Customer Reviews

Dreamboat

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This book took a really long time to start moving. The first half of the book dealt with laying the background to the story. Shy Crissy decides to take a month long cruise with her not shy friend, Jenny. They are unaware that the family that owns that cruise line is in huge financial trouble and the owner is planning on having the ship blown up to collect the insurance money. It doesn't matter to him that there would be people on board when this occurs.

A lot of time is devoted to hearing every man that Crissy encounters tell her how beautiful, intelligent and interesting she is. It gets old constantly reading that. We get it, she's pretty. She meets a guy at a bar, they go home together, and after one night, she believes he's "the one." Do I need to say she never hears from him again? That was when she decided she needed to change her life and booked the cruise.

Once on the trip, she meets a group of people that her and Jenny spend most of their meals with. Jenny hops from one guy to another and she gets jealous of Crissy because a guy that passed on her is interested in Crissy. They argue, Jenny moves out of their cabin. Crissy begins a secret affair with the ship's doctor. Very slowly, the story then starts to pick up.

I am a person that will finish a book unless it's so horrible that it's impossible to do so. I did consider giving up on this one, but that's when the story picked up, so of course, I had to finish it to see how it would end. I won't give anything away, but there weren't any surprises to keep you guessing.

I've enjoyed Judith Gould's books in the past and I will try her next one. I have to hope that it will be better than this one.

If you want to read this one, wait the six months until it comes out in paperback or rent it from the library. It's not worth the hardcover price.

Having enjoyed Judith Gould's earlier novels I looked forward to "Dreamboat". I found it extremely slow and subplots went nowhere. The writer seems to have really gone off the boil.

Romance novels are not usally my cup of tea. But I really enjoyed this book. Very racy scences. After reading this I will check out more Judith Gould books.

In Albany, New York hair colorist Crissy Fitzgerald feels lonely and tired. Her friend Jenny persuades her to come with her to the Nine One One Club where she meets Tom Gentry. Out of character for her, they go back to her flat where they make love. As she dreams of love, he wants nothing further to do with her.

Jenny persuades Crissy to take a month off to tour Greece and leisurely come home on the trans-Atlantic cruise ship Sea Nymph. The ship is the jewel of Vilos Shipping Lines, whose owner Georgios Vilas is nearly bankrupt and trying a desperate final game plan to save the firm at all costs. Meanwhile on board she meets handsome Georgios' son Mark and ship Dr. Luca di Salerno, who both vie for her attention. As she falls in love with Luca, Mark tries to takes matters into his own hands while Jenny is jealous although she has caught a septuagenarian fiancé.

Even though Jenny is obviously a me-me only self-centered soul from the start, her reactions to her friend turning into a beautiful butterfly that initially comes across as competitive rivalry becomes overdone once she decided to marry the septuagenarian for money. Still Crissy makes this a strong romantic suspense as she wonders about the trunk brought on board by the handsome Mark. He, in turn, has spent his life as a hedonist, so when he wants her, he tries to rape her even after she rejects him for Luca. Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this deep terrorist dramatic backdrop, but Crissy keeps the tale sailing smooth.

Harriet Klausner