Book Review – Below Deck by Tara Sivec

Below Deck by Tara Sivec

Erotic Romance. Standalone. 

Get ready to get wet! (boat pun).

I had no idea Below Deck by Tara Sivec was going to be such a hot little vacation in the Virgin Islands! I knew she was writing a romance on a luxury yacht after watching the reality show Below Deck, but I had no idea it might be her hottest novel yet!

I read Below Deck this past weekend. If I wasn’t out so much it would have been a one sitting read. It was a very hot, indulgent, fun weekend escape. There was nothing too epic or emotional or angsty, just good sexy storytelling. Though we don’t get Tara’s over-the top humor, we still get a lot of funny, especially in best friends Ben and Brooke.

“There are a lot of rules in yachting, but nothing more sacred than the Holy trinity–never go anywhere without your radio, never shit where you eat, and never, ever cross the line with a guest.”

Declan McGillis is the Bosun (head deckhand) for a luxury charter yacht, and he is one test away from becoming captain. He is focused on his career and works hard and follows the rules. He has seen the rich, stuck up people who charter the boat for weeks at a time. He sees the way the crew are treated no better than dirt under their shoe. So despite the fact that one of the women on the new charter is the most gorgeous girl he’s ever seen, he plans on staying far away.

“Shit. Dimples. I’m definitely having a quick fling with this guy. No woman can resist dimples.”

Mackenzie Armstrong is joining her father and his new trophy wife and daughter on a luxury trip through the virgin Islands. The wife and daughter are quite possibly the most wretched people on the planet, but luckily Mackenzie brought her best friend along for a buffer. Mackenzie is leaving behind major problems at her father’s company where she works. She knows this trip is is a luxury they can’t afford but her father is too wrapped up in the women to notice that she has been woking day and night to dig the company out. She needs to let loose, and when she sees Declan she might just do that.

“I think I’m gonna need some pointers on how to have a vacation fling.”

I love how in a Tara Sivec book you always get real people you want to hang out with. I loved Mackenzie. Despite Declan being a bit of a douche sometimes, I still liked him. But I really loved his best friend Ben and her best friend Brooke. I loved how there was snark and humor but it was never the wear-a-pad kind of humor Tara is known for, and I wouldn’t consider this a romantic comedy as much as an erotic romance. But still, there was a lot of funny. (See the excerpt below).

“Your tits are fucking amazing,” I tell her in awe.
“Thanks. I grew them myself,” she replies, arching her back and sticking her chest out a little more.

Let me tell you, there was no shortage of HOT scenes.

“Put your hands on the railing. And hold on tight.”

And Declan is breaking ALL of his rules.

“All I can think about is that Goddamn kiss. Every time I close my eyes I can taste you, and smell you, and feel you against me, and it’s driving me fucking insane.”

Unfortunately, it makes him into an asshole a couple of times, and I like that Mackenzie didn’t torture him for the sake of angst.

Let me tell you again, this is an erotic romance. So there are a lot of sexy times, but there are still a number of great story threads running through the book. I loved to hate the stepmonster and stepsister, and I loved to love Brooke and Ben. All in all, Below Deck was a light, delicious, sexy escape and I gobbled it up like candy.

“With a groan of relief, I pull my hips back and then push myself inside of her, slowly, until my cock is so deep I don’t know where I end and she begins. It’s cliché as fuck and I don’t care. I want her to be my beginning and I want her to be my end.”

Likes:

• Funny without trying.
• Lovable, relatable characters.
• Characters you love to hate.
• So freaking HOT.
• Despite a lot of sex, there was a lot of story.
• Fast moving, easy escape of a read.
• Unique setting.
• Amazing epilogue.

Dislikes:

• Can’t think of one.

The Down & Dirty:

Rating: 4.5 Stars, 4.75 Heat

“Feminists all over the world would be hanging their heads in shame at me right now, wouldn’t they? I’m weak and pathetic and easily forgiving of asshole behavior,” I complain to Brooke, leaning against the doorframe of our bathroom while I watch her apply make-up. “Tell me I’m weak and pathetic.”

Brooke sighs, pulling her face away from the mirror and lowering the mascara wand from her eye to stare at me in the reflection.

“I will do no such thing. You aren’t weak and pathetic. And you aren’t easily forgiving, either. You stuck to your guns and made him feel like a jerk. What you are, is easily distracted by a pretty face and a magic dick,” she informs me, turning around to lean against the sink.

“You’re right,” I whisper, my eyes widening with this sudden discovery. “I’ve always rolled my eyes at women in books who keep going back to the same asshole over and over again. It’s because of the magic dick. And now I get it.”

“The fucking magic dick,” Brooke agrees with a nod.

“But seriously, this doesn’t make me weak and pathetic that I forgave him so easily and basically threw my vagina at him in a challenge?” I ask as she turns back to face the mirror and finish applying her mascara.

“He explained why he did what he did. He was an assuming asshole, but he still realized he was wrong and fixed it. You accepted his apology and admitted you’re still in need of a good dicking, and he’s the closest available dick to give you said dicking. I see nothing wrong with that,” she shrugs.

“That was a lot of dicks in one sentence.”

“There are a lot of dicks on this boat. You think you’ve got problems? Ben is the best sex I’ve ever had and he’s a man-whore,” she complains, shoving her mascara tube back into her make-up bag and grabbing her bottle of perfume from the counter.

Purchase Below Deck by Tara Sivec