Fiona Riley

When Charlotte boards her honeymoon cruise single and comes face-to-face with Lexi, the high school love she left behind, she questions every decision she has ever made.

Not Since You

Lucia Correa

3 Stars for this Fiona Riley romance aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean. 

We join Charlotte Southwick on her Honeymoon only without her wife. Or rather without her cheating ex-fiancé. Too late to cancel for a refund, she decides to go on the cruise honeymoon by herself since she already paid quite a bit of money for the VIP room and excursions. Lexi Bronson is the lead bartender on the ship and she is assigned as the VIP attendant for the honeymoon suite. As a VIP attendant she gives them personal service in setting up their tours, reservations, excursions etc. Lexi has been without a permanent address for almost a decade, all the while working on cruise ships and she loves it. They are both in for a surprise when Lexi visits the “honeymooners” only to find Charlotte, her high school love. The girl who broke her heart when she broke up with Lexi and left to go to college. 

The previous Riley books I read was her Match series and I rated them all 4 or 5 stars. This book I liked but it was a 3 star’er which for me is an average read, but not a negative in my book (so to speak). I liked the characters and they were well written. I also liked Lexi’s crewmate friends and I felt Lexi’s distress when her BFF for many years has decided to leave the cruise line for dry ground. I’ve never been on a cruise and highly likely I ever will because I get nauseous on a floating pier. Some medications have worked for me on relatively calm waters for short excursions, but my fear would be that they won’t on a cruise and that’s a lot of money wasted only too feel horrible in the cabin. Not to mention missing the great food! So I did enjoy living vicariously on a cruise vacation.

Although most romances are predictable in that there will most likely be a HEA, however its how they get there and their exact HEA is what makes it compelling. Unfortunately, I predicted early on exactly what would happen and how it would end and I was right. Maybe the clues were too obvious? But I will say, there were some HOT sex scenes. So be prepared if reading in public with over the shoulder readers. Although this was a 3 Star book for me, I am looking forward to reading the next new Fiona Riley book.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

Jude Silberfeld

« I’m gonna make this vacation my bitch. » Charlotte is determined to enjoy the cruise she’d planned on taking with her wife even though she’s now wifeless and still hurt after finding her fiancée in bed with another woman. The good news is, her ex-fiancée wasn’t the love of her life. And as fate would have it, Lexi, who is the love of her life, just happens to be working on the ship and has been assigned as Charlotte’s VIP attendant. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, not since Charlotte left Lexi to go study in Europe, a decision she has regretted ever since.

I have a thing for second chance romances. One of my favorite novels is Turn Back Time by Radclyffe. There’s something delightfully angsty about lost time and making up for it. There’s often (but not always) some sort of betrayal the characters have to overcome, and trust to establish anew. And the question of whether the chemistry is still there. Fiona Riley deals rather quickly yet efficiently with the first issue. As for the chemistry, it definitely still exists. The love Charlotte and Lexi shared as teenagers has obviously never faded, but before they even talk about that and maybe imagining a future together, there’s a lot of sex. I mean, a lot. Not right away, there’s plenty of tension and teasing first, since Lexi is not allowed to have any relationship with passengers. A rule they try to abide by for a couple of days… It might seem fast but it’s not really insta-lust since they already were in lust a decade ago. They simply get to act on it again. It makes sense. And the fact that it seems so obvious, so natural, so easy between them stems from that love they’ve always shared, even when they were apart.

I have to be honest here. I’m way more emotional at the moment than I usually am so I’m not entirely sure all the feelings I got came from the book itself. But it’s still a damn good story, with lovely characters (including the secondary characters), it’s well written and hot. So hot.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Charlotte Southwick always has a plan. Boarding her honeymoon cruise alone and decidedly unmarried wasn’t her intention. Neither was running into her high school love on board. Lexi looks so confident, and so hot, and so irresistible... How could she have let this woman get away? Lexi Bronson hasn’t had a permanent address in almost a decade and couldn’t be happier. Life is good bartending for a luxury cruise line—open seas, warm beaches, beautiful women, and no unnecessary anchors—until the woman who broke her heart shows up on her ship, and all those dreams of forever come rushing back. When passion flares, will the storm that rages shipwreck them both?

Megan Cooper

3.25

Fiona Riley writes fun and engaging characters that pretty much sizzle with chemistry.  Not Since You doesn't disappoint - a perfect beach read to put a smile on your face and perhaps a flush or two during certain scenes.  This is a light romance - not angsty but definitely steamy.

With an admirable attitude of "fuck it", Charlotte Southwick boards a luxury cruise ship to enjoy the honeymoon cabin and resort in Aruba without her adulterous former fiance.  She paid for the trip, so she's going to "make this vacation my bitch".   She's a bit bristly at first - understandably - and I wasn't sure I was going to really like her but as the story unfolds, Riley captures a nice mix of vulnerability and a steely resolve in Charlotte as she is determined to make the best of things.  Little does she know that Lexi Bronson, her first love, is working on the ship as the head bartender and Charlotte's VIP concierge.   Despite Charlotte's dumping of Lexi when they were teenagers, she never forgot her and always regretted succumbing to the pressure of family and going overseas to pursue her education.

Hit with the one-two punch of losing Charlotte and then her father, Lexi signed up with a cruise line and never looked back.  In spite of the nomadic lifestyle parsed out in six month contracts, she's built a new family of close friends.  She's developed her own sense of worth and identity as she's worked her way to head bartender and is lined up for a promotion to the full time VIP concierge if she wants it - all with an eye of retiring from the cruise lifestyle and buying a bar on shore of one of the many Caribbean islands she's visited. She's smart, serious about her responsibilities on-board but at the same time a fun and supportive friend.  When Charlotte answers the door of the Honeymoon Suite, Lexi is flummoxed - but the initial awkwardness is quickly replaced with the rekindling of the connection they once had.  There's a wonderful undertone of humour and wistfulness in their early interactions which quickly heats up.

Although this is a second chance romance, Ms. Riley didn't pepper the story with flashbacks to demonstrate their early relationship - which alleviates some of the angst and likely the anger that both Lexi and the reader should harbour against Charlotte for the rather abrupt end of their teenage relationship. Early on, there's some serious discussion and closure around the past - Charlotte's honesty  and regret and Lexi's acceptance and understanding was pretty fast and relatively painless.  From that point on, all bets are off with lingering glances and flirtatious banter.  At times, I was wondering what, other than the sizzling chemistry, will keep them together.  I would have liked to see a bit more of a build to the relationship - although there may have been a shared past, there's still a lot of time and growth since they were in their teens and it would have been nice to have a bit of a slower progression or some connection outside of the stateroom.

There's a ridiculously off-the-charts physical chemistry between Charlotte and Lexi which, coupled with the setting of a luxury cruise ship and exotic locales, seems to overwhelm both of them.   For Charlotte, rekindling the romance has less risk - she's always regretted the way she ended things and never really fell out of love.  For Lexi, as a crew member, romantic liaisons with passengers is strictly forbidden but the physical draw is just too hard to resist.  Lexi's risking everything was a bit bothersome to me - there was a bit of an imbalance Charlotte is on vacation as a passenger and has nothing really to lose whereas Lexi is risking her career and dreams.

Overall, I enjoyed the book - Ms. Riley is adept weaving humour, tension and likable characters into a  sweet and steamy romance

Not Since You

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