User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Ladies and gentlemen! Make some noise for one of the sweetest, most tempting, enchanting, heartfelt, hilarious, romantic novels I’ve read lately!
And let’s raise our glasses (actually I already finished another bottle during my read: sorry, I got my thirsty when I get excited!) to those brilliant characters: Henley and Graeme - even though name choices are a little strange, Henley is shining like a rock star and Graeme is deliciously charming to consume with marshmallow and dark chocolate during your camp trip!
It’s true this is great mashup of Hating Games meet Honeymooners! I have to admit: it is so much better than the both books because:
- Better approach to frenemies: There is enemies to lovers theme as you may guess but characters are not childish, immature or obnoxious! As soon as you learn more about their back stories, you start to empathize with both of them. And their sizzling, outstandingly hot, smoking chemistry hooks you up and you just find yourself chanting them to kiss and tear each other’s clothes!
- Absolutely better characterization: Henley is hard worker, disciplined but also caring, golden hearted, loyal heroine. She works her ass off to achieve her goals and she always plays fair, does everything to protect her loved ones even though it means babysitting, spoiling her sister. And Graeme was sweet, sexy, smart and emotional hero: a dreamy book boyfriend who always supportive, caring and lovely from the beginning.
- Spectacular location: The cruise to Galapagos with its remarkable nature, memorable views is the perfect choice for growing romance and it also takes your mind away and make you smile so deeply as you wear your ugly pajamas, lying on your couch and holding this digital copy of the book. Even you look miserable, this book takes you places and helps you visualize your postponed holiday plans.
- Best supporting characters Oscar goes to....: Supporting characters are so lovely! In the beginning, I have questions about Walsh: yes she is flirty, spoiled brat who seems lost and no proper idea how to form her life path but at the second half of the book, I enjoyed her energetic, hot blooded, straightforward characteristics. But NIKOLAI STOLE THE SHOW! I laughed so hard at his parts! Especially his dance moves! Okay I gave away too much. I stop right here!
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Overall: Ultra entertaining, spectacular romcom, a fantastic cruise trip, friendship, sisterhood, women power, hot chemistry, true romance, adorable characters. What are you waiting for! Go and attend that journey!
I’m giving five blazing, breezy, exotic, well-earned stars! This is a brilliant debut and I congratulate Angie Hockman for writing this remarkable journey! I cannot wait to read her upcoming works!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sharing this incredible ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.
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Rating: really liked it
2 stars ⭐
To compare this book to The Hating Game and The Unhoneymooners is a disservice to what I consider to be my all time favourite romance novels. The fact that I genuinely believed I was going to love this book, makes my disappointment 10 times worse.
*this book’s blurb exists*me:
In a nutshell,
Shipped is about Henley and Graeme who work together, have never met in person before, but are now running for the same position. Their boss assigns them the job to come up with a proposal to increase their sales at their travelling company and to do that they will be going on a week trip to the Galápagos Islands to find some inspiration. Henley hates Graeme, however, when they finally meet and get to know each other better, she finds out that maybe he is not the bad guy she thought he was.
From the first few pages, I could tell I was not going to love this one, simply because it didn’t grip me from the beginning and I wasn’t particularly liking the writing. Regardless, I was still hoping to enjoy it since the premise sounded like a story right up my alley.
I don’t want to be straight up mean and unfair to this book and its author, so I’m going to share the aspects I liked about it first. To start with,
the love interest wasn’t a jackass - he was actually pretty nice.
I KNOW, SHOCKING, RIGHT?? I’m not kidding though, I made several notes on my ebook saying just that: “OMG HE’S SO NICE”. Although
that doesn’t really excuse him for being a super bland character in the end, but I'll get to that later. Secondly,
this book is kind of funny, I’m not going to lie. I think that’s especially due to Nikolai, who is a guest on this trip and is completely enamored by Henley from the moment he lays his eyes on her.
