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Summer Cruising
"Fictional account of a gay cruise on The Princess Diana that includes romance, mystery, and a disaster at sea"--Provided by publisher.
- GenresFictionGay FictionGay
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 11, 2019
Birdcage meets Titanic. I got what I expected — a quick & corny read, but also an irresistibly fun, if not eye-rolling, romp on the high seas. I thoroughly enjoyed the Mediterranean ports and architectural descriptions. (I actually looked up some of the locations and was astounded — had never heard of Gaudi before, but he was truly ahead of his time.) Not-too-edge-of-the-seat suspenseful murder mystery, but it did have an unexpected twist. Good story of come uppance and romance, with some hot & sweaty sex thrown in for good measure.
It did get tedious that the writer felt the need to continually remind the reader that it was a “gay man” cruise while describing the group in port, like maybe the reader would’ve forgotten. These were the eye-rolling points: I could care less how tall each character was; what brands of clothing everyone was wearing; the short backstory for so many characters, which left me confused and questioning who was *the* main character; and every single person on board was incredibly attractive. This all added up to an implausible story, though I suppose it’s just a wet dream after all. It read like a script for a faux-reality show.
P.S. I found this book abandoned on the train, which is where I will return it to. I also found quite a few editing errors that made my eyes roll again 🙄
It did get tedious that the writer felt the need to continually remind the reader that it was a “gay man” cruise while describing the group in port, like maybe the reader would’ve forgotten. These were the eye-rolling points: I could care less how tall each character was; what brands of clothing everyone was wearing; the short backstory for so many characters, which left me confused and questioning who was *the* main character; and every single person on board was incredibly attractive. This all added up to an implausible story, though I suppose it’s just a wet dream after all. It read like a script for a faux-reality show.
P.S. I found this book abandoned on the train, which is where I will return it to. I also found quite a few editing errors that made my eyes roll again 🙄
March 11, 2019
I honestly found the book to be enjoyable. Maybe it isn't a "masterpiece among men" but I found the drama and sex to be exciting enough to keep me interested. It was entertaining and amusing.
May 18, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Goodreads, you need to add half stars! A funny and enjoyable read. I can’t wait to go on my next gay cruise now. 😄
January 30, 2008
There is way too much “tell” and not “show” in this book. The sheer amount of useless details is staggering and brings any plot this book may have to a crawl, if not complete standstill. This story revolves around an ensemble cast of characters and takes place during a gay cruise on the Mediterranean. Each character, no matter how small of a part, is given an entire back-story and complete physical description right down to how tall he is in inches. All of this is given to the reader immediately upon meeting this character. A bit of history that is necessary for me to know so that I may connect to the character is fine, but some of the information was useless and in no way retained in my brain. Especially since on the next page is a new person I must know everything about. The descriptions went all the way down to the name brand clothing they were wearing. Why a Calvin Klein white t-shirt is more important to know than that he was wearing a simple white t-shirt I cannot fathom. Every time a character appeared on the page, we knew what and who he was wearing. It was like the Oscars or something. Very tedious to read over and over again.
I also had an issue that every man in the book was described nearly the same way. All of them had these traits in common: muscular to the point of beefy stud muffins, tall, and so gorgeous you could hardly stand it. Oh, and they all wore name brand clothing. Most of them were over six feet tall and all of them were die-hard gym rats. It was like someone shook Muscle Magazine over the narrative and filled its pages with all the models. The only character that wasn’t this way was killed off very quickly. And that bugged me too. The author gave us a nice and sweet character, who I wanted to get to know more and who would have given a nice bit of color to the bronze-tanned story, then killed him off. It was a really bad blow and actually left a nasty taste in my mouth.
But, I must say that once I was in the final third of the book, I was actually wanting to read more. Again, a lot of the details would slow the plot down, but because I was now more interested in the story I was able to ignore a lot of it. I thought the reveal of the murderer was done well, and, unfortunately, I can't say any more than that without risking spoiling it.
