Unfamiliar Waters

Unfamiliar Waters is another great book by Andrew Grey, and I greatly enjoyed reading it. It’s slightly different than Andrew’s other books, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it just as much as I enjoyed reading his other books.

I loved the many different tropes that are in this one story. We have hurt/comfort and second chance at romance with Garrett losing his husband and then finding love again with Nigel who has also suffered a loss in losing both of his parents. There’s also a mystery/suspense aspect to the story surrounding Nigel and his brother and how they came to be living on their island and how they’re kept isolated from the outside world. Experience/innocence goes together with the first-time romance between Garrett and Nigel. Nigel might be innocent and not have a lot of experience with the outside world, but he knows what he wants, and he isn’t afraid to go after it. The experience of Garrett combines with the innocence of Nigel and culminates in a series of realistic situations. I also loved the slow burn romance between Garrett and Nigel.

The story starts with police officer Garrett Wreckley using work to get over the loss of his husband and soul mate. When he almost kills somebody that has already surrendered in a police bust, he’s forced to go on a mandatory vacation for a month. He’d always had a love of sailing, and so he rents a sailboat and heads for the Caribbean.

While taking shelter in a small cove from a storm, he encounters Nigel and realizes that he isn’t alone on the island. All of his police instincts are put on alert when he notices how innocent and unworldly Nigel is and after finding out that he’s been on the island for eleven years with only his younger brother, his aunt, and his caretaker for company. He finds it even stranger when he finds that Nigel can’t even interact with the locals of the island.

I loved how innocent and fun-loving Nigel is. I also loved the chemistry between him and Garrett. He’s also very insightful for someone that has had such limited outside experience.
I also liked Garrett. He’s a typical cop. He comes off as being abrasive and distrustful but has a heart of gold. He feels incredibly guilty of his attraction to the innocent and beautiful Nigel but he can’t fight his attraction for long, and he will do everything in his powers to protect Nigel and his brother.

The story culminates with Garrett, Nigel, and his brother being back in New York and we do get a glimpse into how their relationship progresses away from being on the island.

I hope that Andrew Grey writes more books like this one. I greatly enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone. It’s another five-star read for me.

Review by Jay @ Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter: https://bit.ly/2TU9QE6

Loss and isolation wrap around mystery and suspense to drive the intrigue in Andrew Grey’s 'Unfamiliar Waters'. Alongside this, there is a second chance at love combining with first time romantic and sexual experiences.

Twenty-nine-year-old Officer Garrett Wreckley is suffering the loss of David, his husband and soulmate. Making a severe error in judgment on the job, time off is “recommended”. He doesn’t need nor want any time getting lost in his head. Renting a sailboat, he sets off to the Caribbean to get his shit together.

An isolated cove provides Garrett refuge from a brief tropical storm. Here he meets twenty-two-year-old Nigel Martin. For eleven years, Nigel has been living on this private island with his brother, Jules; their aunt, Phyllis; and a caretaker, Fairfield. Right from the start, something feels off. So much so even officer Wreckley’s hinky meter starts to sound the alarm.

There is a lot of detail and captivating drama surrounding this insta-love romance. Two completely different men, with unique histories and life experiences, meet by chance leading to a pleasant upheaval of their lives. The experience of Garrett combines with the innocence of Nigel culminating in a series of realistic situations.

'Unfamiliar Waters' was a little up and down for me. It starts captivatingly strong full of wonder and excitement, losing some of its appeal during the second quarter of the story. Ramping up once again at the halfway mark when the mystery aspect kicks in, and ends solidly giving us a glimpse into the future.

Overall 'Unfamiliar Waters' differs slightly from Andrew Grey’s norm but still provides his signature happy ending. For the most part it proceeds at a strong pace. It is engaging and sweet with imperfect guys adding to the appeal. The tension and mystery providing the stage that allows the romance to bloom.

Reviewed by Sammy for Diverse Reader

Garrett is lost, mired in grief and using the job to keep himself afloat and when you’re a cop, that means your better judgement can sometimes get fuzzy. After what was a fairly easy raid that saw Garrett nearly gunning down a drug addict that had already surrendered, Garrett’s boss decided he needed a vacation. Prior to his husband’s death, Garrett had enjoyed sailing and decides a month away on a sailboat is just the thing to get himself together. After laying in at a small cove, Garrett discovers that this piece of the small island is not as deserted as he had imagined. He meets a young man named Nigel whose innocence and lack of worldly experience sets off alarm bells in Garrett’s brain. Why has Nigel and his younger brother been kept on this remote island away from even the indigenous people who inhabit it? And why does the idea that Nigel has been so sheltered that he doesn’t even have access to the outside via television or any electronics send up warning flares for Garrett. But most importantly how has this naïve young man managed to get beyond the hurt and pain that surrounds Garrett’s heart and actually have him thinking he could start over and find love once more.



