I received this from Netgalley to read and review. This book is part of Toronto Collection series. While I have not read any of the other books in the series, this book can be read as a stand-alone, though I am pretty sure there are characters from the other books who make an appearance. In this book, Melissa and her fiancé Owen are on a two-week cruise in the Caribbean, something his family does every year and which Owen’s mother is paying for. After a brief whirlwind romance and courtship lasting three month, Melissa has decided to marry Owen during the cruise. She was a bit surprised by his proposal and has some lingering doubts about marrying so soon, but nevertheless is on board. Her mother and best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend are along for the cruise and wedding as her guests, as well as Owen’s mother and two brothers, one with girlfriend in tow. Melissa is totally surprised when she meets his brothers: she had a quick fling with one, Austin, and a more serious relationship with the other, Nicholas, and broke his heart when she left him. Makes for an interesting trip. As the cruise progresses, Melissa learns new things about Owen: he spends all his day in the casino and almost no time with her, his mother is an overbearing rich social butterfly who flits from man to man and likes to discuss things we do not normally think mothers and fathers or people of her age should discuss, and that she (Melissa) has not totally cut Owen’s brother Nicholas out of her mind and heart, though they broke up a while back. Thus, Melissa is grappling with a lot in addition to her wedding and trip. From almost the start, I wondered why or if Melissa would even marry Owen, since he came across as a totally uncaring gambling addict (something she never saw coming during their short courtship). In addition, her continued attraction to Nicholas and him to her made me wonder what was going on. Melissa’s best friend, Owen’s other brother Austin and the cruise ship’s wedding coordinator also wonder what is going on. However, Melissa, aware that she is not paying for the cruise and aware that if she does make a decision, she must be the one who does it and must also let everyone, including Owen, know, and equally uncertain about her feelings for Nicholas, does nothing but let thigs flow along as smoothly as they can. However, this does not stop her spending almost too much time with Nicholas—while Owen holds up in the casino gambling, leaving Melissa to fend for herself.

This is a book where I like the supporting characters as much or more than the main characters. Melissa is a solid, forward-thinking woman, except when it comes to men and romance. She has very idealistic ideas about marriage, which is good, but she does not really support them in her actions, i.e. spending so much time with and putting herself in compromising positions with Owen’s brother Nicholas, not facing the blatant fact that perhaps her marriage to Owen is not for the best, allowing herself to be controlled by Owen and his devotion to gambling. Of course, I did not like Owen, and thought he was controlling and deceptive, not to mention a potential gambling addict. I think the author intended that. There was no rationale given for Melissa’s unfaltering love for him, other than the fact that, as her mother told her, he was a great “catch”, and she wanted to be married. I also found his brother Austin to be a real cad, except for one instance almost at the end of the book. Then there was Owen’s mother, Linda, who personified, in many ways, the mother-in-law most would hate. For someone her age, she definitely had not grown up and, for someone her age who, by virtue of her status as the boys’ mother, spent a lot of the time going into things polite people usually don’t discuss with future daughters-in-law and acting like she was a twenty something. In addition, it was easy to see how Owen could be so controlling and Austin such a cad, after watching Linda in action. Though there was only one instance when she morphed into the heavy, reminding them who was paying for everything, she never seemed to let anyone forget she was the one paying. I found Nicholas a mixed bag, sometimes acting like a very much in charge adult who knows his mind and does what he wants and knows is right, while at other times acting like a real wimp who could never assert himself, even in the most dire of circumstances. I think Melissa liked this Nicholas, though how she would cope with the other side of him was beyond me. I guess she figured he could grow into this because he was sometimes acting as he did. Lastly, I enjoyed Melissa’s friend and her boyfriend. Both seemed like solid people, the kind we all want as friends. They remained solidly behind Melissa, despite everything she said and did, as well as throughout the story, regardless what happened. Everyone needs and wants friends like them in their lives. The setting was interesting. I have been on over two dozen cruises to and around the Caribbean, several in March, but have never found the trip weather or waters as cool as described in the book. This was especially interesting since Melissa and the crew heralded from Toronto, where adjusting to cold weather is de rigeur, unless a resident plans to and does move away to warmer climates (and no one said they had such dreams or were even planning to). I am not someone who is cold all the time and I did move to Florida from the North to escape the colder weather, but, while on a cruise, I do not worry and talk about being cold all the time as the characters in this tory seemed to and have found the Caribbean waters to be warm, even in the dead of winter.

After all this, I will say that the book is a good, rather fast read and appealed to me a lot. It provided a great beach/summer read, the perfect escape. It is interesting to see how Melissa grows in the book, as she realizes her love life is not what she thought it was and finally makes big decisions. The ending was not a big surprise, though the story did keep me wondering what Melissa was going to do. I recommend it to anyone hankering for a romance that is a bit different or for anyone, who, like me, enjoys cruising or wants to know more about what a cruise is like. ( )