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karalyn9's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Tom is back on the cruise ship and meets Oscar Harvey’s sister, Gemma, who is going by Megan to escape from the press and social media problems she has been dealing with
ksotirova's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sienasummerrreads's review
challenging
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This follows Tom who is going viral on socials and a comedian. He has been on the cruise boat entertainment scene for a while. It’s now time for another six-month stint on the cruise boat. Little does he know that the mysterious brunette is his best friend’s sister and keeping a low profile. But what is she hiding from?
Huge shout out to Philippa for including a recap at the start for More Than Shipmates book one in the series! I loved this Megan and Tom’s tension was fantastic. The cruise boat parties were brilliant. I loved the mysterious element of trying to work out why Megan was hiding her true identity. We love a consent and patient king and Tom takes the title. The perfect amount of spice with some fantastic scenes. I will mention though the last 15% of the book I struggled to get my head around the Megan storyline. It felt quick from being sad and struggling then standing up for herself which she deserves of course. But personally, my brain wasn’t grasping what was going on and understanding clearly what happened fully and it felt a little fast towards the end. Other than that the book was great and was a feel-good read.
If you love:
🔹Brothers Best Friend
🔹Forced Proximity
🔹Secret Identity
🔹Reformed Play Boy
🔹Made Me Laugh
🔹Perfect Amount Of Spice
Genre/Type: Romance 18+
APK: Kindle - ARC
Pages: 287
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Series or Stand Alone: Book Two In The Below Deck Series
Tropes or Themes: Brothers Best Friend, Workplace, Secret Identity, Forced Proximity, Reformed Playboy, Made Me Laugh, Assault, Violence, Playlist, Sexual Content, Praise, Dirty Talk, Virgin, FFM and MFM Scenes
Check Triggers ⚠️ 💫
All Round Romance Reader
Sienasummerrreads 💕📚
TikTok | Instagram | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Everand | Amazon | Audible Reviews 💫
Huge shout out to Philippa for including a recap at the start for More Than Shipmates book one in the series! I loved this Megan and Tom’s tension was fantastic. The cruise boat parties were brilliant. I loved the mysterious element of trying to work out why Megan was hiding her true identity. We love a consent and patient king and Tom takes the title. The perfect amount of spice with some fantastic scenes. I will mention though the last 15% of the book I struggled to get my head around the Megan storyline. It felt quick from being sad and struggling then standing up for herself which she deserves of course. But personally, my brain wasn’t grasping what was going on and understanding clearly what happened fully and it felt a little fast towards the end. Other than that the book was great and was a feel-good read.
If you love:
🔹Brothers Best Friend
🔹Forced Proximity
🔹Secret Identity
🔹Reformed Play Boy
🔹Made Me Laugh
🔹Perfect Amount Of Spice
Genre/Type: Romance 18+
APK: Kindle - ARC
Pages: 287
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Series or Stand Alone: Book Two In The Below Deck Series
Tropes or Themes: Brothers Best Friend, Workplace, Secret Identity, Forced Proximity, Reformed Playboy, Made Me Laugh, Assault, Violence, Playlist, Sexual Content, Praise, Dirty Talk, Virgin, FFM and MFM Scenes
Check Triggers ⚠️ 💫
All Round Romance Reader
Sienasummerrreads 💕📚
TikTok | Instagram | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Everand | Amazon | Audible Reviews 💫
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Cursing
maddisonjane's review
5.0
This was such a fun read and a great follow up to More Than Shipmates! I had no idea what to expect from Toms book but this was basically perfection. He is such a beautiful human and I’m glad he finally got his HEA. I loved the tension between him and Gem. The steamy scenes were next level! Definitely recommend for anyone wanting a steamy cruise ship series. I’m so excited for book 3!
harmour's review
5.0
I received an ARC from the author.
This book has certain ✨moments✨ I’ve personally never read before. IYKYK… and I didn’t hate it.
I loved the bts of the reality show.
I also loved the relationship both Gemma and Tom have we Jack. He seems like such a teddy bear
This book has certain ✨moments✨ I’ve personally never read before. IYKYK… and I didn’t hate it.
I loved the bts of the reality show.
I also loved the relationship both Gemma and Tom have we Jack. He seems like such a teddy bear
sydneyd05's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
*4.5
Tom and Gemma are really cute. They happen pretty fast but it really works for them. He knows that she is the one for him, they just both have to work through some insecurities for this to happen. Something like it happened in the first book so I should have been prepared for the threesome but I was not at all. It was interesting how it only made their relationship stronger. I loved seeing Gemma stick it to the producers at the end. I am excited for Jack's book.
I received an arc from the author.
Tom and Gemma are really cute. They happen pretty fast but it really works for them. He knows that she is the one for him, they just both have to work through some insecurities for this to happen. Something like it happened in the first book so I should have been prepared for the threesome but I was not at all. It was interesting how it only made their relationship stronger. I loved seeing Gemma stick it to the producers at the end. I am excited for Jack's book.
I received an arc from the author.
anxiouspages1's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
justmevictoria's review
4.5
This book was kindly sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
A fresh start on a cruise ship leads to some unforgettable experiences…
After being given the extreme villain edit on a reality dating show, Gemma Harvey has escaped to cruise ship crew life alongside her brother Oscar and his girlfriend Eliza. It’s world’s away from her life as an influencer and she hopes that none of the guests recognise and expose her. Plus, being on the Neptune finally puts her in the path of Eliza’s friend Tom Parks, who she’s been crushing on since the moment he popped up in Oscar’s photo stream. Delaying his return to the ship, Tom is immediately drawn to Gemma - or Megan - and after an unforgettable first night together in the most unexpected place, he knows this is a women he needs to get to know. When Harvey offers Gemma’s social media services to Tom, who is trying to maintain a comedy presence on TikTok while on the ship, it’s the perfect chance to spend quality time with her. But Gemma, rightfully, has some walls up, and Oscar isn’t afraid to tell Tom to not hook up with his sister. No matter the obstacles though, Tom knows that Gemma is it for him, he just has to prove that to her, no matter what anyone says.
