I really enjoyed this book some of the characters from other books were part of this book. Good mystery loved the new characters in this book fun catching up with characters from other of Yolanda's books. Highly recommend this book.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40377800-pleasure-cruise" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Pleasure Cruise" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1528067971m/40377800.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40377800-pleasure-cruise">Pleasure Cruise</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3284106.Yolanda_Wallace">Yolanda Wallace</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2540331467">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Copy rec'd from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books for review. <br />This book contains many characters from previous works by the author which makes it somewhat confusing for a 'new' reader.<br />I like Ms. Wallace's work and the high seas setting, but this storyline just didn't click for me this time - there were too many characters.<br />3 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

This is a romance with some suspense. Amy Donovan is a cruise director for SOS Tours, a lesbian travel company. Readers learn quickly that success of this cruise will help the company’s image which had been tarnished by a previous tour involving a hostage incident. Amy is greeting new passengers when she is instantly attracted to one passenger. That person is Spencer Collins, a software developer. Her parents are treating Spencer with this cruise in the hopes that their shy, workaholic daughter might meet some new friends and possibly a new love interest.

The suspense side of this book deals with Jessica, the cruise ship’s fitness instructor who has become involved with drug smuggling. Jessica wishes to open her own gym some day and has been banking the money made from smuggling to fund this dream. At the end of this trip, she has decided to stop being a drug mule. That is when the suspense starts.

I found the plot of Pleasure Cruise to be very predictable. Ms. Wallace spends a lot of time describing the boarding process and activities one might experience on a cruise. This portion of the book could have been minimized and more time spend on plot development. Also, the emotional chemistry between Amy and Spencer was not believable.

Some of the supporting characters in this book came from her previous book called “24/7” in which Ms. Wallace wrote about the tour group’s trip to Cancun where the hostage situation took place. Unlike that book, the characters in Pleasure Cruise were not as well developed. Because of this, I had a hard time connecting to them.

I do enjoy Ms. Wallace’s writing and look forward to her next book. I rate this book 2-1/2 out of 5 stars.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

Pleasure Cruise takes us on a weeklong caribbean trip on board the Majestic Dream in the company of 2000 lesbians. Now don’t worry, we’re not going to meet all of them but the cast of characters was fit to burst. This was my first Yolanda Wallace experience and so I didn’t get the pleasure of recognizing all the happy couples from previous novels that made a guest appearance. Anticipating this might be a problem for first time readers the author made sure all the backstory on the couples was provided.

What I liked about the story was the whole cruise itself. Life aboard ship was entertaining and so were the trips to the mainland. There was nice detail about what happens when you are a guest (seen through the eyes of Spencer Collins) and when you work for SOS Tours (seen through the eyes of Amy Donovan).

The (over) crowded cast of secondary characters made it a bit confusing in the beginning to keep track of who is who. Every happy couple from a previous novel came with its own little backstory info dump that gave the narrative an odd stilted feel because they were the ones telling it (and nobody talks about themselves that way).

The insta-attraction/insta-love feelings strike Spencer and Amy from the first time they meet and it felt forced. I know they only have a week to make the magic happen but it didn’t work for me. Also that magic didn’t really happen because of the flimsy roadblocks thrown in as an attempt to bring some angst to the story. Also the secondary drugs smuggle plot was too easily wrapped up.

Concluding this was a decent read with lots of holiday extravaganza to lose yourself in.

f/f

Themes: there was no sex in the champagne room, or anywhere else that we were privy to, who the hell are all these people, I wanna go on a cruise now, just for the food alone.

3.4 stars

* A free copy was provided through Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. What made this book pleasant to read was Wallace bringing in main characters of her other novels as passengers of the cruise ship. It was a delight to read and remember different characters and their journeys. Sadly though I could not get into the plot of the actual book. It felt rushed as well as the characters seemed to have no connection or chemistry between them. Bringing in the drug cartel felt unfinished as well as if it was just something to fill in the gaps with. I loved seeing previous characters, but the book itself was only ok.

Stevie‘s review of Pleasure Cruise by Yolanda Wallace
Contemporary Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 17 Jul 18

I’m yet to explore Yolanda Wallace’s extensive back catalogue, although I keep promising myself I’ll find the time to do so from somewhere. I’ve been keeping up with her recent releases, and so far they’ve all worked well as stand-alone novels, which is what I was expecting from her latest book. As with my two previous reads from the same author, I was drawn in by the character descriptions in the blurb, with the added teaser of a cruise ship setting. I haven’t been on a cruise in many years, but that’s another treat I keep promising myself, especially one that’s on a ship packed with woman-loving women.


