Oh, Ship!

by Chance Christopher, Bella Liddell

When he catches his fiancée in bed with another man, Jackson is set adrift on a sea of hurt and confusion. A lonely raft on the tossing waves of heartbreak, if you will.

Good thing that Alexis—the cheating wench—previously booked two non-refundable tickets for a romantic cruise on the Sundance. It was supposed to be a sexy four-night Mexican getaway with wine tastings, duty-free shopping sprees, couple’s massages, amazing food, and long nights tangled in the sheets of a deluxe cabin with a sea-view balcony… all paid for with Jackson’s money. Stupid Alexis.

When Jackson decides to make the voyage anyway, cranky and humiliated, Fate throws him a life jacket in the form of Diago. Quick-witted, hilarious, and completely gorgeous, he’s everything that Jackson never knew he wanted. Through half a week of lust on the high seas, Jackson and Diago grow tantalizingly close, sharing all the activities originally meant for a pair of lovebirds. But the Sundance is back in port in just a few short days. Has Jackson found a new first mate, or is his whirlwind affair set to sink like the Titanic?

OH, SHIP! is a heartwarming strangers-to-lovers romp featuring a bisexual main character, insta!love, low drama/high spice, and more nautical puns than you can shake a harpoon at. It’s trigger-free and good, unclean fun for (adult) readers of all persuasions. Bon voyage!

Genres: M M Romance, Queer, Audiobook

197 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2024

Reviews

[Book Binge: Reviews by Melissa DaSilva · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so the narrator for this audio was giving away copies and it looked cute and I wanted to support authors and a narrator that was new to me. However, in good conscience I cannot recommend this book for anybody. This book was racist (racial slur used by MC to other MC, racism towards the staff and many other instances) and several other issues (including water sports which I was not expecting in a rom-com) and I’m not sure where the good reviews are coming from. It seriously has me questioning if this is actually AI written. The narrator seems to be new so I definitely am giving points to them for that as I’m sure they will get less robotic and flow better after more practise.

Below are a few of the direct quotes I found problematic (note: racist slur is used below)

“Well, you’ve been trying to get into me all week, tu pendejo estúpido!” “It’s not like you’ve exactly been holding out. My cock’s been in the back of your throat more times than I can count this week. Is that what you do, Diago? You said you’d been on this cruise multiple times. You just find someone on each sailing to feed you their cock?” I drained the last of my whiskey and gave him a once-over. “You’ve probably been under more sailors than a nautical toilet.” His cheeks and neck had turned a dark maroon. “Pig!” he spat. “Slut.” “White trash.” “Wetback.”

Diago stared at my hanging dick like an Ethiopian orphan seeing a Las Vegas buffet for the first time. He looked like he was damn-near salivating.

We didn't have to wait long to find out. Two small women in white coats came into the waiting area and greeted us. They looked damn-near identical, with dark hair and eyes. They wore matching green polo shirts under their coats, belted into khaki pants. Were they twins? I scanned their faces, trying to tell. “We will be performing your services this morning,” one announced, heavily accented.

[theshadyivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

General: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🫦🫦🫦

✨✨ Oh, Ship! by Chance Christopher (@chance.christopher_author @aknightschance) and Bella Liddell is a short MM romcom.

🎙️ I listened to the audiobook narrated by Wesley Lynch (@wesleyvoice.ca).

Tropes:
🚢 Strangers to lovers
🚢 Insta Love
🚢 Humor & banter
🚢 Opposites attracts
🚢 Bi-Awakening
🚢 Fake relationship

“Oh, Ship!” is a fun and heartwarming romance novel. The story follows Jackson, who is heartbroken after finding his fiancée cheating on him. He decides to go on a cruise that was meant for them. When he meets Diago, a charming and funny guy, their connection is immediate and he helps him forget his troubles.

Chance and Bella filled the book with humor, romance, and a bit of spice. The characters are sweet and lovable, and their chemistry is sparkling. I really liked the nautical puns and aunty Tita If you enjoy a good romcom with some spice and a happy ending, this is your book.

The narration was really good and I enjoyed the story. Wesley differentiated the single characters quite well and I can't wait to listen to his narrations again.

#spicybooks #pocketbook #booklover #bookgirl #books #bookrecs #booksta #bookish #audiobook #bookboyfriend #indieauthor #banter #instalove #mmromance #gay #romcom #lgbtq #fakerelationship #newbook #arc #bookreview #strangerstolovers #theshadyivy

[Alix]

DNF. I tried really hard. The narrator wasn't give a lot to work with alas, but the narration was also weird. I got maybe 40-50% and I just can't anymore.

