I will begin with saying this: I think Silver's writing is the best in this one out of her three published works. It truly hits you emotionally in a way that Lydia Bird wanted to, and One Day had but not in a fully fleshed out form. We really see an in depth look into the minds of Cleo and Mack and I think the premise of this whole book is interesting as well: a chance encounter, thanks to a mishap in booking. I LOVED Cleo in this book, she was a true relatable character to almost every woman in her thirties who are figuring life out and think they have it altogether but upon further review, do not.
What I couldn't vibe with as much: Mack and his timeline. He went back and forth about his family, if he was still in love with his ex-wife, the craziness that unfurls with that (that I truly didn't vibe with!) and the fact that he treated everything like it was finite. It was truly a rollercoaster of emotions that a part of me didn't know if I wanted, but also came sort of expected if you've read any of Josie Silver's previous books.
In short, I would recommend it for the true exquisiteness of the writing but forewarn it may or may not make you feel confused and or angry.

“Life is the stuff that happens in the cracks between your plans and expectations.”

Let me start by saying this book is heartbreakingly beautiful. The writing is absolutely transcendent. The book takes us to this small island off the coast of Ireland and paints this crystal clear picture that will have you hearing brogues and feeling the icy wind on your cheeks. The main characters - Mack and Cleo - are so well developed. Josie Silver writes them in a way that you absolutely understand their motivations, their wounding, and their choices. Individually they both have these sweeping, redemptive story arcs that I loved so much. The supporting characters are lovely additions, but the island, Cleo and Mack really steal the show.

This book is really not a romance. So if you’re looking for many of the elements of contemporary romance you won’t find them. Yes, Cleo and Mack have a romantic relationship, despite the fact that Mack is only separated from his wife and their status is unclear for much of the book. For literally 30% of the book, the two characters don’t even speak to on another outside the occasional text. If there wasn’t this love triangle element, the book would have easily earned five stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

This was my first Josie Silver book, and it won't be my last. It was a sweet, emotional story with a unique setting. I loved the themes of kindred spirits (in both romance and friendship) and self-discovery. The writing was perfectly descriptive, and the characters were clearly developed. I can't wait to read more from the author!

One Night on the Island had me captivated from the beginning and never let me go until the end. Just so many emotions are felt while reading this beautiful story.
Told in duel POV……Cleo has come to Salvation Island on a writing assignment about turning the big 30. She has a special check list she wants to get through. Mack is on Salvation Island to connect with his roots and figure out his marriage problems. With a mix up in lodging, the fun begins.
If you want a book that will make you laugh, cry and get all the feels….you need to read One Night on the Island.
Cleo, Mack and all the supporting characters are charming, quirky and special people.
This is a romance story that I highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and author, Josie Silver, for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions express are solely my own.

Cleo and Mack unexpectedly and reluctantly find themselves sharing a small cabin on a remote island in Ireland. Cleo is a burned out Londoner columnist who writes about the pitfalls of searching for true love. She's on the island on assignment for a schticky "self-coupling" ceremony where she'll pledge to forever love and cherish herself. Mack is an American photographer seeking a return to his ancestral roots on the island, reeling from his wife dissolving their marriage. Mack and Cleo will have unexpected impacts on one another's lives.

One Night on the Island is not just about Mack and Cleo as a couple, but also as individuals at crossroads finding their way forward on their own paths. I love how Josie Silver's stories are always something a little outside the norm, featuring imperfect people and complicated situations. I found myself wholly invested in Mack and Cleo and loved the charming island setting.

A sweet, steamy, and satisfying escape.

Thank you so much @PenguinRandomHouse & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 15 February 2022)

SYNOPSIS | Cleo has been on the hunt for her dream guy & has written about her adventures in a popular British magazine. As she is turning 30 soon she realizes that she doesn't want to actively hunt out her dream guy anymore. Her boss books her into a little house on a remote island to process her thoughts & maybe marry herself whilst she is there.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the small town vibes
- that the author takes really complicated situations & tries to provide the characters with the most realistic resolutions

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- it was too much of a quiet romance for me (I want to feel the sparks & chemistry)
- the main love interest isn't actually available & is in fact married (albeit estranged)
- this didn't deliver what I wanted for the whole "only one bed" trope
- I feel like the core message was very heavy handed & kind of shoved at me consistently throughout the book

I was introduced to Josie Silver‘s books last year and was hooked! So I was super happy to get to read her newest book One Night on the Island. My favorite part of this book was the lovely, charming, and interesting Irish neighbors who are the secondary characters in the story. They remind me of my friends and family who I’ve visited many times in Ireland. Sidenote – a rainy Irish island is completely my aesthetic.
One Night on the Island had two very likable characters who are dealing with midlife struggles while trying to be the best version of themselves. However I didn’t love Cleo harping on her fear of turning 30 and not being settled with marriage and children. I think that’s a really outdated way of looking at womanhood, marriage, and family.
I enjoyed this slow burn and unique love story but this just wasn’t one of my favorites. I still love Josie Silver and will read everything she writes but this just didn’t hit the mark for me.


Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

One Night on the Island is my first Josie Silver book and most definitely not my last. It was a cross between Women's fiction and romance because so much of the book was about self-discovery for the heroine (although it was told in dual POV).

From the very start I was drawn in by the enemies to lovers banter then there was forced proximity (only one cabin) making it all that much better. My only gripe with the book is that Mack is from Boston and yet some of the things he says or the way he says them felt like it was British English and not American English (does that make sense?). Cleo is from London and her speaking style was clear but there were just some things that Mack says that made me feel like the author didn't emphasize his American roots. Either way that was not a deal breaker and I loved the entire story and the characters. I love that Cleo was a writer and that there are lots of pages describing her process and what it is like when inspiration hits. I also loved that the author did not just wrap up their romance in a neat little bow but instead turned it into a slow burn and left all the messy real life stuff in there.

I will read anything that Josie Silver puts out - her writing, storytelling, and character building is incredible. With that said, this book started out very strong for me. I absolutely could not put this book down in the beginning, then the middle happened and it was just too slow for me to continue reading at such a quick pace. It took me almost two weeks to finish this book but the payoff was worth it. The end brought me out of my slump and added a star to my rating. I was just never really able to connect to the chemistry in this book and could not, to put it nicely, STAND Cleo. I went into this thinking it would be a love story, but it felt more like a story on life. Overall, an okay read with the perfect atmosphere/setting.

I’m normally a huge fan of Josie Silver, but for some reason, ONE NIGHT ON THE ISLAND just didn’t do it for me. This is a book I think could be recommended for older readers. It's sweet, has real life scenarios, and, is surface level when it comes to plot. This isn’t a bad thing, yet it just isn’t what I wanted at the time of reading. It is a classic JS story, but it is my least favorite of her releases so far. If you want a quiet romance, this is for you.

Josie Silver’s One Night on the Island: it’s complicated. This enemies-to-lovers tale is most satisfying when it tackles complex issues, and most annoying when it resolves those issues in ways that seem clichéd and simplistic. This is a tough book to rate, as it has a lot of positives, and some significant negatives – but all that makes for great discussion, right? First, the positives:
• The alternating perspective format (Mack and Cleo) is executed as well as in any book I’ve read recently.
• The novel is well-paced, even a bit of a page-turner as we follow the enemy-to-friends-to-lovers plot.
• Cleo’s drive to find herself (self-coupling) before finding a significant other is a shout-out to women’s self-determination and independence, and this book makes it a central theme in a romance novel.
• There is a wonderful cast of secondary characters (Delta and Dolores, Raff, Brianne)
• The setting is beautiful and immersive.
• The “three things” game at night. It’s wonderful.
And then there are the negatives:
• Is Mack too good to be real? He’s a devoted father, a monogamous guy who loves his wife.
• Or is Mack a double-talker who isn’t yet divorced, yet becomes emotionally involved with another woman anyway? And then (no spoilers) the end of the novel and Mack's choices? Hmm hmmm.
• And speaking of the end of the novel, is it believable or just another fantasy women tell themselves – that they can have it all? (again, I’ve left out details that would contain spoilers).
Final thoughts: One Night on the Island is an atmospheric and engrossing read, even if it’s not a perfect book.

“You’ll be a legend in my head forever.”

Cleo is a dating columnist in London with no luck in love. Rather than spend her thirtieth birthday alone her boss sends her on a "self-coupling quasi-sabbatical" to a remote Irish island. The peace and quiet is quickly interrupted when she realizes her cabin has been double booked and now she has to share it with Mac, a surly father of two from Boston, until the next ferry arrives in a week.

Cheeky would be the best way to describe this book. Cleo is delightfully British and quirky and I just love her. But she also has a way with words that'll make you cry. Mack, on the other hand, is closed off at first until the island and Cleo force him to open up in a way no one expects. They’re both there to work on themselves but instead, they find each other.

