Fleet Week by Melody Montclair (Fleet Week #1)
June 1, 2013
Contemporary Romance
Velvet Pony Press

Reviewed by Mandi

When this review request came in, the only thing I could think about is the Fleet Week episode from Sex and the City, so I decided to give it a try. I can’t resist a sailor romance. Gina is new to New York City, working a temp job in the financial district. Her co-worker always tries to get her to come out to happy hours, but the shy Gina never accepts. But it’s coming up on Memorial day weekend and they only have a half work day so finally Gina gives into her friend and off they go for a noon-day cocktail.

When Gina steps outside she realizes this is no ordinary day. The streets are filled with sailors and as her friend tells her, it’s Fleet Week! When all the ships sail into port and the sailors are given some time off to have a good time. Once at the bar, Gina’s friend starts lip-locking and Gina feels out of place. But then she spies a sailor who looks just as uncomfortable as she does. He is actually reading a book. They kind of hit it off, although Tom is awkward and hard to talk to. When Tom’s friend plans a “coincidental” meeting the next day between him and Gina, Tom’s guard finally goes down a bit.

Before I go further let me say this is book one in a series. There is somewhat of a HEA ending, although Tom does have to leave to go back on duty at the end of the book. Also at the end they say I love you, and it felt totally out of place. These two have known each other just a few days. They actually barely know each other so I felt the love was totally forced. It would have ended much better with a – let’s try to date long distance. Anyway..

I liked Gina. Told in her point of view, I like how the big city intimidates her and how all the sailors made her feel awkward. She gets a little confidence when she meets Tom and pushes him for more, which I admired.My biggest complaint besides the ending is that we don’t get to know Tom all that well. He comes across pretty flat. He has a secret he hides from Gina, which causes conflict. The secret didn’t do a lot for me. I felt a lack of chemistry with him. I needed a reason to root for him or to understand Gina’s attraction to him besides a cute southern accent.

As I said, this ends with I love you, but there is still more to their story as Tom has to leave (and they’ve only known each other for a week). This one was okay but could have been better.

Rating: C

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