A perfect example (a quote from him) follows: I am like vodka. It is, on first taste, not everyone’s favorite. But after a few sips, you may find you like it.
Might sound creepy, but I swear in context, it's funny, especially when you imagine him saying it with a Russian accent, which he has.
And… that’s it. That’s all I liked. Now, moving on to my rant.
Grab some popcorn because this is going to be a long one.
My biggest issue with this book is the main character, Henley. OH MY GOD, HOW ANNOYING AND UNGRATEFUL CAN A PERSON BE?!?? I swear, at first, I really tried to give her the benefit of the doubt since she seemed to have a reasonable reason to dislike Graeme.
But I could not endure her annoying ass self as she continues to grasp at straws for more reasons to hate him and be an asshole, after realising she had the wrong impression of him all along.
A comprehensive yet incomplete list of examples:
1) She skips breakfast to take care of her sister who ended up tagging along for the trip and got sick. Graeme notices, offers her
his snack because they’re going for a long hike not too long after and she immediately flat out refuses. No “thank you”s, no “you don’t have to do that”, nothing, zilch! But can you guess it? After a few lines of dialogue, she begrudgingly accepts it. As if SHE is doing HIM a favor.
Ok, maybe you don’t think that’s a big deal. Sure, she was a bit rude, but so what? Well, don’t worry, I’m just getting started! :) 
2) Graeme starts taking photos of the wildlife and nature they have on the island to kick start his proposal idea for the promotion, literally just doing his job, like they were supposed to, since that’s the whole reason they’re on that trip in the first place and this woman literally says “If this is how Graeme is going to play, I need to step up my game.”
What GAME IS HE PLAYING THOUGH????? He’s just doing HIS JOB!! She acts as if he has this whole plan to take her down, as if he’s shown any real indication of that throughout this entire novel, as if hasn’t been nothing but friendly and kind since they met in person for the first time, when, in fact, she’s the one who’s acting vindictive and vengeful. I mean, she literally writes in her notes, calls it a TASK, to defeat Graeme. Her. Literal. Words. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.
3) They go snorkeling and Henley has an intense fear of bodies of water due to a traumatic experience in the ocean when she was a child. Graeme quickly realises she isn’t too keen on the idea to go snorkeling when the idea is first brought up a few chapters back. So when they do finally go snorkeling, he joins the beginners group along with Henley, although he isn’t really a newbie, since he’s worried about her. Henley tries to snorkel on her own, fails miserably because, like I’ve mentioned, she’s terrified of being underwater. Graeme at first goes to do his own thing, but then sees Henley struggling, offers to help, she reluctantly accepts it, and guess what? He’s able to get her to relax and they go snorkeling together. It’s great, they have an amazing time. But then what happens? Graeme lets it slip that he’s not a beginner and Henley just about freaks the hell out. She has a full on outburst about it saying she could have figured it out on her own and his help was useless. And, to add to that, freaking leaves him alone in the ocean, gets on a boat and goes back to the island.
What the HECK is wrong with her????
4)
She is constantly comparing her relationship with Graeme with the one she had with another guy at her old workplace who basically screwed her over. Look, I get it, it makes sense for her to be more hesitant about her relationship with Graeme, but that’s not an excuse for her to be a total bitch to him as well as constantly flipping back and forth on whether or not she wants to be with him.
Of course,
we could always talk about how much of a bitch she is to her sister, or how she says Graeme doesn’t deserve the promotion because her idea is much better, even though it really isn’t the best in the context of what was asked for her, in my opinion (I know that, in the end, her boss turns out to be a complete dick and was planning to steal her idea and that’s why he chose Graeme’s proposal over hers, but, honestly, I agree with him when he says he didn’t think Henley’s was the best given the task required), but we’re not going to do that.
