When Andie's best friend Taylor announces that she is getting divorced, she knows exactly what needs to happen! It's the ideal opportunity for a week long divorce party for Andy, Taylor and two of their friends, and where better to hold the party than on Pearl Island! Andie is the organiser! There's the colour theme, the games, the movies, the pampering. She has it all worked out!
Things start to go awry when the group arrives at the accommodation, only to find out that the house has been double booked and there is also a group of guys there for a bucks party. Soon, Andy's carefully planned activities are being hijacked or disregarded altogether.
One bright spot is the island guy who brought them over to island on the boat. Jack seems to be happy go lucky and everything to everyone on the island. He's sorting out the accommodation issues, he's making bacon rolls and coffee at the shop on the island. He's also carrying a lot of guilt because he thinks that the reason why everyone on the island is struggling following the collapse of the local oyster industry is his fault.
Andie has organised this trip for Taylor, but really Andie needs this time away as much as anyone. Her mother has recently passed away, her father has just moved into a care facility as he has advanced dementia and Andy is reluctant to share the carers responsibility with anyone, even her younger brother. She is also desperately trying to hold on to the memories that she has of her parents. She has even chosen Pearl Island as the destination for this trip as it is where her parents came on their honeymoon, and they always spoke about what a special place this is.
There is an instant attraction between Jack and Andie and soon her friends are encouraging her to have a holiday fling! Doesn't she need a bit of fun in her life? It soon becomes clear that Jack sees her, as in really sees who she is, sees everything she is holding onto so tightly. And he isn't as happy go lucky as he seems! Maybe this is more than just a fling.
The story is structured so that we get the now story in sections titled Island Life, and then we get to see both Andie and Jack's story over various increments - 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months before etc. It's very cleverly done.
I really enjoyed this book! The cover is gorgeous, the story gets the mix of serious subjects and fun romance just right! The book is littered with pop culture references to movies like 27 Dresses, Dirty Dancing and lots of others, and I had a lot of fun spotting all the different references. There are some really interesting secondary characters, particularly those who live on the island.
I hadn't read Karina May before, and this was a great place to start. I think my next by her will be Duck a L'Orange for Breakfast. It sounds like my kind of read.
I was lucky enough to go to an event for this book last night! I went with my friend Kathy and Bree from All the Books I Can Read, which meant Bree and I got a good hour or more talking books on the way there and back! There were also lots of other bookstagrammers in the house!
Karina May was very interesting to listen to as she spoke about her writing process, about this book, balancing work and writing and so much more. There were also these delightful oyster shaped gingerbread biscuits! And isn't her dress amazing!
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from Karina May in the future!
Rating 4.5/5
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