Josie Silver writes adorable romance books that make me like the genre, despite it not normally being my favorite.

I loved Josie Silver’s other 2 books, but I think I love this one the most. It has the kind of relationship I’ve come to expect from her- a relationship that’s going to be tricky between characters who really have to reflect on where they are in life and what they want or need to make themselves happy. I found Cleo very relatable as a fellow 30 year old and Mack was perfectly flawed. I loved Cleo’s time on the island and reason for being there. I couldn’t predict how this story would turn out which made me enjoy it even more.

This book was very satisfying. A beautiful romance in a beautiful setting. You can't help but allow the characters places in your heart. I highly recommend this book to put you in lighthearted, feel-good mood!

Let me start by saying I have loved both of Josie Silver’s other two books and gave them each 5 stars. This book just didn’t do it for me.

One Night on the Island centers around two people who end up having to share a room while visiting a remote island due to a booking mistake. I love hate to love romances so I was all in. However, I hate infidelity which this romance revolves around.

Mac has been estranged from his wife for almost a year. I had a problem that he is still legally married. But what I really had a problem with was the fact that he is still pining for his wife and hoping to win her back for the first half of the book. You can tell he is starting to have feelings for Cleo and does try at first to ignore them, but never once does he try to leave and work on his marriage. Instead he stays and when one day he gets a call from his wife telling him she is seeing someone else, he can put her aside and jump right into a relationship with Cleo. This I had a huge problem with!! We are told all along what a good man he is. That is not the definition of a good man.

At the same time, Cleo is telling him to move on from his wife because she really wants him. Then at the end, his wife wants him back. He has these moments with her and is leading her on, then turns her down at the very end.

The way these characters all played with other people’s emotions throughout the book was a big problem for me. They were all self centered and only acted on what felt good to them at the time.

I will give Josie Silver another try with whatever she comes out with next, but I hope she goes back to the magic she had with her first two books instead of stretching to write a romance like she did in this one.

This was my first read by Josie Silver. I've heard mixed reviews about some of her other books, but the description of this book drew me in and I knew I had to give this one a shot. Unfortunately, I think this will be the only book by Josie Silver that I'll ever read. This honestly would have been a DNF if I didn't need to write a review for NetGalley. But I pushed through and truly, I found myself skimming a lot of the story. I was never able to get interested in the characters or what was happening, and I really struggled with the writing style. I hope that others are able to read and enjoy this story, however, this was not for me.

The plot seems simple enough, one British lady and one American guys forced to share the only available cabin on an isolated island after a double booking mishap until the next boat arrives. They even draw a chalk line down the middle of the cabin.

But it is more complicated than that, similar to every other book by Josie Silver. We find these MCs conflicted in where life has taken them. One, a dating columnist alone and days away from turning 30. The other, a photographer separated from his wife and therefore his kids. Appropriately named Salvation Island is where their next chapter begins and what they find there is beautiful and life changing.

I highly recommend giving this one a read. If you don’t believe me, go check out the reviews of @booksandbedtime and @emilyisoverbooked. They will not stop pushing this book on you until you have read it.

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Thank you to @netgalley, @josiesilver, and Ballantine Books for a copy of this book.

This ‘enemies to lovers meets holiday romance’ was just lovely. There’s a remote Irish location, a young British dating columnist planning to ‘marry herself’ for an article, an American photographer with a big helping of baggage, and a double-booking for the only empty bed on the island. With a cast full of endearing islanders, a complicated holiday romance and hearts being broken all over the place… I fell hard, and shed a ton of tears. Some touching stuff on friendship, found families and choosing a life you want, this was the whole package. My soppy romantic side was definitely satisfied.

I fell in love with Josie Silver's writing in ONE DAY IN DECEMBER, and so far, every release has been just as good (to which ONE NIGHT ON THE ISLAND has been no exception). If you enjoyed the writer's previous work, you'll definitely like this one as well!

