I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbias review.

This is the first book from Julie Cannon I have read and I found that I really like her style. Her character development in this book between Lowe and Faith is wonderful, with the story bouncing back and forth from each character's point of view. The overall story was well done and I enjoyed the couple dealing with their feelings and the tension building until they were finally together.

One minor gripe is the constant complaining about Lowe's parents, how they are so snooty and above everyone else. It seemed that the beginning few chapters hammered this home again and again and again until it became tiresome. I also wanted more out of the ending of the story. It was an abrupt ending. I don't know if there will be a follow-up novel, but it would be good to know where there go with the couple, how they were able to work things out and spend forever together. It left me wanting more at the end.

3.5 stars

This story was nice. However for the life of me I could not picture Lowe as that attractive. I don't know how to say it without offending anyone. the description did not do much for me. that ruined a lot of things and my connection to a certain part of the book. Having said that Faith is quite lovely. Overall the writing is good. it's enjoyable story

Lowe comes from a very wealthy family and has flown to half way around the world to dutifully spend a few weeks with her obnoxious, rude family on a cruise ship. Faith is a waitress on the ship and has been for 8 years....living in such a confined space, missing her family, with seemingly no career progression for 8 years....come on Faith, get a life! Also Lowe seems to have no bounds in her pursuit of Faith.
This book was written in the first person which was different and it's fair to say initially I didn't find the characters believable or likeable but they started to grow on me as I read through the book.
The storyline had potential but for me it missed its mark.

I enjoyed this book! I loved both main characters and especially the fact that Lowe stood up to her parents. I always find it amusing when a butch character shows up in a tux and no one thinks it's odd - maybe I go to the wrong places. So when Lowe's sister said "You look like a man!" I loved it. I love the rich girl/poor girl trope ... who among us hasn't fantasized about being whisked away to a life of luxury? My only complaint is that the book just ended. I would've loved a couple of chapters explaining what happened next. Did Faith move to Phoenix? Did they both move to Florida to be near Faith's family? I thought this was a great way to spend 4 hours.

I like the occasional romance, and what I look for in them - what I thought I was getting in this book - is something fun and flirty and light hearted. Steam is always welcome, but I can take it or leave it, depending on the story built around it.

This book was more like a travel guide with a little splash of romance embedded into it. Don’t get me wrong, it was educational, and being Australian and having visited NZ several times, I always enjoy the international perspective of my home and familiarity of places I’ve been.

However, this book took too long to get anywhere, figuratively that is, as the ship itself had docked in at least 3 harbours before the main characters got their respective stuff together. As slow burns go, the first 60-odd percent of this one was longer than a wet week. The remaining part of the book was alright.

I didn’t really warm to the main characters, and without any title or heading, it was confusing as to whose POV chapter is was. I’ve heard great things about the author’s other works, and is definitely consider reading them, perhaps this one and me just didn’t gel.

Thank you to Julie Cannon, Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Always a reliable author for a good story, Shut Up and Kiss Me at first begins as a blatant cliche of insta-love with a rich and suave butch player chasing after the unsuspecting and innocent femme. Though as the story progresses, we find that Lowe is actually a really nice person and a caring human being. Faith is also far from innocent and very wise to not allow herself to become romantically entangled with a passenger. The push and pull of their romance is not what I expected and that became the hook that had me glued to the pages. A very enjoyable book to bring on your own cruise or to simply be immersed in the warmth of their surroundings and romance.

This is a cute story about Faith and Lowe who meet on a cruise sheep. Faith was a very grounded character and had a strong work ethic. Lowe, on the other hand, is struggling with her family while visiting. Their relationship starts slowly and you can see it evolving the more time they spend together. The setting of the cruise really lent it well to have surprise run-ins and cute dates. The build-up was well worth it.
The side characters felt one-dimensional at times.
I also personally feel that Lowe made some very stupid choices for being so aware of her privilege.


My biggest problem was the writing style. It seems unpolished. There are quite a few statements that don't add anything to the story, even put more distance between my involvement and the characters. There was a more telling than showing.
Since the book is written in first person and a dual POV we spend time with both of the main characters. Sadly I found it very difficult to differentiate between the two and had to go back several times to figure it out; neither had a strong individual voice.
Almost every scene was very exposition-heavy, no matter how far into the story I was (I do not care about the numbers of the ship or the history of Hobart). And then halfway through the book, the random flashback started. I did not understand why those segments were not simply included in the normal timeline.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This isn’t one of Cannon’s best. It features MCs Faith, who is working on an exclusive residents cruise ship and Lowe, whose parents live on the ship and who is taking a yearly holiday with them.

They POV switches between both MCs, so unlike pure first person, this does help with understanding both MCs perspectives. Both characters are nice enough, but I felt they lacked chemistry. While the do spend a fair bit of time together, they’ve still only known each for other less than a month before achieving their HEA, which I found hard to swallow.

