I am a massive Kerry Rea fan and was very disappointed by this story. The phrase 'himbo' was used way too frequently. This just didn't have the same charm as her previous two books which have made me laugh, smile, and think a bit more deeply. This felt extremely surface level. Also pet peeve of mine - I cannot stand romances that have the couple hiking, sweating, no bathing for multiple days and then how descriptive the romance scenes are - this is so gross to me.

This book had potential and the storyline seemed enjoyable, however the characters and the story just didn't hold strong enough for me. It was a mediocre read for me, it had cute moments but I just didn't enjoy the whole book. I'm all for encouraging authors, and congrats on getting a book out there. I had hoped to enjoy this more, the cover art and the description did seem up my book alley. Overall, the book was ok, the story was fine, but nothing to write home about.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I fell in love with the vibes very early on and really connected with the summer action movie/blockbuster vibes.

I did have some trouble connecting with the story and characters as it developed further though. As a type A girl myself, I love a good story about a woman learning that it’s okay to let a little loose and Emily was a fantastic example of this in action. My biggest problem was that Ryder’s character seemed very one-note. He had some great moments don’t get me wrong, but his jokes fell very flat for me.

In all loved the vibes, unsure of the success of the execution.

Did you ever expect to go on a hiking trip without any hiking experience or from a fresh break-up? Well, Emily is taking a big step by doing both. Hopefully, her tour guide is more than ready to help her. And yet, she wasn’t expecting to witness a murder or be chased throughout her hike. 

I truly love all of her previous books because they're such emotional yet romantic books to read. So I was a bit surprised that this one was different from her previous book. It took me a bit back. Thankfully, I was able to readjust my expectations and read it just for the vibes. And I like it better than I expected. 

This book may touch on losing a parent or sibling and the process of grief in a way that’s not talked about. However, these two characters are a bit chaotic and messy throughout the book, which leaves you questioning a lot of things. And yet, it makes sense. Just read the book for the chaotic, messy vibes.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.

Indiana Jones but make it two foolish but determined idiots lost in the wilderness~

What an absolute bucket of fun! I could not help but laugh along as Emily (a Type A ER doctor) and Ryder (a slacker with a heart of gold) fumble their way through a national forest with an evil archaeologist and his henchmen chasing after them for the precious gem the two found completely by accident.

This book does a great job of being full of hilariously crazy hijinks but also a thread of realism underneath as Emily and Ryder are both dealing with heavy grief in their personal lives. Part of you wants to be stressed about how dangerous this situation actually is, but somehow you fall in love with these two and how they're trying their absolute best. I adored Ryder as a character (the ultimate golden retriever man) and I loved the journey these two went on personally as well as together. Some may say that this was a bit insta love, but I argue back that these two definitely trauma bonded over their experience.

I cannot wait for others to read this. Definitely something to pick up if you love adventure movies, opposites attract, funny banter, and millenial humor. I had a fantastic time with this and highly recommend grabbing it!

Fun and goofy and totally fun! I so relate to not being the most outdoorsy person but being (occasionally) willing to give it a try and there was something just so endearing about a love interest that knew as little of not less than our main character!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5 stars

The Jewel of the Isle follows Emily and Ryder, two very indoor people who go hiking and get swept up in a hunt for a famed jewel that leads to murder and mayhem.

This was a hilarious and fun adventure romance with a sprinkle of suspense and a ton of banter. I loved Emily and Ryder and laughed out loud at their hijinks. Rea is an auto-but author for me and enjoyed this slight departure from her previous books. Endlessly entertaining.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Before you begin this one, just know it is all for fun. If you think too much, it will take you out of the story. For movie watchers, think Romancing the Stone meets The Lost City. Emily and Ryder are two misfits in the wilderness with bad guys on their tail and a little mystery thrown in for good measure. This is a book you pick up to escape. I am recommending to readers who want something light and fun for vacation reading mode. I look forward to what is next from Kerry Rea.

Good book! I really enjoyed this story! I liked the characters. I kept laughing out loud reading this! Fun, light read. A must read!

This was a lot of fun. Emily is grieving the death of her father & decides to begin his bucket list of visiting a national park. However, she is not the outdoors type of person. So she hires Ryder to be her guide. The only catch is……he has no idea what he’s doing because his brother was the one who guided the adventures. They automatically get to a rough start and honestly doesn’t let up till the end. Two clueless people, a bad guy, henchman chasing them, a diamond, and all sorts of obstacles….well, what could go wrong? Love the action and adventure of this story. Reminds of those 80’s movies that I love. The only thing I didn’t like was the insta love, but this was a fun time.

3.5 stars

Temple of Swoon was just as good as Raiders of the Lost Heart, and I can't wait to swing into the next one! I really enjoyed the character from Montreal. Ostie, but he made the book for me and I was already a sucker for the adventure/exploration/archaeology/historical artifact recovery & preservation style vine-swinging fun of these books. Can't recommend Temple of Swoon enough!

The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea
Releasing on November 26th 2024
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Opposites Attract, Mutual Pining. HEA

In the Jewel of the Isle, we meet Ryder and Emily who are living two very different lives. One an ER doctor who lives a very planned and safe life and another who lives off of his endless side jobs to make ends meet. Emily is dumped right before her long-awaited backpacking trip to the Royle Isle, in remembrance of her late father. Now she is in need of a help and in comes Ryder, Emily’s nature guide who definitely knows what he’s doing and didn’t watch YouTube videos on fire starting….
Instead of the peacefully planned backpacking trip, Ryder and Emily take on a trip battling grief, wild animals, attraction as well as armed henchmen and jewel thieves…. Didn’t see that coming, did you? Ryder and Emily accidentally get looped into an archaeological expedition on the island that turns into a jewel heist of all things. In hope to get off the isle alive they have to put aside their differences to survive and keep that jewel from falling into the wrong hands.

I’m always on the hunt for a book that has the vibes of an Indiana Jones adventure with a good romance side plot and The Jewel of the Isle was just what I was looking for. This is a fun rom-com adventure story with loads of funny banter, pop culture references, mutual pining and characters overcoming their fears and troubles while escaping death at many turns. I unexpectedly connected well with the characters’ battles with the loss of a family member and overcoming that grief through living life for them. Not something I expected to find in a silly rom com, but I devoured this book in 4 hours, nonetheless. I highly recommend adding this fun book to your TBR, publishing date set for late November just in time to add to your holiday gift list!

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publicity and Kerry Rea for allowing me to snag an ARC copy of The Jewel of the Isle, when I came across this book on Goodreads, I was thrilled to add it to my TBR and even more to get early access!

After reading Jo Segura's 'Raiders of the Lost Heart' and coming away disappointed, I was really looking forward to something in the same vein. Action! Adventure! Thieves! Romance!

This was, technically, all of those things but...it just didn't do it for me. I can absolutely see why someone *could* love this though -- Emily and Ryder are realistically messy people with funny banter and a growing attraction to each other in the middle of the wilderness. The cover is super cute, the writing itself is great, and the plot moved at a great pace. (I honestly think I'm just discovering that very romcom-y romance novels aren't my jam.)

All in all, it wasn't for me but I'm definitely down to read something else from Kerry Rea!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an early free copy in exchange for an honest review.)

I've read Kerry Rea's other book Lucy on the Wild Side and enjoyed that one a bit more than her newest novel. While the premise intrigued me, I found the characters to be less loveable. I felt the plot really didn't get going until about halfway through the book either. Took me a while to finish, but all in all solid enough.

Thanks for an advanced copy of this book! It was a fun and easy read! The characters were enjoyable and I quite liked the plot twist!

I really enjoyed this book, it was a funny adventure mystery that also had elements of romance. It felt like I was watching a movie! The writing was a bit off at times and there were some minor issues with the plot but if those were fixed it would be a 4 star read.

I know it is only the summer, BUT this book WILL BE my favorite ROM-COM of the year. I laughed out loud in every chapter, fell SO HARD for the protective yet terribly inept adventure guide Ryder, and related hardcore to anxious/Type-A planner Emily. Emily is an ER physician who was recently dumped and now must make a solo backpacking trip to an isolated national park to spread her father's ashes. She caves and hires an Adventure Guide in order to survive, but her assigned guide, Ryder, is more of the company's PR/marketing guy, less of a wilderness survivalist. He assumes his two week crash course read through of guidebooks will be plenty of knowledge to survive a week off the grid. What neither of them expect is to become witnesses to an attempted murder over a giant diamond uncovered in a nearby shipwreck archeological site. Emily uses her bad-a** doctor skills to try and help the victim who passes along the jewel to her. Suddenly, Emily and Ryder are being chased by henchmen across the island to recover the gem, and they must rush to locate a ranger station to survive despite losing much of their gear.

Indiana Jones fan? The Lost City movie fan? Enjoy witty banter? Like fast-paced action, suspense, and crackling tension? This book is for you! Ryder is one of the best heroes I've read in a long time. He's got looks, charm, heart, and will openly admit the only thing he knows about fighting wolves he learned while watching the cartoon Beauty and the Beast movie. He can't spell archaeologist, doesn't trust men who wear tweed coats, still reads Calvin & Hobbs, carries (with pride) a discman with 2003 bangers on it, and thinks Emily is way out of his league. But he is a protector, and darn it if his 'rulebooks are optional' and Emily's 'have a backup plan for your plan' traits don't make them a spectacular duo. Despite the short timeline of the trip, the extreme survivalist scenarios and danger force a unique closeness between the two. And while there are so many laughs, both Emily and Ryder are working through grief, which also lends to a deeper connection and vulnerable conversations. I smiled, laughed, blushed, and rooted for this team through every chapter. And that delightful plot twist, an additional unexpected hero, made the whole book even more fun! I can't wait to buy my copy for my trophy shelf.

3.5 rounded up because this was amusing and very cute.

This is a silly adventure romance with two completely inept people trying to survive in the wilderness after witnessing a murder.

It’s definitely entertaining but the writing is a bit tell and not show and there are several plot inconsistencies that drove me crazy. For example: she drops her first aid kit in the woods and can’t bandage her leg and yet she takes out her first aid kit later to stitch up his leg wound.

So I did have a good time with this one and could see it as a silly hallmark suspense movie or a Netflix romcom; it wasn’t that deep and was overall pretty goofy. Good for a beach read when you just want to see two loveable people get together with very little angst and some crazy side shenanigans ala cheesy 1980s movies.

This was such a good mix of romance and adventure. It very quickly had me laughing out loud.
I likely would have enjoyed this book if it was just Emily and Ryder romping around Isle Royale, out of their element tackling the great outdoors. Then there is a shipwreck, archaeologists, and a missing jewel thrown in to raise the stakes. I also appreciated that the characters were older (in their 30s?) and struggling with life events that have left them reeling.
This all made a story that was fun, sweet, a little bit spicy, and left me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

This book is absolutely preposterous and I LOVED it. It made me lol so many times as Emily (an uptight ER doctor) and Ryder (her free spirited survival guide) find themselves in a life-or-death chase through a national park. They’re trying to escape a bad guy and his henchman who want the famous & elusive diamond Emily & Ryder found by accident.