So many questions to be unpacked in Andrew Grey’s new novel, Unfamiliar Waters. Once again the romance flows as this author unfolds a story rife with mystery and intrigue. There was much to enjoy in this sweet romance. If the hurt/comfort trope is your catnip then this one will make you very happy. Nigel unwittingly cuts to the core of what has held Garrett mired in grief for so long. Through easy yet pointed conversations and a slow burning sexual awakening, these two men discover a love that is tenuous but deceptively strong. Nigel may be young but he knows what he wants and that is Garrett. Garrett, on the other hand, is cautious not only because he feels just a tiny bit of guilt over moving past his husband’s death and embracing love again but also because he realizes that the sheltered life Nigel has led means he has never really experienced what it means to be a gay man with choices. When the hammer falls on their idyllic rendezvous and life gets real it will take everything Garrett has to keep Nigel and his younger brother safe.



Andrew Grey has a definite style and, while it may not always be my cup of tea, I must commend this author for creating characters that burrow under your skin and move straight to your heart. Fans of this author are going to fall in love with Nigel and Garrett and enjoy the action adventure side plot that sees them on the run on the high seas. I felt there were a few plot holes that made this story not quite shine for me. First, Nigel came to the island when he was eleven and the lack of memories about the world at large didn’t quite ring true for me. I got that his younger brother, who was just a toddler when they got to the island should and did have huge gaps when it came to understanding the world at large but Nigel’s naivete was just a bit too much considering he had lived in New York till he was nearly a teenager. Also I felt that we covered Garrett’s grief and guilt one too many times in this story—the author choosing to hearken back to it again and again even as we knew that Garrett was falling in love. After a while I wanted Garrett to just move on and commit and not continue to second guess himself.



Despite these reservations, I can honestly say that what Andrew Grey does in creating such a lovely second chance romance is worth checking out. Again, I think his fans will really like this one and if you are looking for a bit of escapism wrapped up in two gorgeous men then you won’t be disappointed in Unfamiliar Waters.

Garrett is forced to take a vacation after some potential trouble at work. He decides to rent a sailboat and sail around the Caribbean with no set schedule or place to be. When he seeks cover during a storm, he meets Nigel, and his quick stop at the island turns into a longer period as he and Nigel become closer. But, Garrett is suspicious of what’s happening on the island with Nigel and his brother. Pretty soon his lazy vacation turns high risk while he tries to save Nigel and get him safely to the US.

Garrett was a high-strung character and not a friendly one, for the most part. There are reasons for his behavior and they’re shared throughout the book. Plus, we see his behavior changing the more he interacts with Nigel.

Nigel is a soft, pretty, naive young man. I struggled with the relationship between Garrett and Nigel - they’re close to the same age, but they’re vastly different in other ways. Nigel comes across as almost a teenager who needs protection, which I struggled wit. Once Nigel was in NY he seemed older and more of an adult, which made the relationship easier for me.

I thought this was an interesting premise for a book and it sounded a lot different than normal Andrew Grey books, so I was excited to read it. I enjoyed the mystery parts of the story, though there was quite a bit of action movie parts, if that’s your thing. Though this at first seemed a different story for the author, the one thing he always does is provide a happy ever after for his characters - Garrett and Nigel’s story is no different; there’s a brief glimpse of their new life so you get to see how they’re coping.

The author explores the Caribbean and gives you glimpses of the area as Garrett sails; explorers may really enjoy those parts of the story. Once you get to the mystery portion, it’s a very fast-paced story! I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading romance with a happy ever after!

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**

Garrett has lost his longtime lover and his heart aches. he has thrown himself into work to forget and now is facing burnout. His boss forces him to take a vacation, so Garrett turns to his other love, sailing. While exploring an unfamiliar small island he meets a young man that is the first to turn his head and make him want since the loss of David.
Nigel is young and innocent, not having been off the island since the loss of his parents when he was a very young boy. The island is safe and all he can remember. He and his brother love exploring it. He has never wanted anything else until he meets the stranger that he finds on his island.
This story is such a lovely, intriguing story. At first, we get the angst of Garret's loss and some from Nigel as well with the loss of his parents. Then the blooming romance is oh so sweet and lifts our hearts in expectation, then boom! comes a twist with mystery and lots of suspense. The story is fast paced with lots of tension, action, and feeling, of course, romance too. The sex is sweet and just enough to make the story sensual without overdoing it or upstaging everything else.
If you like mystery/suspense, second chance at love, May/December, sweet romance and an allover good book this is for you.