This book was such a fun read! This book follows Eliza who was rejected from her dream school that would lead her to her perfect life. Feeling like a failure, she wants to give herself a new start and accepts a job on a cruise ship for 6 months. As all good love stories go, she meets a guy (well actually 2 guys) even though she has sworn off a workplace romance and men for the time being. You have Tom the fun and playful match and then you have Oscar the (seemingly) quiet and shy match. Along the way there are twists and turns and a ton of fun boat games played by Eliza and her coworkers. The love triangle is the perfect amount of drama without it being repetitive and overwhelming. I loved the friendships that Eliza made and how they developed throughout the book. Overall, this was a really fun and entertaining read!

I thought this was a really fun quick read. The story follows the FMC Eliza on her journey to find herself working onboard a cruise ship for 6 months. It is a forced proximity/ love triangle story which was a bit frustrating at times and confusing to follow. While I love character and scene development I feel like there was a bit of extra added things that didn't do a whole lot for the plot of the story that could have been left out. Overall it was a fun read that I would pick up again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars
I will admit as being a fan of Below Deck this book definitely interested me. Elizabeth has just got a job on ship when she meets Tom. Eliza and Tom quickly become friends and they both are paired with buddies. Eliza is paired with Oscar. This book is spicy and fun with each character having something they are escaping from. This book is a very good romance. Thank you to Philippa Young and Net Galley for allowing me to read this.

First, I want to express my gratitude to Philippa Young and Summer Star Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I rated this book 4.5 ⭐️.

Where do I begin with this book? First off, I’d like to say that I was Team Oscar the whole time! His personality and charm hooked me. The way he carried himself and showed vulnerability made me fall in love with him even more. Second, I appreciate the author for creating realistic and flawed characters—it made me love them even more.

I loved everything about this book, from the banter to the spicy scenes to the emotional roller coaster it took me on at the end. Also, I appreciated the triple POV. When it came to Oscar’s POV, I was ecstatic.

For me, it reminded me of the dramas I grew up watching as a kid with my mom. We were both suckers for drama and romance, which this book had! It features a love triangle, miscommunication, and lust. However, I did get a bit worried about Eliza at the end, but I’m glad it took a complete 180.

The only reason I deducted 0.5 ⭐️ is that the beginning was too slow for my liking.

Overall, I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. I’m excited to see what happens in Tom’s story, but I also hope Philippa Young writes a story featuring Maddison, Valentina, and Daniel (he needs a redemption story, please).

(P.S posted on my goodreads and amazon (waiting for it to be approved) as of 06/08).

Edit: Added it to my story graph as of 06/11/24

Edit: Amazon review is live as of 06/12/24

Love this book and reading about the background workers of the cruise industry. As I do come a cruise family, the setting was perfect and unique. Cant wait for the next one!

Firstly, I am obsessed with this cover - it is so pretty!
Secondly, I am equally as obsessed with the storyline and characters of this wonderful story.
I am an bit of a sucker for a love triangle romance, and this was utter perfection - it was super spicy and so much fun, and it left me wanting more. Eliza, Oscar, and Tom completely have my heart, and i am going to need more books by Philippa Young immediately because I'm hooked!

If you’ve ever seen the Below deck franchise you know the crew get up to some sexy shenanigans. Set on a cruise ship, the crew in this book do as well. Eliza joins the cruise because she missed out on her dream of drama school. In her first week she meets two men she becomes attracted to. Their story and dramas form the bulk of this book. However, this is not a why choose so be aware of that.
This was more of a women’s fiction vibe as opposed to a romance. That didn’t bother me as I’ve long enjoyed British women’s fiction. My one big problem is this was way too long. There were parts that felt slow paced, so dragged a little. In saying that, I had fun reading this. The characters were well fleshed out, even the side characters. The author made working on a cruise ship sound entertaining, fun and a good way to travel and make friends.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy and this is my honest review.

I could not follow the pov very early on. It unfortunately became a DNF quite early on because while this concept was fun, there was no way to connect with the characters.

Young managed to hook me in with this love triangle rom com, though I would say it became less of a love triangle as time went on and I was rooting for one of them to win to be honest. I'm not sure how much of it is accurate for ship life but I enjoyed the setting of a cruise ship and the busy reality of being a host on one of them.