Since I briefly mentioned it,
I guess we can talk about that last three chapters because what the bloody hell was that??? (yes, I have turned British) The drama was so unnecessary for this story, I couldn't care less. Why would I give a flying crap about her boss and how much of a jerk he is? I get it that the author was probably trying to take a stance on the injustices that many women face on their male-dominant workplaces on a daily basis,
but how is that relevant to a ROMANCE novel???? Maybe if this was women’s fiction or an adult contemporary, but this a ROMANCE novel, I’m reading this book because I want ROMANCE. I feel like it’s pretty self-explanatory. Sure, you can include other themes, the story doesn’t have to be ALL about the main relationship. But waste THREE chapters on this useless conflict, ESPECIALLY the LAST chapter where I would expect the relationship to be consolidated and have a proper resolution to (instead of the protagonist and her love interest being on an Uber and the latter referring to the former as his girlfriend and her being like “oh really? I’m your girlfriend?” and that’s how THAT happens???)?? It’s ridiculous, really.
This brings me to my next point which is probably my main point of this review which is
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WAS THAT!!?!?! You know, I think I could deal with the main character being super, duper freaking annoying if at least, her and the love interest had some sort of chemistry. BUT NO! As I’ve gone over, Henley is very rude and ungrateful to Graeme virtually all the time, and their banter is basically nonexistent. However, what really doesn’t make sense is why Graeme likes Henley. I genuinely do not understand it. It’s bizarre, really, how he talks like he’s loved her for so long like they know each super well (they don’t) and then in the last chapters she basically thinks to herself that she loves him too, although none of her actions have reflected that. I mean, Graeme himself doesn’t have much going for him either. Sure, he’s *nice*. Yet, that’s the thing. If you actually dig deeper into his character, you end up figuring it out that he has no personality as he’s as tasteless as a bland slice of white bread.
To make matters worse,
the only thing I was actually looking forward to after reading more than half of the book, aka the sex scene, doesn’t even happen! Look,
I’m not saying that just because this is an adult romance there have to be explicit sex scenes, BUT the author makes it seem like there will be. There’s a scene where Henley and Graham are in her room about to do the deed, however, they are interrupted TWICE: once by Nikolai (it was very awkward to read, if you were wondering) and the second time by someone working at the cruise. After they both leave, nothing ends up happening anyway because Henley gets mad at Graeme for reasons I cannot be bothered to try to recall. The thing is there’s another instance when it seemed like maybe there would be a sex scene but then you don’t get to read anything about it. It’s not even fade to black or anything: one of them just suggests something like “oh we have a lot of time” since they are alone at Henley’s flat, I think, and then the story moves on.
How disappointing was that?
Finally, I just have to point this out because it kind of irked me. Basically, one of Henley’s girl friends is in a relationship with another woman and they end up getting pregnant and everything. You might be thinking… what the hell is wrong with that? Are you homophobic or something, Susana? And no, of freaking course not.
My problem is that it felt so forced like the author was trying to include some sort of diversity in the story to make up for both of her main characters being white cishet people. Especially when you look at the fact that nothing really ends up happening with these two side characters and that I’m pretty sure that it is implied that Nikolai’s travelling buddy is not straight (at least that’s what I got from a conversation he had with Henley).
LGBTQ+ people are not here to be tokens for diversity, we’re our own individuals with our own lives and problems to deal with. If you could include a whole subplot about Henley’s stupid boss,
you could have made an effort to actually develop the few diverse characters you have in this book, or is that too much to ask?In summary,
this book really ground my gears (if you somehow couldn't tell). I guess that’s what I get for being naive enough to think it could be the perfect combo of two of my favourite novels.
My advice is: don’t read it; but if you do, don’t go into thinking it’s going to be a brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never-the-same, totally unique, completely-not-ever-done-before romance.
Unless you mean uniquely trashy, then, in that case, you're probably right.