The best part of the book was when the bomb blows and the ship is critically hurt. The drama and trauma involved with that chunk of the story was really quite good. I had finally found my "Stay alive, whatever may occur, I will find you" story. The author was able to keep the tension and drama high here and it paid off well. It was really quite well done.
The book ends on a fluffy note, and as many of you know, I don't do fluff. But, seeing as how this was a fluff scene for characters that starred in previous books from the author, I can see the appeal for those who had been following the characters. Honestly, if I had read about the couple before, I'd probably want that fluff ending too.
I would also like to say that the Richard Hatch-styled character was someone I came to really like, which was nice to have happen so late in the story. He and the reporter character were utilized well in the climatic scene. Both of them revealed their true natures when I had completely forgotten what they were. I was impressed with that a lot and they really added to the tension and drama.
I also had an issue that every man in the book was described nearly the same way. All of them had these traits in common: muscular to the point of beefy stud muffins, tall, and so gorgeous you could hardly stand it. Oh, and they all wore name brand clothing. Most of them were over six feet tall and all of them were die-hard gym rats. It was like someone shook Muscle Magazine over the narrative and filled its pages with all the models. The only character that wasn’t this way was killed off very quickly. And that bugged me too. The author gave us a nice and sweet character, who I wanted to get to know more and who would have given a nice bit of color to the bronze-tanned story, then killed him off. It was a really bad blow and actually left a nasty taste in my mouth.
But, I must say that once I was in the final third of the book, I was actually wanting to read more. Again, a lot of the details would slow the plot down, but because I was now more interested in the story I was able to ignore a lot of it. I thought the reveal of the murderer was done well, and, unfortunately, I can't say any more than that without risking spoiling it.
The best part of the book was when the bomb blows and the ship is critically hurt. The drama and trauma involved with that chunk of the story was really quite good. I had finally found my "Stay alive, whatever may occur, I will find you" story. The author was able to keep the tension and drama high here and it paid off well. It was really quite well done.
The book ends on a fluffy note, and as many of you know, I don't do fluff. But, seeing as how this was a fluff scene for characters that starred in previous books from the author, I can see the appeal for those who had been following the characters. Honestly, if I had read about the couple before, I'd probably want that fluff ending too.
I would also like to say that the Richard Hatch-styled character was someone I came to really like, which was nice to have happen so late in the story. He and the reporter character were utilized well in the climatic scene. Both of them revealed their true natures when I had completely forgotten what they were. I was impressed with that a lot and they really added to the tension and drama.
July 7, 2008
I didn't like this book as much as Benbow's previous offering, Male Model. Love the body on the cover, though. I leave it out on my bedside table and alternate between the front and back cover. If you've seen the back cover, you'd know why.
Okay, back to the story.
This is a Poseidon Adventure starring 1,500 gay men. Should be good. Hilarious, at least, but it was rather flat for me. It lacked the emotional intensity of Cam and Blake's relationship in Male Model because there were just too many couples. Very watered-down in the end (oops, a pun!) and you know what? I still have a couple of chapters left of the book but didn't bother to finish as it IS a romance, the villain has been caught and I know Zack and Hayden will live gaily ever after.
Still, I do intend to finish it because, on the whole I still enjoy Benbow's work and hope he'll keep them coming. By the way, these two books' focus is on the relationships so this is not a gay EROTIC romance. As such, they do not contain graphic sex of the degree you find in Loose Id's or Torquere Press' gay titles.
Okay, back to the story.
This is a Poseidon Adventure starring 1,500 gay men. Should be good. Hilarious, at least, but it was rather flat for me. It lacked the emotional intensity of Cam and Blake's relationship in Male Model because there were just too many couples. Very watered-down in the end (oops, a pun!) and you know what? I still have a couple of chapters left of the book but didn't bother to finish as it IS a romance, the villain has been caught and I know Zack and Hayden will live gaily ever after.
Still, I do intend to finish it because, on the whole I still enjoy Benbow's work and hope he'll keep them coming. By the way, these two books' focus is on the relationships so this is not a gay EROTIC romance. As such, they do not contain graphic sex of the degree you find in Loose Id's or Torquere Press' gay titles.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews