Mailboat

by Cade Haddock Strong

Wen Apollo dreams of seeing the world beyond the small riverside town where she grew up. But operating the local mailboat keeps her tethered to Coopersville. Islands dot the river, and their residents rely on her to deliver everything from food and medicine to pet food and plumbing supplies.

On a raw spring day, Wen goes to Owl Island—the summer home of the illustrious Gage family—to deliver a package. It’s addressed to the family’s oldest daughter, Estelle, a woman Wen has long admired from afar.

Estelle Gage fled to the islands seeking solitude and an escape. With the deadline for her latest novel fast approaching, her sole focus is to write. But when the handsome mailboat captain shows up on her doorstep, writing is no longer the only thing on her mind.

A steady stream of packages continues to bring Wen back to Owl Island—and to Estelle. But as summer looms, so does the impending arrival of Estelle’s family. The return of the Gages will most certainly spell the end to Estelle and Wen’s idyllic time cloistered together on the island. What will that mean for their budding relationship?

Genres: Lesbian, Audiobook, Romance, Fiction

284 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2022

About the author

Cade spent many years working in the airline industry and she and her wife have traveled all over the world. She loves doing anything that involves being outdoors, especially, skiing, hiking, biking and playing golf.

cadehaddockstrong.com

Find me here:

Reviews

[Della B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estelle Gage has to finish her novel and the hustle of New York City is just not working for her. Estelle decides to head to the family cottage on Owl Island for peace, quiet and inspiration. The cottage is one of many inhabited island homes in the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River.

Wen Apollo has plans to leave her small town and study Spanish in Barcelona, Spain. Unfortunately an illness in the family obligates Wen to running the mail boat amongst the islands. One of her deliveries lands her at Owl Island and an invitation for a cup of tea. Instant attraction ignites between the women who come from very different backgrounds.

The idea for this story intrigued me from the onset. I have toured the Thousand Islands and clicked in immediately to the setting. These islands are beautiful with some unbelievable cottages and homes situated on them. The idea of mail boats is exciting and romantic.

Mailboat turned into an light read romance where the instant attraction removed some of the natural angst. The use of some typical plot twists carries you along the storyline with moderate highs and lows. In all honesty, with this unique setting I was expecting more from the story. More excitement and adventure with the romance. What I received was a fair to middling romance and an if only……….

I received an advance review copy from Bella Books and NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mailboat by Cade Haddock Strong is a fairly low angst romance about two women separated by how and where they were raised, and the families they belong to. This is a really good example of a contemporary story with class disparity and rich girl/poor girl tropes.

While I do consider this to be a character driven tale, the setting plays an important role in the overall story. Coopersville is a small riverside town along the Saint Lawrence River in an area called the Thousand Islands. In the summer it is a tourist town accommodating visitors to the area as well as the owners of the many summer homes (some of them almost mansions) located on the islands along the river. The rest of the year, the town shrinks to just the “town folks” who live there year round. This includes our main character, Wen Apollo, who runs the mailboat delivering packages and mail to the islands. The story begins when she delivers a package to Owl Island and meets Estelle Gage, a woman she has admired from afar but never thought she would get to know.
I really connected with Wen. She is so down to earth and likable. It took me a bit longer to do the same with Estelle, but I eventually did. The chemistry between the two is obvious from the first meeting, and their love story will keep you reading. The author did a exceptional job with the setting, the characters, and especially with the story itself.

This is an easy to read, beautiful romance that I really enjoyed. It would make a great summer vacation novel. You should try it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections Reviews
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

[Agirlcandream · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of Mailboat caught my eye. The premise of a mailboat captain falling for a woman from a wealthy family who summer on one of the islands dotting this part of the St. Lawrence River pulled me in hook, line and sinker. The Thousand Islands are something special. If you are ever in this part of the world I suggest you book a ticket on one of the many tour boats which wind past the islands to see the mansions and classic cottages owned for generations by the rich and even a few common folk.

