An Unexpected Vintage

Gary \"Unlucky and unremarkable, that was him.\" meets Tyler (his story is in book 1 The Best Revenge of the series) as part of his new job in town. He is a sales rep for a fabric company that supplies the fabric Tyler uses in his antique shop for reupholstering his furniture. Gary has had it tough, going through a number of jobs and has a fairly low self esteem.
Tyler befriends him and introduces Gary to the other friends in his group. While attending a party at Tyler and Mark's home, he learns of a cruise where someone has backed out and is offered the chance of a lifetime - to join the group on a cruise, which is just the thing he needs after a hard couple of years.
This story was a little different to others in the series, taking a place primarily on the cruise ship. The setting was interesting, even if some of the descriptions of places and activities seemed a little bit like a travel brochure.
The other difference for me was that Gary actually had a brief sexual relationship with someone else before meeting Scott on the cruise boat, rather than the story just being focused on the one relationship.
The style of this series is interesting for me, in that people have traumatic pasts or dramatic events occur, but I don't get a real sense of angst. I feel a little like a story is being told to me but I am not getting pulled into it emotionally. In this case, Scott is the one with the traumatic past and things come back to haunt him on the boat.
The plot has all the guys together (apart from Bobby and Kenny) and they all rally around to help Gary and Scott. Gary has only known the group of friends for a month so is amazed at the strength of support. Time is of little consequence to Gary when it comes to his relationship with Scott - in one week he knows he is in love.
Sweet story, interesting setting, lots of good people doing nice things for each other, some sex and a happy ending.