CLIA Cruise Book Club – ‘The Perfect Couple’ by Elin Hilderbrand

CLIA Launches New Cruise Book Club

I was excited to discover that CLIA UK & Ireland has announced it’s brand new ‘CLIA Cruise Book Club’.

As part of the Cruise Book Club, CLIA will give a recommendation each month to its travel agent members on a book that highlights a destination that is visited by cruise ships. So I thought I’d give it a try too.

Andy Harmer, CLIA UK & Ireland director, said: “Books are packed with knowledge and can offer a great insight into destinations that the reader may have never been to. Books can teleport you to a world you can visualise so clearly in your mind that you almost feel like you’re there. For these reasons, we believe that books are a great selling tool for travel agents.

“Along with the CLIA accredited training courses and unique resources, the Cruise Book Club has been created to support travel agents in selling cruise and we hope the book club will inspire travel agents to learn about cruise ports and destinations across the globe.”

First Book Announced

The CLIA Cruise Book Club launched in January 2019 on www.cruiseexperts.org.   The first book recommendation is ‘The Perfect Couple’ by New York Times bestselling author, Elin Hilderbrand. The story is based in Nantucket, an isolated island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, perfect for guests who are soon to be cruising to New England.

Book Review

I thought I’d give this book a try, it’s a genre I’ve recently got into, having enjoyed similar mystery books such as ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ and ‘Truly Madly Guilty’ both by Liane Moriarty.

The story centres around a couple about to get married. Bride-to-be Celeste is a home-bird who comes from a small but loving family and Benji, the groom, is from a completely different world, filled with wealth and privilege. The wedding is set to take place at Benji’s family holiday home in Nantucket, a small island off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts but disaster strikes on the eve of the wedding…

The story soon turns into a gripping whodunnit, with the finger being pointed in turn at everyone in the wedding party – I was hooked! Throughout the book, the chapters switch from before and after the night in question to uncover each individual’s connection to one another and their motives. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Amongst the secrets and lies, there is a story of love and companionship, which I must admit, led me to shed a couple of tears in parts so if you’re a softy like me, be prepared with a tissue nearby!

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it at first but once the story started to heat up with the mystery, it became so intriguing that I looked forward to finding out what was going to happen next. Without hesitation, I would recommend this book. Even if it’s not the normal genre you would read, I would suggest that you give it go.

Cruising and Nantucket

Nantucket is in New England and the best time to go is in the autumn for its comfortable temperatures and the colourful autumn leaves. It’s also a great late summer cruise destination.

Most New England cruises start, stop or finish in Canada, so make sure you have both Canadian and U.S. currency on hand for your trip.

Nantucket is known for its fresh seafood and its local seafood restaurants are sure to serve freshly-caught fare – think lobster and crab with garlic butter!

The mainstream cruise lines do not port in Nantucket but its neighbouring Island called Martha’s Vineyard. From there, a ferry can take you to Nantucket. Regent Seven Seas and Silversea both cruise to Martha’s Vineyard and other cruise lines such as Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity offer New England cruises.

Get this book for free!

Let me give you some background… so about 12 months ago I looked at my bookshelf and was annoyed at myself because I had bought so many books with the good intentions of reading but they were sat on my shelf untouched. I just couldn’t find the time to sit and read a book, the only time I could stop for long enough to read was on holiday!

I decided to try Audible, which enables you to download and listen to audio books. I have been a lover of podcasts for several years and now cannot go to sleep without them. Before podcasts became a thing, I would listen to the radio (R4’s Shipping Forecast and Today in Parliament were familiar listens!). That’s why listened to audio books was perfect for me, I could enjoy the bestsellers whilst falling asleep. I also found myself listening to audio books in the car on my way to work.

In 2018, I was able to listen to 26 audio books through Audible! I’d never have managed that many books by reading alone. In addition, Audible has allowed me to choose any book and still only pay £7.99.

Now let me tell you how you can get ‘The Perfect Couple’ for free with Audible.

Audible offers a 30-day free trial, effectively giving you a free audio book. You can simply sign up, download your book and then cancel before the trial ends without any additional fees. You can also decide (like me) to continue with the monthly membership and pay £7.99 for access to a book of your choice each month or £14.99 for two books (I’m now doing two books a month).

Here’s a summary of the 30-day Audible trial:

• One free audiobook of your choice
• The ability to choose from 200,000+ titles including best sellers, new releases, sci-fi, romances, mysteries, classics, and more
• After 30 days, if you choose not to cancel you will receive 1 book each month for just £7.99/month
• Cancel easily anytime. The audiobooks are yours to keep, even if they cancel.

Help me fund my audio book addiction!

If you would like to try Audible and get ‘The Perfect Couple’ for free, you can sign up using this link. This means that I will receive a small amount of ‘commission’ for introducing you to Audible, regardless of whether you decide to leave after your 30-day trial or continue with the monthly membership.

The truth is, I listened to ‘The Perfect Couple’ by using one of my monthly Audible credits and so I thought I’d include the link in case anyone wanted to have a try of it.

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Happy cruising! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book!