Member Reviews
This was just not the book for me. I ended up DNFing the book, but I know plenty of other people who loved it and read it, so not a bad book, but it just didn't do it for me.
Josie Silver is such a hit or miss author for me. One Day in December was cute, but left enough to be desired that it ranked only 3 stars, and I have yet to re-read it. Then she blew me out of the water with the Two Lives of Lydia Bird (instant 5 star, have re-read so many times, brought me to tears). So, I was cautiously excited going into this one -- I didn't want to get my hopes too high, but I was also secretly crossing my fingers for another Lydia Bird. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I'm a reader who tends to look for deeply emotional books (like the themes we got in Lydia Bird), and Cleo and Mac's story just didn't hit for me. I still think it's an adorable rom com that would make a great vacation read, and should be on your list this summer, however it was a miss for me. Fingers crossed for her next one!
Very sweet story of two people who get double booked for the same week at a charming country cottage. They both decide to stay, they make up some ground rules, and they end up learning a lot about each other and themselves in the process.
This was a solid read, not an OMG Amazing one. I've read significantly better this year, so I wasn't over the moon with the execution
One Night on the Island by Josie Silver is a laugh out loud rom-com set in a small cabin on a remote Irish island (read: no wi-fi)... that's been double booked. London romance blogger Cleo and American photographer Mack have to figure out how to share space without tripping over each other, both literally and figuratively, since there's nowhere else for them to go on Salvation Island. To further complicate matters, the ferry only runs weekly so they'll need a lot of patience and some creativity to make it through that week! Readers will enjoy their banter and chemistry and root for their relationship to have a happy ending - but living an ocean apart, will it? And just so readers are aware... the title is a bit misleading, in that it isn't one NIGHT on the island they have to withstand. Thanks so much to #NetGalley for the opportunity to preview #OneNightontheIsland by Josie Silver. I really enjoyed it!
Here’s the problem. I knew I wouldn’t like this book from the beginning because HE’S MARRIED. And he wants to be married. He still loves his wife. And yet this is supposed to be a romance….ugh. Im just so over books making infidelity and divorce so glamorized. I just can’t.
And here’s why. Because as the book goes on, I start (and am supposed to start) rooting for them….
BUT HE IS MARRIED!!!!!
And I’m not okay with that. Absolutely not okay.
And then, come to find out wifey still loves him too. And has second thoughts.
This is what people do in marriage way too often. They think it’s over without putting in the work. When I’m fact they could have worked it out. If neither of them had gone off in to other relationships.
So all the rest of the book, the sweet island and friends, his relationships with his kids, all of Kate for naught because he’s married and he should really be turning right around and going back to his wife.
Also, I don’t understand the title because it is WAY more than one night on the island.
I really wanted to like this book, I really really tried but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Cleo is turning 30 and goes off to this island to get away, work and find herself. Shes suppose to have this whole wedding ceremony thing between herself. I just turned 30 as well so I figured that I would be able to relate to her, the idea of feeling like there was something missing, that I'm not completely happy with where I am in my life and of wanting to do more, while feeling lost at the same time. And well yes I had all of that along side of her but I also found her to be so immature from the start, I get it the whole meeting was not planned but I mean come on lets be adults and not be so childish. She also complained so much for most part of the book that I found it so aggravating to read her parts. Mac also had his issues though, with his constant yearning for his kids. wanting to be with them but not being able to see them whenever he wanted. Of not wanting to let go of his relationship with his wife but I found it a bit strange that he traveled so far knowing that he would not be able to see his kids or even speak with them since the part of the Island that they are in has no signal.
Them getting together was a bit quick to me, I had the audiobook so I had to rewind it so that i could listen to it again because i felt so taken aback that out of nowhere they started to like each other. and I don't mean liking their personality and getting a long, but being romantic towards each other. some people might find this a bit mhmm wrong, since he was technically still married but I didn't really have too much issue with this since they were separated for a year, and she was already in a relationship.
It wasn't until they got together that Cleo changed, honestly she went from being such a complainer to a totally different character. I suppose that's meant to show her growth but at the same time it felt like I was reading about someone else. I did like that in the end she was able to figure out what she wanted to do with her life and that she was ok with having a more calm life
overall the story wasn't bad, it was good but it just wasn't for me
initial thoughts: really enjoyed this “soft romance” story. I wouldn't call this a "rom-com" as I've seen in other reviews, as it's not a "true" romance novel (i.e. the romance takes a back seat to Cleo's journey) and it's not a super funny book. (my kind of romance!)
this book is really about Cleo finding herself, and the setting was magical. my kind of place.
This was a witty fast paced story that had me laughing out loud and enjoying the character development. I’m a big fan of Josie Silver and she kept this story going with emotion and tears at times but kept me smiling throughout!!
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it’s release date!!
I don't know where to start with how amazing this book was. I had it on my shelf for a while before I cracked it open, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading. This book came at the perfect time. The poignant writing touched my soul, but also gave me hope. I spent all weekend crying a good cry that I didn't know I needed.
I'll admit- I didn't like Mack at first. I didn't ship him and Cleo. But, somewhere over the course of the 3 secrets in the dark, I fell in love. And I came to not regret my time with him either.
The remote Irish setting was stunning in my head and I also fell in love with the supporting characters, especially Delta. The knitting club had me in stitches every time they met.
Was the concept of marrying oneself at age 30 a little woo woo? Totally. However, the way the author wrote the scene of Cleo on the beach with the gift from her mother was heartwarming and beautiful. Everything about this book was heartfelt and impressive.
