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Sailing with the Neighbours: Fifteen days beyond ordinary rules.
One married couple. Four university students they have known for years. Fifteen days beyond the reach of ordinary rules.
Catherine and Mark expect a lively sailing holiday when four young friends join them aboard their yacht. The first days bring open water, hidden coves, shared meals and the exhilaration of six people learning to move together as a crew.
But privacy is fragile on a boat.
A sound carries through a cabin wall. A gaze lingers over a body it has known for years but never truly seen. Sunscreen becomes an exquisite exercise in restraint. A lesson at the helm grows far more intimate than either teacher or student intended.
And nobody looks away.
As the yacht carries them farther from shore, watching becomes wanting, and wanting becomes permission. Familiar friendships acquire new possibilities. Long-established relationships stretch without breaking. The women discover appetites they have never voiced, while the men learn how intoxicating it can be to surrender control as well as take it.
Each day goes further than the last.
Partners cross. Friends become lovers. Private fantasies emerge beneath the sun and continue after dark, until the six of them are sharing far more than a holiday—and the yacht has become a world with rules entirely its own.
Yet fifteen days must eventually end.
When they return to shore, will the freedom they found at sea disappear with the horizon, or has the voyage already changed every relationship aboard?
Sailing with the Neighbours is a sun-drenched, intensely explicit erotic romance about age-gap desire, bisexual discovery, shared partners, exhibition, voyeurism and six adults discovering how much desire their trust can hold.
Catherine and Mark expect a lively sailing holiday when four young friends join them aboard their yacht. The first days bring open water, hidden coves, shared meals and the exhilaration of six people learning to move together as a crew.
But privacy is fragile on a boat.
A sound carries through a cabin wall. A gaze lingers over a body it has known for years but never truly seen. Sunscreen becomes an exquisite exercise in restraint. A lesson at the helm grows far more intimate than either teacher or student intended.
And nobody looks away.
As the yacht carries them farther from shore, watching becomes wanting, and wanting becomes permission. Familiar friendships acquire new possibilities. Long-established relationships stretch without breaking. The women discover appetites they have never voiced, while the men learn how intoxicating it can be to surrender control as well as take it.
Each day goes further than the last.
Partners cross. Friends become lovers. Private fantasies emerge beneath the sun and continue after dark, until the six of them are sharing far more than a holiday—and the yacht has become a world with rules entirely its own.
Yet fifteen days must eventually end.
When they return to shore, will the freedom they found at sea disappear with the horizon, or has the voyage already changed every relationship aboard?
Sailing with the Neighbours is a sun-drenched, intensely explicit erotic romance about age-gap desire, bisexual discovery, shared partners, exhibition, voyeurism and six adults discovering how much desire their trust can hold.
756 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 20, 2026
About the author
Freya Vallen
24 books3 followersFreya Vallen writes adult fiction about ordinary people — with jobs, marriages and sensible intentions — who find themselves in rather less ordinary situations.
She likes writing about sex, but believes it needs to mean something. Not necessarily something profound or life-changing every time — sometimes it means love, discovery, friendship, trust, curiosity or freedom, and sometimes it simply means two people having an extraordinarily good time together. What matters is that it belongs to the people experiencing it and to the story around them.
Just as importantly, Freya wants those experiences to feel lived rather than narrated from a distance. She writes close to her characters, trying to put the reader beside them — watching something that feels as though it could really be happening or, better still, experiencing the moment with them. Bodies, thoughts, awkwardness, attraction, laughter, uncertainty and consequences all belong to the same experience.
Her stories range from English villages and secluded coves to wilderness rivers, sailing boats and adventures further from home, but they share a fascination with people: friendships that change shape, relationships that acquire unexpected possibilities, small communities that develop their own rules, and the considerable gap between what sensible adults intend to do and what actually happens.
Her characters have jobs, marriages, children, responsibilities, insecurities and histories. They make questionable decisions, occasionally excellent ones, and frequently discover that other people — and sometimes they themselves — are more complicated than expected.
Freya writes for adult readers who enjoy character-led stories that are warm, explicit, playful and unconventional, where intimacy is part of life rather than something that happens when the rest of the story stops.
She is the author of The Cove, Torvesby Undressed, The River and Sailing with the Neighbours series. A fourth Cove book, Having It All, is coming soon.
She likes writing about sex, but believes it needs to mean something. Not necessarily something profound or life-changing every time — sometimes it means love, discovery, friendship, trust, curiosity or freedom, and sometimes it simply means two people having an extraordinarily good time together. What matters is that it belongs to the people experiencing it and to the story around them.
Just as importantly, Freya wants those experiences to feel lived rather than narrated from a distance. She writes close to her characters, trying to put the reader beside them — watching something that feels as though it could really be happening or, better still, experiencing the moment with them. Bodies, thoughts, awkwardness, attraction, laughter, uncertainty and consequences all belong to the same experience.
Her stories range from English villages and secluded coves to wilderness rivers, sailing boats and adventures further from home, but they share a fascination with people: friendships that change shape, relationships that acquire unexpected possibilities, small communities that develop their own rules, and the considerable gap between what sensible adults intend to do and what actually happens.
Her characters have jobs, marriages, children, responsibilities, insecurities and histories. They make questionable decisions, occasionally excellent ones, and frequently discover that other people — and sometimes they themselves — are more complicated than expected.
Freya writes for adult readers who enjoy character-led stories that are warm, explicit, playful and unconventional, where intimacy is part of life rather than something that happens when the rest of the story stops.