Rating: really liked it
4.5/5SO F*CKING CUTE. This is exactly what it claims to be,
The Unhoneymooners meets
The Hating Game. A hate to love romance where they are both up for the same promotion (much like The Hating Game) and they are forced to go on a company cruise together (which feels similar to the honeymoon situation in Unhoneymooners). Henley and Graeme have the best banter, the best chemistry, I was literally giddy the entire time I was reading this and smiling like an idiot. Graeme is my ideal male love interest to read about, he’s smart and funny and really soft on the inside, but he’s quick with his snarky remarks and their relationship is just so damn cute.
This book was so fun, I loved everything about the competitive nature of them both trying to get this job, and I also loved the underlying messages about how women always have to work ten times harder than men for the same benefits and it’s exhausting and unfair.
The only reason I knocked off a half star is because I didn’t LOVE the ending the way I loved the rest of the book - I thought the ending focused a little too much on their jobs and not on the romance, I would’ve like more romance at the end, but despite that one complaint,
this is definitely one of my new favorite romance novels I’ve read this year. I literally SHIPPED it so hard, see what I did there? 🤪
Rating: really liked it
this definitely lives up to The Hating Game & The Unhoneymooners comparisons. if you're in the market for something similar, i can't see why you wouldn't enjoy this. i was just hoping for a slightly fresher take on the enemies-to-lovers-in-paradise trope thing.
i also think there could have been a little more focus on the romance and a little less focus on the business side of things. some people will enjoy the details, and i didn't think it was done poorly. just not something i care much about in a romance.
Rating: really liked it
Always a fun time when the worst part of a romance novel is the romance.
Well, okay, that's not fair. There was a lot to dislike about this book. Like the weird flat friendships, or the sister relationship that goes from girl hate to inconsiderate to magically perfect, or the overly simple #girlboss work narrative, or the boring travel narrative.
But all of that had more to not hate than the inexplicable instalove-y romance between two snoozefest characters.
In conclusion, I didn't like this much.
Bottom line: Just read something by Sarah Hogle instead. (My constant advice.)
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i take enemies to lovers and raise you enemies (except not really because one of them has always pined for the other and just doesn't know how to show it) to lovers
Rating: really liked it
This was VERY, VERY fun.
TW: ocean/deep water anxiety, sharks, abusive relationships (not between main couple), emotional manipulation (not between main couple)
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars 
When I saw this book was compared to 'The Unhoneymooners' and 'The Hating Game' I was a little nervous. I mean. those are some big shoes to fill. After reading, I've got to say... it's accurate. If The Hating Game (my favorite enemies to lovers romance) and The Unhoneymooners had a love child,
Shipped would be it! It was an exceptional enemies to lovers/work place romance that had that destination aspect.
Henley has never met Graeme in person, but she knows she can't stand him. And they're up for the same promotion at work. She works for a travel company and when she finds out she has to take one of their cruises... with Graeme... she doesn't know how to feel. She quickly finds out that Graeme is nothing like she expected him to be.
To get the job of her dreams, she has to have a better idea than Graeme. She has to best him. The problem? The more time she spends with him, the more she realized that he isn't quite the villain she's made him out to be. In fact, he's pretty amazing.
The chemistry and banter between Henley and Graeme- off the charts. Henley was a little headstrong and stubborn, but she had her reasons for being the way she was. Being a woman in her workplace wasn't easy. And Graeme- sigh. What an amazing hero. I couldn't have loved the guy more. He was a true sweetheart and he really liked and respected Hadley and wanted what was best for her.
I cannot believe that this is a debut novel. It's so well written, fun, witty, and was a blast to read. There is nothing I love more than falling head over heels with a new author. This is a book I'll highly recommend to all lovers of romance. Take a chance on
Shipped. You won't regret it!
Graham Cracker-Collins has become simply Graeme: the person who makes my heart rap-a-tap-tap whenever I even think about seeing him, and the biggest surprise of my life.
