This book was a wonderful change of pace from my typical mystery and romance reads. There's a bit of romance, but that's definitely tertiary, and instead the story grapples with grief, mental health, and exploitation of others for fame.

The premise of this book is the true star--such creativity--that the story is almost just a way of building on it. When young reporter Anders is sent to the tiny Frick Island to cover a cake walk, he's only marginally surprised to see a place stuck in the past without cell phones or internet. But he's more surprised when the he meets a widow, Piper, who's continuing on as though her deceased husband were alive--and the whole island goes along with it. Anders decides to keep coming back to the island, weekend after weekend, and starts a Podcast about his time on the island. But what happens when he starts to like-like Piper, and when the islanders become closer to actually listening to his Podcast?

This story is fascinating, beautifully written, and unlike anything I've read before. It would be an excellent book club pick, imo, and definitely one to recommend to friends or gift to family members.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

I just finished The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley. I am no stranger to Colleen Oakley's work and I love her style of writing. I loved the idea that the book took place on a small island that was so far removed from technology with a close knit group of residents. It follows the story of a girl named Piper who loses her husband during a storm. It also follows an up and coming reporter named Anders, whom is trying to get a podcast going. He visits the island for an article and finds Piper. He soon realizes that she is seeing her missing husband and the whole island protects her from the truth. They talk to him as if he was there. It's a story about going through something tragic, but also about the support you can find along the way.

What do you do when everyone around you has bought into "the Emperor's clothes"? For one young journalist it's a curiosity that he must explore. He totally immerses himself in a community to figure out why they are all pretending to see the dead husband of a young woman. But somewhere in the investigation he has found out much more: about love, friendship, perspective, and himself.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island.

My favorite novels are the ones that take you to a place you've never heard of before and by the end of the story, you feel like you absolutely must visit or move there permanently. Colleen Oakley absolutely creates that feeling in The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. This novel was so lovely and charming.

When I read the synopsis, I was intrigued. A woman who acts like her dead husband is perfectly fine and well and an entire island that goes along with it? Yes, please. There is so much more to this story than just that and I absolutely loved it. While parts of it were very predictable, I found the story as a whole very compelling and full of fun little moments and surprises. Highly recommend for an easy read that also touches on trauma and healing.

The premise and beginning of this book are amazing. However, the rest of the book was largely boring and uneventful. I was sucked in immediately so I ended up being really disappointed. Even though this wasn't for me, it might be for you! I've seen a few good reviews lately.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is quirky and enjoyable read! I love how Colleen Oakley wrote so many amazing characters and the bonus character which is the island! I loved this island and the people on it. I mean the whole island went along with pretending Piper’s beloved Tom is alive and well!
This was really an amazing book. I loved everything about it. It was sweet and relatable and just an amazing escape!

Anders has been dumped by his girlfriend. He's living in a run down apartment with a mattress on the floor and cockroaches. He's got a podcast but the only person who reads it is his step dad. He's a journalist who thought he'd be covering bigger stories by now. He's latest assignment is a cake walk on Frick Island. After a rain storm cancels the cake walk he ends up in the local diner where he meets some of the locals. One local really catches his eye. Anders is immediately drawn to Piper. When he finally gets the courage to go talk to her she tells him she is eating with her husband - but yet he is nowhere in sight. After embarrassing himself he can't wait to get back to the main land.

Piper is well loved on the island. The other islanders are very protective of her. When her husband, Tom, goes missing in a storm while boating. He is presumed dead. After a few days of grieving she leaves her home in her normal chipper mood. She heads to her job at the Bed and Breakfast and during her shift makes a comment that Tom isn't snoring anymore. At the end of the shift she grabs a breakfast to bring home to him. Mrs. Olecki is stunned but goes along with it. Soon the whole island is acting as though Tom is still right there with them.

When Anders receives an anonymous email telling him he's missed the real story on Frick Island he decides to head back over to Frick Island and dig for more of a story. First he has to find a local willing to talk and he struggles to figure out what the real story is. It would be great if he could find something here that could escalate his podcast audience.

I really enjoyed the The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. I really liked all the characters and how all their stories unfolded. The story had a good amount of mystery and unraveled with many surprises. I haven't read any other Colleen Oakley books but when I checked my Goodreads account I saw that I had marked other books of hers as ones I would like to read. Definitely check out this book and some of her other novels.

Quirky & charming!

Frick Island was a charming setting and one that I think anybody from a small town will relate to. A place where everybody knows everybody’s business and where the bonds are as strong as a family. With characters that were very relatable and a plot that moved at an engaging pace, I think Frick Island will be a place many will enjoy spending time. 4 stars.

A woman's refusal to give up her dead husband - and the island that goes along with it - is the subject of a journalist's fascination.

Anders is working for a small newspaper and writing fluff pieces and is bored with it. He wants to do podcasting and during an assignment for a cake walk, he finds the small island would be perfect for his podcast - addressing climate change and the shrinking of the island.

Once there however, he meets Piper, the hometown beauty who married a fisherman who may have died in a boating accident. She carries on as if he still there, and amazingly, so does the rest of the town! While Anders becomes consumed with Piper and starts telling her story, his. career may take off, but what will that attention do to the town and Piper?

There's plenty of sweetness, laughter and tears to this unconventional love story.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is a fictional island based on an actual island, Smith Island, smack dab in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Colleen Oakley creates an enjoyable cast of characters living on this island along with a reporter from the mainland.

Can you imagine if a woman became a widow on such a small island and then she pretended her husband was still alive. And what if the entire island went along with it?

Anders, a reporter from the mainland, comes to write a story about the annual cake walk on Frick Island and discovers this bizarre story...a cute story ensues.

I really loved this one. The characters are sweet and relatable. Though, Anders does get himself in a sticky situation, but that makes him all the more human and realistic.

Here's a charming tale about a young woman who may or may not be insane and the borderline crazy inhabitants of an isolated village who envelope her with their love by playing along with her delusions. An curious reporter can spell nothing but trouble for this quirky community. While he initially comes to do a piece on an annual cake walk, it doesn't take long for him to discern that there are bigger stories like the controversial cell tower which will link the island with the outside world and, according to some inhabitants, cause them all to die from cancer. -Or the threat of climate change completing wiping out the island within a few short years. More pressingly, how crazy is the young widow? Is her water-man husband truly dead? Was he murdered? All these questions and more keep our reporter confused, fixated, and coming back to delve deeper into island life. Oakley has written an engaging tale that will keep readers guessing and smiling.

When you pick a book about a grieving widow on a dying island as a palate cleanser, you know you’ve been reading some dark material.

With recent reads like Shuggie Bain and Filthy Animals, both of which are amazing, by the way, I needed something that didn’t leave me feeling gut punched. Thank you, Colleen Oakley, for bringing a little sweetness to my bedside table with “The Invisible Husband of Frick Island.”

Out this May and just in time for summer reading plans comes the tale of Anders and Piper — one a local newspaper reporter looking for that one big story and the other a recent widow that hasn’t quite come to terms with the loss.

The easy thing is to call this a love story between two people but for me, this is really a love story with a lifestyle. Or about finding yourself in the last place you’d think to look.

Anders spent his childhood falling in love with the newspaper business — the Hollywood version of it, at least. Now out of school and working at a very small, local paper, covering community-sponsored cake walks wasn’t exactly the type of scoop he’d be writing about. But that small town newspaper assignment got him on the path he was destined to travel and landed him on Frick Island, a step back in time (Almost no internet! No alcohol! No one locks their doors at night!) and home to Piper, the widow of a water man, and herself a staunch ecological conservationist.

For fear of giving too much away, there’s not a lot I can say about Piper except this —she’s not crazy. No one on the island is, really. It’s just that Frick Island has but a few years left unless someone can bring enough attention to the climate change issue to make a difference and gee, if only someone would write, or maybe even podcast about it, well ….

“The Invisible Husband of Frick Island” is a mystery wrapped in a romance in a place where everyone knows everyone’s business. Which is what makes a mystery so difficult to pull off. I know it’s going to take some effort post-pandemic for me to embrace large crowds and lots of noise (a Saturday afternoon on Southport Ave. was jarring to the senses …) so I might have a little more affection for a sleepy, East Coast strip with a single restaurant and general store than the next reader, but to me it just kind of sounds like nirvana.

I’m rooting for Anders and Piper. I’m rooting for Frick Island. If you’re are looking for something wholesome, heartwarming and kind to its core, don’t pass this up.

Colleen Oakley writes the most incredible characters! Piper lives on Frick Island. A tiny little island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The island has 94 people living on it, small town at its finest! Piper's husband is a crabber and his boat goes down in a storm. Piper goes on like Tom is still alive. The townspeople go along with Piper's delusion as they love her and don't want to cause her any more pain.
Anders is a newspaper reporter and he is sent to the Frick Island for a story about their famous cake. While there her realizes the entire town pretends to see Tom for Piper's sake. As he goes back to Frick Island every weekend for stories for his podcast, Anders falls in love with Frick Island and its people.
This was a beautifully written story of love, family, friends, and grief. I loved the descriptions of Frick Island and I thought I was truly there. I truly didn't want this book to end as I loved it!
I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Quirky story of an island’s few residents pretending a man is still alive for his widow and a journalist longing for recognition telling the story on a podcast. Mostly a madcap race to keep the islanders from knowing about the podcast without exploration of the characters motivations.

Anders Caldwell had dreams of being Clark Kent-- not Superman. He wanted to be a big shot journalist, but nothing seems to be going his way. But when he's sent out to Frick Island to cover the annual Cake Walk, he stumbles on a much juicier story. Piper Parrish is going out on dates with her husband, seeing him off to go crabbing, and cooking for him. Which isn't newsworthy, except that her husband disappeared when his boat capsized. She's carrying on with her married life with an invisible husband and the whole town is playing along. 

