I have never watched the TV show Survivor or Lost nor read a book called On the Island, (I saw the mentioned a lot in other reviews) so when I picked this book up, I wasn't set on comparing it to anything. I just wanted to get lost in a story...and holy moly, did I!Frankly, I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did, because I don't normally dig male POV, but I really really liked this hero and in the end, it worked.
I devoured this in two days because I could not put it down. Once you get immersed in the story, you're not going to want to stop. It's just too exciting. It's not the kind of book you pick up occasionally and just read bit by bit.
It had a rough start. We meet a cast of really unlikable people on a plane...even the heroine isn't too likable. Then they crash...and from that point on...just OMG. Wow! The author doesn't gloss over the details of surviving in the wilderness. She gives us the perfect blend of MacGuyver-style surviving--turning airplane bathroom cubicles into bathtubs, making hammocks of parachutes, bras becoming slingshots; foraging for food and learning to hunt--crocodile eggs, caterpillars, frogs; and enough life-threatening, heart pounding moments--I really felt as though I was in the cave and panic was clutching at my throat as they each tried to find their way out. And the description--not too much, not too little.
The romance was really well done--slow, as it should be, considering what they've gone through and the losses they've faced. There was character growth (the heroine becoming a better person, the hero healing from his childhood), bonding, tears and humorous banter. The sex is excellent. I was slightly worried about how it would be as the characters aren't in a position to bathe regularly, but the author kept it short, sweet, and didn't have them doing anything that seemed disgusting in their situation.
I also really really appreciated the side story of the man's letters to his daughter. I loved that. Also of note is the moral about love--that love doesn't discriminate. Some fabulous words came from the hero about that. I wish now that I'd highlighted them, but I was so eager at all moments to find out what happened next... I confess I doubted they would make it.
I loved this story of adventure, surviving, and love. My only quibble (and I'm just being nit-picky) is I could have done without the heroine's bratty teenage daughter. I didn't feel she was relevant to the story and her attitude in the end...it didn't match what I was expecting from her. So since she WAS in the story, some more character development there was needed. I just didn't buy it--her easy acceptance of the twist of events, because she came across as just a pure demon spawn to me in the beginning and middle.
But this story was not only a wild ride; it also made me think about how we need to just forget what others think of us and just...live and be ourselves...cause you never know what could happen next.
*ARC received via Netgalley. No financial reimbursement.*
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