Cover Image: Island Affair

Island Affair

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Member Reviews

Hunky firefighter Luis Navarro is stuck in a rut. A recent call out to a job brings up unresolved issues from his past, forcing his boss to put him on mandated leave from his beloved job. Not used to time off, he wonders how he’ll spend the next week...⁣

Enter stage right, social media influencer Sara. Newly arrived in hot, tropical Key West, Sara is on a week long vacation with her type A family and boyfriend to celebrate her mum coming off chemo. Upon landing she is left high and dry when she finds out her on again/ off again boyfriend has stood her up. Unwilling to face her family alone, she has to come up with a solution, quickly. A hunky, firefighter sized solution perhaps?⁣

Overall, this was a wholesome, cute read which had me dreaming of an island holiday of my own. You can tell the author is very familiar with the setting, as it was almost a character in itself. I loved the rich descriptions of Key West which had me almost (!) smelling the sea breeze and hearing the palm trees gently whispering above the turquoise waters. The descriptions of the food also had my mouth watering. ⁣

I loved how the author incorporated Spanish throughout the dialogue, it felt natural and expertly handled. At times the book did however feel a little long/slow to me, and I found myself getting a little bored, but this could have been due to the fact that I found it quite predictable. The Insta- love was also a bit too quick to be convincing and I feel the end was quite rushed and could have used an epilogue.⁣

Although a light read, this book still deals with some heavier matters like mental health, an eating disorder, grief and loss which added more dimension and depth. If you’re after a sweet, wholesome romance with some sizzle, give this one a go. Thanks so much to @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for providing this copy for review.

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Island Affair is sweet and fluffy and just what I needed in these strange times. A lovely summery book to devour in 1 sunny afternoon. It sounded a bit predictable and it sure was, but I loved the depth that it provided. There is so much more going on then you at first think. The setting was lovely but I would have loved to hear more about the surroundings.

It was a bit too much insta-lovey for my taste. Sure, this book takes place in 1 week so it had to be quick, but this was a bit too quick for me. I also didn't really love the writing style. The author sometimes skips a day but than goes back in time via memories. I much rather read chronologically instead of these flashbacks.

I want to end this review on a positive note and that is Luis. He is such a sweetheart! I loved him from the start and he became more and more awesome as I read. Sara was great as well. I loved her work as an influencer and reading about her made me happy. I truly liked the family-dynamics on both sides as well.

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CW: discussion of parent who previously had cancer, character struggle with eating disorder, description of car accident (about 42% in)

I liked this well enough. Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes especially when the character's family is a key part of why someone needs a fake date in the first place. I did however find this book a bit repetitive in places. We, the reader already know why the faking it became necessary and I just felt the reason was rehashed a bit too much.

I must say thought the setting of Key West was so vibrantly portrayed that I wished I could be there as I was reading. Maybe I'll get to visit someday.

I liked the characters well enough as individuals and when they were together. Even though this love between Luis and Sara grew in such a short space of time, it felt genuine and believable to me.

I'm looking forward to the other Navarro sibling's books.

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This book is the kind of cute, fun read that you need to distract you from the world’s bigger problems. It’s based in Key West, Florida, which is so close to my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, so I felt very connected to the story by knowing a lot of the locations that were described. I loved the big family dynamics and all of the real life complexities that go along with that. It made it that much more fun to read. As in any of my favorite romance stories, there are also bigger “issues” that are covered without taking away from the love story. I really related to the pressures that Sara felt about measuring up to her family’s standards of success because this is something that I’ve always struggled with – whether those measures are perceived by me or not. Long story short, this one is super relatable and I highly recommend it! There’s going to be a second book and I already need to get my hands on of it.

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Luis is given forced time off from his job. He is a firefighter along with his brother Carlos. Luis is given the time off after an accident he recently worked on. One similar to the one that altered his life years ago. Luis pretends to be Sara's fake boyfriend. I thought the fact that Luis is Cuban added extra flavor to the book.

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This book was a classic romance with all the things we look for in a nice beach read. If you are looking for something easy to read that doesn't require a ton of thought and will relax you, this is your book!

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First of all, I need to say that I love when the representations on the book are done right and Priscilla Oliveira did a great job as well as with Sara disorder and I really appreciate that, this book was an enjoyable read, although the way that started was a little unbelievable but if you can look past that you’ll probably enjoy this too.

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In book TWs: eating disorders, anxiety

DNF at 27%.

I really wanted to love this book. The cover gave me The UnHoneymooners vibes and fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, but unfortunately that wasn't enough for me.

