Just Finished: All At Sea

It should come to no surprise to regular readers of this blog that I love Heather Wardell and all of her novels.  I was more than happy to agree to review her latest, All At Sea. As usual, her novel didn't disappoint! I devoured this book in three sittings...er...well, two sittings and one gym workout! It was one of those books that I couldn't wait to finish but I also didn't want it to end. Hallmark of a good story!

Here's the synopsis:

Melissa and Owen met on New Years' Eve and he proposed on Valentine's Day. Now it's March, and they're about to set sail on a two-week Caribbean cruise - and get married on the last day at sea. Though their relationship's moving fast, Melissa's wanted to be married for years and she knows the smart stable Owen is a great catch so she's sure they'll be fine.

At least, she's sure until she meets his brothers on the cruise and discovers she's dated both of them: Austin, the fun-loving flirt whose kisses still haunt her dreams, and Nicholas, the sweet horror movie fan whose lack of ambition upset her in ways she still doesn't understand.

Melissa expected to spend tons of time onboard with her fiancé, but he instead spends nearly his every waking moment in the casino displaying a previously unseen love of gambling. This surprise, and the time she spends with Nicholas and with Austin, makes her question everything she thought she wanted.

Her relationship with Owen was just fine before, but suddenly 'just fine' doesn't seem good enough to keep a marriage alive for a lifetime. Melissa has two weeks to decide: stay with Owen or jump ship.

As per usual, Heather created some exceptional characters. I was so invested in Melissa's story and was so worried about how things would turn out. Would she go through with the wedding? Would she be true to herself? It actually felt like I was going through this right along with her. That is how emotionally involved I was.

I also loved her friends. Wendy and Mark were so funny and so cute together. Wendy knew just what to do for Melissa when she wasn't sure herself and knew she couldn't keep quiet when her best friend was in such turmoil. I also thought that Austin was hilarious. I'm realllly hoping Heather decides to write a book that features him sometime in the near future :) All of the supporting characters really added to my enjoyment of this novel.

What made this book a little more fun for me was being able to recall my own time on a cruise ship. My sister and I went on our very first cruise in February and had a great time. I thought about where the quiet pool was on our ship, as well as the casino (no, we didn't go in there), and the towel animals that were left in our room. I just found that it was nice to have a personal experience with a cruise to help me enjoy the story just a little bit more. Not that you can't enjoy it if you've never been on a cruise! It just heightened the fun of it for me :)

Side note: I love that Heather was able to get the words "polar bear" into a novel that takes place on a cruise ship. She makes sure to slip it in in every one of her books and I love finding it!

Read All At Sea...seriously. It's wonderful. If you really want to get hooked, go back to the beginning of Heather's Toronto Series and read Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo (bonus - you can get it for free for your ereader! Click that link to get it for your Kindle). Characters from one book pop up in another and you'll enjoy the novels more fully if you understand the backstories. Heather has ten novels released now and I've read six of them. I wish I had the time to cuddle up with the remaining four over the Thanksgiving weekend (which, by the way, is this weekend for myself and my fellow Canadian readers). If only life didn't get in the way of reading time... :)

Happy reading and happy Thanksgiving!

Vacation Reads Challenge: The Perfect Man

Welcome to another Vacation Reads Challenge post! This time I will be taking you on a Caribbean cruise with a stop in Ireland and Spain with the novel The Perfect Man by Shelia O'Flanagan.

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

From a bestselling author comes a captivating novel about family ties, romance and leaving the past behind Two very different sisters, Mia (still in love with Alejo, the married father of her daughter) and Britt (the ice maiden author of a romantic bestseller), join a luxury honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean where Britt is the guest lecturer. Also on board are recently widowed Leo, still reeling from the discovery of his wife's betrayal just before her death, and Steve, a ship's officer who's soon looking for more than a holiday romance with Mia. Can Steve replace Alejo and is there any chance that Britt and Leo can see that they really should get together? When the characters head for home -- Mia to Spain, the others to Dublin -- it seems that all romantic options are off. But love has a way of triumphing in Sheila O'Flanagan's novels, even if it takes till the very last page...

I've read another of O'Flanagan's novels before (Bad Behaviour) and liked it so I was looking forward to this one. It didn't disappoint! It was such a fun read. It's a fairly long book and the great thing about it is that the story doesn't get dull or stuck. There was always movement with the plot and development with the characters. It was an enjoyable read all around.

What I found quite interesting about the characters Mia and Britt was that they were sisters yet weren't all that close. They had a deeper and more intimate relationship than two friends would have because they grew up together. This trip gave them the chance to learn about each other all over again. They were comfortable with being themselves around each other but there were deeper personality traits that the other did not understand. For example, Mia is still in love with Alejo which Britt finds baffling. As for Britt, she is a bestselling author but hates the life that comes with it. Mia can see that Britt is fantastic with the publicity even if Britt can't see it herself. They learn from each other and I really enjoyed that.

Like any great chick lit novel, the romance in The Perfect Man was present but wasn't in your face. You could figure out from the beginning which man should be with each sister but O'Flanagan does a great job of putting little twists and turns in the story and characters' personalities that make you wonder if you really did figure it out. The area of romantic relationships was one of the areas that I had issue with...both Mia and Britt tended to be quite hard on themselves when it came to relationships and I wanted to shake them both because they had so many great qualities! Luckily, they both came to their senses and realized that any man would be lucky to have them.

The reason I chose this as a read for the vacation challenge is because my own sister and I have been toying with the idea of going on a cruise ourselves. She's trying to decide if she wants to work on a cruise ship but wants to actually GO on a cruise before committing herself to working on one. Of course, we'd love to go somewhere hot like the sisters in The Perfect Man did (we live in Canada...we need to escape the winter!) but I'd really like to avoid a "structured" cruise. I want to be able to do what I want, when I want, where I want - not sit down to some stuffy dinner :)

Overall, I had fun reading this book. It was easy to put myself on the cruise and feel the roller coaster of emotions the characters go through. I would definitely recommend it to chick lit lovers!  I'll also be checking out more of Shelia O'Flanagan's novels in the future.

Happy Reading :)