Peter is a recently spurned travel writer who takes a cruise and brings along his on again/off again friend, Tony. The guys meet up with Carlos, a sexy, hot Latino masseur who works on the ship. However, it's Carlos and Peter who pair off. Even though their time together on the cruise is short, they are extremely attracted to each other. Peter has bad luck jumping into relationships too quickly, and Carlos has avoided hooking up with passengers for fear of becoming too attached, which is exactly what happens when he becomes involved with Peter. Will Peter and Carlos decide to give their relationship a try? Does what happens on a cruise ship stay on the ship?
I wanted to get all excited about this story, but somehow I couldn't get that worked up. The setting attracted me: I love cruise ships and wish I could go again. The guys attracted me: who wouldn't love a hot masseur, a horny but sea-sick passenger, and a travel writer with a broken heart but a lively lust? The peek behind the scenes in a ship certainly put a different face on vacations at sea.
And yet-- what I was hoping for in a hot beach read, or a Lido Deck read, didn't quite come together. I never got the feeling that the characters were really engaged with each other. Situations that called for anger or lust felt tepid. I wanted the anger, I wanted the desire, but... I'm still wanting. It had all the elements in place, but they didn't quite move. The point of view didn't feel very settled -- there was a feel of head hopping and I found myself scrolling upward to see whose head I should be in this time.
There were moments of shock -- a good sort, to find out how crew really feel about the tourists (puts a whole new face on that communications officer who kissed me) and humor (what happens to a threesome when the ship rolls?) so I'm glad I read this overall, but it could have been so much more.
I really enjoyed reading this story. And finding out more about ship life. I have taken quite a few cruises in my time and this really gave me a behind the scenes look at what really happens if you get lucky. ;-) This was the perfect beach read. I just bought a Kindle and this was one of the first ebooks I purchased. The story flowed and I inhaled it. There were many good scenes, but my favorite was when Carlos' cabinmate Monica pulls his pants down in front of the entire crew. That made me laugh out loud. I also enjoyed seeing Peter and Carlos try to build a relationship together. It was a sweet ending.
Peter broke up with his cheating ex two weeks ago and as a travel writer is taking his BFF Tony on a cruise. He is attracted to masseur Carlos, but Carlos likes his job and doesn’t get involved with “cones” as guests are called however something about Peter attracts him. Carlos’ boss has been sexually harassing him and tells Peter he and Carlos are together, and after his experience with his ex Peter believes him and he and Carlos have a falling out. This fell pretty close to insta-love for me. While they didn’t say it, Carlos went from “Good Time Charlie” to “I really like him a lot” mushy in a day.