I love the setting of this book. I kind of wish I was in a remote cozy island right now. I really liked how it dealt with everyday emotional issues that normal people have to deal with and get over. It tackled break-ups, heartbreak and things we have all felt. I have had so many reservations mistakes lately so this would be one of those nice mix ups when it's a cute guy. I was really upset by One Day in December. It made me cry so this was a lot lot better. Can't wait for her next book.

Josie SIlver has become one of my favorite authors. I love that she does romance but also mixes it with so much emotional pieces. This book was so charming, funny and I absolutely loved its focus on loving ones self. This book follows Cleo who is going to an island in Ireland for her 30th birthday. There she is forced to room with Mack. This was a very easy going romance novel, it does not go as deep as you may want but at its surface level it is such an easy read!

💚ARC Review (NetGalley approved this ARC request after the book already came out 🤷🏼‍♀️, but I still wanted to share my review!) Swipe for the full summary!

Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance + Women’s Fiction
Warnings: Loss of parent, separated partners
Tropes: Slow Burn, Forced Proximity

FIRST OF ALL. The setting of the book was to die for. Imagine spending your days in a cozy little cottage up on a hill on an Irish Island? I wish I could have joined Cleo on her trip to stay at the lodge. The dynamic between Cleo and Mack grew perfectly throughout the book, and I truly loved the focus on Cleo and her self-development and growth. I am a huge proponent that in order to fully love someone else, you need to fully love yourself. This story shared a huge transition in Cleo’s life as she grew as an individual.

There were so many sweet moments….the juxtaposition of one character dying and one being born on the same day….the conversations Cleo had while at knitting group (and the fact that she was a part of a knitting group😍)…..the moments Cleo sat on the porch of the lodge wrapped in a blanket….Mack photographing core memory moments for each of them….ugh. Just such a beautiful book!

I highly recommend that you add this to your TBR. It is available now!

This was a gorgeous book all about love, loss, moving on, and struggling to find your place in the world. I loved this! The setting of Salvation Island was perfection. A small town with a cast of quirky characters? Yes, please! All of the people who lived in Salvation were amazing. I loved the Loge. I loved Mack and Cleo. This book was so wonderful.

I have been a fan of Josie Silver ever since I read her book One Day in December, and I was extremely excited when I was given the opportunity to read her latest book, One Night on the Island. I gave this book 4/5 stars only because I don’t think anything can beat her original book, but there was a lot that I connected with and have made me think about in my own life.

Quick synopsis, Cleo goes on a quest to find self discovery and love surrounding her 30th birthday as a single woman during a trip to a deserted island where she meets Mack, a single dad who is looking to connect with his ancestral roots on the island. You can guess that there is some romance that happens, but what I loved that Josie did was not revolve the entire novel on it. The ending felt wrapped up and completed to me and I throughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it!

3.75/5⭐️ rounded up to four.

I normally don’t like to read about thirty year old people but this book was too cute and meaningful to not like.

At first I thought self-coupling was a bit weird but Cleo’s self-coupling ceremony made me tear up a bit. I love her so much.

Mack felt like and amazing father omg. Gold star for him. I think he handled co-parenting pretty well and the love he has for his sons is heartwarming.

Every character except Mack’s dad I loved. Well I didn’t love Susie but I didn’t hate her. Delta is my spirit animal. I love her. Pls can we get a book about her and Barney??

Now, the sad ending lover part of me thinks that the book should’ve ended a couple of chapters after Cleo’s self-coupling and made the book have a perfectly bittersweet ending. BUT the happy ending lover part of me thinks the ending for this book was perfect just as it was. This book has one of those endings that makes you all happy inside and yes, you’re a little sad that the book ended but you’re happy that you got the chance to have read this book.

I will definitely read more of Josie Silvers books!

A quintessentially lovely rom com with some of the genre's best elements while delving deep into personal growth. The author does a great job of showing introspection without belaboring it. Overall a solid choice.

