This was hands down one of my favorite reads I’ve had the pleasure of reading in months. When I go into a book the best things to look for are a compelling story, captivating writing and characters I can stand behind and see the layers they have. And this book not only had that all but completely knocked it out of the park for me. I felt the plot was one of the most unique I have read in awhile. A reunion on a cruise ship with the tension and gag of an exhorted, an ex best friend and what years of regret can do to you. Each character is this story was so complex and I found myself completely falling for them each time one layer got pulled back and I got know more about them. The story that somehow had you living in both the past and the present along side the characters without getting side tracked in the history is hard to do but I found myself wanting 200 more pages of just them. I love the diversity in this book and how every character had a backstory you couldn’t help but adore. Micah was such a beautiful character who has been dealt a hard hand in life that she sunk into a less version of herself and how in discovering and opening up about the past helps her grow again in the future. John has such a beautifully quiet personality but when you spoke you hung onto every word he said because you knew he spoke with such feelings. The tension and easy banter between these two had me rooting for them to get it together and info their way back to each other but I love how easily they made sure their friendship was their first foundation to their relationship. Absolutely wonderful book. This is my first read by this author and now I need to go back and read all their work.

Could this book be described as Daisy Jones & The Six meets Titanic? Wait, scratch that! At least the ship doesn’t hit an iceberg, and Jack—pardon me, John—doesn’t freeze to death because his partner is too selfish to share her space. Okay, let’s stop comparing this book to other works and let me tell you how it made me feel.

I wanted to wrap John in a cocoon and protect him. From the beginning, I was firmly on his team. Micah, on the other hand, made some significant mistakes. She felt like the Yoko Ono of the group, tearing them apart a decade ago when they were rising stars at 17. She cut ties with everyone, released a solo album, and then disappeared from the music industry entirely. For years, she focused on living in Silver Lake (my personal opinion about that neighborhood aside) and helping her sister’s beauty salon while resting on her music industry fame.

Now, Micah’s father—also her manager—pushes her to accept a reunion gig, which involves performing on a cruise ship as part of a big TV show panel featuring their hit song. This means she must face her old bandmates, some of whom still hold grudges over the group’s breakup. Among them is Ryder, her ex-boyfriend, with whom she had a messy breakup. But the silver lining? She also gets to reunite with John, her former best friend, whom she hasn’t heard from in nearly a decade. Is John angry at her for ghosting him?

From John’s perspective, he’s been struggling to make a name for himself in the music industry. He shares a house with a large group of roommates who have become his makeshift family. John has quietly harbored feelings for Micah since they were kids. When she started dating Ryder, he kept those feelings bottled up and acted like nothing was wrong. Now, seeing Micah again and playing alongside her on the cruise reignites those old emotions. Can they still be friends after ten years of silence and exclusion? Or could they start over? The chemistry and tension between them are undeniable—so strong it feels like they might tear each other’s clothes off. But is this just chemistry, or is there something deeper that could change their futures forever? Should they take a chance on love again, even if it means risking everything?

Overall: I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 for my love of band romances and second-chance romances! The cruise ship setting adds a fun and fresh dynamic. Once again, Alicia Thompson didn’t disappoint!

A very big thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing this lovely romance’s digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a copy of this book.

Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson was a good read. I haven’t read any of her stories before but I did enjoy this one.

John and Micah’s story has been coming for years. These two were best friends until everything exploded and now they are all on a cruise together. The whole band. We follow along as this group is put together to play some of their songs. It’s a bit awkward at first until some things are brought to light. I enjoyed the back stories and really enjoyed when these two started to talk things out. And in the end…love wins.

A great enjoyable read.

Never Been Shipped was a fun read, if a little underdeveloped plot-wise. The FMC and MMC were charming and easy to root for. I enjoyed the unique situation (band reunion on a themed cruise), and the yearning on John's part was top-notch.

alicia has done it again!!! this book was absolutely amazing and i loved it very much

micah and john were such wonderful characters (,: their love for one another was so tender and soft and just gave me the most homey vibes ever. i loved how much their friendship mattered to eachother.

the early 2000s show vibes were truly everything. the whole plot was actually so genius and amazing.

i also really loved the representation in this book. getting a bisexual fmc is so rare but does not go under appreciated!!! and i loved the non binary rep with frankie.

overall i really loved this book and would definitely recommend to everyone. thank you netgalley and berkley for the arc in exchange for an honest review !!

I loved loved loved this book! The vibes were so perfect!

First, childhood best friends to lovers is definitely the BEST way to do friends to lovers. There is this level of pining there that just hits different, and this book really did that well. Plus.. he falls first!? Yes please! Sign me up!! John was the sweetest most steadfast presence in this book, but daannngggg the bedroom mouth on this man! 5 stars all around! I love him, your honor!

I found the band drama to be a really good way to add drama to this story without the author needing to go out of their way to invent a lot of extra drama that usually really irritates me in books. The drama felt genuine to the story and served to push the band dynamics forward, which I really appreciated and thought was well done. Plus the band was made up of fun side characters I (mostly) enjoyed.

I also feel that this story dredged up my own sense of nostalgia from the cruise itself, because I watched the types of shows they were talking about when I was a teen. It was fun to think of my own teen days as a throwback while reading.

Overall VERY fun read! I really loved it! Huge thank you to Alicia Thompson and Berkley for the ARC of this wonderful book!

