Kelsey is working on board a cruise ship, trying to make enough money to buy her mother a new home. What she doesn't need is any distraction. Enter Ari - one of the owners of the cruise ship who is working undercover to see why the ship is losing money.

When they meet, the attraction is instant and they can't stay away from each other. Even though Kelsey knows that it is against the rules to date passengers, she can't resist her attraction to Ari. How long can he keep his real identity secret?

This was a fairly standard 'forbidden romance' with plenty of steamy action.

Kelsey is a bartender on a cruise ship and Ari is under cover as a regular passenger to observe why this particular cruise ship is not as successful as others.
They meet when she serves him a drink and after that they keep running into each other.
Kelsey knows getting involved with a passenger is against the rules but their connection is too strong to be ignored. What starts off as a one night stand turns into something more. And has potential to be HEA till the truths are revealed.
This was a quick and enjoyable read. The spice quotient is pretty high but I would have liked to see some more romance between them.

"Love makes you vulnerable. I know that well. But.... Love is everywhere, Aristotle. You've just got to let it in"
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Ari and Kelsey's relationship is a story based on second chances. I love how vulnerable they both are, and even though they aren't looking for love, that heart fixing, stomach dropping, gut wrenching love finds them. And the spice???? Pass me a fan! I read this on a plane! I could feel my cheeks getting redder and redder 🌶️🌶️🌶️

If you are after a story that will grip you from the beginning, easy to follow love story with forced proximity and a forbidden tryst look no further!!

ARC REVIEW - This was a pretty quick read. I really enjoyed the back and forth between Kelsey and Ari while they slowly get to know one another on a cruise ship. Kelsey’s trust issues with men show as she grapples with meeting and hooking up with Ari. As for Ari, well he has a lot of growth and pain to deal with. Their passion is hot and fun! Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

This was a great well written quick fast paced read with some spice. Would defiantly recommend and look forward to the next one

Kelsey is determined to save enough money to fulfill her and her mother’s dream of owning a beachside cottage, working tirelessly aboard a cruise ship to make it happen. Ari, a wealthy businessman, is undercover as a tourist on the same cruise, investigating financial discrepancies within his family's company. Kelsey knows getting involved with a passenger is against the rules, so she figures a one-night stand is harmless—until it turns into a full-blown fling. But when things start feeling too good to be true, reality proves they are.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable read. The spicy scenes deliver exactly what you’d expect from a passionate fling. The writing style could use some refinement—it’s a bit repetitive at times—but it doesn’t take away from the story.

As for the romance itself, it’s a case of instalove, and I found the last part of the book to be the strongest part. Do Ari and Kelsey have chemistry? Yes. Does their relationship progression feel natural? Not entirely.

Part of the issue lies in Kelsey’s supposed resistance to the relationship—her concern about losing her job feels half-hearted at best. She mentions the risk a few times but ultimately disregards it without much struggle.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

An amazing romance with some intriguing drama and lots of spice.

The kind you get to jump your love-one on after reading it.

This was a really fun read. It was cute and spicy, but I loved how the characters backstories played into the plot. The cruise ship setting was so unique and I loved the forbidden aspect of Ari and Kelsey’s relationship! This would be the perfect holiday read. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.
A still grieving hero falls for a vibrant heroine in “Undercover Billionaire”, by Amy Andrews, a story about loss, betrayal and learning to trust and love again.
I loved the alluring, wounded and a bit mysterious (in the beginning) hero. Ari’s physical and psychological pain is well written, realistic and convincing.
Watching him fall for the girl-next-door heroine is the classic Cinderella tale.
The instantaneous sex blends with a mix of emotions emerging in Ari and Kelsey, both trying to dismiss the intensity of feelings, and failing.
The characters are complex and lovable. Kelsey’s bright attitude hides some scars, too; but she’s the perfect person to help Ari heal.
I felt the sex scenes were too extended and perhaps the secrets were kept for too long.

Kelsey is a woman on a mission of saving money to fund her and her mother’s goal of a cottage on the beach by working nonstop on a cruise ship. Ari is a very rich man posing as a tourist on Kelsey’s cruise ship to uncover why one of his ships is losing money. Kelsey knows she shouldn’t indulge in a relationship with a passenger, so she thinks she’s safe when she allows a one night stand. Except that one night stand turns into a fling and then too good to be true is just that. Overall a good read. The spicy scenes are quite spicy and typical of a fling experience. The writing style leaves a little to be desired, but it doesn’t ruin the story. I would have liked to see a bit more romance worked into the ending.

This was a miss for me. It’s a really short and fast-paced read, but not my style.

The meet-cute: Kelsey is a bartender on a cruise ship owned by the Callisthenes family. Ari Callisthenes is under cover as a regular passenger to observe what’s not going right on this particular cruise. Kelsey serves him a drink while he’s fighting off a migraine on day 1, complete with a little cocktail umbrella. From there, the two continue to run into each other until the chemistry is too hard to deny.

The romance aspect of it was fine, this IS a case of instalove, but it’s actually the last 15% of the book where the romance got better for me. Do Ari and Kelsey have believable chemistry? Yes. Did the relationship developing make sense? Honestly, not really to me.

I think part of it was the “denial” of the relationship and also Kelsey’s lack of concern for losing her job. Yes, she mentions it a few times…and then just goes and does it anyway.

The writing gets reallllly repetitive at times, and also some phrasing got so cringe I had to almost skip past it.
Also please, writers I’m begging you. If you’re going to have phrases in another language that are dialogue and important to your characters, it would be so helpful if you added footnotes or something within the story that translates it.

I don’t expect every romance to blow my mind or my heart away, but I also know I don’t enjoy reading the words “pelvic floor” when reading a spicy scene. I also don’t want to find myself thinking of j*zz floating around the pool after a particularly descriptive pool scene. I think others might enjoy this book, it’s just not for me.