Wen Apollo has grown up in Coopersville and longs to leave her small hometown and explore the world. Covering for an ailing relative, Wen faithfully delivers mail and supplies to island homes. In early spring only a few islands are occupied so deliveries are light. Engine trouble near Owl Island brings Wen face to face with someone she once admired from afar, Estelle Gage. Estelle has decided to come to her family compound early hoping to work on her novel, happy to be away from the city, her ex-wife and her family commitments with the Gage Foundation. Inviting Wen in for tea, Estelle sets in motion a friendship which quickly turns into attraction and romance, far from the prying eyes of their families.

I liked both Wen and Estelle and enjoyed seeing them share their thoughts and dreams together, knowing life doesn’t always turn out the way you might wish. The expected class struggle when a townie starts dating a summer visitor added cracks to Wen’s and Estelle’s resolve but it was Wen and her feeling of being trapped which caused the most conflict for the couple. Would this couple find their way to their HEA? I found the solutions to this question to be a bit rushed but was happy with the outcome.

A light read to put you in a summer, cottage life state of mind.

3.5 stars

A copy of this book was received from Bella Books via NetGalley for review.

[MaxDisaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
A nice cute story. Low angst, not many miscommunications as plot device, likeable MCs.
I had fun even though I'm not interested in boats in the slightest.

[Jo reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author for me, this is the first book I've read by this author. And I did enjoy the storyline! It's unusual, a mailboat is something a little different I think. And let's take a moment to look at the cover! That alone grabbed me before I even saw the title and read what the story was about.

The story is a romance, Set around A Thousand Islands, where both ladies, Estelle and Wen are from very different social backgrounds, it has little angst and of course, a little appearance from the ex-wife. The setting of the book, a Thousand Islands I would have liked to hear a bit more description of the area,, I do like to ‘feel’ where I am when reading, but this is about a personal choice, just so I could imagine where I was.

Mailboat is light hearted, romantic which I've given a 3.7 /5.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is story about Wen a mailboat carrier on the St Lawrence River and Estelle a wealthy socialite author. They meet when Wen delivers a package to Estelle on her family private island. It’s early April and Estelle is alone in the island struggling to get over her writers block. Wen’s family has operated the mailboat for 4 generations through the busy summer months tourist season and during the winter delivering, mail, food and all sorts of packages.

This is an insta like tale that develops into a love story. Lots of great feels and dialogue with bits of angst when Wen feels she’s not worthy of Estelle.

Growing up on inland lakes in Michigan and on Lake Erie in Ohio I knew I would like this book. I really enjoyed the location and the vintage Chris Craft boat that my family had back in the day.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys lake life.

ARC received from Bella Books via NetGalley for a voluntary and honest review.

[XR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet read even though I unfairly got annoyed with Wen and her reactions to the financial and social differences she worried herself over regarding Estelle. I had to remind myself that over a few years ago I was pretty much in the same scenario with my lady and her well known socialite family. It sucks and it's very hard to push away self doubt but when the love of your life is telling you otherwise, you'd better darn well listen!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5

When her uncle dies, Wen Apollo takes over the family business of driving the mailboat that makes deliveries to the people living on the islands in the St. Lawrence River because there is no one else to do the job. She puts her own dreams of joining the Peace Corps on hold. When a package arrives for the Gage family compound on one of the islands, Wen is surprised because the Gage family only spends the summer months on their island. When she makes the delivery, she meets Estelle Gage, a woman Wen has been crushing on since high school. Estelle has fled to the island from NYC because her latest thriller manuscript is long overdue to her publisher and she can’t find the words to finish it. As the two women from very different backgrounds, one the daughter of very wealthy family and the other the daughter of a working-class family, begin spending time with one another, the attraction between them grows. However, Wen’s insecurities about being good enough for Estelle threatens to sabotage the relationship in its infancy.

The author is a skillful writer who knows how to bring readers into her story and hold them enthralled from the first page to the last. Strong has created two characters, one a successful author and the other a mailboat captain, who will capture the hearts of readers and have them rooting for the two characters to make the relationship work even though readers know the book will have a happy-ever-after ending. Both characters are strong, intelligent, and looking for a relationship that will complete their lives. Strong’s descriptions of life on the river are vividly drawn and will have readers Googling possible vacation destinations in the thousand island area.

