Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Cancer Ships Aquarius

SERIES: Signs of Love #5

AUTHOR: Anyta Sunday

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 282 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 17, 2020

BLURB:

Prepare to dip your toe into the biggest adventure of your life, Cancer. There’s romance in the air, and it smells deliciously salty.

Dumped by the fifth girl in two years and abandoned by his best friends, Reid Glover is alone and in need of a home.
Desperate, he interviews to become a live-in manny aboard widowed Sullivan Bell’s yacht, the Aquarian.
The job? Not to look after thirteen-year-old Joanna. No, this child-mastermind needs Reid to befriend her dad, urge him to participate more in family life, encourage him to date, oh, and become his closest confidant and help him unleash his bottled emotions.
No pressure.
At least he’s not entirely out of his depth.
Okay, so he may have a slight aversion to the ocean. And possibly attract more than his fair share of misadventure.
But he is a pro at crying.
Watch out, Sullivan. Reid is on his way with a family-sized carton of tissues. He will help Sullivan through his fears. Will help him find love again.
Will absolutely not fall for him in the process . . .

Caution, Cancer, how long will you fool yourself?

REVIEW:

Reading Cancer Ships Aquarius is an interactive experience, with weeping one minute, laughing hysterically the next, and then getting all hot and bothered.  

I love this charming story with eminently likable main characters – the adorkable Reid and the standoff–ish Sullivan. Sullivan reluctantly hires Reid as a manny to help out with his almost thirteen-year-old daughter, Joanna, even though Reid clearly fabricated half his resume. The sweet Joanna is a mastermind and matchmaker extraordinaire, orchestrating the men’s relationship with finesse from the day of the job interview onward, without either of them being suspicious. 

This book could be called Misadventures in Unintentional Flirting; Reid doesn’t even realize all the double entendres he’s innocently uttering. They are quite hilarious for the reader, though, and certainly make Sullivan blush. The humor in general is silly but not in a juvenile way. There is no low-brow, overt innuendo which can quickly sour a good story if used too heavily. Reid, with his Foot in Mouth Disorder, is such a delightful character. He’s so oblivious and inept at reading people and the environment around him.  

Bisexual Reid had been in many relationships, but never in love and never with a man. Boy oh boy is it the real thing this time. When Sullivan fails to make a move, Reid plots a clever scheme to make Sullivan jealous, and finally, it’s something he doesn’t bungle. The burn is slow with lots of UST – what Reid calls Unresolved Sullivan Tension. When Reid and Sullivan finally take the plunge, the passion is off the charts. The sex is hot and includes some light bondage and submission. Their love for each other is palpable, and Sunday got me good – it’s been a bit of time since I’ve cried reading a book, but cry I did.  

All the vital components of a romance novel are present: interesting plot, strong chemistry, enjoyable characters, even pacing, impeccable editing with no plot holes or errors, and a realistic but fabulous happy ending. The ending, in fact, is rom-com worthy. The story does contain a misunderstanding, but not the dreaded Big Misunderstanding that often causes a separation or erodes the relationship. This misunderstanding – of course on Reid’s part – is a vital part of the plot and is amusing and non-infuriating.  

Cancer Ships Aquarius is the fifth standalone novel in the Signs of Love series, and though they’re all quite good, I think this is the best yet. This was a five heart/star read for me. It has all the feels. All the warm and fuzzy feels.  

RATING:

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