Review Detail

“Dashed” by Amanda Quain takes readers into a world of romance, travel, and family dynamics. When Margaret Dashwood heads off on a cruise for the summer with her sister, Elinor, and Elinor’s husband, she looks forward to spending time with the two of them and enjoying her final summer before college begins. Little does she know that she’s about to get a surprise—her other recently single sister, Marianne, is coming too. Margaret and Elinor care for Marianne, but spending time apart from her is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. When Marianne shows up, Margaret doesn’t know quite how to handle it, and soon she’s sharing a room with Marianne and finding herself swept up in trying to get Marianne a guy, but realizing that she herself might have to have her own ship romance to make that happen.

Margaret works to create a fake dates that will keep Marianne occupied, all the while seeming spontaneous and fun. In the meantime, she finds that she is beginning to having feelings of her own for Gabe, a good-looking guy on the cruise ship’s crew.

The story boasts a warm feeling of being swept off to sea, while also throwing in the fun of flirtation and romance, coupled with sibling dilemmas, and dramatic intrigue mixed in for good measure.