Book Review ~ Diving Deep by P.D. Singer (Guest Post + Giveaway)
Title: Diving Deep
Author: P.D. Singer
Release Date: December 9, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 210
Available at:
and your other favorite booksellers.
Adventure, danger, passion. A heady mix that only a select few can breathe—and live.
Standing by while his lover tempted fate deep under the Atlantic drove Lee Preston into the bottle. The pain of watching his captain drown in a sea of booze sent elite wreck diver Bobby MacArthur running.
Lee chases whiskey the way Bobby chases adrenaline. The farther apart they stay, the better off they’ll both be. And if Bobby repeats those words often enough, he might start believing them. Now his former partner is calling to his diver soul with the promise of the find of a lifetime. Every crazy chance he takes underwater is safe compared to coming back, but if Lee’s turning his life around, Bobby will haul his gear back aboard the Bottom Hunter.
But not as lovers—yet—and no booze, no wild gambles two hundred feet below. Not even to identify a missing piece of history sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic. Fate has given them a chance to redeem what was lost, if they survive.
But the sea is jealous of her secrets, and the price of her treasures is high.
*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.*
After a four-year relationship, elite wreck diver and adrenaline junkie, Bobby, finally has enough of Lee, his partner and captain of the Bottom Hunter's drinking and decides to quit diving for Lee's ship and move forward with his life, if it were only that easy. Being apart doesn't mean Bobby has stopped thinking about Lee and when Lee calls him to tell him about an excursion that could be the dive of his life, and he sees that his ex might actually be doing something to turn his life around, Bobby can't resist the lure of this find, even if he's less than willing to take another chance with Lee. Is there a way for them to find a way back to each other?
First of all, I've gotta say, I'm in awe at P.D. Singer's writing skills. To be able to describe everything that went on in the Bottom Hunter, the diving and the research, Lee's alcoholism and his recovery and blending it with a realistic second-chance love story, takes some mad talent.
My heart broke for Lee. I could see how he wanted to make things right, even if he wasn't too certain how to go about his alcoholism, especially since he didn't think an AA group was the right fit for him. I loved that we got to see a believable account of what a recovering alcoholic goes through, his struggle with wanting to drink again and his strength even after he fell off the wagon to get back on track afterward. Perhaps he started doing this because of Bobby, but it was great seeing that he ended up doing it for himself as well. Which was realistic, because you can't do it for anyone else, you have to do it for yourself and do it the way you think will work for you as I'm sure it's not the same for everyone.
While I liked Bobby, there were a few instances in which I wished he'd been more empathetic with Lee. Yes, he tried to do better about not pushing the boundaries when he was diving so he wouldn't put more stress on Lee, but he was really hard on Lee and didn't even let him explain after he messed up. Other than that, I loved them together and it was nice to see them working together to solve the mystery of what they'd found under the sea and to patch up their relationship. They had great chemistry and I just adored that the author gave us a glimpse into their HEA and some closure regarding the sunken piece of history all wrapped up in a lovely epilogue.
Very recommendable!
Rating: 4 Stars!!!
Hi, I’m P.D. Singer, and thanks to my lovely host for having me. My latest book, Diving Deep, is a story of second chances between a wreck diver and his dive boat captain.
What inspired me to write Diving Deep? My host wanted to know.
There’s no one easy answer to this one. Because this book is the result of a sport I pursue in real life, some rabid plot bunnies that chewed my ankles, and a real life situation that made some aspects of this book very, very hard to write.
When I was fourteen, I got my first experience with scuba, though I’d been mad to try it since as far back as I can recall. Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt captured my imagination, with all his underwater adventures. I love the water, and being submerged for extended periods seemed like heaven.
Pretty close—my hours in the pool and an easy open water dive earned me a resort certification and some wonderful memories. Tickling a featherduster worm to make it whoosh back into its tunnel, seeing a barracuda with fangs and baleful eyes, and diving to, but not into, a sunken fishing boat covered with marine life all made me want to dive moar! Moar!
I eventually got my NAUI certification, which let me dive on vacations, AKA not nearly often enough. Colorado has the highest number of certified divers per capita in the US, and a woeful lack of salt water. So I read about diving. Bernie Chaudhury’s non-fiction book The Last Dive introduced me to divers doing advanced technical diving for which I will never have the skills.
Those divers’ stories resurfaced in other reading, seen from other angles, entwined with more adventures. And being P.D. Singer, I start considering how their adventures might play out differently, if say, two of the divers had a relationship, and maybe one of them had gone down a different life path. What if a guy like this person had made changes to get out of his downward spiral? What if one of the divers had a better grip on doing land-based research? What if a guy like this real person had lived his life differently and gone on to a happier ending?
Here’s where it gets tough. I know a lot of folks can relate to someone with an alcohol problem, or who loves someone with an alcohol problem. Bobby loves Lee dearly, but unless Lee can get on a road to recovery, they can’t be together. I have this kind of situation in my own life, and I ground to a halt several times while writing. I needed, for my own sake, to write an ending happier than the one I foresee in my family circle. And at the same time, the wide gulf between what I was writing and what I anticipate made me put the manuscript aside for months at a time.
But I needed hope, and so I wrote hope. Lee and Bobby have that hope, and I can wish it for everyone facing this difficult situation from either direction. Even if it’s only in the pages of a book, we can all have the happy ending that comes of turning a bad situation around.
So, dear readers, I hope you plunge beneath the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean with Bobby and Lee. They have a second chance at happiness. And so may we all.
Author's Bio:
P.D. Singer lives in Colorado with her slightly bemused husband, one proto-adult, and thirty pounds of cats. She’s a big believer in research, first-hand if possible, so the reader can be quite certain Pam has skied down a mountain face-first, been stepped on by rodeo horses, acquired a potato burn or two, and will never, ever, write a novel that includes sky-diving.
When not writing, playing her fiddle, or skiing, she can be found with a Kindle in hand.
Find P.D. Singer:
Website: https://pdsinger.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pd.singer.9
Scuba diving is something I've been wanting to experience in a long time but haven't got the chance. I have a friend who have dived places and saw the picture, they were breathtaking!! I might get scared silly but I really want to do it. Someday! :)
ReplyDeleteI have never been but it is something I would love to try!
ReplyDeletei would love to try scuba diving
ReplyDeleteI haven't been. My family lost a dear friend while he was diving. He loved and lived for the ocean, was the most experienced diver of anyone we knew, and that loss has stayed with us. There's a part of me that would love to try, for the beauty of it alone. Thank you.
ReplyDelete