Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
What happens when a cruise ship romance crashes on the rocky shores of reality?
Poor-little-rich-boy Jonathan Vallen is the heir to Vallen Industries, but is more interested in music and gardens. He clashes with new CEO Marco Pellegrini, a self-made man and rising star in business, who is brought in to salvage the company. Jonathan gladly leaves Vallen and moves to Cape Cod. When they meet again on an LGBTQ Caribbean cruise, Marco doesn’t recognize Jonathan, who has spent a year transforming from an ugly duckling into a very sexy swan. After Marco shows interest and sparks fly, Jonathan reluctantly assumes a false identity, egged on by his cousin Anthony. None of them expect a shipboard fling to deepen into true love.
Back on land, the romance crashes when Marco discovers his perfect man is not only a lie but the son of his boss, Frederick Vallen. Jonathan resolves to win Marco back, but Frederick takes vengeful action. Jonathan and Marco must battle their own fears as well as Frederick’s challenge to get to the future that awaits them on the horizon.
Okay, I am not a huge fan of the blurb (I don’t like when it makes fun of one of the characters) especially since Jonathan was the character I connected most with. It was great that he was given the opportunity to break free of his father’s company when Marco came, though I’ll admit I did not like Marco what so ever in the beginning.
Marco seemed a bit two-faced to me, switching his opinion from one to the other about the company and people. And I’m not sure what I felt about how different he was away from work (yes that person was perfect for Jonathan) but something rubbed met he wrong way. Jonathan is adorable and I hated that he felt so inferior because of this father and late brother. I have to give Jonathan credit for how far he came in the year living away from the company and how Marco made him feel that he could embrace his life fully. I did think that Jonathan and Marco’s “courting” gifts were adorable.
This is my first book narrated by Tim McKiernan and he did a nice job. I was mostly able to keep track of the story through the voices he used, though the lisp come characters had for their thoughts didn’t agree with me.
I liked the cover art and that it had their pendant, which became very important to them.
Audiobook Details:
Audiobook, 5 hrs 55 min
Published: April 19, 2018
Edition Language: English
Series: Stories from the Shore #1
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 