There’s also a lot of ‘we shouldn’t do this’ and family disapproval, and that got old. All in all, I just didn’t buy into the relationship and found Lowe’s family and any scene that involved them trying. The resolution is also very rushed. Cannon has better books, I suggest trying one of them instead.

A decent story that paced along nicely, but overall the plot lacked depth because the secondary characters were just sketched in. Both the sister and the mother could have been more villainous. I know they were deliberately bland to show the inanity of their lives, but something more than just the romance was needed. I liked the adventure off cruise bits the best as these were evocative scenes, but they weren’t enough to elevate the story.

Ms. Cannon has always been one of my favorite authors and this book is another hit for her. The environment was a bit unique (floating apartments), but I liked it.

As usually, she has written very strong characters that stick with you even after the book is done, and a believable story line (as much as taking a trip on floating apartments can be :-)). I really got into the internal feelings for one of the characters and her parents and sister (what tools), it made for a good sub story on their relationships (I am glad the Dad did come through at the end though).

I really enjoyed the writing, she has a way of really bringing out the details of their surroundings, I got a good feel for their excursions and life on a floating apartment bldg (heck if I had the money I might even try to find one myself :-)).

All in all, the book was a solid 4, I would have given it a 5 but the very ending, though happy as it was, just ended way to abrupt for me - I am a sucker for more of a detail epilogue of life after about 6 months and the fairy-tale vacation was done-just my opinion

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-Enjoyable

I really enjoyed reading my first Julie Cannon book. I loved the characters of Lowe and Faith, found the writing to be good, and enjoyed the descriptions of the locations where the characters visited and the activities that they participated in during the shore excursions. The chemistry that the author created between Lowe and Faith was smoldering. Lowe's mother and sister where a bit stereotypical, but they made good plot point villains.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a rich girl/poor girl romance. Lowe Carter's family is loaded and uppity and pretentious. Lowe travels to Sidney to spend 3 weeks on board the Escape with mother, father and sister. Her parent's own one of the best apartments on the small luxury ship. Lowe is unlike her family. She is down to earth and treats everyone with respect. Faith Williams works on the Escape and doesn't come from money. She sends most of her money she earns home to her mother and sister. When Lowe and Faith bump into each other on the first day, sparks fly. The only problem is Faith could get fired for having a fling with a resident.

This one was just OK. I thought it was a tad slow and boring. Faith and Lowe had chemistry for days! It just wasn't enough to make the book interesting. I think it had a lot to do with the writing style. I think this is what's considered to be written in first person. I could be wrong but I am not a big fan of it.

I would have to rate this one 2.5 stars.

The struggle was real to get through this one. I had to force myself not to DNF, and at 67% I was really contemplating it and I almost wish I had cause it just didn’t get any better. Curiosity usually gets me on books I’m not enjoying, but I just had no interest in discovering the conclusion to this story.

I didn’t love any of the characters. Lowe’s family was your typical rich, stuck up, judgemental bunch - even towards their own daughter which just REALLY irritated me. The fact that she still visits them every year “because they are family” I find foolish. Family or not, you shouldn’t put up with toxic people for any reason. There was absolutely nothing good about their visit and she hated every second of it.

Faith was ok, but when it came to Lowe things were just really weird. She would up and run away without a moments notice and for no reason. She was extremely confusing, to me, to Lowe and probably herself too.

Now Lowe. She was something else. At first she was ok and I appreciated how she stood up to her family and didn’t act like a rich snob, but when it came to Faith, things were awkward. She was so obnoxiously annoying almost to the point of creepy. She pretty much acted like a horny teenager the entire time. Faith would say “no, it’s not going to happen” and Lowe would be like, “I will not be deterred”. I just wanted to yell “SHE SAID NO!!”

This was a hot-and-cold romance that was more like annoying, sporadic mood swings. It was a slow-burn with no burn. I am all for the chase, but this was just a whole lot of awkward and boring. It was not hot and steamy, it was dare I saw cringeworthy at times. At one point, Lowe kissed Faith’s hand one she could feel her tongue….. Eww! And orgasms without even touching each other….

And it was ALL lust, from their first bumping into each other. There was zero feeling or anything involved which just made it really boring. Like, just have sex then, which Faith obviously wants, but doesn’t want (I’m not sure if she wants to or doesn’t want to more) and then get on with yourselves. BU then at the end they both suddenly decided they were madly in love with each other, while admitting that they knew nothing about one another.

No. Just, no.

I also must add, the alternating POV’s were very confusing as it never said whose POV it was and you basically had read to find out who it was and then reread so it made sense, especially when the POV would change mid chapter.

I liked the way that this book started and liked both MC. Unfortunately my feelings started to change about halfway through. Lowe's mom and sister were a bit stereotypical and super annoying.

It didn't feel like Lowe and Faith actually spent much time alone getting to know each other. They were mostly with other guests. Eyeing each other over dinner doesn't count.

