At this point, I’d read anything Heather McBreen writes, even a grocery list. Sunk in Love was an emotional, funny, and heartwarming read that totally delivered on the second chance romance. The tension and pining between Ros and Liam were done perfectly. Their chemistry was off the charts, and the forced proximity setup worked perfectly. McBreen did a fantastic job keeping the yearning and pinning going. The past chapters were spaced out well and added a deeper layer to the story. I adored Ros and Liam's characters. Ros was layered, vulnerable, and easy to root for. I appreciated the way McBreen wrote her grief. Liam was a great book boyfriend. I liked that he held himself accountable and took the steps to grow. I liked that both characters owned their part in the divorce. The cruise setting was a perfect way to get Liam and Ros together. The family side characters were fun. My only complaint with the side characters is that I wanted to see more of Grammy and Gramps. The pacing was spot-on, and the writing was strong. The comedic bits were funny and timed perfectly. The airplane and hiking scenes had me laughing out loud. I didn’t want this book to end. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

The first half of the book was tough to endure, but the ending was worth all that early pain. Watching Liam and Roslyn’s struggle through their problems was so excruciating that I definitely stepped away at times for a breather. The story flips between then and now while only being told from Roslyn’s POV. That limited perspective made it harder for me to connect with Liam at first. I should have trusted the process because once the story shifted into the second half, everything clicked into place. Their journey unfolded exactly how it needed to, and by the end, it felt so right for them. I loved Roslyn from the start, but Liam took time to grow on me. His poor communication and avoidant tendencies made him hard to like early on, especially since we don’t get to see his POV or fully understand his trauma until much later. But once those layers were revealed, I genuinely appreciated his character and his growth.

Tropes ⚓️
🌊 second chance romance
🌊 marriage in crisis
🌊 dual timeline
🌊 forced proximity
🌊 mental health rep
🌊 cruise/sea setting

Thank you to Netgalley & Berkeley Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been avoiding writing a review for this one because I truly don’t think I have the words for how much I loved this and what it means to me. I read this book at a time when my heart needed it most and good lord did it impact me. Everything about this book was perfect. The writing, the pacing, the romance, the characters, the setting, the family dynamics. Truly no notes. A marriage heading towards divorce is not a common trope I read but I thought it was done beautifully in this book. I felt every emotion for these characters and found myself relating a lot. I could literally feel the chemistry coming off the page between Roslyn and Liam and was rooting for them so hard. Their story pulled at my heartstrings so badly. The dual timeline really added to their depth and made it all the more painful. I thought the cruise setting and the circumstances they were reunited was fun and added some lightheartedness to the story. I was invested in Roslyn’s life and her family struggles. I obviously loved the writing, the pacing, the storytelling, all of it. Every aspect of this book was perfect to me and is a book of my heart. I really don’t have words to do this story or these characters justice, but it is truly such a beautiful story. One of heartbreak, longing, healing, finding yourself, and doing what makes you happy. Already in my top 3 for the year!! I loved it so much.

Books have always been my happy place, and the genre I never get tired of is romance. Some tropes definitely stand out for me more than others, and two of my favorites are “fake relationship” and “second chance.” That is why I was so excited to pick up this book, since it blends a little of both.

From the very beginning, this story pulled me in. I liked that it was told in first person, and I really enjoyed the overall storyline. As someone who has lost a mother, I found myself connecting deeply with the main character’s struggles. It made her grief feel that much more real to me, and I appreciated how her journey was written.

At first, I wished we had some of the MMC’s perspective, but as the story went on, I realized it worked well without it. There were definitely moments where I felt frustrated with the MFC, but she ultimately redeemed herself, and that made the ending even more satisfying.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this book and would love to read more from this author in the future.

There are so many times I’ve wanted a romance to go past the marriage/kids/whatever HEA and follow the characters “after.” Heather McBreen delivers.

Thank you net galley and berkley publishing group.

Sunk in Love is when marriage gets hard. Rosalyn is dealing with the grief of losing her mother and being the family black sheep. Liam is the perfect husband, except he cannot support her through her grief. After growing apart and being swallowed by depression, Rosalyn asks for a divorce and they separate (this is all in the first pages). However, Liam is the golden “child” of the relationship and when Rosalyn’s grandparents decide to renew their vows on the family vacation, Rosalyn begs him to come so she doesn’t have to disappoint her family yet again. So, they set out for a 10 day Hawaiian cruise.

This book is good. It’s hard. I cried at the beginning, in the middle, at the end. Reading through someone’s grief isn’t easy and Rosalyn is grieving not just her mom, but the relationship she used to have with her husband. I don’t want to say more, because the book thoroughly explains their marriage in a then and now timeline setting.

Rosalyn explaining her reason for divorce becomes redundant, but part of me wonders if it’s just Rosalyn trying to remind herself why things went wrong. Like when I remind myself 17 times I’ve locked the door but still have to check.