Micro love. Major love. Self love. Whatever love you're looking for, I hope you (and I) find it again.
Cleo and Mack's story was charming and warm. Josie Silver did a great job writing tension between two likeable characters. I was cheering for them the whole time. And I appreciated that I couldn't predict exactly how their happy ending would come about.
I love a book with all my favorite elements for an endearing love story. A cozy setting with a sense of community and found-family, characters that come across as genuine, kind people, and just enough attraction between the protagonists to make me route for them. Such is the case with One Night on The Island by Josie Silver. As a journalist from London embarks on a “self-coupling” retreat to a remote Salvation Island off the coast of Ireland, her change with a double-booking fiasco for the cottage where she plans to stay. As she and the other renter, an American photographer on a journey to explore his ancestral roots, both stake their claim to the cottage, the battle line is drawn (literally).
What ensues is a great telling of how two people navigate through the next steps of their lives. One grappling with singlehood; the other with a messy separation. One of the things I love about this book is that the author does not create outlandish villains to make their individual or joint paths obvious or to make a point. She allows each character to walk their individual and joint journeys with emotional intelligence. It is lovely to see how genuine romance can ensue with honest feelings and realistic expectations of themselves and each other. The writing is beautiful, and the story is charming and satisfying.
One Night on The Island released on February 15, 2022, but I think it would be a great summer/beach read.
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the ARC of the book.
#netgalley #onenightontheisland #josiesilver #randomhouse #ballantine #romance #hea #ireland
This is a great book about having no other choice than living together for a while. I really loved this book and will definitely read more of Silver in the future.
One Night on the Island seems like it's going to be a rom-com at first glance, but the final result...isn't. I'm not sure if this error is due to marketing or something else, but I think it suffers from having readers go in with certain rom-com expectations that are not met. Overall, it's a beautiful book, but if you're looking for a rom-com, this is not for you.
(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)
This is my second book by Josie Silver, and to be honest, I just didn't love it.
I didn't connect with any of the characters and I kept waiting for something in the story to grab my attention and it just didn't.
This is one of my favorite books of the year! It's a story about a columnist who sets out to an isolated island off the coast of Ireland in order to "marry herself"on her 30th birthday. She's been searching unsuccessfully for the perfect mate for years, and has decided to take some time to learn to love herself and commit to herself before any other person. Her audience is very interested in this journey. On the boat to the island, she encounters an American man who seems to judge her, and when she arrives at her destination, a lodge on the shore, she learns that the lodge has been double-booked. She must share her promised refuge with this man!
The book tells the story of how this "odd couple" gets to know one another and eventually even like one another. But, it also tells their individual back-stories, which come with lots of angst. And, the part I found most charming was how they begin to integrate with the permanent residents on the island. I loved those characters! Add a scenic and isolated environment, and it makes for a book in which you can immerse yourself. But, be sure to have a box of tissues handy! You may need them from time to time while reading.
Loved this book! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!
I'll admit- I put off reading this one for awhile. I enjoyed her first book and loved her third, but this year hasn't been the best reading for me. Well....I shouldn't have it put it off. This book is fantastic! Don't be fooled by the synopsis- this is not a fluffy rom com. Instead we meet Cleo, a woman about to turn thirty who has spent her adult life writing a column about her not-so-successful dating life. Her editor, sensing that Cleo needs to get away, sends her to a remote island in Ireland to "marry herself". When she arrives, she finds that the cottage she's supposed to stay in has also been promised to Mack, a successful photographer, who is in the midst of a messy separation from his wife. I know- sounds just like a rom com. I promise it isn't- instead it's about a woman discovering who she really is and what she really wants out of life. I highly recommend this one- it might be a top read for me this year.
I loved Josie silvers other book. I have high hopes for this one. Unfortunately it didn’t entirely grasp my attention. I have put it down for now and will pick it back up when I’m in a better mindset.
One Night on the Island is the story of Cleo and Mack who both find themselves the tenants of a small cabin on Salvation Island, a very small island off the west coast of Ireland. There is one boat a week, weather permitting, and since it is not a tourist place there is no other place they can stay. So for the next several weeks Cleo and Mack are unlikely house mates. Cleo is a dating columnist for a London based online woman's magazine and Mack is a photographer. Cleo has come to Salvation to have a self-coupling ceremony for her 30th birthday and Mack is escaping his failing marriage.
While the premise is interesting the execution has issues. I found the story long and boring. While this feels like a book that you should be able to read in a day or two it took me about a week to get through it. I feel like the convention of only one place to stay on a island that sees a boat maybe once a week seems to have constrained the story more than helped it. There was really only one way the story could go with these requirements.
One Night on the Island is a charming read from Josie Silver, in her follow up to One Day in December. When Cleo, an online columnist, is on the brink of her 30th birthday and still single her boss comes up with her next story-a solo vacation on a remote Irish island which will add a fresh take to her column. Cleo reluctantly agrees and finds herself crossing the seas to a luxury cabin-party of 1. However, fate has a way of intervening in the form of Mack, a photographer from Boston. Mack is facing his own struggles back home in America and has a hard time acknowledging the truth about his family. A miscommunication has caused the island's only rental to have been given to both Cleo and Mack. Two very different people are forced to share a small space while dealing with the reasons that led them to Salvation in the first place. In her trademark style, Silver takes readers on a heartwarming adventure. This is a great summer read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.