A light sprinkling of spoilers within this review for the latest rom-com by Laura Brown
I’m doing my best, y’all. Doing. My. Best.
Ho-kay! So. “A Cruise Fling” by Laura Brown is next on my list, and here’s my little fun run-through of the novel!
This is a 3 out of 5 stars for me, and even that is making me squint with mild regret. The third star is for the representation of the disabilities and how that was handled, to be honest. Story is a solid two.
I requested this ARC for the premise and the representation of the two main characters’ disabilities. I felt like that would be a breath of fresh air. This novel centers around our two main characters, Mackenzie “Mac” Laurel and Cole Matterhorn (I cannot be the only one who thinks of Disneyland when his name pops up, I cannot.) as they set sail on an 8-day cruise through the Caribbean. Mac is just getting out of a horrible relationship, and Cole can’t even say the word “relationship” without gagging, but their chemistry cannot be denied! So they decide to make their “fling” contingent on their time on the cruise ship. After those 8 days, they’re gone and they won’t have to see each other again. Right?
So I’ve always been a fan of the Don’t Catch Feelings trope. It’s a fun one when the characters truly believe they can have steady doses of each other and not fall in love. Shock of all shocks, that’s what happens here. But of course, Mac and Cole promised each other they wouldn’t be more than just “a cruise fling” (ohhh, is that where it comes from??) and don’t know how to parse through the feelings they’ve caught on the ship. Between Mac having PTSD from her last relationship to Cole having PTSD from his own past, it’s a wonder if there can be Happily Ever After with these two.
So here’s the thing though: I like this trope when done well. I’m not really feeling like this was done well. While I get there’s kind of a time crunch for this novel (it does take place on an 8-day cruise after all), I’m getting burnt out on the Insta-love trope as well. Cole, a man who is known for never having serious relationships – or any at all – suddenly finds that he can’t live without Mac, and will do anything to make it work with her post-cruise. I find Mac’s building feelings for Cole more believable, because even though her ex was a douche, she never closed the door on love. She just closed the door on it for now. She’s jobless, homeless, and boyfriendless in one fell swoop, I don’t blame the woman for wanting to get her shit together and get back on her feet before she brings another man in her life. Especially a man who seems to be waaaay more serious than expected.
Like I said above, I’m a fan of how the author portrayed the two main characters’ disabilities. Cole is an amputee from a tragic event in his past, and Mac is hard of hearing. Neither one of the characters shies away from the others’ disability, and finds them to just be a part of who they are, which is great! They are both cognizant of the others’ disabilities and do what they can to make sure the other is comfortable and having a good time. I love that. I’ll swoon to that.
I liked the side characters, both on the ship and off. Mac’s best friends Dani and Suzie seemed like a delight, and I would have loved to see more of them in the story. Alas, due to the premise, it makes sense that that wouldn’t work. I did like the emails sprinkled throughout.
Quinn and Rob were delights too; I just wasn’t a fan of the forced sparks between Quinn and Trent, Cole’s friend and employee on the cruise. It fell flat to me, and again, felt forced. Quinn could’ve been there celebrating being 30 and having the time of her life with friends, why does there have to be a kindling relationship that just… stops anyway? There’s potential for something more to happen in the end, but I’m not interested enough to care. Still liked Quinn though.
There were some descriptions and prose that just threw me for a loop and took me completely out of the book. The obvious one was the overuse of the phrase “lemonade or rotten lemon.” Okay, I get it. Mac likes lemons. Huge fan. Dresses and jewelry and suitcases are covered with lemons. But I swear if I had to read the word “lemon” one more time I was going to squeeze one right into my left eyeball. It was just too much. Another phrase that made me straight up laugh out loud was during a scene where Cole was looking for Mac on the ship and getting worried that he couldn’t find her. He finally finds her in her stateroom’s bathroom (whodathunk, ay?) and – direct quote – “the fear loosened his grip on his balls.” I’m sorry, what? What. Does this mean? “Fear” had a grip on his balls? Or did Cole have the grip on his balls? Does Cole grip his balls when he’s scared/worried/frightened? Was he walking around the ship with his hand down his pants? Men who may be reading this: Do you grip your balls with fear? Or does “fear” do it for you? When you’re no longer afraid does the feeling in your balls loosen? Or is it like a slowly deflating balloon? I do not have testes, I don’t understand. I NEED ANSWERS PEOPLE!
There was also a line describing the clouds in the sky: “Cole looked out at the white fluffy stuffing against the blue backdrop.” I just… I don’t know.
The ending is what made me mad. I don’t want this review to be completely filled with spoilers, so I won’t say what happens, but I’m just so bummed about the ending. I’ve read a few other reviews about “A Cruise Fling” and I’m seeing a consensus. The ending ruined it for me because I was rooting for these two to find happiness in the end and work on themselves to achieve that happiness. Even if that meant it wouldn’t work out between the two of them. Honestly I’d be fine if that happened; if they just went their separate ways but they were able to heal from the wounds of their past. Mac with believing that she is worth so much more than the life she settled for before the cruise, and Cole for healing from the tragic event that took his leg and being able to open up to people and open up to love again.
But this ending – UGH, it really put a big fat dud in that for me. A situation occurs where decisions had to be made in such a way where we’ll never truly know if that was what Mac and Cole wanted. I mean, I know Cole wanted it, but Mac? I don’t know. It felt… like she was kind of shoehorned into the decision she made for herself post-cruise. The epilogue comes out like she’s happy and it was a good choice, but I would’ve liked to see Mac as Mac, not as the woman she needed to become due to the situation that comes up.
Also “the situation” is talked about way early on in the book where the “surprise” wasn’t a surprise at all, so that was odd.
And I swear I’m not talking about “The Situation” from Jersey Shore. Swear it.
Overall, it was okay, but the ending was a bummer. It took some effort to get through some slow parts, but there were cute moments. Also some pretty spicy ones.
Thank you to Entangled: Amara and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
How did you feel about “A Cruise Fling”? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Too many lemons?? Let me know what you think down in the comments. Until next time!
Expected publication: April 3, 2023
monicareadsthrough.com 