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A review by echo_finished_cake
The Cruise by Lise Gold
4.0
I'm giving this book 4 stars because while I really enjoyed it overall, there were somethings about it that keep me from giving it all 5 stars.
I liked the story line, as it really stood out to me from other LGBQT books I found on various lists. It's about this love triangle, really. Cara is best friends with Dan. At the beginning of the story, her life is down in the dumps. She is living with Dan, but really is not doing anything to better herself. Then Dan gets his girlfriend Billie (who considers herself bisexual) to get Cara a kitchen job on a fancy cruise. Cara takes the opportunity and ends up bunking with Billie during the six months cruise. They fall in love, despite both of their resistance due to their loyalty to Dan. I really enjoyed how Ms. Gold developed the romance between Billie and Cara, but I liked and respected that fact that she made them both loyal to Dan as much as she did. This book gets my 4 stars because I liked the character development of all three main characters and how each was really transformed by the end of the novel. Not only am I a sucker for romance, but the fact that there is this traveling element to the plot/development of the story was very nice and made me happy to read.
I also respect the fact that though the synopsis makes it sound like the whole story takes place on this cruise, that is indeed not true. The very beginning and the very end take part off the cruise.
This story was fairly predictable in the grand scheme of the plot, which is why it only gets 4 stars, but I love these little subplots that were written to keep the reader wondering what would become of these character's romance if this or that would have happened. It keeps the reader engaged, for sure.
Honestly, there were two "scenes" in particular that were not a romance scene between Cara and Billie, but were scenes of each of them discussing with another woman they respect about how much they love the other and these respective women share advice about life and love with each main character and other than the romance scenes between Billie and Cara, I really enjoyed these scenes and respect the story and the author for including them.
Honestly, the writing itself was nothing spectacular or extraordinary. In fact, towards the beginning, I was a bit annoyed with pieces of the writing because it made it hard to follow the actions of the characters. I will say, this got better the further into the novel I read. Another reason it is not getting 5 stars.
I also liked how this novel didn't over do it with the stereotypical romance story or scenes. I'm a bit indifferent to how, in my opinion, there are a lack of romantic scenes, especially in the first half of the novel. I wanted more of them, but respect how they were developed in the second half of the story.
Overall, I really liked and enjoyed reading this story!
I liked the story line, as it really stood out to me from other LGBQT books I found on various lists. It's about this love triangle, really. Cara is best friends with Dan. At the beginning of the story, her life is down in the dumps. She is living with Dan, but really is not doing anything to better herself. Then Dan gets his girlfriend Billie (who considers herself bisexual) to get Cara a kitchen job on a fancy cruise. Cara takes the opportunity and ends up bunking with Billie during the six months cruise. They fall in love, despite both of their resistance due to their loyalty to Dan. I really enjoyed how Ms. Gold developed the romance between Billie and Cara, but I liked and respected that fact that she made them both loyal to Dan as much as she did. This book gets my 4 stars because I liked the character development of all three main characters and how each was really transformed by the end of the novel. Not only am I a sucker for romance, but the fact that there is this traveling element to the plot/development of the story was very nice and made me happy to read.
I also respect the fact that though the synopsis makes it sound like the whole story takes place on this cruise, that is indeed not true. The very beginning and the very end take part off the cruise.
This story was fairly predictable in the grand scheme of the plot, which is why it only gets 4 stars, but I love these little subplots that were written to keep the reader wondering what would become of these character's romance if this or that would have happened. It keeps the reader engaged, for sure.
Honestly, there were two "scenes" in particular that were not a romance scene between Cara and Billie, but were scenes of each of them discussing with another woman they respect about how much they love the other and these respective women share advice about life and love with each main character and other than the romance scenes between Billie and Cara, I really enjoyed these scenes and respect the story and the author for including them.
Honestly, the writing itself was nothing spectacular or extraordinary. In fact, towards the beginning, I was a bit annoyed with pieces of the writing because it made it hard to follow the actions of the characters. I will say, this got better the further into the novel I read. Another reason it is not getting 5 stars.
I also liked how this novel didn't over do it with the stereotypical romance story or scenes. I'm a bit indifferent to how, in my opinion, there are a lack of romantic scenes, especially in the first half of the novel. I wanted more of them, but respect how they were developed in the second half of the story.
Overall, I really liked and enjoyed reading this story!