Honestly I don’t have an interest in reading this book anymore and I want to be more selective with what I request.

I had a bit of a hard time warming up to this story - the romance part - even though I really liked both characters. I think it was because of the worry of what could/would happen to Faith if it was discovered. Still, I had to trust the author to tell the story, and I finally did. Great story, and I will definitely read this author again!

Fast-paced, sexy, and fun with a bit of an insta-love plot (a trope I love!) I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Check it out!

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I did really like this book, the attraction and connection between the two characters was instantaneous and got me hoping for their relationship. I loved the idea of the cruise ship and the characters as a whole. The reason this did not get five stars was that I felt like there were a lot of open-ended problems. First of all, Faith never even told Lowe about her family situation, her family played a big part in Faith's life, but the information was minimal. Another problem was that the whole book was based on the forbidden relationship between Faith and Lowe, but it ended without any issues, I felt like there should have been a fall out based on the significance put on this by the author. Overall great romantic read, I just needed a little more detail to make this read perfect.

A nice light read, perfect for a lazy day of lounging by the pool or at the beach. Cannon seems to be a go to author for me when I want a quick fix of romance without a lot of heavy angst or drama. I enjoy her books and characters - although she seems to just end them abruptly (now that I'm expecting it, I'm not as miffed when I get to the end).

This time out, we have Lowe, the down to earth daughter of a rich and pretentious family who live on a luxury cruise ship, and Faith, a woman works on the ship. This is a an insta-attract and the relationship builds over 21 days as they sail around Australia and New Zealand. The chemistry sizzles from their first meeting and builds throughout the book - and you can't help wanting them to finally get together. There's a bit of a forbidden romance - as crew are not allowed to fraternize with the residents (and guests), and that is one of the recurring obstacles that keeps Faith from pursuing anything with Lowe.

I genuinely liked both the characters - both were smart and self confident, so despite the economic gulf, there was no real power imbalance. The secondary characters were a bit two dimensional, but I really didn't care as I was much more interested in Lowe and Faith and their excursions.

Netgally Review:

Pretty standard for the genre. The chemistry was okay. I would be willing to read another book by this author. A solid 3 stars for me.

I was dissapointed with this offering. I never felt the "spark" the author insisted was palpable between the two primary characters. The supporting cast were caricatures of snobby, rich, and pretentious homophobes. There was nothing new here so the book was neither compelling nor memorable.

Potentially a little bit polarising for readers.

Working class meets uber rich (family at least). There's definitely a touch or me of entitlement but my main gripe about this is that Lowe (rich) doesn't take no for an answer and keeps following and close to harassing Faith. Sure Faith didn't project a strong black or white position on her feelings for Lowe, but she certainly said no and tried to walk away many times. In my world, that's a no.

I don't know what it was about the beginning of this book, but it took me longer to get into it than a lot of Julie Cannon's book. The romance is also more of a slow burn - not a negative - but since the beginning took me a bit to get into it, I felt like the book dragged a bit.

I liked the way that Faith sticks with not getting involved with Lowe right from the get go because she appreciated her job. It also forced Lowe to show more of her true colors.

I would have liked the book to wrap up a bit better in the end. To finally have them come together and then have the book just end felt unsatisfying. Maybe the author was going with the dramatic, but reward your readers with an epilogue to show how happy they are and that they made the right decision in betting on each other instead of the stable life they had before.

I love the fact that Julie Cannon take the time to build up the character and the romance part but that's pretty the only thing I liked about this book sadly.

This started really great. An adventure! On a big-ass boat! But alas, the characters didn't quite do it for me. The whole book is written as a 200+ pages long foreplay, leading up to the real deal, but I didn't get the tension between the characters. The tension was written about, in great detail, but I didn't feel it.

I honestly love this book. I enjoyed readinf a book centered around a lesbian love story. I found it very unique and i read it so fast. I would recommend this to anyone. It was very refreshing

3 stars. I liked the book rather well until it ended and didn't answer any of the important questions.

Me: "Ooooh, it gets real juicy now."

Book: "THE END".

Me: "WHAT!?"

What about all the family drama? Why even feature the parents if that doesn't get properly covered. What about all the logistical problems? We're just left to assume if it all did or didn't work out in the end.

The book starts strong but goes nowhere, it ends on what should've been 50% mark rather than the end of it.

Unfortunately I didn't connect well with the novel or the characters. The characters just didn't work for me. This however won't stop me reading any of her future novels.

I don't review publicly any novels under 3 stars as per my submission guidelines: https://lesreveur.com/contact-me/how-to-submit-a-novel-for-review/

Thanks

Faith literally runs into Lowe on the Escape - a beautiful and expensive cruise ship that heads to stunning places in the Pacific. While she falls in love almost at first sight, there are two mayor problem: Faith is part of the crew and not allowed to date any guests and residence, and Lowe Carter is the daughter of one of the richest families on board.