[Shrike · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stuck through this book but ended up disliking the characters more over time. 

The most glaring issue I have with this book is its weird fixation on race and ethnicity. The cruise workers are short, racially ambiguous "oompa loompas" (actual quote). Slurs are tossed back and forth in a scene that is apparently supposed to build sexual tension. Jack makes strange comments about Diago's Mexican heritage, such as assuming all Mexicans like onions (???). There's a terrible quote about salivating over a character's junk like a  starving "Ethiopian orphan." There are also quite a few "oh, white people" jokes with little to no real punchline.

There are some less explicit but equally racially charged details. Diago grew up among "gangbangers." His grandmother's entire personality is chain smoking and gambling. Combined with the aforementioned explicit racism, the vibes are very off.

I also have to mention one particular scene that irked me...Jackson and Diago seem to like making sexually explicit comments in public to get a reaction from strangers. When they make some older women uncomfortable, Jackson decides it must be because they're homophobic and he decides to be as visibly gay as possible to freak them out. It's made out to be some new revelation within his bi awakening about facing discrimination...when he's really just being a public nuisance.

I read this as an audiobook. The narration was pretty stilted with odd inflection patterns, like the narrator was reading the lines for the first time. I was also put off by many of the character voices. Women are voiced as grating and shrill. Some characters have odd accents for unclear reasons. There have to be better ways to differentiate characters, especially when there are already weird vibes regarding ethnicity.

I will give this book one thing...the spice can be pretty hot. Unfortunately that does not override the book's issues.

I received a free copy of the audiobook. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

[christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF because this book is racist. I got this audiobook free on Audible and thought it would be a fun quick read. The narration is very stiff and awkward almost to the point of being robotic. This story is about Jack who recently broke up with his girlfriend after she cheated on him. He goes on a cruise that they had originally booked for their anniversary as a way to clear his head and get away from the drama. He meets Diago and they immediately hit it off. Jack has always been a bit bicurious, so he decides to give in to his desires. Then Jack who is white starts saying racist things to Diago who is Mexican. Does this upset Diago, no!!!! Diago gets so turned on by the racial slurs that he has to have sex with Jack right away. This is where I turned off the audiobook and was done. I am not ok with this and find it disgusting and unacceptable.

[Tiffany aka Chai Tea And Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

*rounded up from 3.5*
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Whew, this was a spicy read. I love a bi awakening romance, and this was as hot as the weather on the cruise these guys were on. I had a hard time warming up to the main character, who was a grumpy cat in human form. To be fair, he had a good reason for being pissed off. It is a short read but it felt complete.

I listened to this on audio and mostly enjoyed it. There were a couple of points where the narration didn't feel natural and it pulled me out of the story for a second. But it wasn't all the time, just a couple of spots. Most of the time the narration was well done so it threw me for a loop when I came to those spots. Overall I did enjoy listening to it, but it could use some smoothing out.

[Artemis Rios · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book for free from the narrator. I was excited because I've never read a book involving a cruise. I didn't like it.
The story itself is fine but I didn't like how he said "Like an Ethiopian orphaned child at a Las Vegas buffet"
Why did Diago have to have "banger" cousins who stole cars and sold drugs. It felt out of place in this story and doesn't impact it or Diago in any way.
How do you call someone you have known for 3 days a wetback as foreplay!? What the actual fuck?

The narrator was ok but it I sped it up to 1.7 so it didn't feel like it was dragging.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a good book. This had racist tones throughout and just felt wrong.

[Saskia Veldhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. A new to me narrator whose voice I enjoyed. The characters were easy to distinguish. The different volumes and voices for things like loudspeakers and telephone calls were very interesting. The tempo wasn't consistent all the time towards the end, which was a bit odd as I didn't notice that earlier.
The story - 3 stars. I have read and really liked stories by these authors before, but I'm not enamoured by this one. Jackson could be a truly irritating character and sometimes said or thought some really awful things. Diago was lovely, and I would have liked to see more of his grandmother.

[Saya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this book.

The narrator did a good job, and had a quite nice pitch of voice. I could hear a faint hint of an accent in some words and it made be a bit curious what it could be from, I found it a bit charming 😊


I think this story was pretty sweet and cute, but it does have some problems in it 🤔😅.

Jack comes of as kinda a bit misguided/ miss intended racist in some areas during the story (misguided, is that really the correct wording for it), especially when taking about the ship staff and I didn’t like that much at all, so it kinda soured the story for me a bit. The descriptions about the staff is quite rude (and I think there should be a warning about it before the story).