I liked how Eliza was trying to follow her dreams but finding it hard to commit to jobs/people, and that she really lacked confidence in herself too as I felt her grow as time went on. The triple perspective was easy to follow, though at times I felt it could have been a little more cohesive as it moved forward or back in time occasionally.

Thank you for providing me with an e ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars!

This book was really cute. I was instantly transported to the life of a cruise ship, and it was a really interesting plot that hooked me from the first page.

The relationship between Oscar/Eliza/Tom was complicated, but I’m happy with how everything turned out!

The reasoning for my rating, I feel like some things didn’t pan out entirely. Such as the timetable, it seemed like time was flying but we weren’t aware of it until later. Also, I feel like the conflict always got resolved very easily, there wasn’t much groveling or explaining done.

Overall, this book was super cute and I’ll definitely read the next book!

NEED.MORE.NOW!

I am shocked this is a debut novel. This story was fantastic!! I laughed so hard throughout this entire story, I could not get enough.

I can't wait to read more by Philippa Young.

Review posted to Goodreads and Amazon.

Overall I liked the book because I’m a fan of spicy romance and the love triangle was fun to read! But one thing that kept me not overly excited was the fact that the book was so long and I lost interest in between.

This book definitely exceeded my expectations. Every character was loveable and endearing and there wasn't a single character who didn't add to the plot.
Following Eliza on her journey of picking herself back up after continuous rejection in both her personal life and career was both wholesome and entertaining.
The love interests were both unique, funny and had depth to their personalities and backstories. In the first half I found myself split between which one I wanted her to end up with.
I loved the setting of the cruise ship and the games they played were *chefs kiss* excellent. They made this book so much more enjoyable.
It is just an easy fun read and the tension and care between Eliza and both tom and Oscar was swoon worthy.
Definitely would recommend to lovers of romantic comedies and can't wait to read the next one.

This was such a fun story to read. There were a couple of times where it felt like the story dragged a little bit, but overall I enjoyed this book!

Being stuck on a cruise with two men you’re sleeping with and both are your coworkers isn’t ideal and I feel that this book definitely captures that. While I love a spicy romance, and this was definitely that, this one felt too long and with too little substance to satisfy me as a reader. This was the first love triangle book I’ve read and that trope wasn’t as appealing to me as I had hoped. I also felt like a lot of the relationships were a bit shallow and the big emotions were quickly skimmed over by the author. I’m also just overall not a fan of multiple POVs as it can get a bit confusing and it did for me in this book. It wasn’t bad per se, just not for me.

i wanna start with appreciating the author on starting her career with this marvellous novel!
this book was the first book i’ve ever read which is based on ocean and ships, and man now i wanna read more in this genre!
i found myself relating with eliza at almost all the parts of the books the loneliness she felt creeping, being a third wheel, being left out, seeing herself as a failure, i’ve felt it all,
eliza, babe, i love you, i get what you’re feeling, and to be honest people like us are better alone!
now, the book represented a workplace - love Triangle - romance, while i’ve read these tropes seperately, but never together, i had huge hopes. i’m satisfied to say that the hopes i had were accomplished,
i loved how oscar and tom were protective over her which is what she deserves truly.
and most importantly, i loved the crew! the talents showcasing and the friendship, i loved that so much.
hats off to you, can’t wait to read more of your work

I really enjoyed the back and forth during this book. The love triangle between the characters was expected and I am happy with the way it ended between them! I also love how their separate stories played out and how the characters grew during the story!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this debut book by the author!! This is the kind of book you can easily read by the pool and have a few laughs at. It’s lighthearted, fun, and at the same time cozy in its own way. I loved and could relate to Eliza’s character so much.

This book was the perfect steamy read if you are a fan of below deck and love triangles!

I genuinely had a ton of fun reading and am interested to see how the second will play out!

Love triangles definitely are not my favorite trope but all in all, a very cute book 🤍

I loved this love triangle debut from Philippa Young.
Eliza is starting her first stint as an Entertainment Host on a Cruise Ship. On her first day she meets Tom, another newbie that she clicks with instantly and Oscar (Harvey) who she's meets whilst stripping in his cabin.
Hijinks ensue as cruise employment life involves a lot of fun and games (many of which are clothing optional).
Its a roller-coaster ride of which guy will be the one to fully capture her heart.
What's great about the story (other then the spicy-ness) is that we get PO from all 3 characters. I love the growth all of them have throughout the book whilst they deal with demons from their past.
Such a fun spicy romance and I can't wait to read the next one.