They planned for a casual cruise fling. They didn’t expect to get stranded—together—with feelings. 🛳️🔥💬

Read if you like:
✨ vacation romances
✨ forced proximity (hello, stranded!)
✨ witty banter + sizzling chemistry
✨ sober MMC with depth
✨ light angst, second-half spice
✨ realistic cruise settings (not The Love Boat)

📚 Total Dreamboat is a tropical treat of a rom-com that pairs two polar opposites for a “what happens at sea, stays at sea” fling… until they get stuck in paradise and suddenly have to deal with their emotional baggage. Hope is a burnt-out artist recovering from a breakup; Felix is a newly sober chef trying to keep his life on track. They’re both just trying to survive a cruise they didn’t even want—until they meet each other.

👨‍👧 Felix is reserved, focused, and stubbornly single. His past mistakes haunt him, but he’s doing the work. Hope, on the other hand, is witty, warm, and very much in emotional repair mode. Their chemistry is instant and electric, but what makes this romance pop is their banter—funny, sharp, and occasionally vulnerable. And when they get stranded after a blow-up? The stakes go up, the walls come down, and the slow burn ignites.

💞 The romance feels natural and relatable, especially with two characters carrying their own emotional scars. Felix’s sobriety and internal struggles are handled with honesty and care, while Hope’s journey back to herself is inspiring and real. Their forced proximity brings out the best and worst of each other—leading to some tension-filled, tender moments that feel earned.

👧 The side characters (hello, influencer bestie and sweet family dynamics) and port descriptions bring vibrancy to the setting. This isn’t a fantasy version of cruise life—it feels authentic, grounded, and honestly… kind of makes you want to book a cabin and hope for a fling of your own.

✍️ Katelyn Doyle delivers a fun, flirty romance with emotional depth and summery vibes. The audiobook duet narration adds even more charm—both narrators truly capture Hope and Felix’s personalities, from laugh-out-loud sarcasm to heart-tugging vulnerability. Just a heads-up: the spice sneaks up on you and delivers, so maybe don’t listen in public unless you’re into blushing.

🌟 Total Dreamboat is an irresistible mix of heat, humor, and heart. It’s a stranded-on-an-island love story that’s as spicy as it is surprisingly sweet. If you’re looking for a summer listen or getaway read that makes you laugh, swoon, and feel—don’t miss the boat on this one.

A cute summer read! Hope was a very relatable and likable character. Felix was okay, I found him a bit inconsistent at times. He could be so level headed and then randomly a bit irrational. I liked the roller coaster of conflicts that kept happening.

I actually really liked this it was really cute. If you want a fun and quick summer romance this is definitely one to pick up.

This was an easy read that had a miscommunication trope which is really not my favorite. I did like the forced proximity and you really wanted to root for Hope and Felix. They had good banter and were willing to help each other through their struggles.

Good chemistry between the MCs, but I didn't love what had them fighting. This could have been cleared up with a quick conversation. I am not a fan of the miscommunication/I won't ask the question that would clear everything up trope.

So though this is a mostly cute story of two sweet people meeting under circumstances neither is particularly happy being in, having some serious ups and downs and finding their happily ever after. Here is the long version. Hope is in a state of flux. She can’t stand her boss who never met a boundary she didn’t steamroll over, is feeling creatively stifled, has zero idea what to do next, her relationship went bust and she is barely scraping by financially, has no interest in going on a cruise and yet when her BFF, a social media influencer invites her on one she doesn’t know how to say no. Side note, I was not a fan of the BFF. Was she loyal, yes, but her job, her manipulations and lies and overblown accent that seemed to come and go were quite irksome. I didn’t find her to be the good friend Hope thought she was. She meets Felix, who is going through his own emotional turmoil. He is there with his family and having a hard time. Sobriety is not easy in what amounts to a floating bar. Oh and her ex, who dumped her in a despicable way is on the ship as well. She and Felix are drawn to each other, but live on different continents, but a nice time together on the cruise can’t be bad can it? When they both miss boarding the ship and get stuck together, things go from bad to worse, to better and everything in between. They do ultimately get their own happy ending after some time and self reflection. I think I may have enjoyed this more had I read it. Some of the narration was, for me, off-putting. I would have rated 3.5 if half stars were available.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC.

Down on her luck Hope gets invited to go on an all-expenses-paid luxury cruise by her best friend and is keen to make the most of it. She starts a fling with a chef named Felix and sparks fly until things start to go south, oh did I mention they get left behind on a port of call without their phones or passports, now they have to work with each other to go home.


I really enjoyed this breezy summer read told in a fresh way. I would also like to highlight the great dual narrations that gave awesome performances.

I'm giving Total Dreamboat by Katelyn Doyle a 4 out of 5.

Total Dreamboat is a great tropical escape. It combines classic tropes like strangers to lovers and forced proximity and leaves readers with a quality "summer" romance. You can't help but root for our duo though all their travel woes.