It’s kinda surprising with the language and word choices Jack uses since he is supposed to be a junior associate lawyer (he sounds more like a 18 year old fratboy most of the time, rather than a 27 year old lawyer), and I don’t understand why the authors choosed for him to use the word “boy” for everything (describing guys/ men, himself, Diago) instead of male or man, it got a bit repetitive and slightly irritating after a while, even switching it to “guy/ guys” sometimes would have been nicer.

Diago was very cute as a character, though I wished we got to know a bit more about him (kinda wished the story was dual point of view, just so I could get to know his thoughts). He seemed strong, sweet yet kinda insecure at odd moments (makes me wonder about his past), but but otherwise a sweet boy (yeah I know I used “boy” 😘 .
Though he could be kinda rude at some points as well, and kinda quick to anger( and liked to waste expensive dinners 😅 ), though Jack did kinda deserved it bit as well, since he was a bit clumsy and spacey 😅

The ending though, it sadly felt a bit rushed up, like they ran out of space or something and cut of a big chunk of it and patched it up best they could, it felt like a lot of it was missing.
It had sooooo much more potential for some extra romance stuff! I was a bit sad it ended.

All in all I would definitely still recommend the book, it is sweet and the naughty bits are very nice and sweet!
I kinda wish for a spin-off for this book, I still want to read more about these two love birds 🥰


( Sorry if there are grammar issues, spelling mistakes or word switches, I’m dyslexic and English isn’t my first language, I tend to mix up British and American words, especially when writing).

[neeshreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Performance: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤/5
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I did a tandem read with the ebook and audiobook, and this was a fun strangers-to-lovers, instalove romcom with a bisexual awakening and a plethora of nautical puns. The connection between the two MMCs was instantaneous, the chemistry was off the charts, and the banter had me in stitches – I was laughing left and right, probably at times when I shouldn’t have (not all thoughts or actions were politically correct), and I enjoyed the overall lighthearted feel.

🛳️Cruise Ship RomCom
💙Strangers to Lovers
🛳️Grumpy x Sunshine
💙Bisexual Awakening (Truly Acting on Known Feelings for 1st Time)
🛳️Low Angst
💙Instalust
🛳️Nautical Puns Galore

This story follows Jackson, who catches his fiancée in bed with another man, and ends up going on the previously booked couples’ cruise, with non-refundable tickets, solo. Boarding the Sundance, Jackson finds himself adrift, but he’s thrown a life preserver in the form of Diago – the charming, ridiculously good-looking, and quick-witted guy that is everything Jackson didn’t know he wanted. While Jackson and Diago navigate uncharted waters, their feelings shift from temporary to possibly something more…but will they find their own HEA or sink in the waves?

Wesley Lynch did a fabulous job bringing Jackson and Diago to life – there was differentiation between the characters due to their varying personalities and different tones and inflection used, so it was easy to keep track of who was speaking! I look forward to listening to more of his narrations!

[FavoriteSaintReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

📖 Oh, Ship! by Chance (@knightschance) and Bella
🎙️ Narrated by Wesley Lynch (@wesleyvoice.ca)

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
Narration: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️ / 5

Oh, this book!! Sometimes you get a book that speaks to you personally, and that was this book for me. As an avid cruiser, I FELT Jack’s pain in this book 🤣😂 The absolute ACCURACY in the cruising experience was perfection. 🤌🏼💋

I just got back from a cruise and this was the perfect book to recover from my vacay hangover. 🤕 It was so realistic and made me feel like I was enjoying a vacation right along with Diago and Jack. The steakhouse scene legit made me hungry 🤤 My only regret was that I didn’t have a fruity frozen drink while reading this.

🎧 Wesley Lynch was such a perfect narrator for this book. He had performed it so cheekily and it was the perfect tone for this story.

Just a spicy, low drama, good time! Exactly what I want in a rom-com.

TLDR: Make yourself a frozen adult beverage and enjoy this spicy, MM, vacation rom-com.

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jackson’s fiancée, Alexis, has booked an expensive cruise for them both, but when he finds her in bed with another man, he decides to go on the cruise alone. Jackson initially struggles with his dark mood and anger towards Alexis. However, his mood soon lifts when he meets fellow-passenger Diago and decides to explore his not-so-straight side over the week at sea.

While I generally liked the shortish hurt-comfort instalove story, which is told from Jackson’s POV, I did struggle a little with his anger and hate towards Alexis—I guess it was all still very raw for him. There is also some racial phrasing that could have been avoided. The romance plot took up most of the book and the steamy chemistry was great but I would have liked a little more about being on the ship, maybe Jackson and Diago could have interacted with a couple of the other passengers or win over Diago’s fierce tita. 🎧 This is my second Wesley Lynch narration and I enjoyed his performance once again—I like his voice and style.