I feel like I should put a disclaimer before I go any further with this review. No you don’t have to worry about spoilers. But I wanted to be upfront about my back and fourth attitudes with Alicia Thompson books. For example I loved “The Art of Catching Feelings” by her but I absolutely hated “With Love, From Cold World”. It’s been a constant tug of war with her books. So going into “Never Been Shipped” I was nervous. The concept sounded right up my alley. Former band members reuniting for a reunion cruise with the possibility of rekindling a friend’s to lovers relationship. All tropes that are immediately up my alley. Like seriously where can we go wrong. Well sadly there were some parts that went wrong, were meh but also still weirdly enjoyed. If that isn’t the most confusing sentence I’ve ever type I don’t know what is.

But I digress let’s get this review going. First, the pacing. Oh good lord the pacing dragged. There were moments where I seriously contemplated DNFing but decided against it because I really liked John and I really wanted him to have a happily ever after. So I pushed on and finally about 43% through I was actually starting to really enjoy and get invested in these characters. But that first 42% dear lord it was boring. And often left me screaming at Micah that she needs to go to therapy.

Next up, the romance. This one I have a love/hate relationship with. Again I love John I want the world for this man. However,at times I felt like he could do so much better than Micah. Thankfully Micah gained more emotional depth as the story progressed. And overall I did enjoy watching the two of them come together. Plus the “smut” scenes I got give it to Alicia. Those were some fabulous scenes ;)

Overall, this isn’t my favorite book by Alicia. But I’d still highly recommend it especially for my friends for lovers girlies.

Lastly big thank you to netgalley and berkley publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

If I could, I would live in this book and how it made me feel forever. Alicia Thompson writes romances for the anxious girls- she notices and writes such intricate details about her characters and their interactions, and it makes for such a lovely and immersive reading experience. She understands how trauma can inform everything you do- like of course John takes pristine care of his instruments. With a second chance romance, you want yearning and let me tell you- there is so much longing and angst and little moments of Micah wanting John and John wanting Micah that really make the relationship feel earned. This book (not surprisingly) is all about music, and there's so much to dig into- what it means to put yourself into music, how playing songs over and over again change their meaning, etc. While we definitely had to wait awhile for any song lyrics, they were genuinely perfect- especially the ones at the end. I really liked the third act conflict, it felt realistic but also gave me just enough emotional turmoil. This was my most anticipated of the year and it was everything and then some!

Everything from the premise to the gorgeous cover had me SO EXCITED for this book. One of my most anticipated books of the year; though I did enjoy it, I was a teeeeensy bit let down. I absolutely loved The Art of Catching Feelings but this book never quite hit the same tone for me. Nevertheless, this is still a fun story!

Micah and John were so cute, I love the friends to lovers trope. I wasn’t as interested in the subplot involving the band as a whole, but it did lend nicely to evolving their relationship. I especially liked the ending! There was less of a third act breakup and more of a third act pause which I appreciated, and I liked seeing Micah and John build their friendship again. The final chapter was adorable!

Never Been Shipped was a light hearted friends to lovers romance between John and Micah. I was extremely excited to read this title, as I loved the concept of a reunion on a themed cruise storyline, but it fell a bit short for me. I loved the inclusion of the curated playlist for each chapter at the beginning of the book and the first three three quarters of Never Been Shipped. After the final performance, I was surprised that there was still a decent amount of book left as I expected that to be the end and then an epilogue. I am sure there are people who love this style of ending, but it just did not work for me and just felt dragged out. Because of this, I was left feeling underwhelmed and almost as if I was reading it to just finish it by the end. That feeling is reflected in my rating. It is a cute book with likable characters. and I do recommend it to anyone that enjoys the summary.

okay this is almost exactly like for one night only by jessica james. i wonder if i’d feel differently about this one if i hadn’t read that first(?)

i think i’m just over the millennial trend of “i was in a band/2000s hit tv show/insert famous person here” in romance books lately. we’ve got business or pleasure, fan service, now these two books and i’m not into it 😭

the plot was incredibly boring i will say that. i was here for the romance and as they were childhood friends, there’s a bit of that lingering connection it took til the literal last chapter for that to come to fruition in an emotional way. all the smut beforehand though…didn’t know miss alicia got down like that holy shit??? they were kinky little rascals and i was just along for the ride!

I enjoyed every second of this!! The writing was addictive and I loved the characters and story. The chemistry between them was exceptional and I already know I’ll be re-reading this when it comes out. This had me smiling and I didn’t want to put it down until I was done.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an e-arc!

I’ve never wanted to go on a cruise, I’m not a “cruise person” but Alicia is changing my mind. 😂 This book is full of heart, tension, romance, steam, and nostalgia. I loved every minute of it! 🥰

The mix of romance and music here is perfection, especially with the backdrop of a cruise and the rekindling of old band dynamics. Micah’s reluctance to fall for John at first gives the story a slow-burn quality, but once it heats up, you’ll be rooting for these two musicians to create something lasting. With witty dialogue, emotional depth, and a backdrop full of music and memories, this is a romance that hit all the right notes.

I loved this book. The romance between Micah and John was *chefs kiss* It wasn’t necessarily a second chance romance but it had that same kind of feel. The longing and tenderness was really beautiful.

Alicia Thompson never misses for me and Never Been Shipped is no exception. I've been anxiously awaiting John's story ever since I read With Love, from Cold World and it did not disappoint! I loved Micah and John SO much, the tension, the yearning, the pining!!! And Micah as a FMC was just *chef's kiss*. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!