I was excited to read crash landing after seeing it on social media. The premise—two childhood loves and messy exes get marooned on a “desert island” in the Caribbean—is great! And that cover!
Unfortunately, for a book that begins with a (literal bang), by 40% I found it so bland and ordinary. There was so much potential here but it was a miss for me. The dual timeline seemed completely unnecessary, and yet somehow the past was more interesting than the present (where our lovers are stuck!).
I’m sad that this is not for me.

Crash Landing is an funny and heartwarming second-chance romance by Annie McQuaid.

Told in a dual-timeline, Crash Landing follows Piper, a reluctant medical student with heavy family expectations resting on her shoulders, and Wyatt, an ex military man and her first love. The two bump into each other on the way to a wedding of Wyatt’s cousin and Piper’s best friend.

When their flight is cancelled, Wyatt offers Piper a ride on a loaned plane that he’ll pilot. Even though Piper hasn’t seen Wyatt for years, she still harbours complicated feelings for him and wants to decline but her love of her friend pushed her to say yes.

But on the way, they encounter a storm and crash on a deserted tropical island.

Now the two only have each other and they’ll have to work through their past in order to survive together on the island.

Crash Landing was such a delight to read. I love a dual-timeline and watching Piper and Wyatt fall in love in the past and in the present was heartwarming.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Avon for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

📖 Book Review 📖 The only thing worse than attending the same destination wedding as your ex is being stranded on an island after a plane crash him. While things go from bad to worse for Piper and Wyatt on the island, high school sweethearts estranged after a bad breakup, the chemistry and connection between the two unfolds in such a beautiful and hopeful manner. Annie McQuaid masterfully blends every emotion possible in this suspensefully delightful, funny, and heartfelt novel. A real double whammy of a book that has you rooting for Piper and Wyatt’s survival and their love!

I wanted to like this so much. I love the premise. But the writing was emotionally flat and it felt both rushed and too slow at the same time, somehow. Second chance is really hard to pull off, in my opinion. The past timelines took me out of the story more than helped the story. I'd still recommend people try this if they like second chance romance, but it didn't do it for me.

I wanted to like this so much but I think the writing style was stopping me. The idea and the story itself sounded so good and I did genuinely like the story, but I just couldn't get past the writing style not working for me. I would be willing to give this author another shot in the future.

This book was hard to put down! I had so much fun navigating the relationship between Wyatt and Piper. I love a book with forced proximity especially when it comes to danger. it reminded me so much of a book by mia sheridan.

I was completely engulfed in warm, sandy shores amidst the pages, while in reality, I was in rural Nebraska freezing my tail off. This was ADORABLE. You guys are quickly becoming one of favorite publishers for releasing creative, thought-provoking work that is such a TRIP (in this case, literally!). This was another knockout. Can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy. Readers will eat this one up!

CRASH LANDING is the perfect swoony, frothy beach read...assuming you like your beach reads with a side of action adventure hijinks and life or death stakes. I loved Piper from the first page and found Wyatt to be a strong match for her -- both in the past and present timelines. The dual timeline structure really earns its keep, with the past adding essential context to their present relationship while they're clearly working through the same issues that broke them up as teens as adults literally trapped together on an island. Despite the high stakes (literal lives are at stake!) McQuaid's deft handling of the pacing and plot means it never steers too dark.

Cute! I'm grateful for the back-and-forth between the present and their past because not only did it help take a break from some moments that were feeling a little slow, but it also showed their initial romance and how that hasn't really gone away.

I think it was a little slower than I would have liked, but it's a fine line with this plot because they're stuck on an island- there isn't much for them to do without either dragging a bit or creating unnecessary scenes that don't further the plot/characters. And I much prefer the slight drag (again, really helped by the time skips) than having unnecessary scenes.

I would have liked for Wyatt and Piper to have talked through their history a tad bit sooner because Piper was starting to fall for Wyatt again without really knowing what happened and why he blew her off for eight years. (Also it doesn't feel like they're, what, 26? Somewhere around there? With how much Piper's mom seems to control Piper's life, it's hard to picture them over 20.) Personally, I'd have gotten answers before I start feeling things again, but I also haven't had a whirlwind romance when I was in high school with The One only to break up and wind up stranded on an island eight years later.

