Review by Booklist Review
Melody and her mom are both school teachers. Melody wrote a couple of romance novels and has a contract for another, and Birdie's songwriting won a CMA years ago. Now Birdie, after a lifetime of smoking and a heart attack, has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Wanting to share a great adventure together, they book a vacation in Aruba. At the airport, while trying to wrangle a window seat for Birdie, Beckett, an aspiring writer, offers his window seat, putting him next to Melody for the flight. In Aruba the three spend afternoons and early evenings together, with Mel and Beckett enjoying magical evenings. It looks like love, but fast-forward two years, and Melody has become a media pariah, accused of plagiarizing Beckett's hit novel and turning his substantive closed-door love story into a juicy romance. All through the book, the reader is kept guessing why the two aren't together. But be assured, the HEA is there. The twists and turns along with heartfelt family relationships and dysfunctions elevate this book to the must-read level.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Despite the fabulous tropical setting and temptingly described day-drinking cocktails, this well-crafted contemporary from Micciche (The End of Summer) is less breezy beach read than emotional look at how mixed signals can trigger heartbreak. Debut novelist Beckett Nash's romantic, island-set tale of a vacation fling gone wrong is getting a lot of buzz. Then early readers notice the similarities between it and the most recent book from Beckett's ex, midlist romance author Melody Adam. It's not plagiarism: they've both written novels trying to process how their relationship fell apart. Flashbacks from Melody's perspective and excerpts from Beckett's novel slowly reveal two sides to the story of how they got together on vacation in Aruba and what went wrong. Micciche somewhat over-relies on coincidence to create drama and the circumstances that drove the couple apart strain credulity a bit, but it's still imminently satisfying to watch these two realize what they mean to each other and work it out in the present. Second-chance romance fans will eat this up. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Romance writer Melody is going on vacation--one week in Aruba to de-stress and spend quality time with her mother, who is terminally ill. On the flight, Melody meets Beckett, an aspiring author on a solo writing trip. Sparks fly between them right away, and they end up spending every day in Aruba together, falling head over heels. But when they return home, they unexpectedly lose contact, each brokenhearted and believing the other cut off communications. Two years later, they've each published a novel about their time together; Beckett's has made him an overnight literary star, while Melody is accused of plagiarizing his book. They meet to clear Melody of the accusations and, in the process, learn the truth about what really happened. Told through alternating timelines--flashbacks and present day--as well as excerpts of Beckett's book, this heart-wrenching novel deals with difficult topics of family drama and grief while still managing to be an escapist beach read. VERDICT Micciche's (A Storybook Wedding) multilayered and sexy love story, set in a tropical locale, will appeal to readers who enjoy travel and bookish storylines.--Migdalia Jimenez
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