The Holiday Cruise - Victoria Cooke

[goodreads]

Title: The Holiday Cruise
Author: Victoria Cooke
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 384
Date read: July, 2021

As if it weren't enough to be cheated on by her husband of ten years, Yorkshire lass Hannah Davis is losing her beauty salon business too. Luckily, her big sister is there to pick up the pieces, but Hannah is determined to find some independence.

Impulsively, Hannah applies for a spa job...on a cruise ship! Christmas in the Caribbean, springtime in the Mediterranean, what's not to like? But, despite being in her thirties, Hannah has never done anything in her own before, and she's terrified.

As the ship sets sail, Hannah has never been further from home...or closer to discovering who she is and who she wants to be.


I really enjoyed most of this. It was sweet, it was charming and it was less unrealistic than most books of this genre. However, it felt… unfinished, somehow. Like it hadn't gone through its final round of editing, which caused some serious issues with timing. Not bad enough to seem disjointed, but enough that I noticed it. Also, there were a number of open-ended stories - which is perfectly normal in real life, but sometimes I want my books more rounded off! ;-)

Mostly however, I felt that the end was too easy. Of course it could hardly have ended any other way - being a chicklit and all - but after a (mostly) realistic novel, it seemed somewhat contrived.

Still, it was a nice escape from reality for awhile, and I do always love reading about cruises! Apparently even from an employees POV.