So many thoughts on this one... I wanted to love it, but I didn't quite get there. It was an enjoyable read - frustrating characters at times - but I just couldn't get behind the facade.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island

Rating: 5/5

There is no internet service on Frick Island and it’s inhabitants prefer it that way. Stuck forever between an attitude of “from here”
Locals and “come here” visitors, Frick Island sees no reason to change.

Piper Parrish, a “come here” turn Frick Island local is happily married. She spends her days at the ecology center or helping out around town before she comes home to her husband, Tom. Except, Tom died six months ago.

Anders is a small time reporter looking for a story that will help capture the attention of the dad who isn’t in his life. When his beat brings him to Frick Island to cover the annual cake festival he stumbles along Piper and Tom. What starts as a story of a widow in grief spans the tale of an island that can either change to meet new challenges, or lose the only place they call home.

This was such a great read - I loved Anders and Piper, and the podcast angle was fun! It was such an interesting take and would highly recommend anyone looking for a different beach read this summer.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for the ARC!

Read if you like:
+ Podcast Journalism
+ Unsolved Mysteries
+ Americana genre

I'm always a fan of Colleen Oakley. This was a sweet book and I definitely have library patrons who enjoy gentle reads to recommend her latest book. Love the island setting.

A truly delightful book from start to finish. When Piper loses her husband and then begins acting as if he's returned to her, the entire island responds by acting as if they see him too. This is a story of loss, grief, friendship and pure love. And I loved the story.

Oh gosh what’s charming book. First Colleen Oakley can do no wrong in my eyes. I was completely intrigued by our heroine and somewhat wary of our hero, but the plot and story was very unexpected and surprising and I couldn’t have loved it more.

You will want to hop a ferry to this island soon! Loved being transported to Frick Island. Oakley’s setting is the background for a wonderful read with layers of mystery, comedy, romance, and loss shared among her great characters. This is the first book I have read of Colleen Oakley’s and I will now be reading her others. I enjoyed the charm of this story, the inventive plot and interesting characters. A great summer time….a great anytime read!

Perfect mystery summer read! Characters were mysterious and had varied personalities. Island description made me want to travel and explore the entire ar area. Wish this was a place to visit and stay for a bit.

Absolutely loved the writing on this book. Such a charming little island with such creative people populating it. Loved the characters and the premise!

Colleen you have stolen my heart again. Piper and the islanders of Frick Island felt like real people and the story had me completely engaged. It’s a unique and wonderful love letter to small towns, community, grief, family and traditions. I’d love to visit the real Smith Island and definitely need some What The Frick merchandise!

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for gifting me a copy of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island! {partner}

Genre: Romance
Trope: Soul mate?
Pub Date: 5.25.21
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

“Living, in itself, is a risk, with only one guaranteed outcome. And we get up each day, and we make our toast and kiss our spouses or kids for parents or cats or dogs and go to work or school and come home to yet another pile of laundry. We do all of these things with no guarantee that we’ll make it through the day. See the sun come up the next morning.”

It’s no secret that this has been one of my most anticipated releases for 2021. I read the synopsis last year, added it to my wishlist, and counted down the minutes until its release. I loved this book. But I loved it for different reasons than I thought would — it was not what I anticipated but I still savored the storyline.

🏝 Small seaside town (or really island town)
🤩 Wasn’t only a romance
🌎 Drew attention to global warming & its impacts on our coasts/island
💚 Mental Health
🤣 Laugh-out-Loud moments
💔 Heartfelt moments
💪🏼 An ending that I appreciated

The entire time I read Frick Island, I kept thinking about how I would love to live in a small town like this, and I wish a place like this existed. Then I read the author’s note that said she based this book on a small island called Smith Island! I love reading an author's note for this exact reason, their final thoughts often shine so much light on the story and make me appreciate their work even more.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4. This was definitely an interesting book that packed a few surprises I was not expecting. I enjoyed the writing for the most part, at some points I did find myself a little bored, particularly in the middle and I didn't connect with characters all that much to be honest. But other than that, I enjoyed the premise, the brief attention to mental illness and mental breaks. I found Frick Island to be charming if not a little secretive and old fashioned, maybe too secretive at times.

I liked Piper at first and she seemed so lovely and innocent but the reveal towards the end put me off her. I don't know, there is a lot to this book and I did like it but at times I didn't like it, if that makes sense.

This story is a heartwarming combination of a unique premise and quirky characters set amidst a small remote island community. When Piper loses her husband in a boating accident but his body is not recovered, she carries on like he is still there talking to him and about him. The small island community does the same acknowledging and greeting Tom even though he is deceased and not visible.
Anders is a reporter who travels to Frick island to cover their annual cake walk. While there, he discovers that this island that time has forgotten is faced with obliteration from climate change, encroaching technology with the soon to be built cell tower and a community which talks and acts like a dead man is alive and living amongst them. Intrigued by this community, he creates a podcast called What the Frick? where he discusses what he observes on his visits to the island.
The inventive storyline dealt with themes of bereavement, love, grief and the importance of community. Although it dealt with the difficult subject of loss and its impact, one was left with a sweet and hopeful ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unexpected gem!

