Customer Reviews

The Pleasure Trip (Signature Select)

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This was neither a good romance nor a good mystery, just a mixed up story of dysfunctional people. I got so tired of Rita squelching her wants for her sister and mom's failures. Why she had to carry the burden of their problems was maddening. But all's well that ends well if you can plow through this soap opera. Give it a pass.

Working as a seamstress on the Caribbean cruise liner Venus, Rita Frazer is frazzled! Not only is she called upon to repair uniforms for the crew and costumes for the performers, she worries about her sister, Jayne Frazer, a performer in the ship's revue who seems to be having a hot and heavy romance with one of the ship's bartenders. Not to mention that they both worry about their mother back in Florida, who has a "little" trouble with gambling.

When sister Jayne skips the ship twenty minutes before the show, Rita has to go on with the show without her, hoping against hope that she can remember enough of her dance practice sessions with Jayne, and that the costume will hide enough of her face so that the dance mistress won't know of the substitution. The only thing that gets her through is focusing on the gorgeous hunk in the front row. But how can she concentrate on hunky resort owner Harrison Masters when she is so worried about the other issues in her life?

I thought this book was really amusing and enjoyed it quite a lot. It gives you peek at an unusual venue for a romance -- the "backstage" view of life on a cruise ship, with a large dollop of humor and a bit of mystery thrown in. This book is more of an ensemble piece rather than a star turn, because each character has his or her own significant role in the story. I personally identified with sensible Rita rather than flighty Jayne, but each of the characters is realistically drawn and three dimensional. The love scenes are very sensual, but not terribly graphic. This will be a great novel to tuck in your beach bag for spring break.

[For those who choose their books based on the cover blurb, I should note that the back cover blurb of my copy of this book was incorrect, as if the person who wrote the blurb hadn't read it all the way through, or as if the story was changed slightly between the time of writing the blurb and publication.] -- Jean, Fallen Angel Reviews (courtesy of Fallen Angel Reviews)

Rita Frazier dreams that one day she will be a highly regarded costume designer, but for now she earns her keep as a seamstress on the cruise ship Venus where her sister performs as a showgirl. When her sibling Jayne fails to show up to prance down a runway, her employers inform Rita she will take her sister's place though she insists her talent is designing the clothes not showing the clothes. Fuming she wonders who will want to watch a red-haired Swamp Thing.

FBI Agent Harrison Masters is on leave taking the PLEASURE TRIP as a combination vacation and a personal hunt to find his former girlfriend Sonia who vanished while on the Venus last month with a lot of his family's money needed for his ailing father's medical bills. However, concentration on the case proves futile as all he wants to do is have Rita perform solely for him. Rita feels the same way she does not mind performing for Harrison only.

The lead couple is a delight as both are shocked when attraction erupts the first time they see one another. Though Rita and Harrison wonder if this is part of the charm of a sea cruise, both knows otherwise as she has been working on the Venus for a year and he is a special agent. As they fall in love, the high seas dramatic suspense takes a back seat to a fine contemporary romance between two genial lead characters who find their respective muse on a superb sea cruise.

Harriet Klausner