I recommend this book but be prepared for an emotional journey through marriage.

#sunkinlove #secondchanceromance #bookrecommendation

Sunk in Love 🛳️⚓️🌊🌴✈️
5🌟
2 🌶️

Thank you so much to Berkley for the chance to read and love this advanced copy! #berkley #berkleypartner

Sunk in Love is not a cut-and-dry romance; it is the love story between grief and intimacy, and the pain that can result from each. When an author is able to create a new story, in a market that is filled with so many, like Heather McBreen, the romance genre as we know it is forever changed.

I am a huge sucker for a romance that isn’t typical— don’t get me wrong, I love cliched tropes and the typical pacing of romance novels, but I also love when a book can break out of those molds and really create a new nook for itself. Sunk in Love is about love, but it’s also about loss, and I think that is really powerful and needed.

I loved Roslyn and Liam’s characters both for different reasons (+ Liam being English was really just the icing on the cake, I need the audiobook as a duet ASAP please). I enjoyed how they both had their own separate baggage, and I thought that their growth really complimented one another. I thought that it was a nice change of pace for this book to be about a married couple filing for divorce: this opens the door to a new set of tropes and allows for the story to feel really refreshing.

I couldn’t put this book down. I read it on my own cruise vacation, and that made it a really immersive experience for me, (minus the Hawaii part, ((and the husband part, LOL))). Obviously a lack of communication between the MCs was necessary for the book to exist, but I was absolutely yelling at them in my head to just talk to each other like human beings!!!

I really liked how this book flipped back and forth between past and present and caught us up on the relationship and history between Roslyn and Liam. I do think that this book could be heavy on certain triggers for some readers, so please do a little bit of research and handle with care.

TWs:
Car accident
Divorce
Loss of a parent
Domestic abuse (off-page)

I liked Wedding Dashers so I was excited to read Sunk in Love. It’s about a marriage in trouble but they get invited to go on a cruise with her family and decide to pretend that everything is fine! Roslyn and Liam were married for five years but started to have trouble after Roslyn’s mother died. She asked Liam for a divorce three months ago but they never told her family. Now they have invited them on a ten-day Hawaiian cruise to celebrate her grandparents vow renewal ceremony and they want Liam to officiate! Roslyn asks Liam if he will come on the cruise with her and pretend they are still together. He is a busy doctor but he surprises her and says yes!

The story alternates between present and the past, from the time they met to the time when Roslyn asked Liam to move out. My favorite parts are in the present time, on the cruise, when they share a room and do fun vacation things with her family. It’s romantic when Liam helps Roslyn on a jungle hike and also with the zip line. Roslyn quit med school to become a romance author and her grandfather is disappointed in her and reminds her of it often. Her mother died a year ago when their car was hit by a drunk driver and Roslyn has been struggling ever since. She wants to be able to talk with Liam about it but he is working long hours and she thinks he's avoiding her. Liam’s father was abusive and he hasn’t seen them in fifteen years so he has some trauma too.

They have some fun memories from their past when they got matching tattoos and when Liam made her his special homemade lasagna, but a lot of their past is sad when their marriage fell apart and many of their conversations are angsty. It began to feel repetitive to me but the cruise was festive and it was really sweet to see them find their way back to each other. Thank you to the author, Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC. My full review will be

I absolutely adored Heather McBreen’s debut Wedding Dashers—it was brazenly entertaining, packed with clever banter, adventurous pacing, and sizzling chemistry. So when I got the chance to read her second novel, I jumped right in.

Honestly, it exceeded my expectations in every way. This story made me laugh, cry (a lot), and completely melt over the breathtaking stream of emotions, vulnerability, and undeniable chemistry between Roslyn and Liam, a married couple on the brink of divorce. Their journey—told through both present struggles and past memories—is both heartbreaking and deeply moving, pulling us right into the anatomy of their relationship year by year.

Roslyn and Liam’s love story begins through mutual friends: Liam is on the cusp of graduating from medical school, while Roslyn has just dropped out of the same program to pursue her dream of becoming a romance writer—a decision that left her at odds with her career-obsessed family of doctors (her grandfather, brother, and even younger sister Bella all in medicine). Liam wins her heart quickly with sparks that fly from the very first meeting—his homemade lasagna becomes the start of something real. But Roslyn carries fears of love and heartbreak, shaped by her free-spirited mother who raised her while moving from town to town, with each of Roslyn’s siblings having a different father. Despite her shaky role models, Roslyn opens her heart to Liam, who himself carries the weight of a fractured family back in London.

