I've never been on a cruise, but this amusing story makes it sound fun. Well developed, endearing characters, detailed descriptions of what goes on in a cruise and playful banter make it am enjoyable read.

Mackenzie Laurel has been dumped by her live in unfathful boyfriend and as her boss he also fired her. (Law suit in the making, but not mentioned). Her big brother had gaslighted her to believe that she had bad luck and made bad choices. Her best friend Dani works for a travel agency, so books her on a luxury cruise with the orders to have a fling. What she neglected to tell her was not to have the fling with her boss. Cole Matterhorn lost all his dreams when he lost the bottom of his leg to a terrorist's bomb, while his best friend Trent, standing right next to him, escaped physically unscathed, but also is suffering from PTSD. Both do not allow themselves to become close to anyone, because of the fear of losing someone or causing pain to someone. This has worked well for the least 9 years, but Mac became more to him than a fling when he tries to convince her that she should go with her first instinct and not second guess her self. Not only do Mac and Cole have a HEA, but so does Trent.

I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

I didn’t have a problem with the writing or the plot, I wish however we got to see more of the characters separately and more together. And was also not a fan of the ending but that is more of a personal issue because I don’t enjoy seeing pregnancy in books.

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

I meant to read this while I was on my cruise, but I didn’t end up starting it until the day my cruise ended and it made me want to go on another cruise immediately!

I ended up reading this in a day because it was so good I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed both the MC’s and thought that they had great chemistry and I loved the side characters.

I loved that there was disability rep in both main characters.

This was my first book from this author and I will for sure be reading more of her books!

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC.

A Cruise Fling is available now and it is also in KU.

CW: PHYSICAL TRAUMA, PTSD, A TERRORIST ATTACK (in the past)

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I thought this story was super cute and loved the relationship between Cole and Mac. They truly do make each other better. I wish we had more of both of their backstories. Learn more about Mac's childhood and the issues she had with her siblings and feeling inferior. And learn more about Cole and who he is. We know he's not the same person since the loss of his leg, we know how he lost his leg, but we don't really know much else about him.
The only other thing I really disliked with the book is the constant reiteration of it being a 'fling'. It didn't matter which character was being focused on, they both constantly talked about it being a 'fling' to the point that you almost want to DNF the book because it's annoying.

Otherwise, this is a cute little romance and I would read it again. However, the ending and epilogue felt rushed. I wish we got to see more of Mac and Cole.

I'm glad I stuck through with the book. There were a few things that I didn't predict that was fun to read. I just wish we knew more about the characters

I couldn't connect with the characters and I found the dialogue a little cringey. I thought it was going to be a cute fun read but for me, it felt more like work than fun.

This was a nice rom com. I really enjoyed both characters tremendously. Thus author was new to me, but I enjoyed her writing alot. Who doesn't love a good love story? I'm looking forward to seeing what this author comes out with next. Apologies on the late review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc.

I was looking forward to this one when I saw the main characters had some form of disability. As an HR Admin in the disability sector, love stories with people of disability interest me. Unfortunately, this book did not hit the spot. I dnf'ed it at 25%. I'm not sure if it was the writing style or the execution, but I didn't gravitate toward the book at all. The story didn't stay on my mind, and I was not interested in pushing further.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Cruise Fling explores the story of Mac and Cole who meet on a cruise ship. Both down on their luck, looking for new challenges, find exactly what they’re looking for where they least expect it.
The story paces well - all the storytelling of the events move along at a fast but enjoyable pace. The characters are likeable and funny. It’s a short, funny bit of escapism.

4.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this arc!
I had the best time reading this. I adore a cruise ship setting. The characters were so funny and I thought the disability and trauma rep was done well.

I did think it was bit insta lovey, and that the characters moved incredibly fast. Beyond that I loved it. Would definitely recommend! A fun summertime read.

This was such a cute book! I absolutely loved it! The story moved along well without any big gaps or slow moving sections. I really liked the characters, I thought they were well fleshed out and were believable as a couple.

2 stars.

There was a lot of potential for "A Cruise Fling" by Laura Brown to be great, but I just didn't love this book. The premise is wonderful, but there are many missed opportunities here. I really liked main characters Mac and Cole at the beginning of the book, but the longer I sat with them both together and separately, they more they got on my nerves. However, I absolutely LOVED the fact that Cole has a prosthesis and Mac is hard of hearing. There also needed to be a lot more editing in this book because the pacing is wildly inconsistent. The beginning just started - bam! - and then around the 35% mark, it goes at a snail's pace for the remainder of the story. I didn't connect with this story much after that. It's way too slow and boring for such a short book! Also, there is an insanely large amount of talk about lemons? And rotten lemons? Like...? Did Big Lemon fund the publishing of this book? I love romances and forced proximity, but this was a no for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Laura Brown, and Entangled Publishing LLC for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Any book about a cruise and I am in! Absolutely LOVED this one! Book of the summer for sure. Highly recommend. Could see it being book club picks.

This was difficult to get into. It didn’t start with a premise, so I had no idea what was going on and who was who. It was a tough to follow set up, which made it difficult for me to read. It was also kind of cringy at the start. I am grateful for the opportunity, though! Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

This was a cute romance. It was not my favorite but I think it would be a great summer/ beach read. It was cute and enjoyable.

Thank you netgally and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book for an honest review.
I have to say I felt this book lacked depth and although it was under 200 pages, it took me a while to finish.

This book makes a great summer read. It’s super cute and fun to read. The dynamic between the characters was great.

3.5 stars

A Cruise Fling is a vacation romance with plenty of sweet and fun moments.

Mac and Cole unexpectedly connect and find something special together. It was interesting seeing things from each of their POVs and learning about their experiences. I think the forced proximity and activities they had to do helped them connect and it was interesting seeing them fall for one another.

Sadly, DNF. I am so so sorry. I thought I would enjoy this one fully. I mean, a cruise? I want to go on a cruise so sign me up for any books with that. Romance, and two people finding each other? LOVE. The cover? LOVE. One character has prosthetics, the other is hard of hearing (is that the right term btw?), we need more representation for those so I am excited.
But for a book of 279 pages (according to Amazon, though some sites say 300, so it is a bit weird) it took me ages to just get to 10%. I noticed that I kept being distracted, kept putting the book away to do something else, either POPtown or another book or even Netflix. Something just wasn't clicking, it was definitely also the instalove. Just like love triangles I am just not into that trope. Plus, as I was checking out reviews, I wanted to know if others also felt disconnected from the book, I found out that near the middle/end there is a big thing, that I cannot tell here because spoilers, but which has ruined the book for several reviewers/readers and I can tell you, that is something I hate as well. Especially given everything that is said about Mac and what we learn at the beginning of the book. Sorry no.

I was so looking forward to this book, A Cruise Fling. It follows Mackenzie whose life just exploded (fired, ex broke up with her, no place to live) so her friend booked her in for a cruise. I love reading romcoms but this one just fell flat. It didn’t reel me in, I didn’t connect with the characters, and a few things annoyed me - the overuse of the words fling, lemons, lemonade, rotten lemons, and the controlling/bossy tendency of the main male character. There were a few triggers as well: bombing, terrorist attack, amputation, hearing disability.

***SPOILER AHEAD***I also did not like the ‘accidental pregnancy’ scenario.

The story would have flourished without these distractions. The book had a ton of spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ but it wasn’t enough to save it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. My review and opinions are my own.

This was a quick read. I finished it in a day and a half. I actually enjoyed it. There are a lot of pretty corny moments but over all was a cute book. I liked the characters and the plot was cute. I gave it 4 stars only because some parts of it did kinda drag but over all a good quick read.