[Lisa’s Review:] Shipped by Angie Hockman

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.

The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.

Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands...together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.

With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Do you know what I love? When books turn out even better than I thought they would. Shipped is literally the lovechild of Christina Lauren’s the Unhoneymooners and Sally Thorne’s the Hating Game. You one hundred percent get what’s on the label, with sprinkles on top.

Henley has never met Graeme in person, but their written interactions and the occasional phone calls are enough for her to know she can’t stand the guy. Needless to say, when their competition for a promotion forces them on a company cruise together, things take an interesting turn. I have to say it’s been quite a while since I read romance this enchanting. Henley is ambitious, intelligent, and a bit of a workaholic. She’s a strong female lead that, throughout their exotic holiday, rediscovers life outside of work and grad school and learns that her walls have not only managed to keep her “safe” but also isolated. Graeme’s character was more of a surprise to me, to be honest. While he’s kind, funny, honorable, sexy, and the perfect hero to this story, his background was unexpected. In a good way, of course. He’s not the typical i-don’t-care-about-anything bad boy we often encounter in this type of story who then changes for the love of his life. And I loved that.

Their chemistry is on point from the get-go. The tension is so thick you feel like you can literally reach out and touch it. Whenever the two of them had a moment, my stomach dipped, and I got this warm fuzzy feeling inside. I loved every second of it. From their playful banter and the fighting to the humor and the more serious topics weaved into the plot – this book has it all.

Shipped is a promising start, and I’m excited to see where newcomer Angie Hockman’s next stories take us. Long story short, if romance is your thing, definitely give it a go.

Lisa

Hi! I’m Lisa. I’m twenty-three, a college student and a book lover. I spend every free minute, and most of my lectures, reading all kinds of books, which is how I ended up here. While I particularly enjoy books of the young and new adult variety, I also love historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, all things romance, and one or the other classic as well. If I’m not reading, I’m either working, sleeping, binge-watching my newest obsession on Netflix, or on my way to Starbucks, to satisfy my slight caffeine addiction.