I received an ALC of Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle last summer, and after rereading my review, I wasn’t at all surprised I wrote: “Oh my goodness, this one deserves all the stars! Hands down one of my favorite romcoms this year!”

Hope, from New York, is a reluctant cruise ship traveler, sailing with her charming Texan influencer friend, Lauren, who was gifted the vacation in exchange for promoting the cruise on social media. Hope is still trying to rebuild both her financial and emotional life after a devastating breakup with Gabe eight months earlier. Fortunately, Lauren is a caring and wonderful wing-woman, encouraging Hope to have some fun over the next ten days.

Felix and his sisters, from London, are traveling with their parents who are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. He sticks to Coke Zero and gum due to past struggles with alcohol and has worked hard to stay sober for the last two years.

Hope and Felix’s paths cross when Hope’s buffet-style crab leg goes flying and lands right in Felix’s hair—much to his amusement. Talk about a meet-cute!

As the two spend time together, they discover they have a lot in common. And the more time they share, the deeper their feelings grow—so much so that Felix does something he hasn’t done since becoming sober.

But then, as any good romcom demands, complications arise. Someone from Hope’s past is spotted on the cruise ship, some of Lauren’s social posts are misinterpreted, and someone may or may not have missed the departure time and watched the cruise ship sail away.

I especially appreciated the underlying theme that sometimes people come into our lives, but more life has to be lived before we’re truly ready for a healthy relationship. That deeply resonated with me.

As I often say in my reviews: the narrators were SPLENDID and did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life—especially Hope and Felix.

This FIVE STAR gem is already out, so go grab your copy now!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Katelyn Doyle, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Hope Lanover was having a lackluster year when her best friend invites her on an all-expenses-paid luxury cruise. Determined to make the most of it, Hope sparks a fling with handsome, British chef Felix Segrave. When things go south and the two find themselves stranded in the Bahamas without their passports, they must rely on each other to get home.

Audiobook performance is solid, though not a standout. Kelli Tager’s narration captured Hope’s voice and personality well, and Russ Bain’s voice aligned with my vision of Felix. However, I struggled to fully enjoy Bain’s version of Hope and Tager’s portrayal of Felix.

Audiobook aside, TOTAL DREAMBOAT delivers on its premise. Katelyn Doyle had me believing in the insta love trope while also acknowledging Hope’s tendency to fall fast. The chemistry and banter between Hope and Felix is fun and easy to read, and both characters are willing (however reluctantly at times) to confront their flaws, leading to conversations that feel refreshingly honest for a vacation romance. TOTAL DREAMBOAT is a breezy, poolside romcom that is perfect for summertime reading!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Total Dreamboat was a total delight! I loved this story of a cruise romance gone wrong, What could be worse than literally missing the boat and being stuck in a port of call without a phone or passport? But that is exactly the situation Hope and Felix find themselves in after a relationship ending row. Now they have to work together to get home, and maybe understand each other a little better in the process.

This romance felt like the vacation I needed, It is funny and cozy, delivering many a familiar trope in fresh and entertaining ways. I love the dual narration audiobook read by Kelli Tager and Russ Bain. At `10 hours it is a perfect length for a fun summer read.

holy drama this was way more intense than I was expecting. I fully went into this thinking it was a light read about two lovers falling on a cruise, but it was way more emotionally complex than that. Hope is down on her luck in love and Felix is in recovery for alcoholism. When the pair have a disastrous meet cute, they decide to spent more time together as his family and her friend seem happy to go off and do their own things. These two fall hard and oh so fast, but when things happen and secrets come out, the whole thing erupts in their faces.

I really thought these characters were complex and layered and I loved that. I loved their journey and how they fell together. But the miscommunication followed by like a YEAR of no contact kinda took this down half a star for me. I do appreciate that the two of them needed to grow on their own to come back together and it was well done, even if I was crushed.

Thank you Macmillan audio for the gifted audiobook!

I thought this was adorable and occasionally quite spicy. Fun romance.

Hope's best friend is an influencer who invites Hope to join her on a luxury cruise. Felix is a hard working chef who has reinvented his life after becoming sober. He has joined his parents and sisters on the cruise to celebrate his parents' anniversary. When Hope and Felix meet, there's an instant attraction. But just when their relationship looks like it is heading in a very positive direction, Felix finds out some things about Hope that make her seem not entirely honest. They both get stranded in port, can they work together to get home?

Many times, when books are set on cruise ships they are unrealistic and make me think that the only research the author has done is to watch many episodes of The Love Boat. That is thankfully not the case here. Everything about this book seems like it could really happen, and the fun descriptions of the ports and the excursions will make the reader feel like they are traveling right along with the characters.

I liked the romance between these characters, and the banter is witty and made me laugh out loud many times. I also thought the inclusion of a sober character was a refreshing and unique angle that made the book more interesting. Felix's struggles seemed very realistically portrayed. I didn't find Felix's reasons for breaking things off with Hope to be very believable, but the rest of the story made up for it in my eyes.