Spencer Collins loves women, but she really isn’t a people person, choosing to work from home and only visit her employer’s head office on the other side of the county, when she absolutely has to meet her colleagues face to face. Her gregarious parents, on the other hand, love meeting new people and travelling – especially when they can combine the two on a cruise ship – and so they treat Spencer to a ticket for a women-only cruise in the hope that she’ll finally meet a woman to settle down with. Nervous at being forced into a situation beyond her control, Spencer is still grateful to her parents for thinking of her and does at least manage to make friendly conversation with the ship’s cruise director, Amy Donovan.

Amy has her own reasons for being nervous about this particular cruise, since the company she works for is struggling after a couple of cruises were marred by mishaps beyond anyone’s foresight or control. She is instantly taken by Spencer, in spite of the other woman’s nervousness, but is very aware that her employers frown on cruise staff getting involved with their guests.

Others on the cruise have their own reasons to be stressed about the upcoming voyage. One of the crew has got herself involved in smuggling drugs onto the ship and, now that she wants to back out of the arrangement, she’s found herself under threat from her criminal contacts and from some of the passengers, whose day jobs are in law enforcement. When she issues the ultimatum that this will be her last cruise, she is told to do away with one of those passengers or face a worse fate herself. Meanwhile, some passengers are taking their first cruise after a previous holiday ended in a stand-off against members of a drug gang and so are on high alert for any suspicious behaviour this time around.

This story had all the makings of an excellent pair – or even trio – of plots as Spencer is brought out of her shell by Amy and the other passengers who befriend her, while the suspense plot of who will face death and who will face arrest continues in the background. Sadly, the one issue that let the novel down for me was the fact that most of the prominent secondary characters had starred in books of their own from that extensive Wallace back catalogue I’m yet to read. So while I enjoyed seeing Spencer and Amy’s adventures, the background stories meant far less to me than they would have done to a reader familiar with all the other women. Definitely a book I need to go back to once I’m caught up with a few more Wallace books, at which point I suspect it will attract a higher grade from me than it has on this reading.

Grade: C

This book is fun, totally unbelievable and a wonderful cast of characters! I really enjoyed the writing, even though the premise was far fetched (in my opinion). The plot and the women are fantastic and the setting is aboard a lesbian cruise. What could be better! Definitely worth a read.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pleasure Cruise was an absolute delight to read as it was a mixture of romance, suspense and a chance to meet old friends. Although some characters from previous stories appear this can be read as a stand-alone book. Amy Donovan is the Cruise Director on a women only trip and is determined that it will be the much needed success the travel company needs. She is dedicated to her job and has put her love life on hold and sees no reason to change that. Until Spencer Collins walks on board. Sleeping with the passengers is off-limits but Amy finds herself increasingly torn between sticking to the rule book and opening her heart to Spencer. That story in itself would have kept me hooked but the danger lurking in the background regarding one of Amy’s employees had me on the edge of my seat. Yolanda Wallace really knows how to ramp up the tension.
Life onboard a lesbian love boat is romantic, funny and an opportunity for the women to relax. The characters are able to be themselves, to show affection freely. Even when under extreme pressure we get to see the depth of love some of the characters have for each other and there is something truly joyful about that. Love is all that really matters in the end and seeing that portrayed in this book left me a very happy reader.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley to review.

Amy is an SOS Cruise Director (SOS is the company that was also in Wallace's book 24/7) on a Cruise that Spencer gets as a birthday present from her parents (they want her to put herself out there more).

We also meet Breanne and Jessica who also work on the ship. And then there are the other characters, most of whom seem to be from Wallace's other books (including 24/7) and boy were there a lot of them. I recognized some of the, but, I think that I need to do a deep dive on Wallace's back list and see which characters I can catch up on based on all these delightful women on the cruise.

The main story between Spencer and Amy is a normal sort of one. Amy can't be with Spencer because Spencer is also a customer. But, they get pulled together none the less.

It's the other story with Jessica that was both one of my favorite parts of the book by the end, and drove me a little crazy at the beginning. We were introduced to the Jessica story so early and then it took so long to unfold. But, as I said, by the end I was liking it more.