The things I did like about what I read of the book were how Luis still came across as an alpha male without being a jerk or having toxic masculinity as his personality. A lot of times I see the two conflated with one another, and it was a nice surprise for me. The next part was the way Sara's anxiety and eating disorder were handled. I thought that they were both incorporated naturally into the story, and I liked that they weren't skimmed over either. Sara may not have told Luis about her disorder in what I read, but she didn't shy away from thinking about it herself, and it was talked about in a way that didn't come across as judgemental.
Priscilla Oliveras's writing style just didn't work for me at all, despite the plot being something I would normally devour in a sitting or two. I enjoy character driven stories, and I just never felt any connect between myself and the two main characters, Luis and Sara. There wasn't anything wrong with them, I just couldn't connect to them because of how they were written, which lead me to be unable to see or feel their chemistry.

Island Affair is told in dual POV, alternating every chapter, in third person limited past tense. In my opinion, third person limited past tense is difficult to write, and Oliveras didn't manage to pull it off. Rather than having each character learn about each other via observation, therefore letting the reader learn about the other with them, she chose to simply write everything as a known fact. Even though Sara and Luis have only known each other for a few hours, I'm expected to believe that they understand each other in a way nobody else ever has, to the point where they can just state what the other one is feeling.

Island Affair needed to have been told in a show, not tell fashion. It's distracting to read a novel written that way, and constantly pulled me out of the story because that's not how limited perspectives work. If she wanted to write in a more tell, not show manner, she should have gone with a third person omniscient, and had a narrator tell the story for the characters.

In general I also felt like she spent more time describing the background and the random people in it than focusing on the story itself. I understand that Key West is gorgeous, but is specifically didn't need to be treated as a third main character for any reason I could tell. The way Spanish was incorporated into the story felt... odd to me two. I'm not the right person to talk about it since I'm not bilingual in any language let alone Spanish, but because of how Oliveras used it, there was a constant repetition of what had just been said. I wish that space had been used to develop the characters instead of taking a singular sentence in Spanish and then repeating it again in English. It seemed really weird since it's all from the same POV which means that the Luis was thinking in Spanish and then the exact same thing again in English, for the reader's benefit.

Island Affair definitely has potential to be a favorite for readers who don't mind the writing style, but unfortunately that wasn't me. It had it's moments of humor and very swoony characters, so if you're looking for a fake dating rom-com this could be the book for you.

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Thank you for letting me read this book. I enjoyed the fake dating trope. This story line had me sucked in. The storyline was good. It had a sort of unhoneymooners by Christina lauren feel. I felt like it was a smidge if a letdown. It drug on in a lot of sections but all in all I enjoyed it.

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I was grateful to receive a free copy of Island Affair in exchange for an honest review. I was really looking forward to reading this novel. I thought it would be a cute and quirky read. For me it was an on and off again novel. There were parts that I loved, and then there were parts that dragged on.

I really enjoyed the way Luis and Sara met at the airport, and how Luis was convinced to play Sara's finance for a week. I also enjoyed the incorporation of Spanish and Cuban culture.

There were a few scenes where Luis and Sara went out exploring the Keys but a majority of the novel took place with family for family meals and card games. Those were the parts that drug on for me, and there were a lot of those moments. I also thought more could have been done with the moment where Luis and Sara's subterfuge was uncovered. The ending was also way to cliche.

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Love the cover and the idea concept. However, I found the meeting between the main characters to be rather quick and lacking. Great setting and like the diversity.

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Thank You NetGalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.
This was my first time I've read anything by Priscilla Oliveras and I really enjoyed every word on the page! I look forward to reading more of this series.

This is classic fake relationship trope but with some nice heat to it. This is a perfect book to read beside the pool this summer. You can totally feel like you get lost in the story and feel like your on the beaches of Key West. This is a easy read that will have you cheering for the two to become a real couple.

Luis (the male lead) is Cuban and the author herself is Latinx, and is Puerto rican-Mexican, which brings authentic cultural elements which add a lot to the book. The focus on family for instance and the interweaving use of Spanish within the book was great.

Sara and Luis immediately meet and hatch a plan to be a fake couple right from the beginning ... yes completely not realistic but for a rom com it was normal right. I kinda wished for more a lead up to it but over all their story was cute and just the right amount of sweet and sexy . They both have some issues they need to deal with that with each others help they can over come them.

I would definitely recommend for anyone to pick this up and give it a read this summer and I'm looking for the next books to come out in the series.

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I'm so sorry to say this but I just didn't vibe with this book, which is unfortunate since this is one of my most anticipated romance books this year.
The premise of this story was really good: fake dating, summer backdrop. These are things I love. However, the execution felt off. I was cringing throughout their meet cute and couldn't bring myself to get through to the rest of the book.

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This was just an average read for me. It actually reminded me of the unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. I did like the chemistry between our two main characters. I also enjoyed the fake dating trope as it's one of my favorites. Overall a cute, fast read so I recommend.