I must admit that first up I wasn’t sure if I’d actually continue with this. What a mistake that would have been! The road not travelled would have missed out on a delightful, quirky tale with serious undertones.
Anders Caldwell, a journalist who dreams of being Clark Kent (as in super newsman) gets to cover the social activities of the community of Frick Island, in Chesapeake Bay. In that role he goes to the island for their annual Frick Island Cake Walk festival. The island is a place that does not ‘do internet.’ There’s a gaggle of interesting characters that kept me entertained, including of course Anders. This is where he meets Piper Parrish. Piper is a widow who doesn’t seem to realize she is. In fact she takes walks with her husband Tom, talks to him, cooks for him and the whole town says hello to him when they’re out together.
Anders is fascinated by the island and includes it in his podcast. His reader numbers are low, even lower if you take out his dad! When a stranger posts that Anders has “missed the biggest story out here. For a reporter you’re not very observant,” Anders is hooked. He returns to the island over the coming weeks. He becomes further interested in that the island is disappearing due to climate change. He starts a new serial in his podcast “WHAT THE FRICK? It garnishes major attention. He continues to pursue the “biggest” story. Piper becomes his draw card.
There’s some hilarious moments as Anders embeds himself into the community. He’s always missing that ferry! And those insects!
Heartwarming and heartbreaking this was one road I’m glad I travelled down.
Warm, empathetic, expressing communal love and acceptance in trying times.

A Berkley Publishing Group ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

On a small island in the Chesapeake Bay, life is not as modern as the mainland. No Internet, no alcohol, but a close knit community exists amongst the small population of Frick Island. Piper’s husband is assumed dead from a boating accident, but unable to accept this, she continues to talk to him, and acts as if he is still alive. The entire town goes along with Piper, protective of her particularly when Anders comes to the island asking questions and probing for his podcast, while lying the podcast is about the threat of climate change to the island. This is a unique and quirky book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both Piper and Anders are appealing and sympathetic. Recommended, and thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

🏝On Frick Island you are either a “Come Here” or a “From Here”, and as soon as you start reading this book, you know you are definitely not a “From Here”! I loved this book! It was a completely unique and heartwarming story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel that was unlike anything I have ever read.
⠀
🐚The 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island has you interested the entirety of this book. I loved that even after I had finished the book, I still wasn’t 100% sure what had happened.
⠀
🏝The 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 in this story are wonderfully built. The whole island town supports and loves one woman so much that they are willing to ignore reality because that’s what she needs at that time.
⠀
🐚The 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 were perfect.
⠀
🏝I would definitely recommend this book!

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island caught me totally unprepared. I was thinking it would be a cute love story, but this was so much more. From the backward thinking islanders to the eco changes, to the developers, to the island inhabitants and tourists. I just loved everything about it. I laughed, I cried and I just fell in love with them all.

Colleen Oakley is the bestselling author of Before I Go, Close Enough to Touch, and You Were There, Too. As a teenager, she visited Smith Island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay with her grandparents. She "understood that the people who lived there, though they were Americans, experienced a very different existence from mine." Although she didn't yet know that she would be an author, she recognized that the island "would be the perfect setting for a story."

More than twenty years later, the idea of writing a book about a widow who thinks her husband is still alive and the whole town goes along with it" came to her. And she "knew exactly where it would take place: my own version of Smith Island." Like the fictional Frick Island that she created, Smith Island can only be reached by a ferry, climate change threatens the survival of the island, and it boasts a famous layer cake. Oakley returned to Smith Island to conduct research for The Invisible Husband of Frick Island and was warmly embraced by the residents. Although inspired by Smith Island, Frick Island is a fabrication born of Oakley's vivid imagination. And The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is an absolutely charming story set in that alluring locale, populated by eccentric and memorable characters.

Anders Caldwell grew up wanting to be Clark Kent. The dorky, clumsy reporter lives in a studio apartment in which he cannot get comfortable until he has inspected for cockroaches. He found three the day after he moved in, and there is nothing that he hates more than bugs. He hosts a podcast, but the only regular listener is his stepfather, who embarrassingly leaves comments commending him for his efforts. His editor has assigned him to write an article for the small newspaper where he works as a reporter about the annual Cake Walk on Frick Island. He wouldn't have to travel to the island, but he treats "each article as though it were a 1A feature, carrying on methodically in his research."

