Book Review: Sailing at Sunset
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Author: Cindi Madsen
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Publish Date: July 21, 2020
Format: eBook
★★★★☆
This book is perfect for those that like: Hilarious Supporting Characters Who Tell It Like It Is, Planner Talk, and Guys Giving You Their Jackets When You Are Cold.
You might not like this book if you aren’t into: Sailing, Talking About Sailing, or Stubborn People Being Stubborn While Sailing.
Purchase: Bookshop / Barnes & Noble / Amazon
From Goodreads: Josh tells himself he’s the luckiest guy in the world. Living on his sailboat and taking tourists on occasional chartered trips, he’s not tied down to routines and responsibilities. He even named his sailboat Solitude, because that’s what he enjoys much of the time.
Danae works at a boat company, and she just got promoted—sort of. To keep her dream job, she must get her opinionated coworkers to all agree on a marketing plan. Her boss directs her to set up a week-long sailing tour with them as a work trip and a bonding experience.
At first, Danae isn’t completely on board with Josh’s laid-back approach to the excursion. But during visits to quaint New England towns and seafaring adventures, she and Josh start to see one another’s true colors…and Josh begins to question his solitary life.
Y’all, I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book that I don’t even know where to start. I laughed, I cringed, I swooned, and I legit cried. To say that I loved it was an understatement. But it wasn’t even the love story that I loved so much, which was fantastic, it was the fact that this book gave me hope that changes are on the horizon. There was divorce, a gay couple, references to a marketing campaign that included same-sex couples, and best of all, some diversity in the characters. Now, that’s not to say that all of these components were perfect but it’s a start and I’m so freaking HAPPY that Hallmark Publishing is stepping up their game and being more inclusive. MORE, please and thank you.
I mean, there was zero chance I wasn’t going to like this from the start, because this book my friends is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity story both of which are my MOST FAVORITE.
Danae’s a Type A, Planner Girl (with stickers and color-coded pens!!!) and Josh is a go with the flow, slightly grumpy sailor who loves being alone. Honestly, I couldn’t decide who I identified with more, Danae’s organized “her plans have plans” brain or Josh’s “I live alone on a boat that I’ve named Solitude” way of life. BOTH ARE ME AND THIS IS WHY I LOVE THESE TWO. Their road to love isn’t smooth sailing (see what I did there - don’t hate me) and at times their back and forth was kind of frustrating but man, did they have some VERY CLOSE AND FLIRTY moments. And like I mentioned earlier, I legit cried when they finally had their Big Moment. I won’t give it away but I did guess what the Grand Gesture would be and I STILL cried because it was so moving.
This book is definitely one that I will be thinking about for days and will be reread very soon. If you’re looking for a quick, swoony, and slightly angsty read, then add this one to your Summer TBR pile. I need everyone to meet Josh. And his jacket.