Rating: really liked it
This is a romance/contemporary/chick-lit/women's fiction book. I cannot put into words how much I love this book. This book was so freaking cute and sweet. I love the two main characters Henley Evans and Graeme Crawford-Collins. The romance was so burning. Henley started out the book hating Graeme because of a misunderstanding that happen years ago. Henley and Graeme ended up going over the same promotion, and the ending was the best. I have hear this compared to the Unhoneymooners personally this book was so much better then the unhoneymooners. If you are looking for a slow moving romance book that is to sweet and cute with great characters then this is the book for you. I really love this book so much. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Gallery Books) or author (Angie Hockamn) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.
Rating: really liked it
"Life doesn't give you many of these opportunities. My advice? Seize it, mold it, and make it everything you want it to be."
~Rating- 1.75 stars~
Content/ Trigger Warnings- Ocean/deep water anxiety, Sharks, Abusive relationships (not between main couple), Emotional manipulation (not between main couple), Death of a mother, Emesis
-No mention of these in the review-Shipped by Angie Hockman, is an entertaining read, but one I am very conflicted about. It is marketed as
'The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game', and since I have read neither of those books yet (they are on my TBR, don't come at me!) I can't really comment of whether or not its an accurate comparison. However, it is still a fun read and a pretty decent debut novel.
➽ THE PLOT “People are the problem. But they can also be the solution.”
Henley Rose Evans is a strong- spirited workaholic. She is a rule-follower, list maker, and a perfectionist in everything she does. She's aspiring to get
a promotion at work, a promotion she is certain she will get,
until her boss shortlists another person- Graeme.Henley Rose Evans
hates Graeme. She has hated him since the moment
he took credit for a project she worked on. "So Graeme got away with it. He got away with swiping the credit and praise right out from under me."
When she finds she will have to work together and go to a week long trip to the Galápagos Islands to promote the sales of her traveling company, she is bitter about the whole prospect. But as Henley gets to know Graeme better,
she realises he's not the person she thought he was, and she might have been wrong about him all along. "No, my name is Henley Rose Evans, and my parents consciously named me after the lead singer and drummer of every boomer’s favorite easy listening band, the Eagles."
The
plot of the book was ok. There wasn't really much going on, and I wouldn't personally classify this book as a 'romance'. The romance is minimal, and there isn't much build up for it.
The last 3-4 chs just throw the concept of the book out of the widow, and the main focus of the book, which was supposed to be the relationship, was sidelined. Instead, we have a 'plot twist', which I didn't even predict because it was the kind I just had not expected, nor wanted in a romance book.
I wish there was more attention given to the characters and their banter.
➽ THE WRITINGThe writing was fine for a debut. There were word repetitions I didn't not bother counting, because I have lost patience after seeing this in every book I read. There was an odd sentence about 'molars' I saw repeated constantly, which tugged me a little.
(All page numbers according to my kindle edition, which had 351 pages)
"I clamp my molars until my jaw pops." [Pg 24]
"I grind my molars so hard a tick starts in my jaw." [Pg 166]
"I click my molars." [Pg 194]
"I grind my molars."[Pg 305]
"I stop grinding my molars and take a deep, bracing breath." [Pg 309]
"I grind my molars like an industrial sander." [Pg 324]
Maybe I was the only one who was bothered by this, but it was annoying to see.
➽ THE CHARARCTERSThe characters of this book are mostly 1 dimensional, though the MC might pass for 2 dimensional. While I liked
Henley's perspective, as it is very different from my own, I must say that I found her quite immature.
Graeme, the love interest was very bland. His only personality trait as that he was nice. Literally that is all that is there to him. It's never clear as to why he likes Henley either.
The side-characters were irrelevant, and just faded in the background. They never played any role in the story, and their only purpose was to invoke a reaction from/ help the MC. I would have liked more depth to them.
In short, Shipped isn't a terrible read and I binged in a day. Its the kind that must be read with low expectations and regardless of my low rating, I enjoyed it a bit. I'd recommend you to read my friend Susana's amazing review for a
spoiler filled insight. We share similar thoughts.
"The battles have been waged- some lost, some forfeited, some won. New allies were revealed, an old enemy became a friend and then a lover, and I strengthened..."
