Chrissy and Deacon, both felt flat and somewhat boring. Their personalities weren't developed enough and I really didn't connect to them. Chrissy's whole thing is that she's quirky and spontaneous, whereas Deacon is just Fit. The author tried to add more to these characters, for example with Chrissy's family issues and Deacon's addiction issues in his past, but the way that it was written didn't have nearly enough impact because of how shallow the feelings about these issues felt were described. The characters just lacked a lot of depth, which was unfortunate.

Another issue I had is with the relationship between Chrissy and Deacon. Their whole relationship breaks off because of the miscommunication trope - which I'm just not a fan of. The fact that it happens multiple times throughout the book and is consistently the only thing that causes issues between them just made me not invested in this relationship whatsoever. They both have feelings about how the relationship ended but neither of them own up to it until like 90% into the book, which made it feel like a waste of a lot of time. I was actually rooting for Chrissy and Elliot to get back together for quite a while, until suddenly Elliot turned into a super villain. His whole Evil Guy attitude came out of nowhere and was so over the top that it made the whole thing feel quite unbelievable too.

My final big issue with this is that LARPing is used as the butt of the joke quite often during the book. LARPers are usually only there for comedic purposes and LARPing as a whole is looked down on consistently throughout the entire book. Only at the end in the epilogue does it show that Chrissy and Deacon enjoyed LARPing, which felt like it came out of nowhere with how they'd been shown reacting to LARPing throughout the book.

All this, together with some weird comments in the book that left a bad taste in my mouth (Deacon's whole spiel on the cycle of obesity, a passage about an "overweight man wobbling a few times as he attempts to surf.") made me give this book 2 stars, which I think is very generous considering the issues I have with it. The idea was fun enough and the writing was easy to read, but that's about it. I really wanted to like this more.

First of all, thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The cruise setting, role playing mixup and chaos was a pretty fun setting for this romance. The only thing I wasn't quite sure on was the couple themselves, as they get very petty with each other. I think it would have worked better if they stayed as friends. That being said, I enjoyed the friendships in this and Chrissy coming to realisations about her past relationship with a toxic ex.

It’s hard for me to get into a book after I finished one I really like. But the loath boat I honestly couldn’t put down. It was funny. It had a good plot and twist and turns. I will make sure to recommend this to anyone!

Chrissy y Deacon llevan un año de relación cuando él le pide matrimonio. Ella se asusta porque su anterior matrimonio fue un fracaso y no quiere que le pase lo mismo y en lugar de darle una respuesta, sale corriendo. Él la persigue y se encuentra con una escena que le rompe el corazón, no la deja explicarse y termina con la relación.

Un mes después, se reencuentran en un crucero, un viaje que ambos ganaron. Ninguno de los dos permitirá que el otro les arruine las vacaciones, y esperan poder aclarar los malentendidos y retomar su relación.




Tengo que decir que si hubiera leído esto en otro momento, mi calificación habría sido mucho más baja. Sin embargo, hoy estoy muy relajada y de buen humor, por lo que la tremenda falta de comunicación y el drama por cosas tan tontas no me afectaron y hasta me dieron risa.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Usually in a romance, one person is clearly in the wrong but in this - they both seem terrible and honeslty better off without each other so I wasn't rooting for them to get together at all. Plus, neither of them was very likeable.

Chrissy Parks already has one failed marriage under her belt, and despite being on good terms with her ex, she has no desire to put another ring on her left hand anytime soon. Life is good with Deacon, her amazing boyfriend, so there’s no need to rock the boat.
Deacon Youngblood has other plans. He pops the question just days before they plan to set sail on a role-playing-themed cruise. When Chrissy flips out and turns down his proposal, he begins to think that she may not be over her ex. The situation escalates into a breakup, but neither will relinquish their cruise ticket. Chrissy climbs aboard the Sovereign of the Sea with the goal of clearing her head and enjoying all the cruise has to offer. Deacon follows with the hope of winning her back.
Chrissy has a nagging feeling that Deacon is hiding something from her. And he’s not the only one vying for her attention. Chrissy must search her heart and decide who she wants. Or maybe she should abandon ship.
Chrissy and Deacon’s story is full of misunderstandings, exes, live-action role playing on a cruise, and funny scenes. It’s a very light-hearted read without much drama and with a happily ever after.
I never knew what LARPers were, but now I do!
Thank you Netgalley, Red Adept Publishing and Cindy Dorminy for providing an advanced copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed it; all thoughts and opinions are my own. .

I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of back and forth between Chrissy, Deacon, Elliott and Angela as far as who loves who and keeping secrets. I loved how the book ended. It was an easy read, I finished it in an afternoon.

Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

A sweet and funny story . Deacon and Chrissy just won a cruise at Malvides which will take place in four months , Three months later he proposes and she doesn't answer him because she used to be married and she is worried so they break up . When they both are in the ship for the cruise they must share the same room , they both love each other but they are stubborn to admit their feelings . Add an ex husband and an ex girlfriend and few secrets and LARP .
I received this book from netgalley , the author and the publicer as an ARC . Thank you . All thoughts and opinions are my own .

I loved the story, caracters and close door romance on this one.

The chemistry between the caracters was perfect,

This book was so cute you need to add to your TBR.

This is a sweet and easy read. I needed a pallet cleanser and decided to read something outside my comfort zone. For some reason I just don't find Deacan that attractive and that killed the vibe for me a bit. It also has the tried and true misunderstanding troupe which is getting redundant for me as a reader. Especially when it's low stakes. Just feels immature at times. I did enjoy the themes of friendship and forgiveness. 3/5 stars from me!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." Thank you NetGalley.
I liked the couple and the setting. This is a closed door read with some crass language.

If u want a light read, entertaining, romantic that can be read so so fast, this is the book for you. I enjoyed it very much. It was funny and romantic at the same time. Characters are so well build. Miscommunication is the big trope of this book but it's so well written that you want to know how it will end.

I received an ARC copy from Netgallery. Thank you so much.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC provided by Xpresso Book Tours.
This was a fun and entertaining rom-com. The writing was smooth and charming.
However, the childishness and the stubbornness of the main characters were a little too much for me.
My rating : 3.75 stars.

This was not what I was expecting at all. I was thinking a romcom. Funny. Flirty. And it was that but with a few switcheroo to the characters and plots.
I'm not sure...the characters were a bit too flawed for whst I was expecting, or maybe just from what I wanted from the boom blurb.

This was a DNF for me at 30%. I was just not clicking with either MC.

Chrissy being ‘best friends’ with her Ex husband was just a big no for me. Her excepting her new b/f to just be good with that made her seem very entitled. Plus, she refused to explain the parking lot situation when confronted about it. Instead she decided to go on the offensive, when most adults just talk things out. I felt like I was reading about a high schooler and not a full grown adult.

Deacon was no better. He was straight up lying to Chrissy about a pretty serious thing from his past (struggling with alcoholism) that you shouldn't be withholding from a girl you want to marry, especially because that’s one of the things that ruined her first marriage. Also, still going along with being his Ex’s sponsor because he had promised was crazy. He needed to step back, his relationship with her ended and he should have made sure she was lined up with a new sponsor that was not him.

I love flawed characters in my romances (I don’t just look for perfect characters) but to be actively lying about your life and blaming the other person for the relationship failing is bit bizarre to me. Let’s not normalize toxic relationships in rom-coms.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this one.

Great short rom com! Reminds me of something you’d find on the hallmark channel. I appreciated it didn’t have any spicy scenes as I prefer to read books with limited spice (just a personal preference). I felt the story had twists and turns to keep you interested and it was a short read so they didn’t drag out the story line! Would love to read more from this author!

I already submitted a review on Goodreads too.

Fun Cruise Read. But It Has The Wrong Best Video Game Ever. When this book releases on my birthday - US Presidential Inauguration Day as well, this year - I will literally be out of the country. Specifically, I'll be on Grand Turk with the Carnival Mardi Gras... yes, on a cruise myself that week. :D

Reading this one in the last few days before I drop down to Orlando and Port Canaveral to meet up with the Mardi Gras was particularly fun, but I can tell you from over 4 months of cruising across nearly 20 years now that this book really does capture the spirit of the modern cruise industry quite well. Some of the other aspects re: group cruises or partial charters (and particularly the type of group doing the charter here), I'm less familiar with as neither group cruises nor this particular type of group are really my scene. Even there, from what I've seen of that group, Dorminy shows the group in a favorable light and does a solid job of incorporating the better elements of that group within the overall story being told here.

And the story being told here is actually one of the more interesting romcoms I've read in quite some time, mostly because even though it uses several tropes (what romance book these days doesn't?), it uses them in far more rare and interesting ways. The comedy segments are done particularly well in many different aspects, including some that will have you literally laughing out loud. The "spice" is somewhere around call it habanero or so. It gets a bit interesting without going so far as to cause really anyone to "get the vapors" or anything, though it *is* more than some will want to handle.

Overall a fun and interesting read, great for getting in the "vacation mood" without necessarily hearing Jimmy Buffett (but also, thankfully, no Sweet Caroline either).

Oh, and the *actual* best video game ever? Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Find it on any console or PC, and you'll thank me for the game recommendation even more than the book recommendation.

Very much recommended.