The was average to me - a fine enough read that wasn’t anything overly special. A reasonably enjoyable way to pass the time.

Unfortunately this book just couldn’t hold my interest. It felt heavy and sad from the beginning and dragged on too much for me to enjoy the story.

This story starts very slow and rambling. Josie Silver books are always a meandering a journey. This book was full of very imperfect but lovable characters. I had no trouble falling in love with the eclectic crew of villagers. They reminded me a bit of the Guernsey Literary crew. Salvation Island is a total dream. Cleo goes on such a self-discovery journey through these pages. She learns to value true companionship and care from unlikely friends as opposed to friends who cut you down in the name of “I’m just kidding”. She learns to be at peace with herself, and to slow down and savor each moment. Her and Mack have a sweet little enemies to lovers, forced proximity storyline, but it doesn’t eclipse the rest. I spent a majority of this book how it would end, and while the conclusion isn’t what would typically make me swoon, I was still satisfied.

As a side note: The heartbreaking details of the reality of divorce is soul-piercing. The difficulty and pain of separating two lives. Of no longer feeling welcome in the home you built. Of not being entitled to unlimited access to the children you helped create. Of finding a way to say goodbye to what has been comfort and safety for decades.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

I have no idea why this book was called <i><b>One</b> Night on the Island</i>, especially as there were many nights on the island...

* Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review



One Night on the Island sees two individuals at pivotal moments in their lives crashing into each other's orbit at a most inconvenient time. Cleo is supposed to be at Salvation Island 'self-coupling'. She's an online columnist who's turning 30 and she and her editor decided that she should go to the island to celebrate that milestone by marrying herself as a way to embrace herself as she enters into her thirties. It's so weird even to Cleo. Then of course Mack shows up to the same cottage that Cleo booked claiming that he's supposed to be there as well. He rented it from his distant cousin so he could immerse himself in his photography while he gives his estranged wife space after she asked for a divorce the year before. Neither he or Cleo are willing to budge and there's really nowhere else to go on the island. Their solution is to draw a chalk line through the house and they can each reside on their own side. Stuck on the island, they have to make do and be civil.

This was a strange kind of romance and I have to tell you, I was on the fence through most of it. I was unsettled by the initial hostility between Cleo and Mack because some of it felt so unnecessary. Cleo seemed to put on tantrums and Mack was so closed off. It just comes down to that fact that I didn't want to encounter this kind of vibe in my reading. Things between them thaw when they start to find some common ground and make peace. And yes, it's weird again how they swing from antagonists to buddy-buddy and start revealing their secrets. Mack is distraught over the breakup of his marriage and still after over a year apart can't accept that it's over. Cleo is finally embracing her single life and keeps lobbing truth bombs Mack's way about the state of his relationship. Her honesty is brutal but one thing that's a no-go zone is is two boys. He adores them and wants everything for them. While he and Cleo get cozy and attraction builds, he's still hesitant to let go of his marriage. Even if it's his wife wanting the divorce and already off with someone else. His vows are sacred to him.

There were times I felt that the book should've been two different books. What Cleo and Mack were going through independent of each other was more interesting to me than their 'thing'. I liked being in on their thoughts and self-analysis when they were off by themselves. I normally enjoy a forced proximity romance, but this didn't get its hooks in me. It just felt that the other person was conveniently there and they thought, why not? It's difficult to explain because there are profound moments between them where I understood the sentiments they shared, but as far as the romance goes, I didn't feel their heat.

I did appreciate the residents of Salvation Island. They're all such engaging characters making anyone feel at home amongst them. I liked how they'd tease Mack and Cleo about their accommodation snafu and hint at any budding romance between them. They all had their own interesting stories and I thought they were absolutely delightful.

I adored Silver's other book, One Day in December because I liked those characters and I liked what they were working through so I was hoping I'd feel the same about One Night on the Island. It's a quiet, subdued story and romance that worked in parts, but this time it wasn't for me.