Review written on 21st June, 2021. Buddy Read with my team The Avid Readers at The Never Ending TBR. Thank you to Devss for the recommendation!DISCLAIMER- All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.
How I Rate-1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite
Random Note- 21st June 2021I have 21 reviews pending, (yes I know, that is a lot) so I’m going to be experimenting with different reviewing formats. Let me know which one you like! I’d love your opinions. :)
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I need to write this review but I have practically forgotten everything that happens in this book.
...................................
Lowering my rating as 15 days later and I can’t even remember the characters names. 1 star I guess? Honestly June has been a terrible reading month. May was a terrible reading month too. I need some good books ASAP.
…………………………………
3 stars
This was very fun. Not something I’d usually pick up but still enjoyed it. Review to come.
Rating: really liked it
This book relied heavily on miscommunication as a plot device like that’s not rivals to lovers that’s just the mc being a stupid idiot annoying petty little trash goblin ass little bitch.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 starsReading this feels like dating someone and wondering if he’s actually good or you’re just desperate.This was such a light fun read that ended up being such a pleasant surprise. I was hesitant about reading this book because of the hating game and the unhoneymooners comparison, two books I really enjoyed. However, it was still so cute.
Also, This has the ending I wanted but didn’t get from the ex talk!! which is a bonus!
First of all, the setting was perfect! I loved it. I also really loved the sister’s relationship and the underlying message about how women aren’t treated as equal to men in the work industry and how they always have to work many times harder to prove themselves. I appreciated the ending and how awesome Henley was. How she decided to stand for herself instead of just “accepting it” like in the ex talk (yes I’m still salty about that!) and I loved how all her friends stood by her side and helped her like that.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Henley at first, but I started to like her more and she started to show some character growth. I even started to like her competitive overachieving nature. The reason why I didn’t rate this higher is because it was more work focused than romance focused, which wasn’t necessary a bad thing. I just needed more of their romance I think.
Song recommendation:The man by Taylor Swift
Take a chance on me by ABBA
Rating: really liked it
What a fun book! I’ve seen this book described many times as THE HATING GAME meets THE UNHONEYMOONERS and I’d have to say that is a very accurate description. A delightful enemies to lovers tale set on the high seas. Henley works for a cruise line in the marketing department. She is a diligent worker and is convinced that an upcoming promotion is hers, after all who has worked harder for this than her? When Henley‘s boss brings up the promotion she is surprised to find out someone else is in the running, and she is furious to find out it is her cocky enemy Graham. To make matters worse now Henley has to go on a cruise with her foe Graham. The thing is as Henley begins to get to know Graham better she realizes he’s nothing like she thought he was. He’s actually kind of a good guy and he’s not too bad to look at either. What’s Henley to do? Follow her heart or her ambition?
A large portion of the story takes place in the gorgeous Galápagos Islands. Loved the part the natural beauty and habitat of this region was featured in the book. I also really appreciated the nod to environmental issues throughout the story. Both Henley and Graham were great characters. But I have to admit it took longer to warm up to Henley than it did Graham. The banter between these two was fabulous and the chemistry was off the charts. There were so many wonderful secondary characters in the story including Henley‘s sister, who I would love to see a future book about. The perfect romcom escape!
This book in emojis 🛳 📹 🦭 🦎 🦩 ☀️
*** Big thank you to Gallery Books for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars, i really enjoyed it but where was the smut man? anyways strong female friendships and great family dynamic + enemies to lovers on a cruise. what a fun read.
Rating: really liked it
This was a cute read, perfect for summer as it takes place on the Galápagos island. I did enjoy the romance but didn't love it and honestly I wanted more of it. I did love that Henley was very ambitious in her career and works hard and it shows.
Overall it was cute but I didn't love it.
Rating: really liked it
congratulations to henley rose evans for being the most selfish, self-centered and annoying character in a romcon and for winning the most undeserved romantic hea in the story of modern romance ❤️