[M. Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this title. The narrator was not my favorite. I have heard him described as robotic in other reviews, and that is accurate. I liked the story, however.

Jackson is a grumpy lawyer on a cruise after catching his fiancée cheating on him. When he meets Diago, the "sunshine" in the equation, insta-lust ensues. First of all, let me say that this book 100% captures the vibe of being on a cruise. The humor was top-notch. The romance between Jack and Diago was charged with chemistry and heat. The ending was adorable, and made me long for the continued adventures of these two. It definitely wasn't a HEA, but I feel like they would get there with enough time. All in all, a satisfying read. It was the kind of rom-com that doesn't require a lot of thinking. Low-drama, low-stakes, and just sexiness and humor. The kind of book you'd take on a cruise, actually.

To address some other reviews, I did not find the MC racist. Jack is kind of a d*ck, and I don't think anyone was pretending otherwise. The only problematic language was in a charged scene where the word in question was being used as foreplay in a weird way, and I didn't find it offensive whatsoever. Obviously, people are entitled to their opinions. If anything, Diago is probably too good for Jack.

4.5 stars rounded up.

[Natalie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

🚢🌊💙🖤...... Audiobook Review......🖤💙🌊🚢

This was a quick read with lots of banter and spice!! Jack and Diago are so hot for each other, and we get to experience it all!

I loved the concept of the book. Forced proximity is always a good time!!

I liked the characters and felt they had chemistry.

It took me a minute to get into the book, but I enjoyed it overall and will definitely be checking out more books by these authors.

The narration was good. I felt it was a little robotic in places, but I enjoyed the story and felt that Wesley brought Jack and Diago to life really well and can't wait to listen to his narrations again.

[BookishLatinaJenn (Jennifer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given an audio copy by the narrator for review. I love supporting new narrators and this review is in no way a reflection on the narrator. I enjoyed the narration, Wesley Lynch, did a great job bringing these characters to life. His voice is fitting to two characters he voiced, Jackson & Diago.

Now the actual book has issues. There’s language used that definitely made me uncomfortable. Racial stereotypes used several times that we know are not actually true so why perpetuate the stigma? I loved the cruise setting as I am an avid cruiser. That aspect of the book was accurate. But that cannot help me overlook the glaring issues with it.

[Sue]

I enjoyed the premise and many of the scenes reminded me of the cruise that I was recently on. The characters were believable and I was rooting for them the entire time. The book is separated by days making some sections longer than you would normally expect. The spicy parts were 🌶🌶.

The narration dragged a bit at times. I increased the speed to 1.2 (my usual is .90) and that helped. I had no problem differentiating between Jack & Diago. The few female voices were too cartoonish for me but they were very minor roles. If I could rate performance at 4.75 I would.

All in all it was a fun rom-com with a cute play on words title.

[Ζωή Παππά · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a fun time listening this book, it was fast paced and I loved the cruise setting. I felt like I was traveling with Jack and Diago.
I really liked Diago's personality. He was full of joy and sunshine, he made me smile. I didn't connect so much with Jack's character but I did enjoy his bi awakening storyline. The two of them had explosive chemistry.
I liked the narrator, I thougt that the character voices for Jack and Diago matched their personalities and were distinctive

[Brei-ayn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Oh, Ship! and struggled to put it down. When Jackson finds his girlfriend Alexis cheating on him. He decides to go the cruise she set up with his money alone. Jackson is upset and feels like a fool. When he meets Diago at a bar on the ship things change. With each activity they do together they grow closer. Could their happiness continue once they leave the ship?

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was so cute! I laughed a lot and it was a tad spicy and I enjoyed the characters. The ending seemed a tad rushed though so I would love an extended edition 😍

[Ainsley Mckenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a rush! It's one of my favourite MM audiobooks I have listened to. I have never been on a cruise, and now I feel like I have. A laugh out loud narration of both male and female made me want it to never end. The fights and the love in this book are nothing short of 5 ⭐️ and 5 🌶. Cruise to Mexico anyone? 😉

[Gnome Patronus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, quirky, easy read. Bi-awakening with as much to no angst as I have ever seen in an awakening. Usually one person is concerned, but this one is just fun from the moment he realizes his ship will sail both ways. The cruise is family friends, hence "Oh, Ship" a few things were a bit corny, but it matched the vibe of the book and kept it light hearted the entire time.
I did read via audiobook. The narration was done well and I was able to listen at 2.8 without losing any of the inflictions. This was my first book by this author and narrator, and the combo worked well! Great pallet cleanser and quick read!