Honestly I don’t have an interest in reading this book anymore and I want to be more selective with what I request.

I had a bit of a hard time warming up to this story - the romance part - even though I really liked both characters. I think it was because of the worry of what could/would happen to Faith if it was discovered. Still, I had to trust the author to tell the story, and I finally did. Great story, and I will definitely read this author again!

Fast-paced, sexy, and fun with a bit of an insta-love plot (a trope I love!) I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Check it out!

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I did really like this book, the attraction and connection between the two characters was instantaneous and got me hoping for their relationship. I loved the idea of the cruise ship and the characters as a whole. The reason this did not get five stars was that I felt like there were a lot of open-ended problems. First of all, Faith never even told Lowe about her family situation, her family played a big part in Faith's life, but the information was minimal. Another problem was that the whole book was based on the forbidden relationship between Faith and Lowe, but it ended without any issues, I felt like there should have been a fall out based on the significance put on this by the author. Overall great romantic read, I just needed a little more detail to make this read perfect.

A nice light read, perfect for a lazy day of lounging by the pool or at the beach. Cannon seems to be a go to author for me when I want a quick fix of romance without a lot of heavy angst or drama. I enjoy her books and characters - although she seems to just end them abruptly (now that I'm expecting it, I'm not as miffed when I get to the end).

This time out, we have Lowe, the down to earth daughter of a rich and pretentious family who live on a luxury cruise ship, and Faith, a woman works on the ship. This is a an insta-attract and the relationship builds over 21 days as they sail around Australia and New Zealand. The chemistry sizzles from their first meeting and builds throughout the book - and you can't help wanting them to finally get together. There's a bit of a forbidden romance - as crew are not allowed to fraternize with the residents (and guests), and that is one of the recurring obstacles that keeps Faith from pursuing anything with Lowe.

I genuinely liked both the characters - both were smart and self confident, so despite the economic gulf, there was no real power imbalance. The secondary characters were a bit two dimensional, but I really didn't care as I was much more interested in Lowe and Faith and their excursions.

Netgally Review:

Pretty standard for the genre. The chemistry was okay. I would be willing to read another book by this author. A solid 3 stars for me.

I was dissapointed with this offering. I never felt the "spark" the author insisted was palpable between the two primary characters. The supporting cast were caricatures of snobby, rich, and pretentious homophobes. There was nothing new here so the book was neither compelling nor memorable.

Potentially a little bit polarising for readers.

Working class meets uber rich (family at least). There's definitely a touch or me of entitlement but my main gripe about this is that Lowe (rich) doesn't take no for an answer and keeps following and close to harassing Faith. Sure Faith didn't project a strong black or white position on her feelings for Lowe, but she certainly said no and tried to walk away many times. In my world, that's a no.

I don't know what it was about the beginning of this book, but it took me longer to get into it than a lot of Julie Cannon's book. The romance is also more of a slow burn - not a negative - but since the beginning took me a bit to get into it, I felt like the book dragged a bit.

I liked the way that Faith sticks with not getting involved with Lowe right from the get go because she appreciated her job. It also forced Lowe to show more of her true colors.

I would have liked the book to wrap up a bit better in the end. To finally have them come together and then have the book just end felt unsatisfying. Maybe the author was going with the dramatic, but reward your readers with an epilogue to show how happy they are and that they made the right decision in betting on each other instead of the stable life they had before.

This started really great. An adventure! On a big-ass boat! But alas, the characters didn't quite do it for me. The whole book is written as a 200+ pages long foreplay, leading up to the real deal, but I didn't get the tension between the characters. The tension was written about, in great detail, but I didn't feel it.

I honestly love this book. I enjoyed readinf a book centered around a lesbian love story. I found it very unique and i read it so fast. I would recommend this to anyone. It was very refreshing

3 stars. I liked the book rather well until it ended and didn't answer any of the important questions.

Me: "Ooooh, it gets real juicy now."

Book: "THE END".

Me: "WHAT!?"

What about all the family drama? Why even feature the parents if that doesn't get properly covered. What about all the logistical problems? We're just left to assume if it all did or didn't work out in the end.

The book starts strong but goes nowhere, it ends on what should've been 50% mark rather than the end of it.