The changes in whose POV we were reading was confusing. There were times I was a half page in and just figured out who I was reading.

The ending was disappointing. I just assumed that there would be an epilogue. In this story I think it's important to see how they end up working out all of the difficulties of being together. There's no discussion of how they're going to deal with the fact that they live in two very different locations.

This book was ok, but not a favorite of mine by the author.

(A copy was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley)

Shut Up and Kiss Me is a slow burn contemporary romance by Julie Cannon. It involves two characters from opposite social standings as well as wealth status who meet on a ship, the world’s largest private residence on the water. Faith works on the ship and Lowe is visiting her parents who own one of the larger residences on the ship. The story is mainly about the two of them meeting and slowing coming together.

I’m afraid I had a hard time with this book. The story is written in the first person, but the POV changes between the two characters often, sometimes in the middle of a chapter. It became rather confusing sometimes trying to keep up with who was talking. I never connected with the characters, and actually did not like Lowe very much at all. While I occasionally felt some sparks between the two main characters, it was rather sporadic throughout the story. I also did not like the ending of the story. It was too abrupt. We needed to see more at the end.

There is a lot of witty, and sometimes rather snarky, humor, especially in the dialogue and thoughts of the characters that I found amusing. The different settings the characters visited were also well described. This is an OK read for those who like stories that have a truly slow burn and change settings often.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections:
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

I enjoyed reading this book very much. The setting, the characters, the storyline all kept my interest from start to finish. Thank you, Bold Strokes and Netgalley, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

3 Stars. This book was okay. This story was about Lowe Carter, a daughter of a rich family who bought an apartment on a cruise ship that goes all around the world. She meets Faith, an employee on the cruise ship. They literally run into each other, literally and both are drawn to each other. Faith cannot have relationships with members of the cruise ship and is torn between spending time with Lowe and obeying the ship's rules. Lowe is only spending 2 weeks on the cruise ship and Faith is unsure how it will work. Lowe lives in Arizona and not on the cruise ship. However, they both cannot keep away from each other.

This book was decent but not amazing. There was a lot of tension between the two characters for most of the book. Although the tension is not always good, as they have not great reasons to keep away from each other. This book has good moments but overall it is just okay. I did not get really into the book until later on and it did not really have a good end to the tension or the book, in my opinion. It seems like they did not know how to end it. I would recommend it if you really love tension and this author.

I didn't really take to this book, found it slow and to be honest I was bored while reading.
It lacked imagination

This is an ok romance but too slow paced and redundant in the reasons for hesitancy.

Faith is an employe in the luxury ship in wich Lowe is embarqued to visit her parents, who live in said ship traveling all over the world.

Lowe parents and sister are the kind of rich people that believes they are above the rest of mortals, especially the less fortunate and those who need to work for living. Lowe herself is not like that, so her annual visit is always forced and unwanted, but she does it anyway if only just out of respect.

Faith, on the other hand, sends all the money she can save to her mum and sister, in need of that. She has a very strong sense of family ties and she hopes, one day, to create her own.

Lowe is in no rush to this kind of commitment, fun and uncomplicated is her style. But then Faith makes her reconsider this.

All quite interesting and promising, but pretty lost in the excess of should or shouldn't by both main characters.

The duplicity of POV is sometimes confusing, there are chapters with several changes of narrator, although it helps to understand some MC decisions and actions, though.

Certainly this author has better stories, I enjoyed very much some of her first books, but her latest don't let me fully satisfied.

This one should have an epilogue, please

It’s taken me ages but it’s finally dawned on me that Cannon’s books invariably focus on the characters getting to know each other, doing the flirtatious dance trying to figure out who will lead, up until the point where they recognise their desire to be together, or at least give it a try. Her books are about the beginnings and not the relationship. So I was expecting a sudden ending with no epilogue but that said, this wasn’t one of the better story lines for me.

Lowe Carter is joining her ridiculously wealthy parents for a holiday in their residential apartment on an exclusive ship. Faith Williams is part of the crew and has been for eight years. There are rules preventing staff fraternising with the guests so it doesn’t help when they bump into each other and experience an uncanny attraction.

It’s written in first person with alternating points of view and while that normally doesn’t bother me, there were times when I had to flip backwards to see who was talking. I quite liked both Faith and Lowe but they didn’t have nearly enough dialogue or interactions for me to fully believe they got each other. What I mean by that it is, I knew what Faith’s background and values were and I knew what Lowe’s values were from their inner monologues but they didn’t really communicate it to each other on page. It left me feeling that they didn’t really know each other.

A couple of other things bothered me like Lowe saying that her parents would pride good manners and breeding above all else but spent half her time apologising for their manners. Maybe that’s the complexity of human nature. I like books set on ships because it is a defined space forcing the characters to get to know each other but some parts felt a little too much like a travel guide. In the end, it’s a fairly easy read with a little pushing and pulling.

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