Abandoning Ship

By: Susan Hawke

Narrated by: Michael Pauley

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

When the seas of love grow choppy, sometimes the best course is to abandon ship!

Two years ago, Ryan Abernathy was too tongue-tied, too introverted, and entirely too nervous to flirt with his hot but presumably straight new roommate. So when Ryan’s sister swooped in and scooped the hottie up for herself, he accepted his fate and kept his crush a secret.

Sawyer Muller never meant to find himself in a fake relationship with his sexy roommate's sister. And how was he supposed to know that Ryan would become his bestie and star in way too many of his dreams?

Things get complicated when Julia Abernathy strikes a deal with Sawyer to upgrade from fake boyfriend to groom, though they only need to stay married long enough for her to get her trust fund. They plan a fun cruise ship wedding with her entire family in tow. Sawyer figures it sounds like an adventure, and when they quietly divorce later, he’ll finally be free of all the pretense.

With Julia and Ryan’s homophobic, snooty family present, the pressure is turned up...especially when Sawyer finds himself jilted at the altar and drowning in a sea of blame from her family. His only life preserver is the Abernathy sibling he can’t admit to wanting...Ryan.

Note: This full-length m/m romantic comedy will keep you in stitches. Watch out for an awkward first kiss, a record-making group wedding, and sexy competitive shuffleboard. Before you board this ship, make sure you pack a fan because things are about to heat up on board this vessel!

©2019 Susan Hawke (P)2019 Susan Hawke

Sweet and Funny

Sweet, funny, romantic and awkward. Wonderfully narrated and extremely entertaining. Light and has a lot of heart. Highly recommend!

Loved it!

I have enjoyed all of the Valentine's Inc Cruise books but this one was probably my favorite of the bunch! Susan Hawke does an excellent job at infusing humor into her stories and this one was no exception. I love the fake boyfriend trope and this story just came together beautifully! Michael Pauley is phenomenal as always!

Abandoning Ship

3.5 Stars

This book was cute and funny. A fun and sweet story, with some cute, but totally oblivious guys. Fake Boyfriend trope is not my favorite especially when a female is involved in the ruse. I was especially annoyed by Ryan's Sister Julia in this book, I really didn't like her at all. I felt like she was selfish with all of her actions, she didn't think about what she was doing and how it would affect others, she only thought about herself. Luckily Ryan and Sawyer were able to get it together just in time to make their story line come together. Also, for me, Ryan and Sawyer didn't really have any grand HEA, it was more subtle seeing that they were friends and already had at least a partial connection with each other to begin with. But I felt like they were a little lacking in the passion department. I would have liked more passion and a stronger bond in the romance department. But, overall this story was cute and fun, just sad to say its not my favorite from this author.

Michael Pauley's voice was great for these characters, like always, he just seems to know how to voice everyone perfectly to give us a look into their personalities. I really felt involved in the story and character lives, wanting to know what happens next, and that was thanks to Michael.

Loved It!

Abandoning Ship is a great addition to the Valentine's Inc. Cruises series. This is a wonderful best friends to lovers story. Sawyer and Ryan are interested in each other when they first meet but never let on and then Sawyer gets into a fake relationship with Ryan's sister. Confusing! But all works out in the end.
This is a fast paced, sexy romp of a story that I devoured! THere's a reason why Michael Pauley is one of my favorite narraters. He does an amazing job of giving voice to this story.

Love Boat

This story was totally cute. I loved that it wasn't a typical story. Michael was terrific as the characters.

Sexy, Sweet & Lots Of Fun!

A great addition to this wonderful multi-author series. It's a convoluted fake relationship/sister's boyfriend story that is very entertaining especially once it hits the high seas. Ryan and Sawyer are great together and I loved watching their relationship grow and how they came to be together. The narrator is absolutely spectacular with the characters and in his interpretation of the story. I voluntarily reviewed a gifted copy of this audiobook.

Fake relationship & accidental marraiges

This was a light and sweet story with a bit of a twist on the fake relationship. low angst with a great narrator, overall a fun listen.

Even funnier on audio!!

I loved this story telling even more on audio! I loved how the narrator brought them all to life! Great pick and even more laughter.

Love birds on love boat

Another funny, light-hearted and enjoyable listen from Susi Hawke. 😉

Ryan and Sawyer has been friends and roommates for two years. Although there was definitely a spark and interest between them, Sawyer ended up fake dating Ryan’s sister Julia. And Ryan has no idea about their fake relationship and has always regretted being slow to move on Sawyer. Now Sawyer is going to marry Julia as a favor so that she can get her trust fund. And Ryan is wallowing I misery that his dream man is marrying his sister. When Sawyer found himself being jilted at the alter by his fake wife-to-be Julia, Ryan finally manned up and made a move on Sawyer. After all, isn’t love cruise where dreams for lovers come true?

This is quite light and funny. 😁 But I have some issues with the storyline and characters. First of all, I didn’t like Julia. She was entitled, spoilt, rude and very ungrateful to Sawyer. 😒 Second, although I believe there’s a spark between Sawyer and Ryan, I never quite felt the romance between them. It’s more of a convenient coupling rather than passionate romance for me. Regardless, it’s funny, filled with family drama and enjoyable. Love cruises are the best. 😉


3.5 love birds on love boat stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫




Audio rating

Story - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narration - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Performance - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Overall - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Fun RomCom

This was a fun read and I really enjoyed the fake boyfriend and groom twist that turned into a completely different the HEA