Holly is trying to get her life together after being released from prison. She takes a job pretending to be a Senator’s daughter taking a sailing journey, but things get complicated when she is kidnapped. Rafe will do anything to get his kidnapped son back, including kidnapping the daughter of an American Senator. When feelings start to develop between them though, they will have to rely on each other to all make it out safely.

I appreciated Holly’s resourcefulness and grit, and Rafe’s love and determination to protect his son. The setting was gorgeous, and I appreciated the twists and fast paced action. That saidI really struggled to get into this one more than I anticipated. The character development didn’t really start until almost halfway through the book, which meant the relationship didn’t develop until even later. Also with so much going on throughout the book, the ending felt like it was a little overwhelming how much was being wrapped up. Overall it was a good read for someone who wants a thriller with a tropical setting and a romantic subplot.

*I received an arc of this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

I loved reading as I kid but struggle to find time as an adult. It’s often impossible to sit down to focus. While this book was fantastic and exciting I didn’t find time to finish, I’m sure it’s not you, dear book, it’s me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Deception Island.

SPOILERS!!

Uuuuuugh, D.N.F.

Ok, I've come to discover a genre of slow burn romances, that I'll accidentally stumble upon. Do you know the kind, where every look, action and word the characters speak to each other is just dripping with quivering want until, finally, FINALLY, they DO. IT.

Yeah, and that's fine, if that's your thing. But listen, if a man straight up kills you, well, not actually kills you, but strangles you until you fake dead so that he'll stop killing you, and you're still all like "omg, he likes me, cuz he's sad that I'm dead, I should totally sleep with him." NOPE. I'm out. Get away from me, I want to light it on fire and run and fast as I can whilst dousing myself with extra strength bleach.

Holly and Rafe do make for an interesting pair as they try to match body counts and then love (almost). AT LEAST we were treated to an ex-legionnaire and NOT ANOTHER ex-seal; so points for that. Enjoy

I strive to not write reviews that are too spoiler heavy, but in the case of DNF reviews I find that an impossible task. I tend to DNF when the book takes what I see as the "wrong fork in the road," which generally means Spoiler Territory Ahoy. So if you'd like to remain ignorant of spoilers for Deception Island, a debut romantic suspense novel by Brynn Kelly - this is your warning.

Spoilers Ahead Me Mateys!

I'm always on the lookout for compelling romantic suspense, so decided to take a chance on this debut novel. It starts out promising enough but slides into Oh, Hella No territory for me the minute the heroine's Big Secret is exposed.

Holly Ryan is being paid to impersonate a pampered US Senator's daughter. Seems Laura took it in her head to sail around the world and when Daddy said no, she went to the press anyway. So the compromise is to have Holly sail the "rough bits" and in exchange she'll get money. Holly just got out of prison, having been sent there by her con man boyfriend who threw her to the wolves to save his own skin. She's needs the money to start over.

Instead Holly gets kidnapped by three goons, which is live streamed over the internet thanks to the yacht being outfitted with web cams. Holly manages to take out two of the goons, but she cannot thwart Rafe Angelito, a French legionnaire / Black Ops-type hero who has to kidnap the heiress because A Bad Man has kidnapped his 9-year-old son. The Bad Man is linked to Rafe's traumatic past as a child soldier in some third world country that's never named (at least during the 40% I read), so to have his son in the clutches of this guy is causing him to understandably freak out.

Rafe takes Holly to some remote tropical island that is apparently a secluded honeymoon destination to await instructions. Once the Senator pays the ransom, presumably Rafe gets his kid back. Of course what he doesn't know is that Holly isn't who he thinks she is - which she's not about to enlighten him about since hello? She wants to stay alive.