When the first chapter features an orgy, you know damn well you’re in for an unputdownable read! I absolutely ADORED More Than Shipmates and the swoony and spicy crewmate shenanigans that Philippa put the characters through, and she followed all that up with another fabulous romp on what has to be the horniest ship sailing the high seas! THIS is what cruiseships need to be using as advertisements to get people to apply to be crewmates, because they’d be inundated with applications in the blink of an eye!
After everything that Tom went through in book one, I was very excited to see him get the happily ever after he deserves. And as we got to learn about Gemma and her backstory, it was clear that she too deserved the love and HEA just as much as Tom. Both had intense chemistry from the get-go, spurred on by Gemma finally having a chance to explore her sexuality and experiences with Tom. There was so much love and care between them, especially on Tom’s part from the beginning, and the spice only intensified that. And yes, the spice was spicing real damn good - I did say this whole thing started with an orgy, and it only got better from there!
Once again, I ADORED the setting of a cruise ship, which is the perfect fodder for the forced proximity trope. And again, I was VERY close to uprooting my entire life and embarking on a new journey working on a cruise shop, despite the fact that I’m an introvert and my social battery would NEVER be able to handle it! While we didn’t get to see as much of the crew activities like we did with the previous book (the scavenger hunt still lives rent-free in my head), we got to explore more off-shore locations. And while there was also less focus on the larger friend groups, there was strong focus on the stronger friendships, like between Tom and Jack.
Not going to lie, I was lowkey VERY invested in a potential throuple situation, and I would have been very satisfied if that was the route Philippa had taken with Tom and Gemma. But the group activities that we did get with these two were *chefs kiss* and I definitely could have done with more! And although Philippa ended the book with Jack seemingly getting his happy ending, I do kind of want to see him get his own book so we can explore that more - he was such a great inclusion in this story, and I loved his friendship with Tom, and eventually Gemma, so it would be so fun to follow his own HEA after everything he’s been through.
If you love Below Deck and want to experience all the drama that comes with living on a cruise ship for six months, this book and this series NEEDS to be at the top of your TBR! You’ll 100% be itching to apply for cruiseship jobs the moment you start reading, and you’ll be packing your bags by the time you reach the final page!
A fresh start on a cruise ship leads to some unforgettable experiences…
After being given the extreme villain edit on a reality dating show, Gemma Harvey has escaped to cruise ship crew life alongside her brother Oscar and his girlfriend Eliza. It’s world’s away from her life as an influencer and she hopes that none of the guests recognise and expose her. Plus, being on the Neptune finally puts her in the path of Eliza’s friend Tom Parks, who she’s been crushing on since the moment he popped up in Oscar’s photo stream. Delaying his return to the ship, Tom is immediately drawn to Gemma - or Megan - and after an unforgettable first night together in the most unexpected place, he knows this is a women he needs to get to know. When Harvey offers Gemma’s social media services to Tom, who is trying to maintain a comedy presence on TikTok while on the ship, it’s the perfect chance to spend quality time with her. But Gemma, rightfully, has some walls up, and Oscar isn’t afraid to tell Tom to not hook up with his sister. No matter the obstacles though, Tom knows that Gemma is it for him, he just has to prove that to her, no matter what anyone says.
When the first chapter features an orgy, you know damn well you’re in for an unputdownable read! I absolutely ADORED More Than Shipmates and the swoony and spicy crewmate shenanigans that Philippa put the characters through, and she followed all that up with another fabulous romp on what has to be the horniest ship sailing the high seas! THIS is what cruiseships need to be using as advertisements to get people to apply to be crewmates, because they’d be inundated with applications in the blink of an eye!
After everything that Tom went through in book one, I was very excited to see him get the happily ever after he deserves. And as we got to learn about Gemma and her backstory, it was clear that she too deserved the love and HEA just as much as Tom. Both had intense chemistry from the get-go, spurred on by Gemma finally having a chance to explore her sexuality and experiences with Tom. There was so much love and care between them, especially on Tom’s part from the beginning, and the spice only intensified that. And yes, the spice was spicing real damn good - I did say this whole thing started with an orgy, and it only got better from there!
Once again, I ADORED the setting of a cruise ship, which is the perfect fodder for the forced proximity trope. And again, I was VERY close to uprooting my entire life and embarking on a new journey working on a cruise shop, despite the fact that I’m an introvert and my social battery would NEVER be able to handle it! While we didn’t get to see as much of the crew activities like we did with the previous book (the scavenger hunt still lives rent-free in my head), we got to explore more off-shore locations. And while there was also less focus on the larger friend groups, there was strong focus on the stronger friendships, like between Tom and Jack.
Not going to lie, I was lowkey VERY invested in a potential throuple situation, and I would have been very satisfied if that was the route Philippa had taken with Tom and Gemma. But the group activities that we did get with these two were *chefs kiss* and I definitely could have done with more! And although Philippa ended the book with Jack seemingly getting his happy ending, I do kind of want to see him get his own book so we can explore that more - he was such a great inclusion in this story, and I loved his friendship with Tom, and eventually Gemma, so it would be so fun to follow his own HEA after everything he’s been through.
If you love Below Deck and want to experience all the drama that comes with living on a cruise ship for six months, this book and this series NEEDS to be at the top of your TBR! You’ll 100% be itching to apply for cruiseship jobs the moment you start reading, and you’ll be packing your bags by the time you reach the final page!
stephsbookedout's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75