She is the author of The Cove, Torvesby Undressed, The River and Sailing with the Neighbours series. A fourth Cove book, Having It All, is coming soon.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 12, 2026
Now This Is How To Go Sailing.
This book is not really like anything I’ve ever read before. I’m not even sure exactly what genre to place it in, but it’s definitely erotic, there’s plenty of sex, and it’s definitely interesting.
What makes it so unique is the setting. The entire book—and by the way, it’s a very long book—takes place on a yacht. It doesn’t appear to be a particularly large yacht, either, because the living quarters seem to be fairly tight. There are six people aboard: an older married couple, a boyfriend and girlfriend, and two young single women. What’s interesting is the connection and relationship’s between the participants. It even skirts the taboo a little bit. Before the voyage is over, everybody gets to experience everybody else.
The thing that makes the setup so hot is the lack of privacy. Because everyone is confined to such a small space, practically every dalliance takes place within earshot of the others, and often within eyesight as well. Even when someone is around a corner or in the galley, the others can hear exactly what is going on. That creates a voyeuristic tension that runs throughout the entire book.
The various setups and encounters are pretty creative, too, and the author certainly finds plenty of ways to keep things interesting.
There was one thing I found a little odd, though. After the various encounters, there wasn’t much discussion about what had happened. This one was with this one, that one was with that one, and then everyone more or less went on about their business. There is plenty of dialogue during the voyage, but surprisingly little conversation about the sexual connections taking place between everyone. I’m still not sure whether I liked that aspect or found it a little frustrating.
Still, there’s no denying that this book is unique and different, and I did enjoy it. It is long—very long—and there were definitely times when I found myself skipping and scanning a bit. But if you’re willing to invest the time, I think you’ll find this one intriguing, unconventional, and hot as hell.
This book is not really like anything I’ve ever read before. I’m not even sure exactly what genre to place it in, but it’s definitely erotic, there’s plenty of sex, and it’s definitely interesting.
What makes it so unique is the setting. The entire book—and by the way, it’s a very long book—takes place on a yacht. It doesn’t appear to be a particularly large yacht, either, because the living quarters seem to be fairly tight. There are six people aboard: an older married couple, a boyfriend and girlfriend, and two young single women. What’s interesting is the connection and relationship’s between the participants. It even skirts the taboo a little bit. Before the voyage is over, everybody gets to experience everybody else.
The thing that makes the setup so hot is the lack of privacy. Because everyone is confined to such a small space, practically every dalliance takes place within earshot of the others, and often within eyesight as well. Even when someone is around a corner or in the galley, the others can hear exactly what is going on. That creates a voyeuristic tension that runs throughout the entire book.
The various setups and encounters are pretty creative, too, and the author certainly finds plenty of ways to keep things interesting.
There was one thing I found a little odd, though. After the various encounters, there wasn’t much discussion about what had happened. This one was with this one, that one was with that one, and then everyone more or less went on about their business. There is plenty of dialogue during the voyage, but surprisingly little conversation about the sexual connections taking place between everyone. I’m still not sure whether I liked that aspect or found it a little frustrating.
Still, there’s no denying that this book is unique and different, and I did enjoy it. It is long—very long—and there were definitely times when I found myself skipping and scanning a bit. But if you’re willing to invest the time, I think you’ll find this one intriguing, unconventional, and hot as hell.
August 3, 2026
Somewhere in Britan is a gate in the hedge between neighbors Mark & Catherine and Tom & Rebecca. Since she was a very young girl Hannah would slip through the gate to visit with Catherine and her husband and as she got older, she would often bring her boyfriend Owen and friends Leah and Melinda (Mel). At a summer barbeque Mark announces he will be taking his sailing yacht on a fifteen-day journey around the coastal islands. Mark & Catherine are accomplished sailors and agree to take the four young adults with them and instruct them how to sail. They set sail with a larder full of good food and wine under a beautiful sky. As the weather warms up the uniform of the day becomes shorts and bikini bottoms with an occasional shirt or coverup. The nudity is very natural and no fuss is made. It comes about after a hilarious card game of strip poker, and no one later sees a need to do otherwise. There is also an abundance of sexual tension in the air, and a number of sensual encounters occur, some organically and others as a part of games. There are no rules with this group, and every combination of pairing occurs, though thankfully there are no cross swords. The scenes are always erotic, occasionally amusing, and often graphically detailed, without ever descending into smut. There are also some very sexy scenes when Hannah’s parents come to stay for a day and a night. (No, there is no incest.) Ms. Vallen sets a high bar where sex is concerned, and yet nothing is glossed over. The scenes are lengthy without being repetitive. As much sex is occurring, there is also an equal amount of nautical training being conducted. Lessons in navigation, seamanship, boat handling, sailing, man overboard drills, anchoring, etc. The author does not give lip service to the training but goes into remarkable detail about the activities as well as their practical application. A final detail concerning the book is the vivid descriptions of the natural order. As this retired sailor can attest, the sea is ever changing, as is the wind, tide, and currents and Freya describes them all. There are secluded beaches, rocks, cliffs, and the always frigid water for swimming. Watchful attention is given to a storm that tests the newfound skills of the younger set, and the details of an exciting sail race between the men as the women go to interesting lengths to distract them.
I found myself enjoying this book far more than I expected, and I look forward to reading another of her books. I believe I have found my next adventure with the author.
Oh, and kudos to the exceptional cover artwork depicting our main characters on the boat at sunset.
I found myself enjoying this book far more than I expected, and I look forward to reading another of her books. I believe I have found my next adventure with the author.
Oh, and kudos to the exceptional cover artwork depicting our main characters on the boat at sunset.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews