I absolutely love this cover and the storyline sounds like it would be cute, however this book was rough. It took me way too long to get through the beginning and I ended up DNF about halfway in. I loved the setting and the descriptions of Key West, but that was about it. The writing was very slow and the characters were poorly written.

I wanted to like this book. The premise was cheesy, but cute, and I like a good rom-com to break up the more intense books I read. This one was such a disappointment. The writing was not refined at all, and it left me seriously questioning not only the author, but each and every editor who touched it. For the majority of the novel, I felt as if I was back in my college creative writing class, doing peer review circles. The dialogue was so awkward and unnatural, and there was so much word repetition.

Luis and Sarah were cute characters, but they were never given any real depth. I was incredibly annoyed at Sarah's "problem" being the outcast of her family, because I actually know what that feels like, and this story did not feel at all representative of that. I think it tried for a bigger theme than it could handle with that storyline, and it fell very, very flat.

I thought maybe the intimate relationship would help an otherwise drowning plot, but I was disappointed there, too. There was so much build-up of their sexual tension, and then the author practically glossed over their actual sexual encounters - which is completely fine, if you're not setting up the book to be about their sexual connection. I couldn't get past the Harlequin-style phrases, either. I've never seen the word "deliciousness" used so many times, and it was so distracting to the scenes.

This book could have been so much more, but it needed a lot more help to get there.

3.5

Famous influencer Sara Vance has come to Key West on a family vacation. The relationship Sara has with her family has pretty much always been on rocky ground, and has been a contributing factor in Sara's battle with an eating disorder. But ultimately she loves them, and since her mother has gotten a good bill of health after being treated for cancer, it's important that this vacation go off without a hitch. So when Sara's boyfriend suddenly decides he's not coming, she doesn't need another reason for her family to look at her like she's floundering. When she runs into local firefighter Luis Navarro an idea quickly forms in her mind: have Luis pose as her boyfriend for the week and show her family she's got things in her life under control. Easy.

Luis doesn't know what to make of the woman who asks him to pose as her boyfriend. In his line of work he's used to helping people out, but this is taking things a bit too far. But Luis has recently been put on mandatory leave after a call went bad. Since he's got nothing else to do, he agrees. Plus, it'll keep his mind off things that he'd rather not think about...or deal with.

The charade they concoct will end up shattering through the walls they've built around themselves to keep them from dealing with the issues that they both face. Will cause them to take a good look at their lives, at their relationships with their families and see that keeping themselves closed off has also kept them from experiencing true happiness and contentment.

I went into Island Affair like I typically do with romances. Figuring I knew where the fake boyfriend trope would take us, but really I didn't even suspect that, for me, the romance would simply be a secondary element.

I like Luis and Sara together just fine, but I was more invested in their individual journeys, mainly those involving their families. These journeys for me were much more rewarding than seeing whether or not Sara and Luis would give up the charade and get together in the end.

I loved seeing Sara reconnect with her family. A family that treated her like the younger sibling. The one who doesn't go into the family business and instead is an influencer which is typically met with disdain in any type of fictionalized world I read about where someone has that profession. I think Priscilla Oliveras writes the issues with Sara's family so well. It's not that Sara imagined the mistreatment by her parents or the resentment by her siblings. These things definitely occurred, and they definitely precipitated the eating disorder that Sara will probably be dealing with for years to come if not the rest of her life. It's showing that people change, people grow, through their experiences they can change their views and atonement is possible. I wish we could have delved a little deeper into these aspects. We touch on them for sure, but I felt like we only scratched the surface especially for issues that have been ongoing for a long time.

The same goes for Luis. He and his brother have been on the outs for years - for matters which I won't divulge here. The resulting strain on this relationship with his brother has been felt throughout the rest of the family. You start to see that the things Luis has held close has impacted the rest of his life, this just isn't apparent right away. But I loved seeing this realization of how much this has been influencing his decisions. I just wish we could, like Sara, have seen more of the resolution. I felt like it's pretty quickly thrown on at the end.

While I understand that this is a romance first, therefore that aspect of the story is given precedence, for me, this time around, I wish it was everything else over the romance.

I think that Priscilla Oliveras does a great job of making the Navarros a family that I want to get to know more about. She certainly teased us pretty good with a little of Anamaria's (Luis's younger sister) backstory. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to pick up that story next right away.

Cute, but I was TOTALLY weirded out by the fact that there is no actual sex in the book. Not in a "the characters don't want it" or "the characters have a backstory that explains not having sex" kind of a way. No no no. Sex is constantly alluded to, and we have hot and heavy touching and really dirty thoughts, and then...cut to nature scene. No p in v.

I really didn't understand that choice, tbh. Otherwise, it's a nice play on the marriage of convenience trope.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

A little bit unrealistic that the main character just goes into a car with an unknown man in these age of time. :/

Don't get me wrong I am a hopeless romantic, even believe in endless love but this love story was a little far stretched.

Their love story was a little bit rushed in every chapter - I figured you have to have a crush first on someone, then feel the sex appeal but it was quite instant here and it just didn't appeal to me.

I liked the family interactions and figuring out the family stuff as well as talking about some serious stuff such as cancer and eating disorders.

Not entirely bad, but nothing special. Good for a beach read if you don't have anything else.

A romantic read that sets in the Key west, either preted to be there or just read this as pure escapism.
The story was slightly unsual like you cant just go up to people and ask them to be your pretnd boyfriend, some parts were really well thought and others were a little too cheesy. It was a good quick read to pass the time and let your imagination dissapear to where you want it to. A light hearted fun read.
characters were fun and i loved the setting of the story, who wouldnt.
Thank you to netgalley and the pubishers for this for a honest review.

This is a great book to transport you and make you want to book your next vacay to the Keys ASAP!

Sara is a damsel in distress, and Luis is the good guy fireman who can't resist helping her out by posing as her boyfriend for a week long vacation with her family after her real boyfriend leaves her hanging.

With her only other option being that she disappoints her family again by showing up alone, Sara goes out on a limb when she asks for his help, And the timing is perfect for him since he needs a distraction of his own for the next week while he's been forced to take time off work to sort thru his own issues. They jump right in and find themselves getting pulled deeper and deeper in to the lie. As the charade plays out, the feelings get real and it has you reading along to see what will happen next.

I enjoy a cheesy fake dating trope. This one has the added aspect of the personal struggles (eating disorders, insecurities and PTSD) and family struggles which made it even better for me. However, the amount of detail thrown in was unnecessary and distracting to me. I wish there was more focus on the building relationship than the other little stuff. And I wish that there was more balance to how much Sara and Luis opened up to each other.

Overall, I did like the book and am looking forward to the next installment. It was an easy read, with a slow simmering romance, in a beautiful setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A transportive and charming fake dating trope where opposites attract and familial issues prevail. A relaxing romp through Key West about finding love and healing broken bonds.

Blurb: Sara is going on vacation with her family and needs a fake boyfriend fast. She doesn’t want to stress out her mother, who is recovering from cancer. Luis just so happens to be in the right place at the right time and has the week off from work. So, they decide to embark on a fake dating relationship, but little do they know, their lie will grow bigger and bigger, involving family, and friends, and even their hearts.

The best part of this book was the location and the food descriptions. It really made me want to go on a vacation to Key West.

With that being said, I kind of forced my way through this one. The descriptions were a little too long for my liking and there wasn’t enough focus on Luis and Sara’s relationship. I really loved this couple and I felt like the story was mainly about the families. The last ten percent, where Saran stood up to Luis and put herself out there, was my favorite part. I needed more of that fire in the middle.

I guess I’m just in the mood for more romance, more steam, and more banter. All in all, a relaxing vacation read with tropical vibes, and a hint of romance.

I was easily sucked into this fun and flirty story with a sensual island vibe and heart tugging emotional authenticity. Yes, the beginning is a bit implausible but Sara and Luis are so likable, and relatable, that I was quickly willing to suspend disbelief and immerse myself in their story. I really loved these two together. The fact that they are complete strangers when they agree to their fake engagement allows readers to learn about each of them as they learn about one another. It was enjoyable to watch their friendship begin to form, then gradually deepen into something more.

Both Luis and Sara have families that are integral to their emotional journeys. I enjoyed watching those challenging, and sometimes heartbreaking, family issues play out over the course of the book. By incorporating each of their families into the story and giving them significant page time, readers are able to get to know the secondary characters and more fully understand the nuances, and challenges, within each family. I especially enjoyed time spent with the Navarros and am excited that they will be the focus of this series going forward. I want to sit at their dinner table, cook with Luis's mami, and bask in the loving chaos of this tight-knit, but complex, Cuban-American familia. I am more than ready for more Navarro romance!

If you've ever visited Key West (or even if you haven't), Island Affair will transport you to the laid back island's sunny days, sultry nights, and rich cultural diversity. The love this author holds for her childhood home, as well as her ability to craft a sweet and sassy story with satisfying emotional depth, shines through on every page.

*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley
*All thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own

Feel good romance all the way! With the start of her new Keys to Love series, Priscilla Oliveras takes us on an emotional journal filled with humor, drama and huge dose of familial love. In ISLAND AFFAIR we dive into a Cuban family in Key West and feel like we're truly interwoven into this loud, boisterous, over-intrusive family right from the start. Great characters, good chemistry and a whole lot of heart!