Despite the rules, Faith can't seem to escape Lowe's attention. At the same time Lowe has no intention of tuning her interests down ...

While this sounds like a great build up for romance and the lesbian version of the Cinderella, in which they defying all the laws and social standards for love before sailing into the sunset together ... "Shut Up and Kiss Me" has a hard time to make the romance work.

As the story goes on, I was able to see that their personalities would fit together and that they could make a great couple if it weren't for the rules and long distance. However, Cannon managed to convey little of this attitude between these characters.

Instead the attraction was mostly sexual. Only a few pages at the beginning are dedicated to any personal traits, afterwards it is all about looking at each other's chests, butts, and thighs. Yes, Lowe says that she want a bit more than a holiday romance, and Faith does not want to be a fling to each other. At the same time what we get shown, disapproves of it - their stream of consciousness does not venture past physical traits.

This would be fine, had the story progressed along the holiday romance trope. Instead it wanted to be a grand romance which I am saddened to admit just does not work out. I could barely feel any chemistry between Lowe and Faith. It was mostly hot and then cold, there was no sweet banter, or shared soft moments. Instead it was mostly confusion, thinking about unrequited love, and being horny on main

To make this more complicated "Shut Up and Kiss Me" is told via to first person perspectives. This is fine, if it's clear who is talking. However, Lowe and Faith have similar voices and it wasn't marked at the beginning who is talking. Thus, you were often left wondering if Lowe or Faith was talking.

Despite this, the story does have cute moments but those are mostly overshadowed by misunderstandings and a longer build up than needed. Furthermore, the writing style is easy to read and takes you along smoothly. But"Shut Up and Kiss Me" did not work out for me because I simply could not get into the story.

So like this is a book about two girls kissing. And they kiss a lot. And it’s lovely and wonderful and sweet and precious. Female/female tropes are so necessary these days. Here for it.

This is a nice romance about two women from very different economic backgrounds. Lowe Carter comes from a wealthy family. Her parents are retired and live fulltime on a cruise ship that travels the seas year-round. Lowe’s family feel they are privileged and believe that the only worthwhile people are those who have money. All others are there to serve. Lowe, however, worked hard and built a very successful business on her own. She treats people fairly.

Faith Williams, on the other hand, comes from a very poor, dysfunctional family. She has worked on the cruise ship for many years and is a valuable employee. Faith has a strong work ethic. She follows the rules and is very responsible. Each pay period she sends money home to her mother and little sister in Tampa.

The cruise line has one major rule. Employees are not allowed to get into a relationship with individuals living on the ship and any of their family members. Breaking the rule will result in termination.

While visiting her parents, Faith runs into Lowe. There is instant attraction, but the rules must be followed. Faith does not want to have a fling and lose her well-paying job. Initially, Lowe is looking for a vacation romance, but finds the draw to Faith different from anything she has previously experienced.

The plot was not that different from other romances. Unfortunately, it was written in the first-person point of view. Several times I had trouble determining who was talking. This caused a break in the flow of the story and seemed to make the story drag.

I have read many of Julie Cannon’s books and this is not one of her best. Because the story was set in the first-person point of view, I can only give the book 3 out of 5 stars.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

This is a completely okay read. Nothing really grabbed me and made me want to know more. I did like the difference in the characters backgrounds and how neither is really ashamed of their sexual attraction. But I, personally, don't like the insta-love kind if story. In any book.
The POVs were hard to follow at first and Faith was a bit confusing at times - as someone else wrote it: Hot and cold until the last moment. Lowe was a bearable character, but not much more.

All in all, this wasn't for me, but I do see the appeal it might have to some.

/ Denise

The cruise ship setting and the drastically different backgrounds of the two leads is what drew me to this novel. Unfortunately the two leads were so different I struggled to understand what drew them together and I couldn't quite see how they developed feelings as they hardly knew one another. They certainly didn't spent enough time together to make such huge life decisions - the time they did spend was quite casual without any deep conversations. The ending was abrupt - I would have liked to see how the leads overcame the obstacles in the way.

I am a fan of Ms Cannons work so when I got the chance to read this new offering I was really looking forward to doing just that. Faith Williams works for every cent she gets, only to send most of her hard earned money back for her mother and sister. Lowe Carter comes from money but she not only works but she enjoys doing it. Her family can’t understand why she does what she does. Sound like a good story, right. This was very slow paced read and after a while I read it with only one objection in mind. Finish it. I didn’t enjoy reading this book at all. In fact I had to go to my library, dig out one of Ms Cannons earlier book, ‘Come and Get Me’ and reread it again so I will remember when she comes out with a new book, that she can really write. Oh, well, not all can be winners.
ARC via NetGalley