Joni, Underway

by Kelly Oram and Jonathan Harrow

[Sam@WLABB]

I thought I was going to get a super sweet and funny romance, because Oram has always delivered that before, but with Joni, Underway, I got so much more. There were so many aspects of this story that touched my heart. I mean, the whole idea of what Reid organized. Wow! I was left sort of speechless. This "cruise" served a different purpose for each of its 7 passengers. Some found peace, some found closure, some found love, some found purpose, but all, all of the passengers were changed for the better.

Although this is not your typical Oram book, it still has her signature is that it is packed with amazing characters. Our main character, Joni, is carrying some emotional baggage that she is reluctant to acknowledge. However, after her brother dies in an accident, she takes his place on the "cruise" and her evolution begins! The Joni at the end of the book is very different from the Joni at the beginning of the books, and I really loved being a witness to her metamorphosis.

Then, there is Reid (swoon!). He is not perfect, but he is so special. He gives of himself freely and appreciates every experience. What he did for the people on his ship was so beautiful. Yeah, I totally shed some tears.

The secondary characters were all interesting and unique in their own way. Each was dealing with something and each of them made some sort of peace with that issue during the cruise.

I found this story sweet, touching, happy, sad and inspiring. I found myself doing a lot of introspection as I read Joni, Underway and I greatly enjoyed this book