About Books #58: Come Away With Me

Here’s one of the things I really want to do some day: go on a cruise. Preferably somewhere in the general direction of Scandinavia but – honestly? Any cruise would be good. Oh, and I would like to do it while it’s cold. Cuz, you know… It’s me. Obviously 🙂 And you guessed it – a cruise is exactly what the doctor described in Come Away With Me!

I was offered an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

The book

When Alexa Fisher finds herself trapped on a twelve-day cruise to celebrate her younger sister’s hen-do – just the two of them – she wishes she’d jumped overboard.

Despite the age difference, India has always been the judgemental sibling, and there’s been even more friction than usual since ‘the big engagement’. With India constantly obsessing over wedding plans, Alexa has never felt more single, or more of a failure.

If only she could find a man who was funny, handsome and faithful. But when she meets the enigmatic (and *gorgeous*) Gabriel Frost on the cruise, he is as cold as his name suggests… Isn’t he?

Set sail for an adventure on the high seas, it’s time for Alexa to discover that sometimes romance can surprise you!

The opinion

Here’s another thing I like: main characters that aren’t 100% likeable. And, let’s be real: Alexa is absolutely not perfect. She even mentions so herself – on multiple occasions. What she is, though, is trying. And sometimes? That’s enough.

Let me frame that a little bit better: Alexa has been feeling like second best to her younger sister for a while now. After all, India’s the one who gets all their parents’ attention, what with her wedding coming up. Oh, and she’s the one getting married. And the pretty one. And sometimes, she’s a bit childish and mean to her sister.

But then again -childish and mean? That could be said for both of these sisters, from time to time. So, probably, they were very right to think that going on a cruise together? 12 days non-stop in each other’s company? Might not be the best of ideas.

As it turns out though: “mum is always right.” And in this case? Alexa and India’s mum seemed to know that what they needed most was probably to have some fun together. In this case, that fun basically equated to eating and drinking their way through the cruise. They also learned how to make animals out of fruit and towels, why exactly the Titanic sunk…

If you’re wondering why I haven’t yet mentioned the romance part of this novel, that’s because – while it’s very much there – it never felt like the main focus of this book. Sure, Alexa falls for Gabriel and they connect and it’s all fun and fluff. But all of that is never allowed to take too much time away from the main relationship in this book: Alexa and India. At times, that made the romance seem rather abrupt, but as the novel went on, I actually came to really appreciate that. After all: there’s no relationship like the one you can have with your sister, and Maddie Please really allowed that to shine through.

The rating: 3.25/5

If you’re looking for some fluffy romance, and that only, this isn’t necessarily going to be the book for you. However – if you’re in need of some sisterly love developing? Of a cruise right down the US-coast? Of a fun bit of romance, just prominent enough to give this book an excellent flavour? And, of course: if you want to discover a new cocktail recipe every fifth page? Then this book is exactly what you need! (Goodreads)

-Saar