If you like your romances between two well-drawn strong and intelligent characters without constant angst, this book is for you, and should be put at the top of your to-be-read list.

My thanks to Bella Books and NetGalley for a free eARC.

[Jennabeebs79 · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the surface, Wen Apollo and Estelle Gage are from two different worlds but a chance meeting when Wen delivers a package to Owl Island, where the Gage summer estate sits, leads them to the love of a lifetime. From the first moment, Wen and Estelle let each other know that is attracted, and instead of letting the outside world stand in their way, the two begin a lovely romance. Spring in upstate NY is the perfect backdrop for these two as the cold temperatures lead to time snuggling by the fire, chatting, and getting to know one another. As time passes, Estelle is able to finish the novel she has come to the island to write, and Wen’s future in Coopersville is sealed. Estelle’s wealthy family staying on Owl Island for the summer puts pressure on their new relationship. Wen and Estelle work tirelessly to make their relationship work. While insecurities (on Wen’s side) get in the way, ever-patient Estelle continuously reaffirms her love. This rich girl/poor girl Sapphic romance is a perfect read to warm a reader up on a cold Winter’s afternoon.

[Bookista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a really interesting premise. A well known author Estelle suffering from writers block decides to move to a remote island where the only source of contact is the attractive mailboat operator Wen. Interestingly Wen’s been harboring a crush on Estelle since she was a teen and suddenly she’s got all of Estelle’s attention.

The first part of the book was all about the setup with the reader and the MCs getting to know each other. This is a rich / poor girl romance and it was interesting to read the slowish burn build up. For me, however it was really about the dialogs between the two MCs which I thought was way too formal. So much so it kept pushing me out of the moment.
The books fairs much better in the second half. Without giving away too much of the plot, there are some hard decisions both characters have to make about the path they are taking and the impact on their relationship. I think the build up, the rich/ poor angst and the clash with the matriarch were the highlights that made up for a slower first half.

This book didn’t quite work for me, but the angsty second half and the beautiful descriptions of the islands were some of the highlights that were well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Bella books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5⭐️s

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the setting for this book. I’ve never been to the 1000 Islands area on the St. Lawerence River but the author brings it to life with her descriptions. Wen Apollo is 27 and feels tied to Coopersville, the riverside town that has been her family home for generations. She is running the mailboat that delivers packages to the islands in the river. Most are occupied only in summer but some are year round. When she delivers a package to Owl Island she meets Estelle Gage. As a townie she has had a crush on Estelle who is 33, but she has never spoken to her. The Gages are part of the wealthy summer crowd.

Estelle is there to finish writing a novel and get some distance after a divorce. She welcomes Wen as a new friend and potential love interest. I love how easy these two talk to each other. They know there are class differences but they love being on the water, working on boats and being together. Of course Estelle is only there temporarily and if they are going to last they are going to have to solve the long distance thing.

I really liked both characters. Wen is a little hot headed and impulsive because of her age. And insecure because of class differences. Estelle has been burned in relationships but I love how optimistic she is that they can find solutions. I feel everything wraps up a little too quickly. For Wen, who hates wearing dresses, to go to an event wedding and make all the right steps seems like a reach. I don’t think one party addresses all of Estelles mother’s concerns. But I’m all for sweet, loving women wanted to build a life with each other. And the descriptions of being on the water in cold and in summer makes we want to visit the novels location.

This is really a sweet, medium spicy romance with smart, hard working women. I’m happy to have read the book and appreciate the eARC from NetGalley and Bella Books in exchange for an honest review.

[Aleana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Wen temporarily help the family business of driving the mailboat that makes deliveries to the people live on the islands in the St. Lawrence River because there is no one else to do the job while he recovers. She loves her town but always dreams of seeing the world and first step is signing up for the Peace Corps but she have to put her dream on hold when her uncle who was recovering dies.

Estelle has fled to the island from NYC to finished her latest thriller novel but is having a hard time finding the words to finish the novel. Estelle meets Wen when Wen delivered a pack and they strike up a friendship that’s turns into something more as they both learn to build a life together despite insecurities they have. I enjoy this read.

