Review: Making Waves by Tawna Fenske

I've had a bit of a struggle this summer to do any "escape" reading, so Making Waves by Tawna Fenske did a great job of helping me wrap up my summer vacation!  Granted, I now would like to hop a boat to some remote, tropical island with crystal blue waters, but it was a nice get away.

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "When Alex Bradshaw's unscrupulous boss kicks him to the curb after 20 faithful years as an executive with the world's largest shipping company, he sets out to reclaim his dignity and his pension. Assembling a team of fellow corporate castoffs, he sails to the Caribbean to intercept an illegal diamond shipment. None of them counted on quirky blond stowaway Juli Flynn, who has a perplexing array of talents, a few big secrets, and an intoxicating romantic chemistry with Alex..."

Review:  Sometimes there's nothing better than a fun, thriller to take your mind off of things.  Making Waves had all the components of a fun get away, complete with crime, mystery, romance, and plenty of humor.  Honestly, there's nothing that serious in the story that you can't sit back and enjoy the ride.  Alex is the hot protagonist in the story who needs to get even with a crooked boss.  He's thrown caution to the wind and has partnered up with all of his closest coworkers/friends to get the job done.  In walks quirky, mysterious Juli Flynn, who says she's just there to scatter the ashes of her recently deceased uncle.  But who in the world is this girl and how did she end up mixed up with Alex's plans?

The chemistry between Alex and Juli is there from the beginning, but in some funny PG-13ish sort of moments that have you laughing.  Juli is just so quirky that it's no wonder poor Alex has been sidetracked from his mission into trying to figure her out!  If you've ever seen the movie Romancing the Stone, I couldn't help but feel like I was reading a novel version of that type of a story.

I really enjoyed Making Waves.  Yes, it's a romance and has some pretty racy scenes, but the context of the story around it is funny and unpredictable in many ways, so you keep reading.  Personally, I found the writing to be engaging and well done.  You knew everything would work out, but not how things would come together.  I sometimes felt lost with all the other minor characters in the beginning, but it always circled back around to Alex and Juli's relationship amidst all the chaos and undisclosed information.  In the end, I just wish I could sit on a boat in a gorgeous, tropical location to read this book!  Now that would be a perfect combination!

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based off an Advanced Review Copy provided by Sourcebooks.