Smooth Sailing

by Susan X. Meagher

Opening a new theme park is not for kids. Laurie Nielsen is so overworked and overstressed that she's forced to take a vacation—on one of her companies' kid-centric cruise ships. It's a slow torture, but she eventually makes the best of it and gets off the boat in St. Maarten. There, Laurie meets and insultsKaatje Hoogaboom, a woman who has very little of Laurie's work obsession. But they still manage to hit it off—to her great surprise.Once Laurie returns home they stay in touch, getting to know each other via phone calls and e-mails. But Laurie isn't an ideal girlfriend. Work is at the top of her priority list and toppling it might be more than Kaatje is able, or even willing to do.Kaatje and Laurie both have to do a lot of soul searching; what do each of them want and need, and how far is each willing to compromise? They're both strong-minded women who've adjusted to being single. The adjustment to being coupled can be just as, if not more, trying.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary, Adult, Travel, Queer

310 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Susan X Meagher was born in southern Illinois and grew up in East St Louis. She attended college in Chicago and started her working career there. She and her partner moved to the Los Angeles area in the late 80's. It was there that she started to write. Her first few books were simply posted on the web and became the I Found My Heart in San Francisco series. In 2002 she moved to New York and divides her time between Manhattan and the Jersey Shore. She has published thirteen books in the series and has gone on to write many individual books as well. She has partnered with other authors on two short story books and has written many stories that have been published in other mainstream anthologies. Susan is active in the lesbian author community and loves to attend Women's week at Provincetown and the GCLS annual conventions. Her stories revolve around the relationships that two women can build when given a chance and how those relationships can strengthen the individual and the partnership. Her genre is lesbian romance/fiction and she believes strongly in the happy ending that we all so deserve. Susan X Meagher was awarded a 2011 Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite Lesbian Fiction Writer. She is the recipient of the 2014 Alice B. Medal for her body of work.

From the author's website: I live in New York with my spouse, Carrie. We've lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for significant periods, but New York fits us very well. I love to discuss my work and fiction in general. My goal in writing is to explore feelings. I want to entertain, but I also want to make people think. I've heard that life is all about finding out who we are. To me, life if about finding out who other people are. I'm interested in the small details of life, that's how a story about two young women in college is slowly becoming a 26 book series. The joke in Seinfield was that it was about nothing. I feel the same about most of my books. They are about the many things that happen when nothing is happening. The small joys and sorrows of everyday life can be fascinating, especially if you care about the people involved. I try to create characters that will make a reader care deeply. I'm always interested in hearing how close I am to that goal. So please drop me a line whenever you have a comment or a question about a story. Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit and it's great to know that I'm not alone.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurie is not easy to like at first, and I found her difficult to relate to because I’m not a workaholic. That said, Susan X Meagher does a wonderful job developing her character, and we get to see Laurie change and grow as she becomes involved with Kaatje and eventually realizes she’s in love with her. She may have to make compromises for Kaatje, but I love that it happened in a way that was true to who she is as a person.

Kaatje has to make her own compromises for Laurie and has her own growth and journey as a character. Although Smooth Sailing is told almost entirely from Laurie’s perspective, we see a lot of who Kaatje is through Laurie and their interactions. Laurie is so strong willed that it would have been easy for a partner to be steamrolled by her and her impossible schedule, so I was happy to see Kaatje communicate what she needed from their relationship, rather than simply cave to her.

Full review: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/smoot...

[Netgyrl (Laura) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars - good but not my favorite of Ms Meagher

So I am not sure how many Meagher books I have read now.. 25+. She has been crazy consistent in quality for me like I think they are mostly all 5 stars. If this one didn't quite work for me, I feel like that is ok considering her track record. :)

The writing was good and the conflict was very realistic, but it was also what didn't work for me in the book. Here is why... Kaatje is a free spirit, who owns a catamaran in St Maarten. She works hard enough to make a living and enjoys her life splitting time between the island and her native Netherlands.

Laurie is a workaholic who lives for her job, which is currently working her to death as she is in charge of bringing a new amusement park online in Osaka. She works for what is basically Disney but in the book is called "Luxor" and "The Teddy Bear" is Mickey Mouse. Laurie loves her job.

Do to a stress-related health scare, Laurie is forced to take a break before the last big push to get park open and that is how she ends up meeting Kaatje.