This book has many great things about it
-one cabin, one bedroom, ONE BED
-forced proximity
-caring, nosy, sassy, off the grid townspeople
-lack of cell service

This book will make you laugh as much as it makes you cry and think about life. Mack and Cleo have a romance that is life-changing in a bittersweet, beautiful kind of way.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Harlequin Junkie Recommends!

What was supposed to be a working island vacation for two people from drastically different parts of the world ends up being the catalyst for major life changes in One Night on the Island, Josie Silver's latest charmer of a novel.

What do you get when you take a photographer from Boston who is in the middle of a messy family crisis and a writer from London who is unhappy with where her life is headed and put them in a double-booked island lodge? Romantic chaos at its finest. Along with that, author Josie Silver managed to weave the adoringly eccentric islanders (love them!!) into Mack and Cleo's stressful situation, adding some levity as well as some sage advice that turned the tables for them both while keeping their feet firmly on the ground.

I truly enjoyed Silver's evocative, almost poetic, prose that vividly described everything from Salvation Island itself to the myriad emotions Cleo and Mack felt. It was smart and lively, witty without being pretentious, and made for a lovely reading experience. It also felt like Silver captured each important moment while Mack and Cleo sorted their lives out in a way that was genuine and relatable. I won't get into specifics about their issues--that was an important part of the story, with both of them giving clues here and there as they went from almost-enemies to roommates. But the fallout of their co-lodging was felt far and wide. And what started off rocky between Cleo and Mack turned into a profound relationship that was tender, fun, all-consuming, and seemingly not meant to be.

So I do want to caution that while this was basically a happy-for-now ending, it was not what most romance readers would think of as traditional. But it worked for Mack, Cleo, and where they were in their lives at that time. Oh...and that final scene will definitely leave you with a smile!

With a lovable small-town Irish setting, sweet humor, and spark-filled chemistry, this new romance has that same bittersweet edge and classic charm that Silver brings to all her stories, and I couldn’t help but have a little bit of wanderlust.

Overall, I loved the feel of this book! I thought the isolated island setting brought so much to the story. It gave room for the characters to be inspired, challenged, fall in love and more importantly, grow. It also offered a forced proximity for the couple to simmer in their romantic tension and longing, and I was here for it!

Besides there being points where the story was a little on the slower side, I thought it was a sweet journey through realistic struggles and self-discovery. I also adored that they were both creatives who found inspiration in this unexpected adventure!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

What an emotional ringer of a contemporary romance. I seriously wasn't sure how this one was going to turn out. Silver left me in suspense until the final pages!

Cleo is a British magazine writer who rents a cabin on a remote British island to "marry herself" and sort through her emotional issues for her 30th birthday and write a column about it.

Mack is a recently separated American photographer escaping to his cousin's cabin on the same island to photograph his family's ancestral village, give his ex-space and work through his divorce issues.

Guess what? They both book the same cabin for the same dates and there is NO other place to stay ANYWHERE on the whole island. Note to self: Build an Inn on Salvation Island and make a killing!

Forced proximity + Enemies-to-Lovers = "Holiday Romance," or as they call it, "Micro-Love". Parts of this book were really engrossing (Cleo & Mack's scenes together), others were slow and boring so I skimmed them (anything to do with Mack's wife/father, Cleo's marrying herself ceremony, the other people on the island -especially the knitting club, and I'm a knitter).

I'm on the fence on whether I even liked this book or not. It had beautiful moments and insight, but the heavy drama and emotional baggage weighed the romance down too much for me. Even I feel guilty they fell in love. This just proves I'm not ready to move on from historical romances just yet. Contemporary chick lit, just falls flat for me.

✨ One Night on the Island ✨ by Josie Silver

This book hooked me from the very beginning! It quickly turned into one of those stories you want to read as fast as possible to find out what happens, but you also want to pace yourself to truly appreciate Josie Silver's beautiful writing. 🥰

There are so many things I loved about this book, but I'll whittle it down to just three main reasons:

1 - The imagery in this book was on point, and you really get a real sense of what Salvation Island looks like. I want to sit on the front porch of Otter Lodge with my coffee in the morning and whiskey in the evening while I watch the stars. I want to drink one of Barney's French 75s in the pub during a quiz night. I want to hike Wailing Hill whenever I need a break to look at my phone.

2 - The story is told from two points of view - our main characters, Cleo and Mack. Cleo is a writer, and Mack is a photographer. It was interesting to get both points of view because both characters were observant and descriptive in their own ways.

