Steamy Kisses + Sweet Healing through Fake Dating
The Island Affair
Priscilla Oliveras
Many thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The Island Affair is an absolute treat of a romance! It takes a classic romance trope- fake relationship!- infuses it with depth, heart and humor, and nests it in the lush, steamy setting of Key West, Florida.
The Good
-The main characters! Both leads felt three dimensional, with nuanced backstories that deepened the story without distracting from the romance and fun.
Sarah is a social media influencer, who is trying to connect with her historically distant family, during their first family vacation after her mother's remission from cancer. Sarah is also in recovery from an eating disorder, and the author does a fantastic job of showing the ways that complicated family dynamics can be entwined with mental health struggles. Luis is a Cuban-American firefighter, with a big loving family, whose has unresolved trauma and betrayal in his past. Watching the two navigate the ways that old wounds and habits show up in the present was a breathe of fresh air in a genre that doesn't always have room for nuance. And the romance itself was *chefs kiss* delicious! Luis and Sarah's chemistry is palpable from the from the beginning, and watching them dance around their growing attraction was a delight!
- The supporting characters. I am in love with Luis' entire family (and have serious hope that the next book in the series will be about one family member in particular). His close knit relationships with most of his family, and in particular his highly involved mother, were some of the highlights of the story for me. And Sarah's family had some of the best moments of character growth in the whole book; one scene actually had me happy crying!
- The setting. The author writes descriptions so beautifully that I felt like Key West was a third main character! From sunsets, to lush beaches, to churchyards filled with frolicking children, Oliveras's visions of Key West stole my heart.
The Less Good
-Mostly, how long I'm going to have to wait to read the sequel! Sigh.
-I thought Sarah's job was going to end up in this section of the list. I am Judgey McJudgerson, and "social media influencer" made me raise an eyebrow- it seemed like the most rom-com-y job of all. But the author seemed to anticipate my response (by having Sarah's family agree with me) and as they learned to suspend their judgement and celebrate Sarah's successes, I mostly did too!
