Are you wanting to read a book that will have you laughing out loud? Well…..read this book and you will get that for sure.
Main characters, Ruby and Cameron make a cute couple ;). Sam, Ruby’s roommate, was pretty funny…she went looking for a hook-up at church?
I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise ship aspect.
The pacing of the story was solid and engaging.
Overall, a light, humorous slow=burn romance that was fun to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 Stars

Thank you for this advanced copy of HOOK, LINE, AND SINGLE!

The concept of this story, cruise ship and traveling, was al very unique & cute. I loved their adventures in barcelona & france but I wish there was more content that related to their adventures together rather than so much build up on the cruise ship. Cute characters, plot, and ending-- fast cozy read with a unique story line.

I was also a little thrown off by the depth of detail in learning about vicors and guns? Felt almost pushed but made the story unique.

I’m a sucker for a new Phoebe book and this one didn’t disappoint. What’s not to love-a rom com set on a Mediterranean cruise featuring a grumpy FMC who’s fake dating a sweet and handsome MMC. Sign me up!
Ruby and Sam go on a singles cruise, despair the fact that ruby has sworn off men, While onboard, Sam, Ruby’s best friend, who is known for her wild ways, falls for a man of the cloth, which makes for some interesting scenes. Ruby ends up buddying up with Cameron because they both don’t actually want to find love on the ship. Maybe a little too much attention was paid to Sam and her story in the beginning but once we got more into Ruby and Cameron there was lots of fun to be had.
There are lots of good scenes but we don’t really get into Ruby’s story as much until about 25%ish as it seems to be focused more on Sam, who was a great character but since it was meant to be about Ruby, there could have been a little less Sam. There are some other fun supporting characters like Barry the cruise director and Robin, the clergyman that Sam falls for. Oh and the cat, Samson, definitely has a mind of her own.
The story is a romance at heart, but there’s also the underlying issue of why Ruby has sworn off men, which covers some heavier elements and also allows for the growth of Ruby’s character.
A pleasing and entertaining read.
Thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Thank you to the publisher Boldwood Books for this advance readers copy in exchange for my honest feedback. I loved the friendship and banter between Sam and Ruby even thought it wasn’t the focal point of this book. Very lighthearted read for those enjoy fun romcom books! This book gives romance on a cruise and my favourite forced proximity.

If you're looking for a fun romcom set in an interesting location this is the story for you!

I always enjoy Phoebe's stories and this one is no different. I loved the cruise ship aspect and the surprise that it's a singles cruise!
The female MC was a bit of a buttoned-up challenge initially, but it is all explained by the end. The Male MC was a great character, a fun personality but mature and understanding.
The jokes had me snorting laughter and the awkward sunburn had me laughing out loud, rather unpleasant I imagine.
The supporting cast was great, though at times I was as frustrated with the best friend as the FMC was, I would be equally a bit pissed if my BF was being that selfish and self-centered in that environment.
This book is a closed-door romance but includes discussions of sexual times and fun.

I enjoyed the story so much it has made me want to book my own cruise.

Thank you Boldwood Books & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hook, Line and Single is about besties Ruby and Sam setting off on a singles cruise—except Ruby has no idea she just signed up for a floating matchmaking experiment. 🙈 She’s totally not on board (pun intended), but somehow gets roped into all the cruise’s dating antics and ends up paired with Cameron after Sam finds her own match.

This was such a fun, lighthearted read! I didn’t totally click with Ruby, but I loved Sam, Cameron, and—let’s be real—the true MVP, Samson the cat. 🐱 The story had plenty of charm, though the ending felt a bit rushed and kind of overloaded with info. Overall, I’d give it a solid 3.75 stars (rounding up to 4) because it was enjoyable, just not a total standout for me

Hook, Line And Single by Phoebe MacLeod, I was looking so forward to reading this book set on a cruise ship but first things first I didn’t like the way she represented Christianity and just FYI, I have never heard of a church where you had to go to classes to be considered a viable single in the church I’m not saying they don’t exist, but who would join such a church that reeks of so much judgment. not to mention, I found it so ridiculous that Sam was so optimistic. She would invite questionable men into their apartment and ruby just blew it off as a friend was in love with Love. Not to mention the whole conversation with Jonah telling her that because he was hot and she was hot and they were both out sexual that they couldn’t be friends and must date each other. They were just too many things in this book that were ridiculous and it wasn’t even on the cruise ship for the whole book and didn’t even get there until almost halfway through. I love this author’s books, but I always say you win some you lose some and sadly, she lost me on this one.#NetGalley, #BoldWoodBooks, #TheBlindReviewer, #PhoebeMacLeod, #HookLineAndSingle,

