An excellent read, but I can't describe too much without spoilers! Contains love and heartbreak, family drama, unexpected friendships, and gorgeous descriptions of Australian island beauty that will make you feel like you are there! A few characters you will love, a few who will drive you crazy - just like your own family 😉 Fans of Georgia wont be disappointed, readers new to her work will be quick to grab the rest of her titles!

part travel log , part romance. I found these characters to be very well developed and honestly like each character by the end ( although Glen and Randall will be my favorites) . All characters had well fleshed out good and bad traits. The things that I didn't love : the nicknames ( boo boo and sausage esp) and the length of book. This could have easily been done in 300 pages without losing any of the story line.
The game night could have come directly from my family conversations!
Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and Georgia Clark for the ARC.

Georgia Clark did a great job of describing the nature and animals on the island. I also liked the different narrators, it kept me engaged throughout the entire book. This was a fun, comical, thrilling romantic read! Island time showed me that it’s never too late to change your destiny in life.

I really enjoyed the setting of Island Time, as well as the descriptions of the island, nature, animals, and the native people and customs. I loved that this was a romance featuring multiple queer relationships. I also really enjoyed the relationship between sisters Matty and Amelia. Even though the book and cover suggested that this would be a light, fun rom-com, it was more of a family drama to me.

This was my first Georgia Clark book but it won’t be my last! Island Time was a fun, timely read with deep roots in family. The romance was well done and unique, and it had some action and thrills as well. A well-rounded, solid read. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review on Goodreads

Things I loved about this book: the atmosphere of being on the island, the description of the setting, the natural disaster, the lgbtq relationship.
Things I struggled with: I thought this was a rom-com based on the cute cover, but it is not; it has a very deep storyline.

Overall a good read. Lots of characters to keep up with, but I think that added a lot to the storyline. Would recommend if you are looking for books with an lgbtq storyline set on a secluded island.

Families at war. Enemies. Forced proximity on "vacation" for 6 weeks and oh boy! The only thing in common is the daughters are married so be prepared to enjoy this delightful tale. Will they make it back home in one piece? All of them? The island isn't big enough for your in-laws. Remind me not to go to remote islands period, though! It's great beach read.

I wanted to love this book so much. First too many pov’s going on. I did not find the characters very likeable nor their love convincing enough for me. This fell flat for me and didn’t find a lot of romance or love in here to rate it high.

I really wanted to love this book. A multiple POV stranded on an island romance with queer characters? Like sign me up that sounds great. Unfortunately I just got super bored in the middle of this book. It started off super strong with the intro and the aftermath of the storm but somewhere after that I just got lost for like most of the middle of the book. I enjoyed the romance between Amelia and Liss at first but the chaos of everything and everyone else really just distracted me. Chaos is definitely the word for this family. You get 8 POVs in this story. Everyone is just wild and I loved how much I hated some of them. So all the characters were fun and ridiculous for me. It’s just the plot in the middle that lost me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the advance copy of this book. Release day is 6/14!
This will be posted on my Instagram @katebrownreads as well. Will update with the link once it’s posted.

Perfect spring break read! I’m already in such a summer beach read mood and this one hit the spot! Such a cute story with the best plot. I loved all of the characters and I highly recommend for summer!

This book was a lot of fun to read about! I would definitely reread it while I'm at the beach or on an island lol.

This book was about two families (in-laws) going on vacation to a remote island when an offshore earthquake strikes, causing a tsunami that wipes out any chance of going home for the next six weeks. What happens next is a lot of family drama, self-discovery and some romance on the island as they deal with the aftermath and wait to be able to go home again.

I’ve read another book by Georgia Clark and found there to be a lot of similarities between the two. I like that she creates a very diverse cast of characters, but I feel like it comes off as “trying too hard” from a diversity and inclusion perspective. I’m also not a huge fan of different character perspectives in books, but I do find Georgia is able to pull this off well. The chapters are short and the constantly changing perspectives keep the story moving, especially during the middle of this book which I felt just dragged on and on. The book started out really exciting and ended with some excitement, but the middle was quite slow-moving and drawn out in my opinion. Speaking of the ending, I feel like some elements of what happened just came completely out of left-field and unprompted. For example, the fight between Glen and Randall - that was completely out of character for both of them and then didn’t really lead anywhere? What was the purpose of that?