Fast forward five years into marriage, and tragedy reshapes their lives in ways neither can control. Grief builds walls between them until Roslyn asks for divorce and Liam leaves their home. Three months into their separation, Roslyn’s grandparents announce they’re renewing their vows—on a Hawaiian cruise, no less—and want Liam to officiate. That means Roslyn’s cover story about his “illness” can’t hold anymore. Either she admits the truth about the divorce (and risks her family’s disappointment, since they adore Liam even more than her), or convinces him to pretend they’re still happily married for two weeks of family bonding.

To her shock, Liam agrees. Which means long days and nights of sharing the same cabin, snorkeling in Kona, zip-lining through Maui, hiking, yoga at sunrise in Honolulu, and, of course, battling unresolved feelings that never truly went away. The attraction simmers hotter than ever, the pain of their past cuts deep, and even the steamiest breakup sex isn’t enough to untangle what’s between them. The question lingers: can they rebuild trust, reopen their hearts, and take a second chance—or will Roslyn’s divorce papers become the final word?

This is the kind of romance that feels timeless, the kind Nora Ephron herself would smile at and applaud. It made me laugh, cry hard, and root fiercely for both Roslyn and Liam. Raw, tender, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all at once, this is second-chance romance at its very best. Without hesitation, I’m giving it five Mai Tai stars—and I can’t wait to see what Heather McBreen gifts us next.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing one of the best romances of 2026 that I truly adored and devoured in exchange for my honest thoughts.

📖 Book Review 📖 I was swept off my feet by Heather McBreen’s debut novel and was thrilled to see what she had up her sleeve for her sophomore endeavor, Sunk in Love. Here’s the thing, the bar was set really high because McBreen writes stories that are not just gripping, they envelop the reader in the equivalent of a glass case of emotions. The stakes were high but of course Sunk in Love delivered an unputdownable read that flawlessly conveyed quite possibly every single emotion in a cathartic cleanse that left me in tears.

Losing your mom is truly like losing your anchor in a storm. Heather McBreen captures the chaos that grief catapults into life perfectly as she narrates the rise and fall of Rosalyn and Liam’s marriage in dual timelines. But before the papers are signed, Rosalyn’s grandparents , unbeknownst to them, ask Liam to renew their vows on a family cruise to Hawaii. Love and chemistry were never the issue in this marriage and forced proximity on this ten-day fake love boat have this couple finally facing some tough issues. Heather McBreen pens a swoonworthy love story that encapsulates heartbreak and the hope for healing In a dreamy setting. Life isn’t perfect, but we can at least sail off into the sunset with this one.

Sunk in Love is an adorable second chance romance that I didn't want to put down once I started reading it. There were laugh out loud moments and also lots of family drama. I highly recommend and can't wait to read Heather McBreen's other romance novel.

This was a lovely book. It really hit the mark with the miscommunications and misunderstandings that happen in marriages- especially new ones after a tragedy. I laughed and cried multiple times while reading this. As someone who lost a parent unexpectedly, the portrayal of grief and confusion was heartbreaking and accurate.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the digital galley!

Heather is a new generation romance author. With nods to classic romance stories and popular culture tales of love, Heather's ability to balance fun and flirty plotlines with serious and emotional undertones is fresh. Her characters always leave a lasting impression on me, and I feel myself relating to and understanding her characters deeper as she dives into the story.
This book specifically addresses a complicated family relationship dynamic as well as internal traumas that mask as everyday behaviors. These two characters certainly step up to the batting cage with an equal amount of emotional, familial baggage that hinders them from fully connecting and supporting each other unconditionally. This is a story of a love that is strong enough to bring two people back together, despite their attempts to run from processing the impact of their upbringings.

What you can expect to find in Sunk in Love:
-dual timeline
-marriage in trouble
-angsty/swoony moments
-process of grief

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked up Sunk in Love, but once I started reading I could not stop. The writing by Heather McBreen was so beautiful and I loved learning about Roslyn and Liam. What happened between these two to tear them apart when they clearly care so much about each other?

I am a huge a fan of dual timelines when done well and they were perfect in Sunk in Love. They gave us that brief glimpse of what was happening and why they grew apart. There was more than one occasion where I had tears in my eyes because of how angsty this book made me feel.

Overall, I really liked Sunk in Love and I'm excited to read more from Heather McBreen.

4.5*

me *hand shake emoji* Heather McBreen and her emotionally constipated men

Most of the time, I prefer my fictional men to be emotionally open and able to communicate their feelings... but Heather just has a way of grabbing me in a chokehold with her MMCs who are incredibly inept at communicating how they feel and end up seeming nonchalant when they are very VERY chalant!!

