e-ARC, 272 pagesRelease Date: December 8, 2015Published by: DelacorteStand-aloneSource: Netgalley (This e-ARC was given to me by the publisher for a just and honest review. There was no compensation given for my feedback.)For fans of: LOL, Romance, Chick-lit, Realistic Fiction, YA
It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey...
With her trusty baton and six insanely organized clipboards, drum major Liza Sanders is about to take Destiny by storm—the boat, that is. When Liza discovered that her beloved band was losing funding, she found Destiny, a luxury cruise ship complete with pools, midnight chocolate buffets, and a $25,000 spring break talent show prize.
Liza can’t imagine senior year without the band, and nothing will distract her from achieving victory. She’s therefore not interested when her old camp crush, Lenny, shows up on board, looking shockingly hipster-hot. And she’s especially not interested in Russ, the probably-as-dumb-as-he-is-cute prankster jock whose ex, Demi, happens be Liza’s ex–best friend and leader of the Athenas, a show choir that’s the band’s greatest competition.
But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. After the Destiny breaks down, all of Liza’s best-laid plans start to go awry. Liza likes to think of herself as an expert at almost everything, but when it comes to love, she’s about to find herself lost at sea.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Since I've never read a book by Morrill I wasn't sure what to expect in this one. What I certainly DIDN'T expect was a quick, cute, and super fun book set on a wacky cruise adventure. But that's exactly what I got!
"Take the strawberries. Fall in love. [...] For once I'm going to let myself have all the strawberries I want."34%
Liza is your average band drum major. She's super organized, doesn't play (no pun intended), and always worried about her band. That intensifies when she finds out they need money. And a lot of it. She enters them in a competition that can save the band.... If only they can pull off a win.
"...sometimes you need to step back and let everything breathe."46%
Normally in comtemps I say the best part of the book is the romance. In this one, it's a bit different... With this one, the best part is definitely the comedy. Liza is super accident prone and I hate to say it, but her failures hooked me to this book. I laughed out loud, my hands started sweating from second hand embarrassment, and I could feel my face blushing multiple times throughout this read. So many times that I had to put the book down for a little and take a break. If all of Morrill's book are like this, you can definitely sign me up for the rest of them.
"War is hell, and sometimes, so is band."49%
As for the romance, it was a bit predictable, but still very entertaining. I called it from early on, but there's only a few tells in who she ends up with. I feel that Morrill executes the romance is a super cute way, but the way it ended was definitely cheesy. There was no reason for her to "change" so to speak. It seemed she just did it because it seemed to be the "right thing to do." But overall, it was cute and I found my self rooting for the right guy most of the way through.
"Never underestimate the restorative power of a good cry."86%
Another thing I liked about this book was how it was so believable. I myself went on a cruise from November 30th-December 6th and it was almost exactly like this. I was also in the band before so that made it even MORE believable. I was only a flute player, but our band director and my drum major were very much like Liza and it took me back to my younger days.
"When you spend time worrying about mistakes, miscommunication, troubles, or failures [...] you miss all the wonderful misadventures, lucky accidents, and even the perfect little catastrophes that makes life interesting."
pg. 253
Granted I'm super glad I read this AFTER I came back from my cruise, I would definitely read this one all over again sometime. It was a quick, quirky read that was just what I needed after the semester and finals were over!
Overall, I give this