This is my first book by Phoebe MacLeod, and it was so cute! First thing, the title caught my attention, and then combined with the quirky plot, I was so excited when my eARC request was approved. The book was an easy ready (I finished in less than two days) and I found myself laughing out loud at a few parts ("Little Cameron").

If you are looking for a light-hearted romcom, look no further!

I want to thank Phoebe MacLeod, the publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC and the ability to review this book before release! I will be looking forward to more books from her!

Really liked this story! The two main characters had great chemistry and I loved the friends-to-lovers plot. I do wish the ending of the book was a little more fleshed out but I still really enjoyed the book as a whole

"Hook, Line and Single" didn't quite live up to my expectations. While the premise was intriguing, the writing didn't quite capture my interest, and the characters felt rather one-dimensional, making it hard to connect with them. The FMC attitude was particularly frustrating, and the romance felt more forced than genuine. Additionally, the cruise ship setting only featured in about 40% of the book, and the relationship felt rushed, with the FMC's friend often overshadowing the main story. Although fans of light romcoms might find it enjoyable, I wasn't completely disappointed, it’s just another silly little romance book.

The book is set to release on February 17, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books!

I really enjoyed MacLeod's last novel "the do-over' but I really struggled with this one. I was completely lost at the beginning as to where the story was going to go. I found parts of the novel to be a bit cringy, and wondering why these female characters would put up with such horrible people. The main story line was kind of predictable and I really struggled to get through to the end. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in change for a honest review.

Throughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, perfect read for by the pool on holiday

This was a cute, light hearted and easy read. For me it was just an ok read, there wasn’t much character development, lots of bad language which isn’t necessarily and overall I just found it very slow and predictable. I also found certain parts cheesy and almost cringy to read.
Not my sort of book and wouldn’t recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

Ruby co-owns a bookshop in Margate, Kent with gay friend Jono. She hasn't dated for 7 years, when she had a bad break-up from her college boyfriend Olly. Her flatmate and best friend Sam however is keen to find the one, so after trying to find a man in church but basically encountering a puritanical sect straight out of "Everyone Else Burns", she books both of them on a Mediterranean cruise. However, unbeknownst to Ruby, it is a "Single and mingle" cruise with nightly dating events that are almost impossible to escape due to coordinator Barry being relentlessly cheerful and believing in love, pushing people together.

So when she meets Cameron, a firearms enquiry officer with Kent Police, who is equally reluctant about the enforced dating games, he suggests to pair up and fake date to get Barry off their back. They become good friends and end up spending whole days together, with a day out in Barcelona not quite going to plan and forcing them to make alternative sleeping arrangements.

As travel escapism goes, this isn't the best as there are barely any descriptions of the places they see. There are tropes galore though, from friends to lovers to fake dating, forced proximity and one bed only.

Cameron is a nice guy but the problem I have with him is that he is basically a blank canvas we know hardly anything about. His job is about guns and their licences and his hobby is clay pigeon shooting. That is just a bit too much gun talk for my personal taste.

The romance is extremely slow-burn, which can be forgiven, but the very late revelation about why Ruby has sworn off all men came out of the blue and should maybe have been addressed sooner. I liked the scenes on the ship and the nudist beach scenes, though Ruby came across as a prude, also when she woke up next to Cameron and his morning glory, as if she'd never encountered this before.

As far as side characters go, there is a quirky mixture on and off the ship, with cat Samson possibly the cutest of the lot. Sam wasn't a good friend though and literally begged to be thrown overboard for her almost immediate abandonment of Ruby for a guy on the ship. Not cool. Sister Emerald on the other hand needs her own book!

Altogether, this is a light-hearted and funny story about friendship, second chances and self-discovery that can be read quickly.

The name of the book caught my intrest right away. The romance was cute, but felt a little predictable.

It was an easy read and I liked Ruby and Cameron, but was not a big fan of Sam in the book.

