Four friends have troubled lives. LaShawn , a striving Christian, is engaged to a man who doesn't treat her very nicely. Lauren, is a married mother and corporate bigwig who is burned-out from giving her all to everyone but herself. Madison is single and tries on new guys like women try on shoes. (They feel good at first but if you keep them on too long, they start to feel a bit too snug. Time to take them off and try something—or in Madison's case, someone—else. Blair is a stay-at-home mother who is insecure about her relationship with her husband...for good reason.

The women meet monthly a local restaurant to laugh and forget about their problems. When things come to a head for these women, each experiencing a personal crisis, they decide to shake things up by going on a cruise. On the cruise, three of the four women play a game involving men but what begins as fun turns serious as shipboard romances flourish into real relationships and true love. When their innocent game is discovered by the unwitting participants, the women are faced with losing the men and their dignity.

CRUISING was difficult for me. During the first half of the book, I found these girlfriends annoying, unbelievably naïve, shallow, and tiring, each to varying degrees at different times. But after they boarded the ship and the games began, the story took a turn, becoming decidedly more interesting, as the women began to examine not only the men in their lives but themselves, questioning their desires, their motivations, and their behavior. They also learned some lessons about what it means to truly be friends.

The love/sex scenes—and they are hot!—are skillfully woven into the plot. Overall, CRUISING is a fast, wicked read, great for the beach or for curling up during a winter storm.