It was a fun book (do Cruises really take away passports when you board, wow.). And while I've read some Yolanda Wallace already, I cannot wait to read more of it based on the characters that were here!

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

This was such an interesting book. Most lesbian romance i read only has one plot going through it but this one provided great subplots as well.. The romance side was so cute and sweet and i loved the balance between being professional and also falling in love with a client. The crime side created by Wallace was intriguing and exciting and provided the danger of the novel. The way the story culminates in the final act was done really well and i felt that Wallace provided both heart and danger at the same time. One area i would've worked on was developing some of the minor characters further as they really discovered more page time.

Amy Donovan’s loves her job working as a Cruise Director for a cruise line that focuses on tours for lesbians. The last trip was a disaster and SOS Tours want this trip to be the best it can be and Amy knows not only her, and many of her friends job is depending is on a good but review but the company’s very survivable too. Spencer Collins parents think she doesn’t allow herself some down time from her job in IT job developing software just to have some fun and meet new people. Her last tour, ten years ago wasn’t something she wants to relive. Ms Wallace gives us a great story and while doing so she reintroduces us to some of the character from her earlier works. Finn Chamberlain and Luisa Moreno from ‘24/7’, Rachel Bauer and Griffin Sutton from ‘Month of Sundays’ and Jordan Gonzalez and Tatum Robinson from ‘The War Within’. While this is a love story Ms Wallace also takes us along on the adventures involved in trying to stop a gang of smugglers. Very nice, fast paced book that I really enjoyed.
eARC via NetGalley

I'm usually a big fan of Yolanda Wallace, but for some reason Pleasure Cruise just didn't do it for me. I found it difficult to get into the story, I found it very slow with too many character interaction.

This is my first book by Yolanda Wallace. I really enjoyed reading about all the side characters making cameos from other books – I love that idea. In the beginning I thought this would be a light, fluffy summer-type read, and I enjoyed reading about all the cruise destinations. So the introduction of the “scandalous” element didn’t ring true for me, almost like it was two different books. And I didn’t really “get” the instant attraction between Amy and Spencer. If you’re a Yolanda Wallace fan and have read the other books you’ll enjoy catching up with old favorite characters.

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t warm to either main character (though I liked Spencer more than Amy), and wasn’t overly invested in their romance. The side romance with Jessica (and the mystery element) was even less compelling.

I also could have done without the cramming in of all of the other characters from past books, I had only read some of them so was a bit lost when it came to the characters I wasn’t already aware of, which didn’t help. I couldn’t help but think this was a cynical ploy to get readers to go back and read the other books, if it was, it failed.

2 stars.

This book, more than a romance, is an adventure. And it has many protagonists. But not only that, most of them are the protagonists of previous books by this writer. So I've spent more than half of the book rediscovering these previous protagonists and remembering their history, which has caused my loss of interest in the plot of the current book, with too much rediscovery and memory.

And if you have not read those previous books, there are things that will not make much sense to you when you read them in this one.

And then, really, the new protagonists Amy, Spencer, Breanna, Jessica, I have not found anything interesting in them, their behaviors are inconsistent and unbelievable and I struggled to follow their threads. And the parts of the book relating the activities on the cruise and at the stops, have seemed quite boring to me.

So this has been like The Lesbian Love Boat with too much guest stars. And pleasure, I have not found much of that either.

<i>An ARC was sent to me from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley for an honest review </i>

This was a perfectly nice read but it wasn’t any better than just okay for me. I like Wallace, I have read most of her books, but she can be a bit up or down for me. Half of her books I have enjoyed the other half has only been okay. I like the idea of this book (I’ll go into this more) but the execution was a little lacking.

With the title of the book in mind, this book takes place on an all-women’s cruise. There are three main characters and a bunch of secondary ones. The main characters are the cruise director Amy, a reluctant cruise goer Spencer, and a woman who runs the ships gym named Jessica. Amy and Spencer form an instant attraction but cruise workers are not allowed to sleep with the guests. Jessica has her own side story as she find herself in a dangerous situation.