Faith literally runs into Lowe on the Escape - a beautiful and expensive cruise ship that heads to stunning places in the Pacific. While she falls in love almost at first sight, there are two mayor problem: Faith is part of the crew and not allowed to date any guests and residence, and Lowe Carter is the daughter of one of the richest families on board.

Despite the rules, Faith can't seem to escape Lowe's attention. At the same time Lowe has no intention of tuning her interests down ...

While this sounds like a great build up for romance and the lesbian version of the Cinderella, in which they defying all the laws and social standards for love before sailing into the sunset together ... "Shut Up and Kiss Me" has a hard time to make the romance work.

As the story goes on, I was able to see that their personalities would fit together and that they could make a great couple if it weren't for the rules and long distance. However, Cannon managed to convey little of this attitude between these characters.

Instead the attraction was mostly sexual. Only a few pages at the beginning are dedicated to any personal traits, afterwards it is all about looking at each other's chests, butts, and thighs. Yes, Lowe says that she want a bit more than a holiday romance, and Faith does not want to be a fling to each other. At the same time what we get shown, disapproves of it - their stream of consciousness does not venture past physical traits.

This would be fine, had the story progressed along the holiday romance trope. Instead it wanted to be a grand romance which I am saddened to admit just does not work out. I could barely feel any chemistry between Lowe and Faith. It was mostly hot and then cold, there was no sweet banter, or shared soft moments. Instead it was mostly confusion, thinking about unrequited love, and being horny on main

To make this more complicated "Shut Up and Kiss Me" is told via to first person perspectives. This is fine, if it's clear who is talking. However, Lowe and Faith have similar voices and it wasn't marked at the beginning who is talking. Thus, you were often left wondering if Lowe or Faith was talking.

Despite this, the story does have cute moments but those are mostly overshadowed by misunderstandings and a longer build up than needed. Furthermore, the writing style is easy to read and takes you along smoothly. But"Shut Up and Kiss Me" did not work out for me because I simply could not get into the story.

This is a nice romance about two women from very different economic backgrounds. Lowe Carter comes from a wealthy family. Her parents are retired and live fulltime on a cruise ship that travels the seas year-round. Lowe’s family feel they are privileged and believe that the only worthwhile people are those who have money. All others are there to serve. Lowe, however, worked hard and built a very successful business on her own. She treats people fairly.

Faith Williams, on the other hand, comes from a very poor, dysfunctional family. She has worked on the cruise ship for many years and is a valuable employee. Faith has a strong work ethic. She follows the rules and is very responsible. Each pay period she sends money home to her mother and little sister in Tampa.

The cruise line has one major rule. Employees are not allowed to get into a relationship with individuals living on the ship and any of their family members. Breaking the rule will result in termination.

While visiting her parents, Faith runs into Lowe. There is instant attraction, but the rules must be followed. Faith does not want to have a fling and lose her well-paying job. Initially, Lowe is looking for a vacation romance, but finds the draw to Faith different from anything she has previously experienced.

The plot was not that different from other romances. Unfortunately, it was written in the first-person point of view. Several times I had trouble determining who was talking. This caused a break in the flow of the story and seemed to make the story drag.

I have read many of Julie Cannon’s books and this is not one of her best. Because the story was set in the first-person point of view, I can only give the book 3 out of 5 stars.

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

This is a completely okay read. Nothing really grabbed me and made me want to know more. I did like the difference in the characters backgrounds and how neither is really ashamed of their sexual attraction. But I, personally, don't like the insta-love kind if story. In any book.
The POVs were hard to follow at first and Faith was a bit confusing at times - as someone else wrote it: Hot and cold until the last moment. Lowe was a bearable character, but not much more.

All in all, this wasn't for me, but I do see the appeal it might have to some.

/ Denise

The cruise ship setting and the drastically different backgrounds of the two leads is what drew me to this novel. Unfortunately the two leads were so different I struggled to understand what drew them together and I couldn't quite see how they developed feelings as they hardly knew one another. They certainly didn't spent enough time together to make such huge life decisions - the time they did spend was quite casual without any deep conversations. The ending was abrupt - I would have liked to see how the leads overcame the obstacles in the way.

