A funny and heartwarming debut romance about two exes forced to reunite when a plane crash leaves them stranded on a deserted island. Piper Adams is totally, one hundred percent, completely over Wyatt, the former love of her life. After he broke her heart, she stopped taking risks and focused instead on building a perfect—and perfectly safe—life. Bumping into him at the airport on the way to her best friend’s destination wedding wasn’t part of the plan. Neither was a canceled flight nor Wyatt’s offer of a ride on the tiny plane he’s flying to attend the same wedding. Desperate to make it on time she accepts his offer, but things go from awkward to full-blown nightmare when their plane crashes in the Caribbean, stranding Piper on a deserted island with the last person she ever wanted to see again. At first, rule-following Piper clashes with adventure-driven Wyatt, but as the days tick by, she begrudgingly admits that the boy she once knew has grown into a man. A man who makes her laugh, knows his way around a fire, and is annoyingly hot shirtless. As the chemistry still simmering between them boils over, Piper begins wishing Wyatt could be more than just a survival partner. But for their love to survive a second chance, she’ll have to not only trust Wyatt again, but also learn to trust herself and find the courage to let go of her carefully curated life for the chance at something far greater—if they survive the island long enough for rescue.
Publication Year: 2025
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Your rating:
3.5/5.
The Vibes:
—stranded on an island
—second chance (a la high school sweethearts)
—survival but make it lite
Heat Index: 5/10
The Basics:
On the way to a mutual friend's wedding, exes Wyatt and Piper end up on the same tiny plane (piloted by Wyatt) which unfortunately ends up crashing on a remote island. Forced to work together, the pair end up realizing that even off the island, they can only truly be vulnerable with each other.
The Review:
This is, to put it honestly, a nice romance. If you are down for a nice time, you will have a nice time. The writing is solid, you get a great beginning, there are parallel past and present storylines that spin nicely together. Nice.
I say all of this to be honest and say that I wanted more than nice. The angst and meat of the book is really more in the flashback storyline, taking place when Piper and Wyatt were first together as teenagers. The island stuff... well. You'd think there would be a bit more urgency, seeing as they're trapped on an island together. Following a plane crash.
Something happens fairly early into the island storyline that drains the tension from it. Which I found rather frustrating. And while Piper and Wyatt have their issues, they're both ultimately decent people (the "enemies to lovers" label I found rather misleading). So while I was hooked on the teenage drama, I was much less so with the island stuff. Which was not really what I expected, at all.
I also found Piper's conflict a bit baffling. She's halfway through med school, and sure, she doesn't really want to be a doctor, but she can't even really handle blood? How has this not become a major, noticeable issue?
Again, it's nice. If you want a relatively low-conflict romance with a high-conflict setup, this will probably work more for you than it did for me. But it didn't... not work? It was a breeze to get through. I just wanted more.
The Sex:
You do get a few sex scenes, but they're very light and not super explicit. I wanted more.
This is a pretty good debut that could have been great had the drama been punched up a good bit. But hey—not everyone loves drama the way I do.
Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
0I was excited to read a survival story - I love a survival story! And I liked a lot of that half of the book.
Because this is a dual timeline story with a couple who were childhood friends, then fell in love, then broke up. Getting on a plane together and crashing is the first time they've dealt with each other since then.
I was not interested teen years side of the story. It broke up the action I was hoping to read. On the island, I liked how they re-connected, but I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters as strongly or consistently as I hoped. The MMC has a lot of trauma - both childhood and from serving in the military - and he shuts down a lot, making decisions for the FMC in the process. I with that had been dealt with a bit more.
The FMC's mother is also a fairly two dimensional villain.
Once again, I've talked myself down from a three star to a two star review. There were moments I enjoyed, but overall, this one isn't for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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