This was a cute and light hearted story.

Piper Parrish has lived on Frick Island since she was a young teenager and married the love of her life, Tom. Then one day Tom is lost at sea, and everyone fears the worst. Piper is devastated until one morning she wakes up and Tom is back – well sort of.

Anders Caldwell wants to be the next Clark Kent (who needs Superman!). All he needs is to find that career breaking story for his blog. When he assigned to cover the Frick Island Cake Walk, his path crosses with Piper. When he realizes that though Tom is presumed dead by the authorities, the whole island is pretending that Tom is alive along with Piper, he thinks he has found that golden story.

This was such a cute story. Anders isn’t the typical hero, he’s more Jimmy Olsen than Clark Kent, but his character grows more confident and assertive. With help from Piper and the other islanders Anders begins to understand what is truly important to him. I enjoyed the story’s messages of hope and love.

An interesting premise, executed poorly with bland characters and a sluggish pace. While I was interested enough to keep reading and uncover the motivations of the characters, overall it was a disappointment and not what I was expecting.

After losing her husband to a boating accident, Piper can't let him go and continues to act as though he is still alive. Others on the island continue the charade much to the dismay of a reporter, Anders. As he reports on the woman with the invisible husband, he becomes intrigued with Piper. It's a charming story of loss and love. With a cast of characters and a wonderful small island setting, this book is a sweet story with enough intrigue to keep you turning the page.

The best part of this book in my opinion was the message. To me, there is nothing ever wrong with taking the time to slow down and really learn about some body, some thing, or some place. People grieve in their own ways and there is nothing wrong with slowing down to understand that. I felt like this book was a great exploration of how the workings of coping and grieving can be perceived by different characters.

As per the usual– I am a super fan of Colleen Oakley’s writing. As if You Were There Too didn’t make me love her writing enough, this book amplified said love. I don’t think I would classify this book as a romance though, so if that is the type of read you’re looking for in this book I don’t think you will find it. I do however think that you will find so much more given the chance.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island was a super cute, feel good, small town charm read that really had my attention. I really enjoyed my journey to and from Frick Island and the people that I met along the way. Colleen really took a charming little setting and town and turned it into a big time story that had big time meaning.

What a delightful story, with charming witty characters and about finding out how to save Frick Island folks from serious climate change, or was that the main theme? You will just have to read this book to find out. Anders is a reporter sent here on assignment to learn about the ways of this island.
How will Anders who is a "come here" person to Frick Island manage to do his Podcast interviews.?
It is no surprise he tangles with the set in stone way things have always been with the folks here. Perhaps the biggest hurdle he finds is with Piper who still believes her husband is right along side of her, although he is really dead and the craziness of the folk who go along with Piper's delusions. It clearly looks like he has a bigger assignment than he set out to do - I loved this book and recommend it highly for its heartwarming tale written with love and compassion.

This would be a good pick for a book club. I just finished it and would like to discuss it with someone! It's a character-driven story told from several viewpoints that focuses on grief and relationships in a small town.

The premise of this story has great promise. I was halfway committed to the characters. The 'mystery' was okay, but it felt like the author got to the 'reveal' and decided it wasn't quite enough, so she threw in another subplot that was unexpected but also not hinted at quite enough to buy it all.
I wanted to like this, and I did, but it wasn't quite as well crafted as I really hoped it would be.
Thanks so much for the ARC!

Every once in awhile I just want to read a story that is easy on my heart. This was such a story. I felt so bad for Pipe and can't imagine losing my partner. It was hard to think about to be honest.

I really enjoyed Anders and even though it started as a story I like how it all unfolded between the two of them. A very enjoyable read.

This was a rather odd book honestly. Almost half of the book I just could not get myself engaged in at all. There are a ton of characters and the main character Piper seems to think her dead husband is still alive and with her. The town goes along with it and it was just hard to grasp the ridiculousness of it. But about 3/4 in the book takes a turn and I finally felt like I was reading an actual believable story at this point. But then the end left something to be desired as well. I just don't know how to feel about this one.

Just did not catch me. Well written interesting story line but not my cup of tea. Still give a try it may be yours.

Loved the setting of a small town on an island in the Chesapeake Bay, the crab fishers and the supporting towns folk. Piper Parrish was not born on the island, but a ""Come here" who fell in love with one of those crab men. Her life should have upended after a nasty storm sank her husband's boat, but she shielded her grief and made as if he were still alive and with her. A small-press journalist, Anders Caldwell, finds himself given the boring task of writing an article of the island's annual cake walk. He finds instead a possible story or two, wrapped in climate concerns and the possible destruction of the island. Plus, there's a young, beautiful woman there who believes her husband survived a storm and has the whole town supporting her beliefs.

