“Not Till We Are Lost Do We Begin To Find Ourselves” Mini-Review & Blitz: Island Escape by Viv Daniels

ADAM
Luxury yacht, tropical seas, babes in bikinis…dream job, right? Wrong. The passengers are rich jerks who treat the crew like garbage, when they aren’t pretending we’re their whores. The best day was when that cokehead heiress Kalina tried to fire me just for doing my job. I swore I’d never go back home to my parents and their crazy fundamentalist ranch in the desert, but nothing could be worse than this.
And then the pirates attack.

KALINA
Luxury yacht, tropical seas, billionaire boyfriend…dream trip, right? Wrong. After catching my man getting “extra services” from the maid, I know I’m the laughing stock of passengers and crew. Every time I lay eyes on that quiet, handsome deckhand Adam, I can feel him judging me. I want to die, and when the pirates show up, I think I’m going to.
But Adam… he saves me. Now we’re alone together on a lifeboat in the open ocean. Adam thinks we don’t have a chance, but thanks to him, we’ve made it this far.
And then, in the distance, I spot an island…

Mini-Review:

You all know my love for Viv Daniels/Diana Peterfreund, right?  I don’t know an author out there who is so able to consistently keep me engaged in such a huge variety of topics, be it unicorns or bioengineering or post-apocalyptic Jane Austen adaptations.

So trust me when I say that you will want to devour this New Adult contemporary novella, and then immediately pre-order the rest of the Island series. It’s sexy, it’s unexpected, and it never falls into cliche.

Even though this is a short novella, Viv fully develops her main characters, giving them history, backstory and interests that are quirky and believable. Adam is incredibly sexy (seriously, ladies!) and a philosophy nerd with a chip on his shoulder at the beginning and Kalina is a substance abusing heiress with a tragic past who secretly loves The Princess Bride. You couldn’t think of two more different people, but underneath it all, Adam and Kalina are both broken and beaten, and it’s such an amazing thing to sink into their lives on the yacht and the island and watch them learn and grow and change together.

If I have one quibble (very minor spoiler), it’s that I didn’t feel like Adam’s reasoning for staying away from Kalina was fully believable – I was so desperate to have them together and it really didn’t quite make sense to me as to why they weren’t already (in other words, I just wanted them to Skip to the Good Part).

It would be so easy for this story to never stray past where you think the Happily Ever After will go, but as always, Viv does you one better. It’s not enough for characters to just get together – they have to earn it, and it’s in the earning that this story really becomes a true romance. This is an ending that we, as readers, deserve.

Island Escape is free right now, and I implore you, go, download, and read it and soak in some South Pacific sunshine and love. You deserve it. 

Book Theme Song: Honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking of LOST, so The Survivor’s Theme from the LOST soundtrack should totally be your jam while reading.
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Island Born (Island Series #1) 
Expected Publication Date: February 28, 2014

Once you come to the island,
You’ll never be the same.

Joshua Truman grew up on a private island in the South Pacific with only his philosophy books and the beauty of his surroundings for company. His billionaire parents raised him to be the perfect man, brilliant of mind and pure of spirit.

You know what? Purity be damned.

When tempting grad student Carrie Young arrives on his island with a group of researchers, Joshua makes his move. He wants her, and he’ll utilize every advantage of his gorgeous surroundings and exquisitely thorough education to seduce her.

Carrie is shocked by the things this supposed innocent is making her feel. But she must resist him, for Carrie is the keeper of dangerous secrets, and her boss has plans more devious than anyone knows…