Luis Navarro is such a great character! He's kind, he's helpful and he's connected to his family in a powerful way. We quickly get details of an issue he's trying to work through and then he gets distracted by the introduction of Sara.

Sara Vance is easy to like. She's a bit down-trodden by her place in her family and feels stressed to make sure this upcoming family vacation goes well. She finds herself on the verge of disappointing her mother yet again, and simply can't let that happen ... a fake boyfriend should do the trick!

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a romcom rich in culture that has a lot of sass and so much family love! I really enjoyed both the Navarros and the Vances and can't wait for more to come in the series.

What a fun little read for me. Sara and Luis had such a great chemistry and of course the setting added such a beauty and warmth to the overall story. I did have a few issues but that will come later.

Island Affair is the story of Sara, who is a social media influencer and is need of a rescue. Luis is a firefighter who is on a week forced vacation from the job and not quite sure what he will do with his time. Their meet cute is in the parking lot of the airport after Sara is stood up by her family vacation date. Sara asks Luis for help and of course he swoops in to save the day, isn't that firefighters do. Did I mention this all takes place in Key West and surrounding Keys? Heaven on Earth.

If you are thinking to yourself, this sounds like all other romantic comedies, not so fast. There is certainly an undercurrent of family drama on both sides of our pretend couple. Of course this makes for a very interesting role playing adventure for our lovebirds. My only problems came in with the drama. It was serious drama and it felt a little too serious in what I thought was going to be a fun easy beach read. This is my one and only complaint. I was expecting something a little lighter than what the actual problems were. I don't think it distracted from the story but I do believe it distracted me just a little bit.

This was a solid 4 star read and I truly enjoyed it. It was left open for other books in a series and I will gladly pick them up. Thank you to the publishers and author for allowing me a chance to read and review.

This was a very fun read! Knowing absolutely nothing going in, I was pleasantly surprised. I fell in love with the characters and was rooting for them the whole time. The storyline was a little cheesy but I have no shame in saying I still very much enjoyed it! I was super excited to find out there will be a book #2 and already looking forward to it! If you loved The Unhoneymooners you will most likely enjoy this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Island Affair is an enjoyable new release from Priscilla Oliveras, and while it doesn’t quite measure up to the sheer perfection of the Matched to Perfection series, particularly the latter two books in the series, I enjoyed this one nonetheless.

Oliveras creates another to-die-for hero in the form of Luis. He’s just a solid, good guy, and I like that he wants to save everyone, which is built into his chosen career as a firefighter, but also has some issues from his past he has to work through over the course of the book.

Sara is also interesting. While I don’t know if the rep for eating disorders is accurate, I do trust that Oliveras did her research. I could definitely relate to her feeling of never being enough to please her family, although not to the same degree.

I did feel a little bogged down at times with two large complex families with big issues to follow, especially in comparison to the smaller scale of MtP. However, given this is also the first in a series, it is introducing the cast, some of whom will play roles as heroes or heroines in their own books going forward, so I suppose it’s par for the course.

This is a sweet romance with a healthy dash of spice (although, it should be noted that, like her previous work, the sex is fade-to-black following a bit of foreplay). I recommend this book if you like sweet stories with a Latinx flavor and a strong focus on family dynamics as well as romance.

The cruise that Sara was taking with her family was supposed to be the opportunity to put their minds at ease about both her professional and personal life but when her boyfriend backs out she is dreading the questions and concerns that she knows is coming her way. While explaining her plight to Luis they come to an arrangement where he can enjoy a week of rest and relaxation and she can have the buffer she needs.

Luis is a fireman who finds himself having to take a week off and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He is close to his family but due to the past his relationship is strained with his brother so a week away is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Spending time together they become close but between Sara’s present and Luis’s past as well as their families their journey wasn’t without its obstacles. There is some humor, some heat and the story does deal with heavy subjects.

A sizzling, slow burn fake-romance in The Keys involving a Vin Diesel look-alike firefighter, what more could you want?

Even though it took me a little bit to get into "Island Affair" by Priscilla Oliveras, I thought the book was a great romance beach read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

This book is about Sara, a social media influencer who is fresh in her recovery from her eating disorder, that gets stood up by her long-distance, good on paper boyfriend. Her dilemma is she's meeting her entire family for a relaxing vacation for her mom, who is fresh in remission from cancer, and she doesn't want to show up by herself in fears she will be the butt of her family's jokes or worse, stress her mother out. Cue Luis Navarro, a Vin Diesel look-alike firefighter from The Keys that was burned by love six years ago, that has a week free to play the fake-boyfriend Sara needs. What could go wrong?