Colleen Oakley is a new author for me. Perhaps Oakley writes similarly emotionally-fraught novels as her go-to theme, and they're very successful. Unfortunately, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island didn’t engage my interest at all.
Aside from the grindingly slow plot, the account was full of characters on the island that connived to pretend that Piper, certainly a stereotype of a grieving widow, still had a husband. How bizarre was that? I couldn’t wrap my head around such an-island-wide collusion.
I didn’t feel this was a love story as much as a fantasy about island living. Unfortunately, there were too many intruding side issues brought into play to make a smooth stoyline. I stalled out reading by halfway through. I don’t believe it is worth my finishing. However, if a reader wants to escape with a gentle narrative of developing friendships and some conniving islanders, this is likely good reading material for the right audience.

I am new to Colleen Oakley books but I am beginning to understand that her books are a slow burn. And I mean that in the best possible way. The story slowly develops and I know the time I’m putting in is going to be worth it in the end.
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is an adorable, heartwarming story of Piper, a widow, living life as though her dead husband, Tom, is still alive. All of her friends and neighbors on the tiny island she calls home decide to pretend along with her, resulting in everyone talking to an invisible man.
A reporter, Anders, catches wind of the story and begins to detail it in a podcast, of which the island inhabitants are ignorant to because they have no wifi on Frick Island.

Growing up in Maryland, I had to Google Frick Island to know if it truly existed! Had I really missed this Island all those years vacationing on the Eastern Shore of MD and DE? I was relieved to learn (in the Author’s Notes) that the Island was mimicking Smith Island, down to the infamous Smith Island Cakes!

I enjoyed this heartwarming story of friendship, hope, and love. Though not a romance, the friends who become family vibe on Frick Island is charming. I loved the lengths to which neighbors would go to protect one another’s secrets from an outsider and their desire to safeguard one of their own.

As much as I loved this sweet story, it didn’t bring the emotion like You Were There Too.

This book will give you the joy you might be looking for right now, an ending wrapped up nicely with a pretty bow.

I have so many emotions and feelings finishing this book! I think it’s different than any other book Colleen Oakley has ever written but it still has her unique style that I love so much. This story literally made me laugh and cry in the same sentence. I couldn’t put this one down!
I loved the island setting- being from MD I had to look up this island and I’m not entirely sure if it’s real or not. All the crabbing references completely made me homesick and so hungry for crabs!
Piper, my poor Piper loses her husband Tom when his crabbing boat capsizes but one day she wakes up and sees him and suddenly the entire town sees him too. I quickly realized if something happened to my husband this would be my predicament as well.
I loved Piper! She is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever read!
Anders is a journalist who finds himself on Frick Island writing about cake and then he meets Piper and he’s basically a goner and that’s where our story begins.
I loved how they just didn’t get together!

This is definitely a book for your tbr! Out May 2021! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Berkley for my advanced ebook copy.

I wouldn't call this book a romance. It's more like a journey for the characters in a tight-knit community.

The story is very interesting and the setting is very unique. The writing style was not a good fit for me as a reader, since I prefer my romance stories with one or two POVs, and this one had tons. But, then again, it's not a romance, so maybe that's okay.

Anders comes to Frisk Island on assignment for the newspaper he works at and his first time there is not very pleasant. But the island and the people who live there intrigue him and he keeps coming back, especially after he discovers how everyone keeps Piper's "delusion" going. The more he discovers about it, and about it Piper, the less he can let it go.

There are heavy issues in the story (grief, mental health, climate change) and there's a sort of resolution in the end.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
by Colleen Oakley
Berkley Publishing Group
You Like Them
Berkley
General Fiction (Adult) | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 25 May 2021 | Archive Date 25 Jun 2021

A warm and interesting read! I was really drawn in when the widow goes on living as if her husband is still alive. Enter Anders and the fun continues.
Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 star

Understated and quirky, Colleen Oakley will have readers yearning to visit her fictional Frick Island. When rookie reporter and fledgling podcaster Anders is sent to cover Frick Island's cake walk, he finds more than he bargained for. The island's residents, including new widow Piper Parrish, hold secrets, and Anders is determined to get to the bottom of them (and gain listeners for his podcast at the same time).

Anders Caldwell is a reporter trying to find that next big story to propel his career toward a more reputable newspaper. He has a podcast, that only his stepdad seems to listen to, an apartment with a roach problem, and he's been sent to cover a Cake Walk on an island off the coast of Maryland with 90 inhabitants. The assignment to Frick Island seems like a waste of his time, until he meets Piper Parrish, a woman who has recently lost her husband at sea, but who still continues on as if he never died. The strangest thing is the entire island goes along with this delusion and Anders, who is smitten with Piper, is determined to find out why. Under the guise of investigating climate change on the island for his podcast, Anders attempts to get close to Piper, and discovers more about the island and the locals than he ever dreamed.

What a sweet book this was. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book deals with the close knit relationships of the residents of fictional Frick Island and how they are perceived by a visiting reporter. At first he looks down on these seemingly simple small town folks and finds their lives pedestrian and backwards, but as he gets to know them and see the intricacies of life on this island, he comes to love this place and these people. With humor and sensitivity, the author writes an engaging story with lots of quirks and twists that make it a worthwhile read. I will recommend this book to many and find myself eager to visit the real island that the book is based on.