I listened to the audiobook of this novel, and the dual narrators really captured the characters' personalities and kept me invested in the story. This is a fun summer listen, if you're looking for a light, entertaining tale, I highly recommend the audiobook version. Just pop in your ear buds because the spicy scenes are very spicy!

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. I love when audiobooks have different narrators for the main characters. The dual POVs were fun to listen to. The beginning of the book gave me all the vacation vibes. I love summer rom-coms! I enjoyed the friendship between Hope and her influencer bff. I also liked the banter and wit between Hope and Felix. My main issue is how the romance progressed. It moved too quickly and I thought the third act breakup was a little ridiculous. Overall it was a cute, but forgettable story.

What a great book to listen to this summer! It's all about a couple who meet on a cruise. Neither is ready for romance, but decide a hookup could be OK. But, they run into obstacles, such as her ex appearing on board and sabotaging their relationship, their different social/economic status, and the effects of unsolicited social media posts. A truly modern romance!

I loved the characters of Felix and Hope. They both have complex backgrounds and still struggle with some things from their pasts. The inclusion of "daily announcements" on the cruise ship adds to the reality of the story. It was really fun to listen to this story and it definitely held my interest throughout, as one never knew what would come next. A great summer read/listen!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy of this audiobook. My opinions are my own.

As someone who strongly dislikes cruises, I absolutely enjoyed this cruise ship romance!! This is the perfect summer romance to binge this summer!!

Hope Lanover can't catch a break and has been living her life on autopilot these last few months. Felix Segrave, a chef from across the pond, opposes anything that isn't work related. After much resistance from their perspective loved ones, both Hope and Felix end up on a ten-day cruise, where they end up crossing paths after a few happy accidents. In an effort to let go and have fun, they decide to have a quick fling but things quickly take an unexpected turn!

This was such a fun read with a few unexpected turns! So much happened over the course of the ten days that kept me engaged and rooting for a Hope and Felix romance post-cruise! It was also sweet to see the quiet moments where they felt they could be honest with each other of who they were and what they wanted in life.

"Total Dreamboat" was my first Katelyn Doyle book and I greatly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more of her works. Kelli Tager and Russ Bain were wonderful narrators and really brought Hope and Felix to life!

I liked the dual POV and thought the separate narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life. Unfortunately, that’s about where my enjoyment ended. I DNF'D around the 20% mark because it felt like the entire story was focused on lust alone. The FMC was completely consumed by her attraction to the MMC, and there wasn’t any real plot other than they were on a cruise. It was rather shallow, and I was just completely uninterested.
Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio, for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

I liked this book, but it took me a while to finish it. The beginning is intriguing when, in the present day, Hope and Felix miss getting on their cruise ship and are stuck together without Hope’s phone or Felix’s wallet/ID. After they are already fighting and hurt. It then flashes back to the beginning, where they meet, get close, and the fallout that inevitably happens. I found myself wanting to be back in the present timeline and not being as invested in the leading up to it. I enjoyed the end as it picked back up once we were all caught up. The audiobook’s narration was well done, and I love the narration of Felix, especially. I didn’t love the way the spicy scenes were written, but I am very particular about spicy scenes in the books I read. Overall, it was a good summer read, just not a quick read for me. I rated it 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy!

Total Dreamboat is the second novel by Katelyn Doyle. Hope Lanover is not living her best life. In the past year she was unceremoniously dumped by her fiancé just two weeks after him asking her to move in with him and give up her day job to pursue writing the novel she dreamed of. As a part of a publishing empire, Gabe would have been able to help get her book to press. So she had given up her job, her apartment, sold her furniture and embarked upon a future that was firmly pulled out from under her. As a result, Hope has a studio apartment, a disappointing job with a horrid boss, and not two cents to rub together.

When her best friend, internet influencer Lauren Matheson, invites Hope to join her on an all expenses paid super cruise supplied by Lauren’s advertisers, it seems like a chance to reevaluate where Hope is and where she wants to go. Lauren promised not to use pictures of Hope online as Lauren played the role of a young woman seeking an older, wealthy husband.

On the first day at sea Hope meets Felix Segrave, his two sisters and parents when she accidentally flips crab onto Felix. From there, Felix and Hope spend time together discovering how much they have in common. Things are going very well until the former fiancé shows up on the ship and pictures of Hope and Felix show up online.

Throw in missing the boat, stolen ID, a left behind phone, and a maxed out credit card and Hope and Felix go on an adventure that the reader will hope for a coming happy ending. This is a well written, laugh out loud story with lovable characters and tropical settings. I very much enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

This was overall a pleasant listen, but it was the type of romance that the moment the book finishes I’m not sure I could tell you one thing about it. The vibe is fun, a bit silly, definitely insta-love (but you know that going into it!) but still had a lot of serious topics throughout. I think there was enough conflict between Felix and Hope in regards to their circumstances that it didn’t need the inclusion of the ex drama but that’s just me. The narration was good! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.