A story told in single-POV with a dual timeline where Liam & Roslyn, recent exes who are separated and are heading for divorce, end up faking that they are still a happy couple while stuck on a cruise ship with the FMCs family for her grandparents vow renewal/anniversary. In the flashbacks, we get to see Liam and Roslyn from their first tension-filled (truly, it was delicious) date all the way until the day everything fell apart. In the present, Roslyn is not well. She is struggling immensely but doesn't let anyone in and hides it as best she can. (Important to note: though the story is a romance, it also focuses in large part of Roslyn's grief after the sudden loss of her mother 1 year prior.) When she sees Liam for the first time in months she is struck by the sight of him looking the best he ever has and concludes that he must have moved on. Despite that, she asks him to fake it with her so they don't ruin the vow renewal and he agrees, somewhat reluctantly. The forced proximity was truly divine. The tension? drowning it it!! These two had SO MUCH chemistry!

I know the miscommunication trope is one that a lot of people dislike, but I'm not one of those people. I think life can be messy, people flawed and that inevitably leads to miscommunication. The author wrote that so perfectly in this story. Her use of single-POV made this all the more heart-wrenching. I just wanted to give Ros a big hug and tell her everything was gonna be ok... that this big dummy loved her but was struggling to get past his own emotional walls to tell her that.

I sobbed, laughed and panted my way through this and every second was amazing! Highly recommend if you love your romances a bit messy, deliciously sexy and full of depth and character growth.

p.s. lasagna has never been sexier

I LOVED Sunk in Love. I devoured this book in 2 days and a few days later I am still thinking about the book and Ros and Liam. I really loved their relationship. Even when they were apart, you could tell how much they still loved and cared about one another.

Heather McBreen really knows how to write yearning. Her stories are always so fast paced, witty, and full of romance. I truly love all of her work.

I really loved the flashbacks. Seeing how their relationship started, how it fell apart, and seeing how it is now really helped me get to know these characters more. I feel like I could understand where they were coming from and I could really empathize with Roslyn’s heartbreak.
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This was the dual timeline, second chance, marriage-in-crisis romance of my dreams!! I hadn't read Heather's debut (though now I've got it requested on Libby) so I wasn't sure what to expect with her writing style or storytelling. This exceeded my expectations by a mile, and included everything I love most in a romance:
-Real life/real world problems
-Tender moments bracketed by laugh-out-loud funny scenarios
-Meddling family members and friends
-A ton of personal growth for both main characters, plus relational growth
-My VERY FAVORITE microtrope of all time (they're fake dating and she has to sit on his lap for believability and neither of them handle it well).

Heather McBreen has a natural voice for romance, has created a fast paced and compelling story, and does a great job of sticking the landing at the end. This has already been added to my favorites list for 2025 and I can't wait to see it get the attention it deserves when it releases.

This novel is seriously the sweetest! I adored reading every minute of it. It came with great characters, a wonderful atmosphere and a terrific ending! As a couple is on the brink of divorce, they get to see if their marriage is worth saving or if it’s sunk into the ocean forever. I absolutely loved the dynamic of these two characters. It had me feeling hopeful, emotional and reflective. The two main characters go on one last family cruise together, creating a beautiful scenery in the novel.

This is all about a second chance romance, includes dual timelines and there is only one bed. The male main character is named Liam, who is British and a caring doctor. Then there’s the female main character, named Roslyn, who is a romance author. There is a lot of love and reflection between the main characters in this book, which makes it a wonderful one! I give this a 4 out of 5 stars! I highly recommend reading this one, especially if you love reading romance novels. It will just leave you feeling happy!

Content warnings include grief and emotional trauma. This book gave me the movies “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Serendipity” vibes!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Heather McBreen and Berkley Publishing Group for this eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on January 27, 2026!

This was a good one! I love a good second chance romance and I thought this was a fun read. Definitely one I binged really fast.

I thought this was very cute. This was the first book I’ve ever read from this author & I am pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the more deeper topics and the overall HEA! I’m so glad I read this one! Thank you Berkley

I was so excited to read this because I knew it would be another winner from Heather McBreen, and it really was! I was swept away by this second-chance romance between a husband and wife who are in talks to divorce and who end up on a family reunion cruise together where they are bound to hash out their long-held issues. It's clear how much Roslyn and Liam still love each other, but also how misunderstood and hurt they feel by each other as well, although -- you have to admit that most of the fault lies with Liam. I don't think my mind really changed about that even the author made an effort to make both parties seem accountable. The fact is, Liam was secretive and refused to talk to his wife about his family or help her with her grief over her mother's death. These two people had a great sex life but were never emotionally there for each other, yet they didn't think of going to therapy during their marriage or before seeking separation. I'm glad these two lovesick fools worked it out by the end of the story in a satisfying way, but this is one of those situations where you think, "If only they could have just communicated with each other, they could have avoided all this heartbreak!" It's absolutely crazy how many conversations they did NOT have, that once they had them, they could go on being together. Still a wonderful, romantic read, but you have to suspend your disbelief that 30-something-year-olds can be this dense. I loved it, don't get me wrong. I look forward to more Heather McBreen books! Thank you for this ARC.