Anders sees this as his big chance and launches a podcast about the island and Piper's story. But, as in all good stories, things aren't always what they seem. I loved this easy read that took me on an escape to the Chesapeake Bay and immersed me with a cast of quirky, lovable characters.

I hated the main guy. He dreams of being a reporter who specializes in human interest stories. After going to Frick Island for a story about a literal cake walk, he decides to do a podcast on how the residents feel about climate change causing their island to sink. They aren't receptive to this, so he finds another story in a recently widowed woman. To cope with her grief, she pretends that her husband isn't dead, and the people pretend along with her.

The main male character is selfish. He's publicizing a woman's grieving process to the world without her permission. And he's the romantic interest, which means that she'll forgive him. This isn't a spoiler because it's very obvious. I wouldn't because who knows what happens when he finds another story that might hurt someone to tell?

I was able to get through the book because the people of Frick Island are charming. They're busybodies stuck in their ways, but there's a charm to them. It's hard to blame them for not liking outsiders since the first one in a while decides to use them to further his career.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Piper has lost her husband, but she is acting like he's still around. The whole community on Frick Island is going along with pretending with her. Anders is a journalist who decides to make a podcast about it. He tells the residents that he is researching climate change, but really he is intrigued by Piper. I loved the quirky characters in this story! I love how the book talks about climate change while also being a story about loss and finding new love. Colleen Oakley is a favorite of mine and this one is great!

Super fun...at first you think you know were the story is going, and then it zings to a weird spot. Then maybe you have it figured out...but no, it twists again! Had to finish in one read!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is a charming, lighthearted book full of quirky characters. There are two main characters, but let's start with Anders, who will introduce us to Frick Island. Anders’ goal in life is to be Clark Kent. Not Superman, but Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter fighting for truth and justice. Unfortunately, he has just started his career and is more like the cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen, but a bit more nerdish. He has a cowlick in his hair that will never stay down, dresses in white button-down shirts and lives alone in an apartment furnished with a table, chair and a mattress on the floor. He receives an assignment covering the annual cake walk on Frick Island, which is where he will meet Piper Parrish.

Piper is one of the 90-odd residents living on Frick Island, a tiny, remote island in the Chesapeake Bay. There are a few weekenders that visit the island in the summer months to get away from it all as the island does not serve alcohol, has no cell service and the only internet connection is through one computer. The main source of the islanders’ income is fishing, and Piper’s husband, Tom, carries on his family’s tradition of fishing. Unfortunately, one day there is a storm, Tom’s boat is sunk, and his body is never found. Piper never comes to terms with his death, and behaves as if Tom were still alive, and the whole town goes along with her delusion. Piper walks Tom to the dock each morning, meets his boat when it comes in, goes out to dinner with Tom and carries on conversations with him. Out of love for Piper and her fragile state, no one on the island disputes her belief that Tom is still alive.

Piper and Tom are having dinner at The Angry Crab, the only restaurant on Frick Island. Anders is there also and, at first glance, Anders is smitten with Piper. When he works up the gumption to ask if Piper would join him for dinner, she rebufffs him, informing him she is there with her husband. Using his investigative skills, Anders learns that the whole town is going along with Piper’s delusion. Anders sees this story as one that people will be interested in, and he begins a podcast, What the Frick? While the islanders believe his podcast is about climate change, it is actually about the people on the island, Piper in particular. Anders begins spending weekends on the island, and he and Piper become closer. As the podcast gains popularity, though, his duplicity begins to spiral out of control. And when a cell tower is close to being built on the island, Anders realizes the town will soon learn the truth of his podcast, and not take kindly to having their secrets exposed to the world.

But as I said, this is a lighthearted book, and there is a fairy tale ending!

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Anders is not thrilled when his office sends him to Frick Island for a story. He doesn’t love boats, and the cake walk seems less than newsworthy. When he returns home to an email telling him he missed the main story on the island however, Anders knows he needs to go back. He then meets Piper, perfect in every way, except she is married. However, her husband is dead? But she still talks to him? As does everyone else in town? If this the story Anders needs to explore?

Colleen is the Queen of odd and abnormal romances! I freaking love it! My heart just broke for Piper as she faced the loss of her husband and continued to act like he was right there with her. I just wanted to reach through the pages and give her the biggest hug! At the same time, I felt for Anders as he tried to make his place in the world, and I cringed every time he checked his apartment for roaches when turning on the lights! I went to college in Georgia and those bugs are NO JOKE! I loved learning more about Frick Island and the amazing cast of characters that lived there, what a fun place to live! I was also cheering for Piper and Anders to get together the entire time…though I did want him to just be honest with her as well! Not going to lie, I kind of want to go live on Frick Island for a few months at least! I feel like it would be such a nice break from everything! If you have loved Colleen’s books in the past, preorder this one now!!