Customer Reviews

Cruising

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a sucker for an M/M story where the main characters start out straight -- and this did not disappoint! The story was well written, protagonists were likable and the sex was hot and abundant!

The only reason it did not get 5 stars from me was because I thought it was a bit unrealistic how fast they accepted and acted on their homosexual tendencies. But then again, I wasn't reading it for its realism ;)

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 6/10

PROS:
- Great premise. Who hasn't wished at some point or another that he (or she) might meet a hot guy/girl on a cruise ship, have a mad, passionate fling, and then discover that the person lives just down the street and wants to live happily ever after?
- The first sex scene (until it gets going, anyway...see cons below) is deliciously tentative and sweet. And all of the sex is fairly emotional because the guys fall for each other fast and hard.
- Some sweet, if one-dimensional and entirely fluffy, secondary characters who support Brodie and Julian when their relationship becomes public knowledge.
- Lovely ending. Most of the ducks are in a nice, neat little row, and those that aren't are waddling their way toward the row just swimmingly. It's almost saccharine, in fact, but I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't enjoy the story's conclusion.

CONS:
- The decision to experiment with someone of the same sex occurs quite suddenly, not just for one character, but for both of them. Hauser does provide a few "he had thought about it before" moments to ground us just a LITTLE bit in the realm of reality. But neither of these characters has ever even kissed another man, and within 45 pages, they're acting like seasoned gay sex pros; and within 80 (timewise, this is approximately 24 hours), they're running the gamut of gay sex positions, neither one with a care in the world (or with any pain upon penetration).
- The two main female characters are horrendous. One of them isn't actually present much in the book--she dumps Brodie at the beginning and we simply hear things about her from then on--but the other one is more vengeful and disgusting than almost any other character I've encountered in this genre. And my main complaint isn't even that she's terribly one-dimensional (though she is--evil, evil, and more evil); it's that she shows moments of compassion that make the reader think, "There. She's not SO bad," but then she immediately goes back on them, which makes those human moments seem contrived and out of place.

Overall comments: More than just about any other m/m romance I've read, this one is VERY obviously written by a woman and targeted toward women readers. The men are sweeter and more romantic and more sentimental than any man I've ever met, gay or straight. But the story, as a result, is sweet and romantic and sentimental, so if you like that sort of thing, you should give this a try.

I HAVE READ QUITE A FEW OF G.A. HAUSERS BOOKS ..ALL OF THEM IN MY OPINION HAVE BEEN AMAZING..SHE IS BY FAR MY FAVE AUTHOR AND I HOPE SHE CONTINUES TO WRITE MORE. THIS BOOK WWAS SOOO BEAUTIFUL AND FUNNY AND YES HOTT OF COURSE..ITS EXACTLY WHAT IVE COME TO EXPECT FROM HER WRITING AND HAVE YET TO BE DISAPPOINTED..THIS BOOK WAS ACTUALLY QUITE HUMOROUS AS WELL AS ROMANTIC AND HER CHARACTERS ARE SO DETAILED AND SHE BRINGS A NEW LIFE TO WRITING.. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT..ITS A MUST READ FOR ALL FANS OF EROTIC FICTION AS ARE ALL OF HER BOOKS

If not for the fact that I know she is a woman, reading this book by G.A. Hauser I would suspect on her... never as before women have a very bad role; luckily in the end a couple of mid forthy representative of my sex save us for the posterity.

Brodie is a 28 years old guy with a very bad taste in women. He has a past history of dating bimbos, the last of whom has dumped him the very day on which they have to go on cruise; worst, she feigned to go on board, only to run away at last minute leaving him trapped on the ship alone. After a first moment of rage, Brodie thinks better on his situation and realizes that maybe he is not so afraid; actually this last bad experience is only one more proof that he is not really interested in women... and maybe the fact that his best friend is gay (little clue) and that he can get excite only thinking to men (very big clue) can push him to try something different...

The first night he meets Julian, a guy almost in his same situation, but he was not so lucky as him; his girlfriend didn't left him and now she is bitching and making him miserable. A swap of glares and Brodie and Julian are soul mates and eager to find how good they can be together. There is only the little problem of Julian's girlfriend on the same ship and the fact that neither one of them had any experience with men before.

Brodie and Julian are not irreproachable characters; as in the past the caustic style of G.A. Hauser describes two men who first of all want to enjoy themself and their life and maybe after that can consider that they live among other people and that maybe they need to consider also other people feelings. The fact that the "other" is a nasty bitch doesn't justify the fact that Julian was the first to cheat and that he never once admit his fault, on the contrary, he almost has the gut to make pass his cheating as a right reaction to his girlfriend's behavior.

So why I, that usually can't suffer a cheating man, instead liked Julian, and almost cheered when Brodie tries to convince Julian to give his girlfriend a bad time? Probably it's the total frankness in their behavior, the fact that they don't hide behind a perfect and cold facade. Actually G.A. Hauser's main characters usually are those men that in other "classical" romance take the supporting role, those men who aren't enough perfect to be the hero; they are best friend and brother, work colleague of fellow student, but never the protagonists. And in her books they take their vengeance, being leading roles without losing their faultiness.

And then there is the sex. They make out like bunnies, without any concept of boundaries or physical limits... in particular in this book, Brodie and Julian are like children with a new toy and they play till exhaustion and beyond. Is it possible? I don't know but for sure I'd like to find out!

Unfortunately this was one of the few Kindle books I deleted without finishing. Aside from other comments on the female characters almost typecast as screaming shrews I really did not like either Brodie or Julian either. I found Brodie to be outright rude to anyone besides Julian and Julian to be a jerk for carelessly cheating on his girlfriend. Even though I did not like the content I can certainly agree it was well written.

Brodie Duncan can't believe his terrible luck when his flighty girlfriend ditches him right before their Alaskan cruise leaves. He's angry and humiliated, believing his trip will be miserable. Then he meets Julian Richards.

Julian is on the trip with his girlfriend, but he's not enjoying himself. Her partying, spendthrift ways get on his nerves. When he meets Brodie, sparks fly. Will Brodie and Julian get the courage to go for what they really want, or will they keep hiding their true selves?

Cruising has a great premise. I loved the idea of two guys meeting and hooking up on a cruise ship. When Brodie got dumped right before the ship left, I was fully prepared for a fun story. Brodie's first experiences alone on the ship were pretty amusing. Unfortunately, after the promising beginning Cruising didn't live up to my initial expectations. I had two problems with the story. One was Brodie's behavior. He was wishy-washy and became kind of whiny as the story progressed. The other problem I had was the women in the story. Both Brodie's girlfriend and Julian's were one-dimensional, stereotypical, and irritating. I kept wondering why two guys who were supposed to be smart would hook up with such horrible women, especially as Julian's troubles with his girlfriend became more severe. I guess that was supposed to justify Julian's sneaking around behind her back, but it didn't--at least not to me. There are some hot scenes between Brodie and Julian, and some interesting scenes with Brodie's dinner tablemates, which livened up the story. On the whole, however, I can't really recommend Cruising.

Cassie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

The best book read from G.A. Huaser. Great characters and great love affair. Just love it.