Love Overboard has great banter. Jack and Sophia meet at a bar, which ends with her throwing a drink in his face. She is in Italy to restart her life as a chef on a chartered yacht. And of course it ends out Jack is the first officer. Neither are thrilled when they meet the second time. And they banter but the problem is the might banter a bit too much. Sophia literally trusts no one for more than about ten minutes and Jack has a fair amount of emotional mood swings. I get fighting attraction, but at some point, they have fought too hard for me to buy the true love after two weeks. Which is a shame, I really liked both the characters (and the side characters) it was a fun read, but not a great read. I will keep an eye for other Ada Barume books, I bet she has one that has the burn paced right. I would imagine folks that love below deck reality shows, would enjoy passing the time with this book. I read an ARC.

Sophia joins a luxury yacht as the chef. A senior crewman Jack makes an awkward first impression. They are almost hostile to each other. Will that change? An easy light hearted read

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read Love Overboard. I did read the book in its entirety but this book just simply wasn’t for me. Love Overboard contained lots of my favorite tropes and themes and I was extremely excited to read it but unfortunately I felt as though the tropes and plot were poorly executed. Lots of the conversations between characters were flat and awkward.

I really, really wanted to like this book.

Info dumps, random chapters from the MMC's point of view, awkwardly placed flashbacks... it made every page an unpleasant experience.

Love Overboard follows Sofia who is a chef and Jack who is a first officer on a luxury yacht. They are thrown together as a part of the crew where they sail to the Amalfi Coast. They get into an argument and vow to not interact with each other while on the boat for the rest of the season. There is a disaster with one of their guests which forces them to put aside their rocky starts for the rest of the charter.
Sofia and Jack discover they may have more in common than they first thought.
There are a lot of tropes in this book for sure! Enemies to lovers, forced proximity and work colleagues.

Although I did finish the book, I did find that I was skimming it more often than not. Both of the characters I thought were unlikeable and super judgemental. I sometimes felt like the story was being forced or it stuttered in some places. They were both kinda childish but not willing to change their actions.
There was also a sudden shift to Jack's point of view in the middle of the book which was kinda annoying. I am normally really into a dual POV but normally, it switches between chapters. It sort of stopped the flow of the story and felt choppy.

It was a quick read and did feel like an episode of Below Deck! I think this would be great as a YA book but could use a little editing as the layout is a bit strange. If it went into a bit more depth, there is a lot of promise for this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. Views are my own.

I tried really really hard to enjoy this book. Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite trope but this just didn’t do the trope well. It felt more like teenagers squabbling than two adults who are going to get together. It’s a shame as I thought I’d love this one.

I was super excited about this one because I *love* a good enemies to lovers. I really wish the dual POV was more than just a few random chapters - it was choppy and really threw me off. Overall, it was good but not anything I'll be thinking about a week from now.

I was going to save this book for my holiday but I just couldn’t wait to read it! This book is just EVERYTHING! Sofia is so perfect! I loved every part of this!!

This was so cute and I had a really good time with it. Perfect for summer and will definitely be sharing with friends when it comes out!

I love the enemies-to-lovers trope and adore stories set on ships, so this book seems like a win-win. Unfortunately, the execution was a bit choppy (pun intended) and could use some refinement. "Love Overboard" by Ada Barumé is a sweet romance that incorporates several tropes besides enemies-to-lovers, such as forced proximity, work colleagues, slow-burn, and emotional scars.

English Chef Sophia quits her successful job to accept a position as Chef aboard Captain Mary's luxury yacht. Her co-workers include Petra - the head steward, Patricio - the steward, Declan - the deckhand, Stuart - the chief engineer, and Jack - an American and the first officer. She doesn't get off to a great start, thanks to altercations with Jack the evening before. A fight over strawberries escalates hostility between the two, leading to the decision to go their separate ways: she stays below deck, and he above to avoid conflict. Things go downhill from there as they continue to bicker over nonsense. As fate keeps throwing them together, and they go on two trips with the guests, Sophia starts to wonder if there is more to Jack than meets the eye.

Overall, it was a quick and fun read. The book is written in the third person from Sophia's perspective, interspersed with sudden flashbacks to her past. Toward the middle of the book, there are a couple of chapters written in the third person from Jack's perspective. While I enjoyed reading Jack's inner thoughts, it did disrupt the flow of the story. Additionally, the jumps between times were not smoothly done.

In terms of characters, I found the heroine to be childish, quick to make assumptions, judgmental, and prone to overreacting or acting foolishly at times. Throwing a glass of wine on a complete stranger just because she didn't like his approach was a bit too much. She knew she couldn't handle alcohol, yet she drank anyway. Some of the side characters also behaved oddly, alternating between giving hot and cold shoulder with silly reasons and just being rude overall. Not that Jack was holier-than-thou; sometimes, he was portrayed as grumpy and overbearing.

Moreover, there were some stereotypes present, such as Jack being initially depicted as a rich and entitled white guy, while the brown skin color of the heroine was emphasized too much. Also, it was pointed out a few times that the heroine felt connected to another colored guy because they shared the same skin color, which I found jarring. I don't choose my friends based on their color and I wondered if her first reaction to Jack would have been different were he the same color as her. I don't think it was done intentionally, but it did make one wonder.