I recommend this book if you're looking for a feel-good romance read to help you get out of a reading slump and make you feel like your on the beach with your toes in the sand, the rays on your skin while drinking a Bahama Mama.

I received this digital galley from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars! i enjoyed this one.

i think the fake dating aspect in this one was good, if a little unrealistic at the beginning. it's very much like a telenovela in cheesiness, but i kinda loved that. i really liked the characters, too. it took me a little while to get hooked on them and fall for their relationship, but once i did, i was hooked. their chemistry is fantastic.

the pacing was a little off for me, especially toward the first half and the middle, but once i got over the 50% mark i flew through it. the plot was kinda meh as well, focusing on family bonding and past drama, but it's a romance so i honestly wasn't expecting much at all.

i liked the mental health representation, especially with the ED, as someone who also has OSFED. i think it was done well and i appreciated luis' calm and supportive reaction to sara trusting him with her diagnosis.

a full review will be posted on my blog at https://kaylareadsx.wordpress.com/?p=149

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book was a 'judging a book by it's cover' one for me. I've sat on this review for a little bit just to digest it and decide how I felt. Originally, I wanted to rate this a 3.5, rounding down, but I decided to round it up to 4. This book was a feel good, cute read.

Sara Vance is an budding, successful social media influencer, who's landing in the Florida Keys to vacation with her family - all doctors. Already nervous for the week ahead, she gets stood up by her boyfriend upon arrival and goes into crisis mode. Enter Luis Navarro - Saint Navarro - to save the day. Minutes after meeting, with all the stars aligning, they set up a plan for a fake relationship for the week to trick her family into thinking her life is perfectly stable. Nothing is ever that easy though even in paradise, right?

While I did find a lot of the writing pretty repetitive, with the over use of descriptive words (especially slender and plump when describing women), I very much enjoyed the story. It was wildly predictable and you knew the whole book what was going to happen, but it was still a really cute, feel-good read. As I mentioned, it was overly and unnecessarily descriptive, but I definitely enjoyed the way the author described the scenery of The Keys. Both Sara and Luis were extremely likeable and relatable characters, there development and growth believable and encouraging. I enjoyed the way the author described the characters challenges and struggles, without going overboard. Looking forward to the more from this author!

This book was too cute. Even though romances are so similar, and 9/10 there is going to be a happy ending, I still always love reading them.⁣
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This was another light, refreshing read. I loved how descriptive the author was of describing Key West, the island vibes, with Cuban dancing and food just made you feel like you were there. I loved the occasional Spanish speaking throughout the book. ⁣
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Sara and Luis had such great chemistry whether their relationship was fake or not. Looking forward to book 2!⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @kensington books for an ARC for my honest review.⁣
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#bookstagram #books #booklover #romance #islandaffair #caribbeanvibes #netgalley

Island Affair is the perfect summer beach read! Or the perfect springtime living room read in the midst of a pandemic lol! I felt like I was in Key West right along with Sara & Luis! This book was the perfect combination of fun, sweet, sexy, and serious. I really appreciated the deeper issues that both Sara & Luis were dealing with, it brought the story to another level emotionally. I immediately liked both main characters, but finding out about the difficult things they were dealing with made me like them even more. I felt for them, and was rooting for them right from the start of their totally unconventional and unique love story. There was a nice amount of heat and sexiness, although I was a little disappointed when things were getting hot and heavy and pretty detailed for it end up being fade to black for the actual sex scene. I was so ready for that scene...had been waiting for that moment, and then it jumped to the "after". I was a little bummed about that, but it's not that big of a deal to make me rate it lower than 5. We still got other scenes full of steaminess.
I can't wait to check out the rest of this series as the books release, if they are anything like Island Affair, I'm sure I'll be hooked! Thank you so much to NetGalley & Kensington Books for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars-- can I just say how lovely it was to read a book filled with people who were just so nice? This is a book filled with nice people (with some glaring exceptions that are a bit cartoony, but just roll with it) who I wanted to see be happy in life. The family conflicts were great & I was rooting for the main characters. I will give TWs for ED & substance abuse, which I think are mostly handled with care, but of course, YMMV there. My biggest drawback was related to authorial voice in the dialogue-- there was something that rang slightly off in my ear that kept me from getting fully immersed. That said, I did very much enjoy the author's narration passages, so just a personal quirk on my part

All in all, this was a really nice rom com with a heavy emphasis on family dynamics that I found really enjoyable. I would recommend & look for more from the author!