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I had a really hard time with this book. Ive been constantly picking up and dropping this book since I’ve gotten it. For me, I was lacking the excited feeling of reading a new book or even feel invested in this story. If a book doesn’t captivate me 10 chapters in I have a hard time finishing it and sadly this was the case with this book.

I didn’t like Sara’s character from the beginning or how easily she was able to drop one relationship and move on to the next. I felt she was written poorly with with very little likability. I did enjoy Luis. He seemed endearing at the start but the underlying issues he was facing internally felt out of place for his character.

The writing was hard for me to follow. At times it felt choppy and sentences or paragraphs lacked smooth transitions. I would be reading if once scene and didn’t realize there was a change in scenes until well into the paragraph. I felt like some scenes early on were misplaced. I had a hard time seeing the two main characters in certain situations before any form of a relationship was established.

I did enjoy the culture this book had. It was refreshing to see two people speaking their native tongue. The author did a great job intertwining both English and Spanish. Having speak no Spanish, I completely understood the Spanish phrases because of the context surrounding them. I also loved the family dynamic between the two main characters. It was nice to see how different the family connection could be.

All in all this book was not for me. I had a lot of problems in the beginning which lead to me not finishing it.

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Island Affair
Priscilla Oliveras
Publication date 4/28/20
3.5 stars

I really enjoyed Island Affair it was quick, fun, feel good story! Sara, a social media specialist has a family vacation planned. They are celebrating her Mom because after a battle of cancer she is now in remission. Sara is blindsided when her boyfriend flakes out and will be a no show. Louis is also having a bad day- he was just told by his boss to take the week off after an incident at the Firehouse. Sara and Louis meet at the perfect time. Louis is a kind hearted and compassionate guy, Sara asks him if he will pretend to be her boyfriend for the week. Sounds a little cheesy and like a movie but there is so much to the storyline and it may be fate that brought Sara and Louis together. They are both dealing with regrets, forgiveness, and letting go..... The island Affair will whisk you away to Key West and is bound to make you laugh and cry at the same time!
Thank you to NetGalley for this electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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For those of use who have been to Key West, this will be an enjoyable reminder of the sights and flavor. It may inspire others to visit. A cute meet and arrangement begin a sweet love story. As usual, I skipped the intimate details. The two families involved were interesting and realistic. A few tears may have been shed.. I look forward to reading the next one in this new series.

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Island Affair is the perfect book to read on holiday or by the pool, due to the current lockdown situation, I was doing neither of these whilst reading but it definitely transported me to the idyllic beauty of Key West! I can see this being a huge hit for romance fans and readers who are in search of romance novels with more diverse representation. Luis (the male lead) is Cuban and the author herself is Latinx, and is Puerto rican-Mexican, which brings authentic cultural elements which add a lot to the book. The focus on family for instance and the interweaving use of Spanish within the book was great.

I think many readers are familiar with the 'fake dating' trope at this point but it never gets old for me! I liked reading as Sara and Luis meet and the plan is hatched and then executed - not without a few bumps in the road of course. I think I would have liked a bit more time before this occurred, it did feel a little fast but it was still fun to read so this is more of a personal preference in pacing. The romance itself had the right balance of sweet and sexy for me, with there being depth to their relationship as they get to know each other and encourage each other to sort out what has been bothering them. Luis is like the epitome of the romantic hero, the strong silent type with a heart of gold.

I also appreciated that the author chose to include Sara's struggles with an eating disorder in the past, and that she is in recovery and doing well. I think this will be encouraging for readers who may be experiencing something like this or have been through an ED in the past and I feel like it was sensitively approached. This was relatable to me in a lot of ways and representation of this kind is not something I've seen in a romance novel before so it was a refreshing element for sure.

Overall, probably more of a one time read for me but I did enjoy it and would recommend to fans of the romance genre and specifically the fake dating trope. It is a bit cliched at times but this is the ideal read if you're in the search for a wholesome romance novel with likeable characters and nothing too heavy!

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This book probably wouldn’t happen in real life but it was a fun, enjoyable read. Sara Vance comes to Key West for a family vacation and with her boyfriend Ric. Ric doesn’t show up. Luis Navarro is a firefighter who is on a forced leave from his job. Meet-cute Sara and Luis. He agrees to be her “boyfriend “ for the week, so she doesn’t look like a failure. I loved this romance rich in family and culture. I can’t wait for more in this series.

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Cute, rom-com type book. The characters were likeable and the setting in Key West was very imaginable as you read. I am not sure if it is because I do not usually read this genre, but I felt the writing was repeatable and it took along time to move the story forward. It definitely picks up a little half way through.

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