Meet Me at Sunrise

Romano Family, Book 2

By: Lucinda Whitney

Narrated by: Mary Jane Conlon

Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

A reluctant heiress. A river cruise captain. Finding love in eight days was not on the itinerary....

Top 10 Amazon best seller in Holiday Fiction
Top 20 Amazon best seller in Clean & Wholesome Romance

Between a bad breakup and a rocky relationship with her overbearing father, 23-year-old Vanessa Clark has a history of being disappointed by the men in her life. So when her long-lost grandfather reenters the scene and persuades her to tour northern Portugal on one of his river cruise ships, Vanessa boards the vessel looking for answers about her estranged family, not looking for love. 

Captain Matias Romano has enough to worry about without having to babysit his boss’s spoiled American granddaughter, no matter how good-looking and wealthy she is. First the issue with the refrigerators, and now the ship's computers are malfunctioning - he’ll be relieved when this trip is over and he can get back to business as usual. 

But as Matias plays tour guide on Vanessa’s excursions and they work together to investigate a series of suspicious accidents aboard, they both realize there’s more to the other than first impressions. 

Can Vanessa work through her complicated past to make room for Matias in her future, or will they pass like ships in the night?

©2017 Lucinda Whitney (P)2019 Lucinda Whitney

Wonderful, Unexpected, Illogical Logic

Wonderful, Unexpected, Illogical Logic is how I would describe this story. From the father and grandfather, the mysteries surrounding the ship, to the unexplained chemistry; this story was a charming excursion from real-life.

Sweet story and a beautiful setting!

A river cruise, beautiful scenery, a handsome captain, a spoiled heiress, two characters with a lot of misperceptions, sparks, trouble, a castle, car rentals, picnic under a tree, sunrises, family, dancing, good friends, yummy food(ok I know I can't taste it but it sounds amazing), river lights at night...it all adds up to a great combination for a fun read.

Oh what a fun read this was. I read the preview a little while back and was really looking forward to getting my hands on the full book. Let me just say that I was not disappointed and I loved every minute of it! Two great characters that I liked from the get go. They were reserved, they came across in many different manners but as I turned more pages, I got to know them and their secrets(more just their personal lives), their hopes and dreams and their sorrows. I almost wished I was part of the cruise so I could watch Vanessa and Matias interact with each other. So many moments where they tried hiding their interest in the other, to each other, but I bet everyone on board knew long before these two did that there was magic happening. Oh I would have had a blast enjoying the company of all the other cruise participants. I know it's a fictional story, but hey, they were so fun!!!!

Vanessa had quite a shock of information and it has turned her world all around and sideways and spinning. She has some pretty major decisions to make. Add to all of that she's learning that what she always thought and believed isn't really what it all seems. Perception is a funny and interesting thing to think about. I liked how Vanessa's character had a lot of discovering to experience and I enjoyed how the author showed perceptions throughout this story. Throw into all those changes and decisions an amazingly handsome, kind and Vanessa's dream man, and that just complicates the whole kit n caboodle.

Matias is a great hero in this story. I loved his character. He was so good, so steady and patient. He's trying to fulfill his responsibilities as Captain but is struggling as mishaps keep occurring and he's been told(not asked) to be responsible for Vanessa, the granddaughter of the cruise line owner. What will this spoiled girl need next? That's pretty much what he can't help but think at the beginning of the story. Oh I loved him in the novella Hold Me at Twilight, and really loved delving into his story more in this novel.

There is some suspense throughout the book but that was more of just a little side factor in the storyline. The main aspect is Vanessa and Matias and family. Definitely a great read and one that will have you wanting to visit this beautiful area of the world and quite possibly take a long amazing river cruise. I know I'm ready to go. The pictures if you search this area are quite stunning. I know the author has lots of pictures on pinterest for this book.

Content: Clean. Some sweet and swoony kisses.

Happy Listening!!!

Clean romance

Update: Okay, I just listened to #3 and the whole sabotage part of the story makes sense now. It set up the next book. So you can ignore that complaint.
Also I listened to #3 on a different device and the narration worked much better. I just needed to be able to have better speed adjustment possibilities. So both my complaints are non issues now.

*****

I really, really want to go on a river cruise in Portugal now. I've never had Portugal on my bucket list but now I'm intrigued.

This is a sweet clean romance. It would make a good read for a cruise. :) Or a beach read or whatever.

I liked the captain as a character even if he did make assumptions to begin with. I didn't like Vanessa as much because I think she was just an angry person. She was mad at her father and an ex and took it out on her grandfather and other men around her. I was glad she finally came around to knowing her grandfather instead of just being angry toward him. But it made it harder for me to like her.

I was bothered that we never learned the motivation for the sabotage so it didn't really make sense to have in the story. The sabotage didn't make the romance move along or really create a conflict for it except for a brief moment when Vanessa thinks the captain is blaming her for it happening. So I didn't really see the point. Did I miss it?

Unfortunately the narrator didn't really work for me. It might be just my kindle but I could not get a reading speed that was pleasant. On my normal setting the narration was so slow I didn't know if I'd be able to stand listening the whole book. When I went to the faster setting, it was just a bit too fast. Still too fast was better than the too slow. Maybe other readers have more options that would make this a non issue.

The Romano family is a big boisterous family and other than mentioning having cousins they didn't appear in this book and that was kinda disappointing. I like big crazy families.

Great story

I was given a copy of this audio book for an honest review. Lucinda delivered another fantastic story & Mary Jane Conley does a fabulous job narrating. I enjoyed listening to this book. The characters were well written & kept me interested throughout the entire story. This is book #2 in the Romano Family series.

Cruise Ship Love

I love Lucinda's stories based in Portugal. and I love the Romano Family stories. The narrator does a good job conveying the accents and it was enjoyable to listen too. I've read and listened to this story and highly recommend it.

Vanessa and Matias

I’ve been wanting to know their stories forever since I’ve read and listened to almost all his cousins and they have been mentioned a lot. Their story is so touching and wonderful! If I didn’t have work, I would have gone through the entire book at one go.

True Love

A cruise and finding true love, is it possible,she is an heiress and he is a river captain. Overcoming the lies her Dad never told her,a grandfather that is watching over her. Good story and enjoyed the good narration.Given audio for my voluntary review and my voluntary review

Enjoyable Sweet clean romance

This author did a great job. It’s complete, well written, and no cliff hangers. The narrator did well with the accents and character voices. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a simple clean sweet romance with a HEA.

LOVE!

I loved this book! The chemistry between the two main characters was so wonderful and the story hooked me in right from the beginning. The narrator did a wonderful job. I can't wait to read and listen to more of this wonderful series.

Escapism at it’s finest.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. Makes me want to go on a cruise and find my true love.

Lovely sweet romance

Although this is book two in a series it can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed this story, although it had a weird little sub plot that never really fit into the story, it didn’t distract from the story so was fine.
The narrator tells the story well.

I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.