He learns that Frick Island is a mere 1.2-mile strip of land twelve miles off the eastern coast of Maryland, accessible only by ferries that run twice each day. Only 94 people live on the island, where the main profession is fishing. The town has one church, one general store/market, the Blue Point General Store, and one restaurant, the One-Eyed Crab. There are no street signs or police, and children no longer inhabit the schoolhouse. He takes the ferry, operated by Captain BobDan Gibbons, to the island to cover the event taking place in front of the Methodist church.

Seventeen days after the storm that claimed Tom's life, his widow, Piper returned to work at the bed-and-breakfast, shocking the proprietor, Mrs. Olecki. She told Mrs. Oleck that Tom hadn't snored at all the previous night and the silence was so unnerving that she couldn't sleep. Mrs. Olecki was certain she had misunderstood, but then Piper announced she was taking breakfast to Tom.

When Anders first encounters Piper, he asks her to join him at his table in the One-Eyed Crab. She promptly tells him that she is there with her husband, and when he asks Jeffrey, working at the bar, if she is married, he responds, "Depends on who you ask." He also observes islanders talking to Tom, calling "Morning!" to him. But there is no one next to Piper. When he returns to the newsroom, he discovers an email telling him, "You came all the way to Frick Island and missed the biggest story out here. For a reporter, you're not very observant." He performs more research and discovers that Tom's crab boat capsized in a storm and he drowned, but his body was not recovered. And Frick Island is going to disappear in eighty years because, as a result of climate change, the sea level is rising. Unless the citizens of Frick Island take evasive action, their home will literally cease to exist.

When Anders overhears a conversation during which some of the locals speculate that Tom's death wasn't an accident, he realizes that he did, indeed, miss the biggest story on the island. He resolves to investigate the strange case of the invisible husband that the residents seem to converse with, and his grieving widow who appears to have lost her grip on reality. And make it the subject of his podcast. But he leads the locals to believe that he is investigating climate change and the impact it will have on the island. And Jeffrey suggests that he speak to none other than Piper about that because she is knowledgeable about the subject.

Oakley's characters spring to life from the page, especially Anders who is awkward, hapless, and absolutely stunned when his podcast becomes a success. Piper is a lovely young woman who grew up on the island and remained there because Tom was the love of her life, and he took over the family business after he lost his father. But there is much more to Piper than her friends and neighbors realize. And Oakley cleverly injects surprising plot twists and developments as she draws viewers into the day-to-day lives of the Frick Island residents, including BobDan, Mrs. Olecki, Lady Judy, Old Man Waverly, little Bobby, the only child living on the island, and the rest. Anders continues his research, convinced both that Piper has experienced a psychotic break and there is a mystery to be solved concerning the circumstances surrounding Tom's death.

No one is more surprised than Anders, however, when he becomes attached to the island, its earnest residents, and Piper herself. By then, however, he has ingratiated himself while returning home to record podcasts that he believes none of them will ever hear due to the fact that there is only one place on the island where the internet is available.

Oakley's story moves at a steady pace and is frequently hilarious as Anders is subjected to island activities, courtesy of Piper, much to the amusement of the town's quirky citizens. She convincingly illustrates how the locals come to trust Anders and welcome him into their little community, not realizing what he is really up to. And, of course, an unlikely romance develops between Anders and the lovely Piper. But can it endure?

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is a compelling story about a man who is, at the outset, focused on his own ambition, but gradually realizes that other things are far more important. What begins as a visit to an unusual place inhabited by people to whom he cannot relate -- oddities both -- develops into an understanding of and appreciation for what matters most to the people of Frick Island. Will Anders discover too late the real value of what he has stumbled upon? Can he redeem himself in the eyes of the community and, more importantly, Piper?

Mrs. Olecki tells Anders that no one remembers who was the first to wave to Tom after Piper began behaving as though he was still alive. But it doesn't really matter because "it broke something open in the town, and most people found that they enjoyed waving at Tom, talking to him. . . . And before anyone really knew what was happening -- even though they couldn't see him -- it was like Tom Parrish had never left."

The Invisible Island of Frick Island is entertaining and endearing. A clever and surprising mystery, it's a perfect tale in which to lose oneself for a bit. It is an insightful and creative exploration of the power of grief, the importance of community, and the value of honesty -- an uplifting and rare story infused with enchantment, magic, and, most importantly, hope.

This one was a quirky read I didn't expect to love as much as I did! Totally unique from most things I've read; a tiny bit comparable to The Scent Keeper to those who loved it and are familiar with it. I loved it and will be recommending to friends since I haven't heard much buzz about it.

Delightful, heartwarming, and all the feels!

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island was such a sweet, fun and quirky story that I just devoured. I absolutely adored this book and these characters!

Sometimes all you need is one good book to remind you why you read! This was that one for me! 💕🤎💕

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Colleen Oakley for the opportunity to read this fabulous book. It was an absolute pleasure!

A quirky novel about community and supporting those at a time when they need us the most. It’s about finding yourself in a unique situation as an outsider and wrestling with how to handle it. Knowing some people won’t be happy.