An unexpected and last-minute Alaskan trip brings rockstar Greta James and her father together after the death of her mother. Both equally grieving and at a loss from her death, Greta goes on this cruise to accompany her father after her parents’ long-awaited cruise for their 40th Anniversary.

Greta is lost and is deeply aching after this loss because, from the start of her music journey, her mother was her confidante and best friend, supporting her every step of the way to chase her dreams. After having a heartbreaking and possible career breaking moment on stage at her last performance, Greta believes that this cruise will be her escape from the harsh realities of her life for the next 8-days.

We get to observe the dysfunctional relationship between a father and a daughter, their misunderstandings and past wounds, which are opened as this father and daughter pair are forced to face the reality of losing someone so close to them. This pair must face and discuss their complicated and troublesome past without the buffer of their mother.

The subject of grief and loss is one of the most complex subjects for an author to get right, but I believe Jennifer handled this subject exceptionally well. We see Greta, her father, and their four family friends deal with the death of a mother, a wife and a friend.

Greta is learning to navigate her life without her mother and trying to find her way back to her true self when she meets the gorgeously handsome father of 2, and nerdy professor Ben Wilder. Whilst this book does have this romantic component, I was immensely pleased that this wasn’t the main focal point.

Author Jennifer Smith uses such beautiful imagery and writes in a way that makes you feel like you are right there with the characters in Alaska. For anyone that knows me, I love cruises and absolutely loved how this family cruise was the focal point of this heartfelt and inspirational story. As a lot of us continue to face lockdowns and border closures due to the world’s current pandemic, it almost felt like we were escaping with these characters for a once in a lifetime getaway.

This heartfelt read full of pain and hope was a beautiful blend of exceptionally written literature and women’s fiction. Grief and loss is something we all experience in our lives, and I love how this author has made this the main focal point of her story. If you are someone who is looking for their next well developed and engaging read, then this is the read for you. *Do check the Trigger Warnings before beginning this read.

This ARC was acquired by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Greta is on an Alaskan cruise with her father, months after a public breakdown after losing her mother.
They have a difficult relationship - will this enforced time together help them move forwards together?

I would have liked to have seen more of an epilogue to see what happened next.

As a fan of some of Jennifer E. Smith's previous novels I was really looking forward to her adult debut, and I cannot say I was disappointed.

In this heart-warming story, we explore the difficult relationship between rock-star Greta James and her widower father, Conrad. I really enjoyed being taken on this journey and loved watching the father-daughter relationship open up as the book progressed. I will admit that it did take me a while to connect to the characters but upon finishing the book I found that I appreciated that more as it reflected how Greta was closed off and adrift at the start of the book and I really loved being on that journey too.

This book explored the themes of mourning, healing and self-exploration in such a powerful way, but I felt that for me the romance aspect fell a little flat. At first I was certain that the relationship between Greta and Jason would be explored, and when it dawned on me that this was not the case I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. However, I found that Ben’s character offered the perfect comic-relief aspect and was a great vessel to emphasise Greta’s growth throughout the novel. Although I would’ve loved more romance I wouldn’t change this as I think it was important to keep the importance on the father-daughter relationship.

The beginning of the book felt a little slow to me but the ending more than redeemed it. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I can’t wait to read more Jennifer E. Smith books in the future.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.