Synopsis:
He calls it fake dating, but she calls it being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Lauren Foley and Jack Fletcher already tried to be amicable once—on a blind date that ended in complete disaster. Now, years later, they have to put up with each other for the sake of her sister and his best friend, who are eloping on a cruise to the Bahamas. But that’s not the worst of it. No, Lauren’s in even deeper water when she finds herself agreeing to play Jack’s fake girlfriend for the duration of the cruise.
Now the only thing on her mind is trying not to strangle him when he dials up the charm, but it becomes harder to remember exactly why she ever hated him in the first place. Jack, on the other hand, is enjoying the perks.
Until the cruise lands on American soil again and real life hits them square in the face. Lauren is up for a promotion at work, and Jack promised her something that would secure it. But promises are easily broken, vacation life doesn’t always translate to the real world, and sometimes enemies start that way for a reason.
Review:
I’ve really been in need of an easy to read contemporary romance and Love on Deck was a great choice. I knew I’d like it to some extent as fake dating is one of my favourite tropes and honestly, this was a very enjoyable read.
Although saying that, I expected the fake dating to last a lot longer than it did. It would have been great if they were faking it all the way until Lauren meets Jack’s family. There’s usually some kind of risk or fallout involved if someone finds out and Love on Deck didn’t really have that. It was still super fun though. I love it when the fake dating pair can’t stand each other to begin with, it makes it way more satisfying when they do end up together.
I did like both main characters, but if you’ve read this, you’ll probably agree with me that Lauren was a bit insufferable to begin with. She was so uptight and I did find the whole ‘sunburn’ situation to be well over the top. I thought this was going to be a moment to bring her and Jack together, you know the classic ‘let me rub sun cream on you’ bit, but I don’t remember this playing out in that way.
She does get better further into the book and I do think Jack brings out the best in her. Obviously, women don’t need men to be better people, but he allowed her to chill out a bit and he did like her for who she is.
I thought the best parts of this book would be on the cruise, and while I did enjoy these, I loved the dynamic with Jack’s family. I love a small town and Arcadia Creek sounds so lovely.
Love on Deck promises a happily ever after, so you know things are going to escalate quickly and they’ll probably move too fast, but this isn’t real life so I don’t mind that. I actually like instalove sometimes, as long as they aren’t saying they love each other within five minutes.
The ending is actually very sweet and I did notice the subtle hints about book two. I’m definitely up for reading the second book in the future as this one was very solid. I think it’s a second-chance romance, which I do like quite a lot.
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