Here is the thing - I don't understand the love connection between the two. I can understand the sexual attraction just fine but they are so very different and just can't understand why they would be interested in more than a vacation fling. Because I didn't see where this deep connection/love/soulmates vibe was coming from I wasn't as invested in the story. I think I read to about 60% or so then took a break and read a couple of other books and decided I would finally finish it, if only to satisfy my curiosity on how Meagher was going to resolve the issue of how to make their very different lifestyles work together. And, yes, she had a conclusion that made sense.

Anyhoo, a good story, just not one of my favs.

shelves:
read, business-mogul, not-so-straight, sapphic-romance, struggled-to-finish, tropical-locale

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, a few of my friends mentioned that they really didn't like this book as much as many of Meagher's other books so my expectations were pretty low. I've read nearly all of the author's stand alone books and the first three of the Ryan and Jamie series (online versions of those) and I liked Smooth Sailing better than at least two of her other published novels.

It wasn't earth shattering, but I don't think it was meant to be. I recognized my wife in the Laurie character - workaholic, constantly busy, not happy without high-speed internet - and so I was able to relate to some of her issues that may have seemed like crap to someone else. I also have many of the same traits as Kaatje, although none of her physical ones. I love to relax but work hard when I need to.

Anyway, Meagher is one of my favorite authors. I didn't think she spent as much time on details as in some of her other books and that was GREAT! The story felt good to me. So there.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. I didn’t absolutely love this but I’m a fan of Meagher and this was still pretty damn good. Also, it made me want to go on vacation so bad and fall in love. Ugh. Anyway, this was fun and side note but this had the most sex scenes that I think I’ve read from this author. No complaints just wanted to mention it for some reason.

I’m losing focus again anyway. I liked the characters Laurie and Kaatje quite a bit but I will say that I had to warm up to Laurie. She was annoying in the beginning but I did like her development. And then in the second half I was having a hard time with Kaatje because she all of a sudden became annoying and a bit pushy which I didn’t like but I understood her hangs up. Kaatja was the first woman Laurie had fallen for and she’s also a workaholic and Kaatja was unsure of where she would fit in in Laurie’s life. I just didn’t like how passive aggressive she was at moments but I appreciate that she acknowledged that she had some things to work through. They were great together and had good chemistry so the romance totally worked for me. My only real issue with this was the pacing. At only 300 pages it’s a lot slower than a lot of Meagher’s 500+ paged books and that’s a big issue. There was just a lot of moments where it feels like nothing of significance happen but then rushes over other moments. It was weird. Overall, this was good but again not a favorite but it was entertaining and romantic and very scenic.

[Fiobot · Rating 1 out of 5]

WARNING: SPOILERS

This book was okay. I'm kind of a sucker for the whole toaster oven, "straight" woman turns bi or gay storyline and this book did an okay job with that trope. I liked both characters enough to be invested in the story. And I think it felt believable overall.

I actually preferred Laurie to Kaatje, unlike other reviewers. I found the angst over their relationship and where they would live tiresome. It was boring and took up a lot of the book. The same with the discussion of Laurie as a workaholic. The book seemed to want me to side with Kaatje in the conflict over their work/geographic compromise, but, in reality, Laurie was giving up a lot more. Kaatje wouldn't move to the US because she couldn't work to earn a pittance, while she isn't willing to grow her business back home. To me, Kaatje came across as falsely morally superior re: her way of living vs. Laurie's. She isn't willing to plan. Her salary can't support Laurie and her life together, whereas Laurie's job, even if she moved to a less stressful position, could have, allowing Kaatje to continue her passion of sailing. In the end, Laurie was able to find something, but her transformation felt a little rushed to me. Kaatje constantly stated that she would move, but it felt disingenuous and wasn't really considered. Because of this, the resolution didn't really work for me.

Now for the sex, the scenes were meh. They were tame and a bit repetitive to my ear. I understand this is more a romance than an erotic story, but I did think the scenes could have had more variation of description and more fire in them. Maybe some readers will like the overall vanilla type scenes which aren't my cup of tea,, but I didn't think they had enough dialogue and they were kind of all similar.

That being said, if you like vanilla sex in a romantic book with decent character development and relationship angst, this is a decent read.

[Elf M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book, but not a difficult one. The premise of the book is a long-distance relationship between an American workaholic and a laid-back Netherlander who try hard to reconcile their lifestyles to their interest in each other.

Most writers understand that to make a romantic story interesting the characters need both a push and a pull, but there's not much push here. There's no outside force, only their own inner conflicts, that stand between them and relationships. Sure, that's what real life relationships are often like, but it means the story doesn't have much plot. "This happens, then this happens, then this happens" isn't a story. "This happens, BUT this happens THEREFORE that conflict emerges" is a story. Meagher doesn't have much of the latter, and the book sags because of it.

