Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Cruise
AUTHOR: Miski Harris
PUBLISHER: Heaven’s Scent Publishing
LENGTH: 144 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2021
BLURB:
How do you maintain love in the light after a lifetime in the dark?
40-year-old widow Armando Cruz had spent his entire life in the closet. He’d married his best friend and confidante Marta right out of high school. Every year, Marta sends him on a gay men’s luxury cruise. Ten days living vicariously through men who enjoy what he will never have – the freedom to be who he really is.
Marta has passed away and he’s taking the cruise to fulfill a promise made before her death…what made Marta think this time will be different?
At 31 years of age, Lyndon Douglas has concluded his poor past choices have damned him to be single forever. His mother’s concern that Lyndon’s locked himself in an emotional prison with no escape prompted her to surprise him with an all-expenses paid gay cruise…will the change of scene free him from the shadows?
When Armando and Lyndon meet the powerful attraction is powerful forms a strong bond between the two men. Is ten days enough time for their bond of light to curse the darkness at home?
If you always do what you’ve always done;
all you get’s what you’ve always got;
or not…
REVIEW:
Miski Harris’ Cruise is a novella-length story that sounds lighthearted from the title and the blurb, but actually contains a number of triggers and a sinister subplot with some attendant violence. Note that there are no trigger warnings, so please be aware that you’ll encounter homophobia, mainly from religious beliefs, discrimination, physical and emotional abuse (some shown on page), stalking by an ex-boyfriend, and extreme hostility from family members.
It’s a potent and not very pleasant brew of some serious and ugly content that overshadows the “romance” between Armando and Lyndon. These men were partially developed as characters, enough so that I liked them, but I never felt like I knew them. Their relationship felt rushed, which is a shame because what Ms. Harris did depict was intriguing.
The overarching challenge for Cruise (props for the play on words with Armando’s last name) is too much going on in too little time to address it. Cruise contains a myriad of characters that lack depth, and too many different storylines to develop sufficiently. In terms of steam, there’s not much chemistry between Armando and Lyndon – although the potential is evident – because there’s no time to develop it, and their intimate scenes are minimal and fade to black.
Overall, Cruise proves to be dark and somewhat angsty and quite different from what I expected based on the blurb. You can discern the message of the story – the hope and promise of living your best life out and proud – but it’s unfortunately obscured by the distracting storylines.
RATING: 
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