If you want a lighthearted contemporary romance, this would be a good choice.

3.75 stars

I've heard good things about Phoebe MacLeod's books but hadn't read any, until I spotted this one a featured a cruise. And I am a sucker for a cruise.

And having now read this, I may just be a sucker for this author's writing too, as I enjoyed it so much. That I was ditching things I possibly should have been doing in order to read more.

Initially I was more interested in Sam's story, but Ruby, as the main character grew on me the whole time, and on discovering the truth why she prefers to be single, my heart went out to her.

In between that we have Sam trying to prowl for single men at a new church she has heard about, and wow they have some rather interesting rules. After that she decides that a holiday with Ruby would be a good idea.

To Ruby's dismay they had been booked through a singles group, and were expected to go to organised activities each evening. Now this is a fabulous dynamic and it was a lot of fun, and Barry the Marco Polo group host is larger than life, but I kind of wanted to see a bit more of the cruise ship.

But really its a port intensive itinerary so its realistic for most of the action to be in the ports of call, and then evening activities, it's just the cruise fanatic in me wanted to see if I could work out which cruise line this may have been modelled on!

And there are some really memorable moments at some of the ports too, especially once Ruby starts hanging around Cameron who also isn't keen on the idea of dating, after Sam hits it off with a new man.

This had many amusing and fun moments, and is a book I totally enjoyed.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This was a really cute read that I enjoyed but i did feel like it dragged on a bit at times. I did like the story and it had me giggling and kicking my feet at times.

I forgot I had this book and jumped over to GoodReads to read the back cover blurb… It’s sitting at a 3.30 star rating. I have a feeling I’m not going to enjoy this. And honestly, reading blurb, I’m not sure why I grabbed it to read in the first place.

So, this is a DNF. I try my best to get through ARCs because that’s the deal. I get the book early and I provide an honest review. But this was horrific on so many levels. The opening page reads like a rough draft. There are so many things that pulled me out of the story. From ‘the sound of the door slamming’ to her roommate saying she’s upset, to Ruby telling us now that she sees said roommate she knows she’s upset.

There’s the gay coworker who is terrible on so many levels.

But this is where I stopped reading. Ruby comes home from work and there’s a random guy on her couch. It’s her roommate’s date. But it’s also a former classmate. And he’s just beyond gross. This is directly from the ARC and I won’t direct quote anything else.

“Got it!” he exclaims. “Here come Rubes, with her monster pubes. God, those days were funny, weren’t they? So much banter.”

This man is 28. I can’t think of a time in anyone’s life where that would be appropriate or funny. Ruby then tells us this same guy used to try to look up girl’s skirts and down their shirts and her roommate is like ‘he’s not going to grope me in public’

Yeah. I’m done. This isn’t funny. This isn’t cute. This is gross.

Beyond that. I’m not enjoying the book. Life is too short to read books that are this boring and stupid.

I see from other reviewers that they felt the book takes too long. Others said they enjoyed the first part but lost interest later. I can only imagine how much I would detest the rest of the book if I hated the beginning this much.

The characters from this book are from england just a little fact that I like to know when i'm going to read a book just so I can get in the frame of mind for the slang and the locations and whatnot just a side note

Ruby has a complicated history. She's never really told the truth about what happened with her first love, right? And she's okay with that. She told herself she doesn't need anybody and she can just be alone. She has her beautiful cat Samson. She co-owns her bookstore with a bestie and she has her very best friend. Sam as a roommate- sam, however, sam's looking for love and she believes in it. She talks ruby into going on a vacation, just the two of them, it's not until they get on the ship, that ruby realizes she's been taken hook line and sinker, right onto a singles cruise- the cruise, it's not just any old singles cruise, it's got games. It's got colors, it's got an over the top believes in true love host- she gets matched app with Cameron, and they decide to fake it as a couple so they can get out of all of the he was blooming single events and they start spending time together and a bunch of mishaps of course occur. .
What will happen when the cruise is over? And they both end up back in England. Do they have a chance to make it, did rupees bestie sam find anybody?That story is almost as good as the main story.Definitely a good book

Thank you, net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

A fun and easy read for the days when you just want to cozy up with a romance and leave the madness of the world behind. Loved it! Will look for more by Phoebe MacLeod! :)