While I enjoyed some of the banter and loved the ending, some dialogue was juvenile. There were also a couple of erotic scenes (including a dream) that didn't contribute to the story much. However, I did appreciate the developed relationship between the two women aboard, as well as the exploration of themes such as alcoholism, loss, discrimination of women in the workplace, and sexual assault. The setting, including the yachting aspect of it, was well done. I found the Captain's rules one-sided and odd. Additionally, I liked the two trips to the ports and the background stories of the characters, which added depth to the story.

The book could have used tighter editing for minor typos, misspellings, and errors such as a lack of space between words and a sentence repeating itself. Overall, it was a good solid read, one I enjoyed despite its flaws. Therefore, I rate the book 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to fans of steamy romance.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

This was a fun and quick read! If you’re a fan of below deck and some slightly questionable characters then this is for you!
I did struggle a bit with some of the dialogue and I didn’t really connect to the characters but that’s just me
I think the idea has real premise and it’s worth a go but overall I wish it had a bit more depth and the characters were more fleshed out

A light, frothy romantic read with echoes of Below Deck. I wanted me from the story than the flimsy narrative I was given. Other younger readers will enjoy it but it was not for me.

Let’s jump right in shall we with my likes & dislikes.

Likes:
• Below Deck vibes (not something I have read previously so was definitely different for the plots sake)
• the author explains the boat lingo for the reader
• quick chapters
• pretty steady pace
• the FMC being a chef, and us having knowledge of her prior employment and baggage
• the deepest relationship on the ship was between Petra and Sofia which we love healthy positive non-romantic girlfriends
•HEA for all

Dislikes:
• Below Deck vibes (felt like I was reading the transcript of a few episodes, maybe this wouldn’t be an issue for someone who hasn’t seen the show)
• the two trips off the boat are essentially the same outcome with different characters so felt redundant.
• the random 2 chapters in Jacks POV after the 50% mark. I actually had to go search through the book to see if I had missed prior Jack POVs and when I realized I hadn’t I felt even more confused. It was nice to know how he was feeling but the fact it was just 2 back to back random chapters was infuriating.
• the politics of what was happening on this boat behind closed doors is an HR departments worst nightmare — whilst the characters didn’t do anything to warrant being in “trouble”. It felt conflicting.


Typos/Errors Found:
18% Mark, 619 out of 3472 - it says
“Only two years ago they had been relatively normal. She, a paralegal from Swansea, and he a mid tier footballer a paralegal from Swansea, and he, a mid tier foot yacht as a private chef and deckhand laid out …… etc”

23% Mark, 812 of 3472 — it says
“That you very much, Chef Harlow.”
Should be thank you I believe.

For fans of Below Deck and enemies to lovers, close proximity tropes. Sofia and Jack are thrown together working on a luxury yacht and get off on the wrong foot. The more time they spend in close quarters, the more their attraction goes. A perfect beach read.

First of all thank you to Avon books for letting me review such a wonderful read

well i am a sucker for a romance read , and this book had it all for me and enemies to lovers with all the spice ,slow burn what else could a romance reader as for .
It is such a fun read it gave me all the romantic butterflies I love that feeling when a romance book can do that ,it had plenty of banter and laugh out loud moments to enjoy . the plot i thought was lots of fun and slap your head .What are they doing moments to .

The characters Sophia i thought she was witty yet stubborn she a women who knows what she wants end of , she dose start to chill not to much tho .and jack oh jack we love you he charming ,trust me you wont care if your stuck at sea with him wink wink .

Overall a wonderful summer feeling easy read ,i thought it was thoroughly enjoyable ,i will be buying a cope for me and my romance friends .

i giving this book a slow burning 5 stars

Love Overboard, by Ada Barume is a cute enemies-to-lovers novel with witty banter, fun characters, and primarily set on a chartered luxury yacht on the Amalfi Coast. Will the relationships survive?
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the characters and I felt like the writing is really wonderful. The plot is very interesting and well thought out!

the premise of this sounded fun but this book just wasn’t for me and truthfully it was more of a skim read. both characters were unlikeable and judgmental. the switch to his pov was unexpected, the whole book was a bit chaotic and I was just bored for the majority of it.

thank you NetGalley for the arc.

tropes:
-workplace romance
-enemies to lovers
-forced proximity
-slight love triangle
-interracial relationship

The book starts off strong, we immediately are introduced to Sophia who is our FMC, who’s a really great chef. After running from a previous mistake, she takes a job as a chef on a charter yacht. The night before her first day, she runs into this arrogant man at a bar. Turns out this dude is her “boss”!!! Captain Jack instantly annoys her, but is it really annoyance or could it be love?

There are a couple things I didn’t like about the book. The POVs feel inconsistent, we mainly read from our FMC’s in the third person but then have 3ish chapters with our MMC’s POV?? It’s very odd. Like put more Jack in the book, doing dives into his persona like with Sofia (he’s got an interesting background!!!) or cut those chapters where we are strictly reading Sophia’s POV. This makes the book feel semi incomplete.
Second, there could be more substance to the story. Like I get that this is supposed to be a short love story but I felt like I was reading the cliff notes version of background info, love stories, etc.
All in all, I really liked the book and might buy the published version for my bookshelf.

I just cannot get over how silly both the main characters are. The worst thing is that Sophia has some modicum of self awareness, she knows full well she's acting childish but just doesn't fix it?!?! Jack is not likable, he is the type of guy I would actively avoid in real life. The tagline saying that this book is for fans of Emily Henry is incredibly misleading. Both main characters do not have a lick of chemistry between them.