I am a fan of Ms Cannons work so when I got the chance to read this new offering I was really looking forward to doing just that. Faith Williams works for every cent she gets, only to send most of her hard earned money back for her mother and sister. Lowe Carter comes from money but she not only works but she enjoys doing it. Her family can’t understand why she does what she does. Sound like a good story, right. This was very slow paced read and after a while I read it with only one objection in mind. Finish it. I didn’t enjoy reading this book at all. In fact I had to go to my library, dig out one of Ms Cannons earlier book, ‘Come and Get Me’ and reread it again so I will remember when she comes out with a new book, that she can really write. Oh, well, not all can be winners.
ARC via NetGalley

Lowe Carter comes from a family with very old money. When she has to visit her parents for two weeks, it is last thing she wants to do but that quickly changes when she meets Faith Williams. Faith is the complete opposite of Lowe, she lives pay check to pay check and sends money home when she can.

First of all, I love the cover for this book and I was very excited to read this book but, unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. Now, it is the kind of book some people love but not me. Here is why: I thought it too slow and I found myself skipping parts just to keep going. I also did not connect with the characters, again this is me, some others might love the characters, and I didn't find the connection between the characters too compelling. I also found it a bit repetitive.
I really wanted to like it and I kept going through it but it just didn't happen.

I received an ARC through Netgalley from Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

This was a sweet, super cute romance. Lowe is a self-made successful business woman who goes to visit her parents/sister who live on a cruise ship. They are rich and snobby and she is not like them. Lowe meets Faith who works on the ship and they are instantly attracted to each other and sparks fly. Lowe and Faith slowly get to know each other to the back drop of beautiful Australia and New Zeland countryside and oceans while sightseeing and taking day trips. Faith does not want to fall for Lowe because it is against ship rules. Lowe keeps trying to spend more time with Faith and eventually Faith gives in. The culture and scenery are amazing but the story needs more development and to be long! I wanted more than where the book ended. Faith is unsure and Lowe knows exactly what she wants...slow romance and a rushed ending. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!!

Lowe’s best friend was Charlotte . She gave Lowe a handful of Valium saying Lowe was going to need them. Lowe was flying to the other side of the world to spend the next three weeks with her sister Victoria and parents cruising the high sea. It was time for Lowe to once again show her respect, pay her dues and not have her mother's non-stop guilt for the rest if her life if she didn’t go. First she hated how her sister was. Victoria was manipulating, obnoxious, pretentious- a S-N-O-B! Victoria is shallow, she has her therapist, and yoga instructor on speed dial and never been called anything other but Victoria in her life. She is five years younger than Lowe. Victoria is married to Everette who is everything she ever wanted in a mate- position. prestigious, and money. Victoria and their mother are two peas in a pod. Her father isn’t quite as bad as her mother but he doesn’t socialize outside his circle. Lowe’s job as the firstborn in a long family legacy is to carry on the obligatory family name- Lowe carter. Lowe prefers to play with the boys but her mother would not allow it. Lowe has her own business, she also volunteers at several homeless shelters. Lowe drives a twenty year old Toyota 4 Runner because she loves it. Driving a new car isn’t what lowe is about. She about common sense, living on what she earns, honesty, and respect. She lives in a normal size house in a modest subdivision. Lowe is the opposite of everyone in her family. Her parents live on a ship-the Escape.It is the largest residence on the water, a very upscale community with shopping, restaurants, pools, Starbucks and Peet’s coffee shops a full size tennis court, a large patio and a cushioned running track.Lowe loves her sister and parents but can only tolerate them in short bursts. They don’t have much to talk about and they stay away from controversial topics, which are most of them. Lowe is gay. Faith works on the ship Lowe’s parents live on. Her job included room and board. Faith has called the Escape home for eight years. Faith had a mysterious woman keeping her subconscious company for months. Dating residents was strictly forbidden. Dating other workers was frowned upon. This situation didn’t leave many opportunities to meet others or relieve pent up sexual tensions, other than with locals in ports they docked at. Faith had been waiting tables in Tampa when she lucked into a job when the Escape was in port. Faith passed the psychological testing, on site interview, and background check. They typically signed on for ten to twelve month assignments. Once they put in their time, they either remain or go home. Faith resigned every time. The job was good as Faith got to see places and meet people she would never have known otherwise. They work about fifty hours a week with two days off. They weren’t paid much and faith sent most of her pay home and would pick up extra hours when she could. She worked at The club.
I didn’t realize this book was about two gay women guess the name lowe for a girl didn’t register to me. I hate to rate this book as I can’t give it a fair rating as I don’t care to read gay romances. So I gave this a two my fault - sorry.