The idea of this story was for Wallace to introduce some new characters but to also bring back some fan favorites. The secondary characters include a small cameo from the book Month of Sundays and Lucky Loser. Secondary characters that get more time include characters from the book 24/7 and The War Within. 24/7 was the only book I had not read yet. I really wish I had as the plot is basically given away in this book. If you have that book on your list to read soon, I would suggest reading it before this one so there are no spoilers. But you can read this book without reading any of the others. It was nice to see characters from the books of Wallace’s that I enjoyed. I think part of my issue is I enjoyed catching up more with these older characters than I did the new ones.

When it came to the main relationship of Amy and Spencer it was a little blah. I never connected with Amy so it was a bit rough for me. I did really enjoy Spencer and I liked that so much of this book was about her coming out of her shell. Spencer’s journey was a highlight of this book. Jessica’s storyline and tiny romance felt a bit forced so I never really got into her character. There are no explicit sex scenes in this book.

As I said it’s a nice story. I liked watching Spencer grow and catching up with old character favorites, but the main plot and romance never really grabbed me. If you are looking for a lighter beachy read, or want to read about some of your past favorite characters, this might be for you.

The premise of this read was interesting because it takes place on a cruise ship, with a talented and motivated cruise director, introverted passenger with supportive parents, various supporting characters with caring no nonsense personalities who know how to get things done. Amy Donovan, has a career she loves but no one to share her happiness with. Spencer Collins, views life from her work-from-home job and continues to be recovering from past failed friendships and relationships. I thought her growth through self-talk and interaction with new friends was wonderful to watch. Though a bit soft angst and light weight drug smuggling/running, this read is about life, happiness and above all identifying what is important.

Amy Donovan is the cruise director on board the Majestic Dream for an eight day cruise for SOS Tours, a company whose image is tarnished thanks to a hostage incident six months previously. While greeting the embarking passengers, Amy finds herself drawn to Spencer Collins, a shy software developer who seems uncomfortable and out of place. Spencer thinks Amy is the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. Another of the ship’s staff members, Jess, boards too and pays off the security to look the other way while screening her baggage.

Such a great premise: a lurking reminder of a hostage situation, a struggling tour company, a tour director wanting to make a name for herself, a suggestion of attraction, a no-fraternising-with-the-guests policy and a staff member up to no good. It starts off well and then the initial attraction loses momentum and any chemistry they had on their first meeting dissipates. The tension that should have linked all of the above threads just wasn’t there for me and I struggled to keep my focus on the story.

I enjoyed Spencer as a character but she was the only character with any depth. Amy was fairly flat and the drug running aspect of the story was very superficially dealt with. I have read “In Medias Res” by Wallace which I really enjoyed. This story just wasn’t for me.
2.5 stars rounded up.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

As one would expect, or at the very least hope for, embarking on a cruise is a fun experience. And that is what this book is – fun.

The author has created a diverse cast of characters, or should I say reintroduced a number of characters from previous books; none of which I’ve read. So, although this can be read as a standalone, I feel readers familiar with this authors previously books will benefit from it more.

There’s the hint of scandal, but most conflict is resolved with little angst.

If you’re in the mood for a feel good story, with a leisurely pace, this might be just the ticket.

Pleasure Cruise by Yolanda Wallace, is an interesting book about the love and friendship women find on an all women’s luxury pleasure cruise. The story revolves around three main characters. Spencer, a computer nerd who gets a free trip from her parents in the hopes that she will break out of her shell. She lacks self-confidence and always feels like she is on the outside looking in when it comes to her social life. Amy is the cruise ship director and running the show for the first time. Her cruise line has experienced some bad publicity so it is up to her to pull off a cruise that will set the company back on track. Jessica is one of the cruise fitness instructors, but she has found herself backed into a corner by the mob that she has become a drug mule for. She wants out, but that is easier said than done.

This was a case of love at first sight for Amy and Spencer. Literally, the minute they lay eyes on each other they turn into new and improved versions of themselves. It was hard for me to relate to either one of them, especially Amy. Amy’s main goal is to pull off the perfect cruise, yet by the fifth day, she is leaving the cruise ship to go on excursions with Spencer every time they reach a new port. I don’t like it when “smart” women act in a manner that is the exact opposite of how they would normally act. I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for Jessica. She could have just passed on the smuggling when approached regardless of how much money she was making.

The best part of this book was the diverse set of side characters. I genuinely liked reading about the friendships being formed and seeing how such different women could still bond in the right environment. The aspects about the activities and relationships on the cruise ship made this book worth the read.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchanged for a fair and honest review.