Blog touring today, which I don’t do so often any more, so I really enjoy it when I do! Today it’s all about The Boat Trip, which published this week – congrats to author Heather Fitt! This is Heather’s 3rd book (if I’m not mistaken), I’m wondering WHY I haven’t read her previous books!!?? But let’s get to this one …
The Blurb:
Duchess is about to set sail from Scotland to St. Lucia. But before she even leaves port, a crew member storms off in anger. It’s only the first in a series of events that will beset Helen, the skipper, her best friend, and the remaining crew.
During a port of call in the Canary Islands, an experienced sailor is found badly beaten onshore. As a replacement, Helen calls in her son—despite objections from her crew who know of his unsavory reputation. Then, a near-fatal allergic reaction raises the tension level—and finally, during a fierce storm, someone goes overboard.
Is this a run of bad luck or is one person at the heart of the turmoil and violence? And if so, can the culprit be identified before they reach the Caribbean?
What a riveting read! Not only because it’s fast-paced and thrilling, but also because for someone like me, who has absolutely zero clue about sailing, the details were fascinating! I now understand where the expression “She runs a tight ship” comes from!
Helen puts together a crew who she feels will best manage the crossing from Scotland to St. Lucia, via Gran Canaria. [Admittedly I had to Google this to gauge distance and to see what the route looked like, as I had no clue, not being from anywhere remotely close to any of these areas, or knowing anything about anything when it comes to yachts, boats, ships and the like!] But … back to the book! So … Helen gets this crew together, and although these are individuals who mainly have vast experience in sailing, they’re not exactly the most compatible group she could have found! They’ve all had previous interactions one way or another – work and play, and not all of these have ended well, but Helen seems to have disregarded all of this when putting her team together – she’s not the most socially adept human. She’s also invited her best friend Erin, who’s been going through a difficult time, to accompany them – a bizarre decision in my opinion, as Erin has zero knowledge of how to be part of the yacht crew (which she’s expected to become – everyone on board needs to play their part) and is actually quite claustrophobic and scared of being out on the open seas in an enclosed space (even though the yacht is fairly luxurious and spacious).
But things start to go wrong before the trip is even under way as one of the crew is brutally attacked in Gran Canaria and a replacement needs to be found. It sets the tone as they head out into open water, and there’s a sense of unease that pervades every page, as both the reader and the crew are just waiting to see what will go wrong next. And things certainly do go from bad to worse, as unexpected stormy weather is heading their way – in every sense!
This is a thrilling, fast-paced read! Helen is an unreliable narrator (aren’t those just the best?!), and I found her to be rather unlikeable too. I also struggled a bit to keep up with all the characters – I have no idea why this was, as there really aren’t more than there would be in most books! I think it might have something to do with my frame of mind, and my feelings about them all being thrown into such close proximity for the duration of this trip – like a mental block type of thing? When I did eventually get to grips with them, I found that I wasn’t partial to most of them either! Some may have come across as slightly more pleasant than others, but on the whole, I don’t think I would have liked to be stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean with them! They’re all woven together really well though, which is why this makes for such good reading – and after all, there are no rules dictating that for a book to be good, all the characters have to be ‘nice’ (I don’t think I’d want to read a book like that – would you?)!
To expand on what I said earlier though, about the details of what goes into manning a yacht on a trip like this … wow! The author is either a highly experienced ‘boat person’, or must have spent countless hours researching the fine points of this. Apart from everything else that was going on, it was all of these intricate details that kept me engrossed.
This is a fabulous 4-star holiday read (maybe not if you’re heading out on a cruise though), and I’d highly recommend it! Thank you to the author, Heather J. Fitt for inviting me along on the blog tour …
Author Bio:
Heather was born in Scotland and after moving around Europe with her parents and sister, settled in Hampshire where she met her husband, Stuart.
After leaving the rat-race in 2018, Heather re-trained as an editor and proof-reader and entered the world of publishing. These days she works as a part-time freelancer and a part-time Commissioning Advisor for Bloodhound Books.
Heather was inspired to start writing her novel by the authors who have become her closest friends. Now the ideas are flowing she has plans to write several more over the coming years.
When she isn’t reading, Heather enjoys spending her time watching sport – especially her
beloved rugby – and exploring the British countryside with Stuart.
For regular bookish updates, you can follow Heather on Twitter: @LifeBookish
jansbookbuzz.com 
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