Another problem is Meagher spends too much time establishing the workaholic character is, in fact, a workaholic. The love interest doesn't even show up until about 10,000 words in! By then, Meagher has established a single POV, and then breaks it hard, head-hopping between the two characters during the scene where they meet. That shows an undisciplined approach to writing.

There's also a lot of "I did all the research on these lovely, exotic locations, so you'll have to listen to me talk about it." But I don't object too much to that.

Still, it was a nice read. Not a waste of my time.

[This · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this quite a strange book at first. I think it is because the main character Laurie is quite unlikeable at the beginning. She has to grow on you.
Part of the book is set on a cruise - and I was on a cruise when I read it. Luckily it was not one of the seemingly many books that sink the cruise ship.
It is however a book whereby Laurie meets someone (Kaatje) which sets in motion her getting to know herself better and allows her to evaluate her lifestyle and realise that it is all about work and success and wanting more of it and she has missed out on a lot of life. She doesn't come to this realisation all at once. She does however want to be in a relationship with Kaatje who has the extreme opposite view of life and work than she does. They have to navigate their way to a lifestyle that is acceptable to both of them.
Whilst I found it hard to like Laurie and get emotionally involved in their story I did enjoy the book. If you identify as a workaholic I suspect it might make useful reading for you.

[QueenGeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ostensibly a story about a woman who thinks she's straight, realizing she is instead a lesbian. This book encourages a great deal of introspection. Many of us have employers who expect us to not only work days, but also hours which were once considered free time. What do our work hours say about our values? What do we like most and least about our jobs? Did past relationships fail because we weren't attracted to our partners, or because we spent so little time away from work? Why do our parents make us crazy? Sadly, the solution to achieving balance appears to involve vast sums of cash to launch a new business wherein you create your ideal job.

So, anyway, good financial fantasy mixed with some relationship struggles.

There's also some good travel porn, if you're into vicarious tripping. I enjoyed living on a sailboat, visiting Europe, and getting a behind-the-scenes tour of Disney.

[Jennabeebs79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smooth Sailing offers a powerful exploration of the importance of reassessing life’s priorities. Though the cover may suggest a lighthearted vacation romance, the story delves much deeper. Laurie, a workaholic, is reluctantly sent on vacation, never expecting to meet a woman who would transform her life. With Kaatje's patience, understanding, and unwavering support, Laurie gradually realizes there’s more to life than work. Their journey through a long-distance relationship beautifully showcases the depth of their connection. I also thoroughly enjoyed the insightful glimpse into Dutch culture, as experienced through Laurie’s perspective with Kaatje as her guide as well as the level of work involved in designing and building an amusement park halfway across the world.

[Margaret L. Hedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

I loved Smooth Sailing. Excellent story. If you are facing some major changes in your life this book may help clarify your choices. The plot centers on choosing the woman you love or your workaholic lifestyle.

[Coldwonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't give this story 5 stars because Laurie's position allows the couple to live almost any life they want without her having to quit her job. Life doesn't have to be a big change.

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. After the shoddy editing job on her last book, I really didn't feel like giving this a shot and waited around a while for reviews addressing specifically the editing. I saw nothing that particularly complained about it.

The story is fine, well-timed and things that seem kind of hasty are balanced by the subject matter, a long-distance relationship. And from experience I know that you enter the all or nothing mindset quickly, that relationships like this don't have the luxury of growing slowly.

I liked both main characters and the setting.

The book feels tighter than Meagher's other novels. That can be seen as a good thing, I'm not so sure. The ending feels abrupt and she tags on an epilog, something I don't think she did in her other novels, and why would she, they didn't end abruptly.

I feel that by tightening things up she loses her unique voice in the lesfic world and ends up writing a formula that everyone else is using as well. I still liked it, but part of me is disappointed. I like the details of previous books and especially that the endings never feel abrupt with things still left to resolve.

The editing is back to her usual standards, I'm happy about that, at least. I'm not happy with the cover. Yikes.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked, but didn't love this. The love story and sexy times are fun, but I felt like the characterization wasn't always consistent. Also the story really dragged on at times.
All in all a nice little read but not my favorite by this author.

[Pinkdturtle tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt compared to Susan's other books this was bland, weren't many highs for me, no exciting sexual stuff. One thing I love about her books I can always take something away and learn about a world of different things.

[Beth Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, but it was predictable and long... a lot of the "inner monologue" could've been cut out since it was the same over and over again... but overall it's a great romance story and good example of love = compromise.

[poppp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it. IMO it's one of the better ones of the author.