OK, honestly? The plot here is pretty far fetched - but this is romantic suspense, and a certain amount of over-the-top-ness should be expected. I probably would have rolled with it all better if the plot wasn't so obvious. Since Holly's kidnapping was live-streamed, what's to stop the Senator from "staging" a rescue, showing the world his daughter is OK and hanging Holly out to dry? I'm not a bad guy and heck, it's what I would do - and it's the question I immediately started asking the minute Holly is kidnapped. This thought never crosses Holly mind, until, of course, that's EXACTLY what happens. And when Rafe finds out that Holly is an ex-con and not the Senator's daughter he snaps - and I snap right along with him.

In a rage, he grabs Holly and chokes her. YES, CHOKES HER. To the point where her survival instincts kick in and she "plays dead." That's when our "hero" snaps out of it, cradles her in his arms and is all "Oh what have I done!" Holly revives, they start baring their souls, Rafe comes up with a plan and Holly is all like, "I'm coming with you to rescue your kid."

Go back and reread that last paragraph. If your jaw isn't hitting the floor yet - this should do it. Rafe is all like, "Why do you want to help me, I just tried to choke you to death" (which is explained as sort of an "out of body" moment stemming from his horrific child soldier days). And do you know what genius Holly says? "But you didn't. I don't believe you're capable of it."

HE JUST TRIED TO CHOKE YOU TO DEATH AND THE ONLY REASON HE STOPPED WAS BECAUSE YOU PLAYED DEAD AND YOU THINK HE'S NOT CAPABLE OF IT?!?!?!?!?!?

Done. I was so done. I don't care how crappy a hero's childhood is - and yes, being a child soldier is beyond way crappy. But I'm sorry. There's no excuse for CHOKING THE HEROINE WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE HERO! Which means now I'm immediately questioning his emotional and mental stability and quite frankly, her intelligence. I don't want to read a romance about these people. I want him under stringent psychiatric care and I want her hit by a bus. For a heroine who has supposedly been a con woman and IN PRISON, her lack of self-preservation is flabbergasting.

No. Just....no. Deal me out.

Final Grade = DNF

Deception Island is a book that had me glued to the pages as I followed the thrilling story of a kidnapper and his victim. All isn’t what it seems from the get go with these characters, and the tension is high from the start. This one was a page turner that I read in one day on a flight to Hawaii! While this story isn’t light and fluffy romance, it’s a thrilling, dark and intense, often dangerous glimpse at survival at all costs.

Holly Ryan is sailing around the world on an expensive yacht, documenting the experience she’s been paid to perform in place of a United States senator’s daughter. Posing as Laura Hyland while sailing in the more dangerous parts of the world while the real Laura lives a life of luxury outside of public view on another luxury yacht between public appearances, Holly is enjoying her newfound freedom and new lease on life post prison—until three pirates board the yacht with the intentions of kidnapping her to demand a three million dollar ransom from the senator. If only she can keep up the ruse that she’s the senator’s daughter, but for how long?

Rafe Angelito’s life hasn’t been an easy one, especially since he was orphaned and forced to join a militia at the tender age of nine. He’d thought that he had put that part of his life behind him—until his own son is held hostage while his former militia demands that he kidnap the American heiress and hold her on an isolated tropical island until the ransom money is paid. Rafe abruptly takes a leave of absence from his French Foreign Legion post to do this one thing—and things go wrong as soon as he steps foot on the yacht with his two cohorts who don’t make it out of there alive.

Both Holly and Rafe are so layered and complex. I really liked how it took quite a while to get to know all about them, and their lives and pasts were revealed throughout the different parts of the book. Both of them know that the other isn’t what they seem to be right off the bat, and as they try to figure each other out and survive, the romantic tension skyrockets. The will-they-won’t-they isn’t overly played out here, and I definitely enjoyed their relationship as it developed throughout the book.

I give Deception Island a five out of five. With gorgeous settings and descriptions, these complex characters really come to life on the page as they struggle to survive—all while finding their way around each other. The suspense, danger, adventure, and thrills are abundant in Deception Island while the pacing flows nicely. Covering topics of human trafficking, kidnapping, international pirating, and abuse, serious topics were integrated into the story without being heavy-handed or sticking out.