[Laure · Rating 3 out of 5]

🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩📚⚢👩‍✈️🚤🔧🧰👩‍💻📘👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩📖👭🏳️‍🌈

I received an ARC copy of Cade Haddock Strong’s “Mailboat’’ from (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
So, here it is !!!
My rating : 2.5 ⭐️

It’s the first time I have read one of this author’s pieces of work… And the least I can say is that I have mixed feelings about this.

I haven’t toured the Thousand Islands yet, but they are on my bucket list. So, I really liked the idea of reading a story set there, because it made me dream of those landscapes. And, since I like the rich/poor trope, it also intrigued me … I also found the idea of the mail boat quite exciting and, well, romantic too. The problem is that the story has nothing to make it noticeable, it is unoriginal and way too predictable… It’s a shame because given the way more complex and deep nature of both MCs, the novel was FULL of POTENTIAL but it sadly stayed at this stage… just potential.

The gullible side of Wen was quite annoying. She’s a hard worker and very courageous but she doesn’t seem to be able to stick to her own decisions. It seems for everything, she has someone who’ll influence her choice… Even if it turns out to be the right thing to have changed her mind about, it’s still annoying to have such a gullible/influenceable character who, in addition acts more often than not like an immature brat and a haughty jerk with her permanent preconception about the Gage woman she has a crush on since forever. The fact she was always being called out on her judgmental BS by her hyper-positive BFF and loses her temper before she even has thought things through, was pretty tiresome. … Duh !! I wanted to dive into the book and shake her up!

I think that Estelle and Wen’s budding relationship, particularly when they were alone on the island, should have been more developed to accentuate the things they have in common. Like the things they can both teach each other (naturally, never in a forced way), their shared passions and so make them realize (Wen even more than Estelle in this case) that they really were more alike than everyone (including them) would have thought… That they are MORE than anyone could think…

A lot of angst … That’s what we could have thought was coming while reading the plot. But there’s definitely NOT enough drama in there, especially coming from Estelle’s family over the summer. Same thing where Claudia, the ex-wife is concerned. Given the very marked difference of classes, there should have been more “crap” coming from all those born with-a-silver-spoon-in-the-mouth openly opposed to Estelle and Wen’s relationship, so more clashes coming from the matriarch of the Gage clan, and the ex-wife who seems to have a difficult time moving on and accept the divorce (despite her being a multi-recidivist cheating bitch).

In addition, the book is too short to allow real character development. Estelle comes from money, the really upper-class but she’s likeable, kind, respectful and down-to-earth. Despite this, she always loses herself in her relationships… Estelle is supposed to be there to be on a personal journey, not to reconnect with her true self but to properly discover who she is. The issue is that we don’t witness any of her battles. The issue is that we don’t witness any of her battles. That’s a shame, because it’s those battles that would have made her an interesting character to know…

There’s something I particularly didn’t like: the wedding part when Wen, who is described all along as a butch who can’t stand wearing dresses (it was even said she went to her prom in a tux and made a public announcement about this – I quote : “I hate dresses and wouldn’t be caught dead in one.” -- before coming out publicly) attended the event in a very surprising outfit: Not only does she wears a dress but heals as well … It doesn’t make any sense to me (I’m a butch and there’s NO WAY anyone, not even my soulmate, makes me were a dress … It would have the feel of a clown in a circus show – No disrespect for the clowns intended). Seriously, it’s like the author did not even respect her own MC …To be more credible regarding the supposedly “we don’t care about what anyone thinks” aspect, Wen should have worn a very classy tux which would have fitted her butch nature way better than the dress. And Estelle would have had to support her partner’s choice no matter what. Ironically, Estelle who was afraid to be changed once again if she entered a relationship with Wen ended up making Wen change … how pathetic !!!