Lastly, I did not find that the title of this book nor the cover image accurately depict what this story is about. I was expecting a light-hearted beach read and the undertone of this book is definitely more on the serious side.

Overall I liked the book - solid 3 stars from me. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like the book, but I just couldn't. Too many characters to keep up with and didn't really ever find the story to be believable or overly entertaining. I will not post my review on any social media out of respect for the author and her previous work which I have liked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

👎🏼 a disappointing “rom-com”

I was so excited to hear that Island Time was available on NetGalley after hearing such rave reviews about It Had to be You by Georgia Clark. I wanted to like this book SO BAD, but it just didn’t work for me.

I think part of the disappointment was from the marketing of this book as a romantic comedy. There are some ridiculous scenes in this book (how many life and death experiences does a character need?) but I didn’t find the humor.

I also found that a lot of the character development was lacking. I just couldn’t understand or get behind some of their actions/decisions. My favorite character was not any of the six women presented, but the main characters dad.

Since most of the characters on the island (all except for 2?) get their time to shine, the main romance was not really highlighted so I wasn’t really rooting for the to get it worked out.

But, what hurt the most is I could see the brilliance of Georgia Clark’s writing. Some of the passages were beautiful! This just wasn’t the story for me.

However, you should definitely read some positive reviews because other people have absolutely adored this book.

Island Time by Georgia Clark comes out 6/14/22


Thank you to atria books for providing this e-arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I usually love all books by this author but this one fell flat for me. I just couldnt get into this story and the characters were forgettable.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for this honest review--that I won't be posting on any media sites out of respect for the author.

I didn't enjoy this book and I wasn't able to finish it. I read about a third of the book and I felt as though it was going through an identity crisis and it didn't know what it was supposed to be. Is it a romance? Is it a survival story? Is it a story about families? Yes and no to all these questions.

I felt as though there were too many characters, too many voices, too many things happening and yet none of the characters or situations seemed to pique my interest and so I quit.

Absolutely devoured this book. Georgia Clark’s best to date, without question. Loved the multiple narrators, well developed environment, and that there was more than one queer storyline. An absolutely must read.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 65%. I think this novel did not know what it wanted to be. The tone was silly and light while the plot is filled with drama and really tough topics. Together, I had a very hard time connecting to this story and these characters.

There was a lot of detail in a writing style that I did not enjoy very much. The characters all seemed like caricatures. On top of this, there were soooo many POV switches. I was honestly super into the daughters’ stories and would have loved to read just about them. The jumping definitely contributed to my inability to connect here.

I really wanted to finish this, and I love the queer discussions and rep, but I just could not do it.

Sadly, this book was not for me. While the writing was very good, the plot was lacking. It wasn’t very clear what the point of the story was. One minute they’re all taking cover from a massive tsunami and I was excited to find out how they would survive this natural disaster. But in the next minute they’re using Wifi and working on their computers, basically carrying on as if the volcano eruption and tsunami hadn’t destroyed the island. It was all too unrealistic. It was clear from the beginning that Amelia, was falling for the island caretaker Liss but it wasn’t enough of a story to keep me interested. I needed more than the plot offered.

Thank you to Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover for this makes it look like a cute sapphic beach romcom, and while there are sapphic relationships that take place on a beach, nothing about this book is a romcom. Instead it's more like an exploration of family and trauma with a romantic angle. Matty and her wife Parker have rented a house on a remote island in Australia and invited their families to come. Matty's loud, brash Australian parents couldn't be more different than Parker's parents, both immigrants to the US. It's supposed to be just a few days, but a volcano erupts, destroying the island, and they're stranded for six weeks.

I liked the family relationships between the characters, and I loved the Matty and Parker arc. It was clear the characters had changed by the end of the book, which is important! There was a ton of Australian history and a LOT of info on birds and wildlife. There was a lot going on and it felt like it took me forever to read because it dragged at times, but overall I was satisfied.

If you're into deeper family stories with a romance on the surface, this book is for you, just don't be fooled by the cover.

Thank you to the publisher Atria Books and Net Galley for the free e-arc.