I really enjoyed this book despite being a bit apprehensive about the title/cover initially and thinking it might not have much for substance to go with it. Actually the characters had depth and nuance, the story dealt really thoughtfully with themes of grief and loss. The premise was quite fun too and allowed for movement through a lot of different and interesting locations. I’ll definitely be checking out more from the author.

🚨 My first ARC review 🚨

3.75 star review

I want to thank Amy Andrews and NetGalley for this opportunity.

Spoiler free review!

I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, funny, spicy, and all around very enjoyable. It had me hooked from the very first chapter.

Right off the bat, our author does an amazing job and shows the chemistry between the two main characters. Although it's quick, you can feel how genuine it is. Their spark was brought in so naturally.

A positive take for me was immediately being thankful for the description of the main female character. Amy Andrews describes Kelsey as curvy but doesn't stop there. She goes above and beyond to crush stereotypical ideas of the perfect curvy woman and instead mentions her cellulite and non-flat belly. I felt more connected and comfortable relating to this character.

Lastly, I was able to feel the love and care the author poured into the book. The descriptions were beautiful, and even something as simple as a paper unbrella felt like so much more.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone seeking a quick happily ever after romance story.

Thankyou #amyandrews and #netgalleycanada for the privilege of being an arc reader! It was my first time and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity.

Great short read. I love a billionaire romance. Thanks for the advance reader copy. A one sitting read.

The book was okay. The FL felt like a second love instead of the main love interest because there was so much emphasis on the ML having known love before and insisting that his wife was his true love. That made the whole thing kinda less ingenuous. I so wanted the leads to stop cribbing about their past loves and follies and just concentrate on each other but they both were just too stuck in the past and bitter. Overall this book was good because the ML and FL were good people, there were some real issues that were talked about which were good so I cant say it was bad read. Just could have been less angsty on the past true love thing. That icked me out alot. That's a type of bitterness that's hard to let go of.

I was provided the ARC of this book by the author and publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

A fun fast read proving falling in love can happen on a boat. Ari and Kelsey are attracted to each other from the beginning yet, Ari has a secret and Kelsey is feeling guilty for breaking the rules on the ship. The romance was good while I would have liked a little more intrigue in their story. Still a good book and can’t wait to read the next one.

Love this author. She is an auto read for me! Great plot, good spice levels and really strong characters. Loved that it was set on a cruise ship! Amazing!

Loved reading the fantastic and awesome romance story. Even though Ari is undercover on the cruise ship, he can't help himself being drawn to an employee, Kelsey. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read riveting romance story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

This story follows Ari, a billionaire who is undercover investigating problems on a cruise ship owned by his family’s company, and Kelsey, an employee on the ship. Kelsey says she has never gotten with a passenger before but then her and Ari hit it off quite quickly. Ari hasn’t been with anyone since his wife passed 3 years earlier, and hasn’t been interested in anyone since.

This was a bit shorter than I expected and I would’ve liked to have longer to get to know Ari and Kelsey and for their relationship to develop, particularly towards the end after the cruise has finished. There was a fair bit of angst, lying, and anger about the lying (blowing it out of proportion in my opinion), and a lot of focus at the end was spent on this rather than their relationship once they had gotten back together. Once they do rekindle, it very quickly progresses to months in the future and them getting married.

Overall it was a short and sweet story, but I would’ve enjoyed reading more about their relationship, particularly in the months between them rekindling and getting married. I have some outstanding questions (eg how does Ari propose? Do they move in together? What happens with Kelsey’s mum and the house? What happens with the cruise ship after Ari’s investigation?). The epilogue also being from Theo (Ari’s brother)’s perspective threw me off a bit as I wanted more of Ari and Kelsey but I can see it setting up Theo and Kelsey’s best friend for the next book.

My heart is still doing cartwheels, and I don’t even want it to stop.

Amy Andrews has this uncanny ability to make me feel like I'm right there, tangled in the forbidden tension between Kelsey and Ari. From the moment these two characters collided, quite literally in their electric chemistry—I couldn’t put the book down.

Kelsey was fire and spark, a woman who’s been through so much yet still stands strong, even when life keeps handing her curveballs. And then there’s Ari…mysterious, magnetic, and layered in a way that makes you want to peel back every guarded part of him, slowly and carefully.

What I loved most was how alive they felt to me. Their connection wasn’t just physical (though, phew, some of those scenes burned right off the pages). There was something raw and aching in the way they came together, how their guarded exteriors cracked just enough to let the other in. It wasn’t rushed or forced, it felt as if they couldn’t help but be drawn to each other, no matter how much they probably shouldn’t have.

But can we talk about the tension? Oh my goodness, the tension. Every glance, every brush of fingers, every stolen moment felt like a secret I wasn’t supposed to know, and I loved being in on it. It made me giddy, it made me blush, and it made my heart squeeze in that delicious way that only forbidden love can.

At its core, this book was about taking risks, emotional, personal, and even reckless ones. It hit me right in the feels because, deep down, isn’t that what love is all about? Kelsey and Ari reminded me that love doesn’t always come wrapped in convenience or caution. Sometimes it’s messy, inconvenient, and stormy, but it also feels like lightning in your veins. And that’s what kept me turning each page, completely invested.

I won’t spoil a single thing, but I will say this: when I finished the book, I had to sit there for a while, hugging it to my chest. I couldn’t say goodbye to the characters just yet…they felt like friends who had just poured their hearts out to me. If you’re someone who likes your love stories with equal parts heat, heart, and just enough rule-breaking to keep things exciting, this one is an absolute must-read.

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Billionaire romance, cocktail waitress fmc, secret identity, forbidden romance, boss/employee, opposite attract