3 - The Characters! Omigosh, the characters in this book were wonderful! It was easy to fall in love with Cleo and Mack, both strong-willed characters who set out on their own, unique missions. It was just as easy to love the welcoming Salvation Island community. Raff served only Guinness beer in his pub but was always ready with a refill once Mack drained his first glass. The local women's weekly knitting club was always prepared to offer an ear to Cleo. Delta waved Cleo and Mack over to join the quiz team in the over-stuffed pub, scooting everyone around to make room.

3a - The raw emotions that connected you to the characters. Cleo was dealing with finding herself and feeling comfortable with who she was as a person. Mack was coping with the separation from his wife and being away from his kids. Neither emotional obstacle is easy to navigate. I think it's lovely they found each other, even if it is just a story.

3b - You'll see why there's a 3a and a 3b if you read the book. You won't regret it. 😉

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Josie Silver for an advanced copy of One Night on the Island in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved it!

What do I have to do to get my job to pay me for 50 days on a remote island?? Cleo writes a dating column about finding her true love, which has never gone wrong as a plot point for me. To celebrate her 30th birthday, Cleo’s magazine sends her to a remote island to marry herself as a symbol of not needing a man to be happy. But when she arrives there’s someone else in her cabin, and only one bed!

The setting of One Night On The Island couldn’t be more perfect. I love small towns and remote islands, and the rainy, blustery Irish weather couldn’t be more perfect to set the scene. As a displaced Bostonian, I enjoyed the references to the Hancock tower, although I couldn’t figure out where Mac’s family lived.

At first I thought the whole “marrying yourself” thing was a little woo-woo and definitely not something I’d ever do, but I loved the themes of self-love that the story focused on. I enjoyed seeing Cleo’s growth as a person and realization that she wasn’t happy with her fast-paced life in London.

I loved the knitting circle and how they took Cleo into their group without question.

One Night On The Island is chock full of wise revelations about life and love, and I would definitely recommend picking up a copy.

Thank you Random House for the gifted copy of this book.

OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK! It gave me all the feels and now I need this Island to exist because I want to go there and be friends with these people.

Cleo is about to turn 30 and having a tough time with the thought of that. She is still single and "looking for her flamingo" which is also the dating column she writes for a popular web magazine. Her boss comes up with the idea to send Cleo to this remote island to "marry herself" for her birthday. When Cleo arrives, she finds out that the lodge that is supposed to be hers is also set to be occupied by Mack - a photographer from Boston. What starts out as a rivalry of who will leave first turns into an enemies to lovers story that will break you apart and then put you back together at the end.

Not only did I love Cleo and Mack, but I loved the island and all of the residents. The knitting circle was amazing, and I want to take up knitting and find my own now. I loved how welcoming they all were to Cleo and kind of took her in as one of their own.

ALL the stars for this book.

Cleo lives in London and writes a SATC-type column about looking for her “flamingo,” but as she approaches her 30th birthday, she (with a very big push from her boss) decides to take a long trip to a remote Irish island (called Salvation) to “self-couple” a la Emma Watson.

Mack is in need of some time away from his life in Boston, and family ties to Salvation bring him to the island for some soul-searching.

A mix-up with their bookings has Cleo and Mack sharing a one-bedroom lodge with no other options for a place to stay and no way to get off the island until the next ferry comes in a week. The two do not hit it off, but (as you can imagine) as the week goes on, all that time spent in close proximity starts to change things.

The way this book started, I thought I was reading a classic enemies-to-lovers / stuck together romance novel. And then! It became so much more than that. This IS a romance novel, but it’s also a story of self-discovery and of creating your own definition of “home.” And it’s a wonderful way to escape to a beautiful island in Ireland without leaving the comfort of your own home!

I quite loved this book. ⁣
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I went back and forth between listening to the gifted audio by @prhaudio which was immaculately done and reading the e-ARC, thank you!⁣
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This was such a heartfelt story that was a bit of a slow burn in the beginning but grew to be this wholesome cozy blanket that just wrapped up your heart and filled you with warmth. ⁣
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I absolutely loved the growth in Cleo, how brave she was to finally take her life by the reigns and just do what made her happy. ⁣
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It was such a beautiful story of self discovery and self love, creating true friendships amongst women and finding love, but it not being the end all be all that the world makes it out to me.⁣
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Mack’s love for his children was wonderful, but there were times I wished he’d just allow himself to be happy. I don’t have children to say you shouldn’t sacrifice everything for them, but I’m such an advocate for needing to put yourself first sometimes, to take care of yourself, so you can be your best self for those who need you and look up to you. ⁣
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I absolutely loved the description of the island. It made me want to be on the top of the boulder screaming out toward the sea. ⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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