The epilogue … Well, there’s one, I can’t complain about that fact, but it doesn’t jump forward far enough in in time and it gives us a HFN kind of end, instead of a HEA one …

To shortly summarise my view, I’d say something like this :
- Did I enjoy this book? => not as much as I thought I would.
- Did I find the characters believable? => not as much as I thought I would.
- Is this book now included in my "must be re-read"-list? => no.
- Will I purchase the paperback? => no.
- Would I read another book by this author? => yes, I’ll give her another try, or, two…
- Would I recommend this book => I’ll let people use their free will to read the novel, or not …

🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩📚⚢👩‍✈️🚤🔧🧰👩‍💻📘👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩📖👭🏳️‍🌈

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK read for me. I liked the MCs and the descriptions of the setting were amazing, I'd love to be able to visit the area someday. I think the insta-love was a bit of a turn off to me, they go from secret mutual attraction to love with a single kiss and very few surface level conversations during mail delivery. After that there are a few problems that pop up and they are magically resolved, sometimes with no explanation. Estelle is a writer and when Wen finds out her pen name she is very surprised that she is a well known author who is a mega star and she ends up a bit upset that Estelle didn't tell her outright instead of assuming she knew. I know I for one would be asking to read any books written by anyone I know let alone a girlfriend and it wasn't believable that Wen wouldn't have asked to read a copy of her previous book. This along with some issues related to the boat where Wen is able to mysteriously finagle scraping together a huge sum of money to fix it, after declining Estelle's help and also saying she was broke made the plot points feel very artificial, pulling me from the story. I don't think this book worked for me but I seem to be an outlier so definitely read it for yourself as it seems fairly popular with others.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This book is about the story of Wen the mailboat captain and Estelle the New York socialite..
Wen dreams of leaving the small town even signing up for the peace corps. First Wen must help her family with the mailboat while her uncle is sick. Estelle is on the family island trying get over her writer’s block. They meet when Wen delivers a package to Estelle on her family private island.
The two women are from different backgrounds, One is from a wealthy family and the other is a local townie, Once they start hanging out they really enjoy each other’s company, Wen’s insecurities about being good enough for Estelle almost ends the relationship. They know how to talk and listen to work thing’s out.
The way the author wrote this story makes you want to go to the islands to see and feel the magic that she wrote about.

Mailboat is a great story I would definitely recommend this book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time putting this novel down. When the book begins we’re introduced to Wen, who is helping out her family by running the mailboat to all the folks who live on the islands near her home town. Having to take over the job ruined her plans to travel to Barcelona and then join the Peace Corps. On the bright side, she met Estelle, one of the daughters of a very wealthy socialite.

The book reveals how these two opposites become attracted to one another and slowly develop a relationship despite their differences. It’s mostly from Wen’s perspective, but Estelle gets some time, too. I enjoyed reading about their concerns and hopes, as well as their lives. Wen turns out to be more capable and worthy of respect than she ever thought she could be.

[Natalie White · Rating 1 out of 5]

A predictable love story between a Wen, a working-class mail boat operator and Estelle, an upper class summer-dweller who is trying to finish her latest novel.

I found this story quite mundane; it was obvious the insecurities Wen carried about her social class did not faze Estelle and that the two of them would find a way to work things out was evident from the start.

**I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read

Although there was a bit of anxiety throughout, this book turned out to be a lovely romance. Wen and Estelle are a great couple with each person bringing different strengths and weaknesses to the relationship. It was also fun to visit this popular tourist town during the off season, without having to freeze your bum off.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the story was interesting, however I found it to be quite mundane. It was very predictable. Regardless I really liked both characters. 3.5 stars




Thank you, Bella Books, and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Anna Furtado · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely, engaging and well written novel. Endearing characters (well, there *are* a couple of them that are *less* likeable, but the angst they bring is relatively mild), couched in a charming romance make up this easy-to-read story.

[Shelly Montrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book

Best read. The love and life this romances explores is quite something. Nothing , no trouble is to hard to overcome. In a new quiet but thrilling way this writer has brought out. Bravo. Out of about 1,000 love stories I have reviewed this is one I of the best.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a perfect, easy read for summer. It's well written and low on the angst, which was exactly what I needed at the time I decided to give it a buy.

[Debbie Henny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

This is the first book I have read by Cade Haddock Strong. Can't say enough good things about this book. Great story and characters. Highly recommend

[Seb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy going sapphic romance with very low drama

[Coldwonderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the fiftieth time, why do some books score too low?
This book has a really different vibe to it, and it's a comfortable read

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet feelgood read, 3.5 stars.