Overall, it was cute and had an interesting plot.

thank you Netgalley for the arc

Piper is ready to have some fun at her best friend’s destination wedding. Unfortunately, her flight gets canceled and her only option is to hop on a private plane with Wyatt, the ex she hasn’t spoken to since he broke her heart. She accepts the offer but then the unthinkable happens: the plane crashes and they end up stranded on a Caribbean island. Will they get rescued in time for the wedding? Will they be able to work together to survive?

This is like forced proximity to the extreme. Piper wants nothing to do with Wyatt but it’s hard to ignore the only person you have left, literally. I love watching them slowly let each other back into their lives and their hearts. But also, their shared love of reading fantasy and even reading out loud to each other, it’s everything.

Wyatt is a gem of a man but he struggles with feeling good enough for anyone after his rough home life as a child. I loved the flashbacks to the beginning of his relationship with Piper and learning how he became the man he is today.

Piper, on the other hand, just wants to please everyone. Her parents are the absolute worst and it’s time for her to learn how to live the life she wants, how she wants.

A deserted island honestly sounds kind of nice (for a little while) but Annie sure knew how to pull at my heartstrings.

Read this for:
-discussions about PTSD and active duty
-flashbacks to middle and high school
-second chance romance
-forced proximity
-🔥🔥🔥(one open door scene, mild details)

What a super fun and cute debut! I love a second chance romance with forced proximity, and I love how authentic their relationship, the good and the bad, felt. I can't wait to see more from Annie!

Crash Landing is not the rom-com it's advertised to be, but still a good romance novel. When Wyatt and Piper run into each other at an airport, after not speaking for several years, Piper is trying to find a flight to get to her best friend's wedding. They charter a plane to get to the destination wedding, but things go from bad to worse. They crash land on an island, where they spend the next week of their lives trying to survive.

I felt like some of the novel was far fetched, but I'm glad that the island survival wasn't all romance. The battle to survive and get rescued countered the romance and rekindling of their relationship.

What a lovely debut novel! Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid is a sweet second chance romance read. Our main characters, Piper and Wyatt go from childhood friends to high school sweethearts to virtual strangers that haven’t seen each other in years.

Piper’s best friend is getting married in the Bahamas, who also happens to be Wyatt’s cousin. When flights are canceled, Wyatt invites Piper to take a charter plane with him down to the wedding. Chaos ensues with a crash landing on a deserted island. The former flames have to work together to survive. The forced proximity on the island leads them to confront the memories of their break up and navigate their feelings towards each other. It is easy to see through their actions and easy banter that the main characters still have chemistry with each other. These two were always meant to be. I enjoyed the main characters journey back to each other.

I also found that the then and now storytelling enhanced the story. It was nice to have an understanding of what their relationship in the past was and how that has shaped them in the present.

This is a quick and easy read. This book has a second chance romance any reader will adore, a story of survival on a deserted island, and perfectly balanced humor and heart to heart conversations. A truly wonderful debut book.

Looking forward to reading more Annie McQuaid books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I think this book was super cute!! First time reading this author and I’m excited to read more. The characters were truly great and the concept of the book was really interesting!!

2.5 ⭐️

Cute and a very quick read. Fun premise for this debut novel.

Piper and Wyatt have known each other for years. As the story flips between then and now, you get to see how the relationship between these 2 started. They fell in love over a summer and Wyatt broke it off.

As the story flips between then and now, we watch these 2 fall get stranded together and rekindle some old flames. They want to right the wrongs of their past.

Cute and fast paced debut novel. Premise was good but there were some parts that could have been stronger. I felt like both characters acted younger than they were. I thought living on the island translated to for a good story.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my own thoughts and opinions.

3.5 ⭐️ Crash Landing is a super cute second chance romance between childhood friends who were in love with each other. They broke up right before he went into the military and she went off to college. Now 8 years later they are forced to work out their issues while stranded on a deserted island, the timeline goes back and forth between the past and present. I was rooting for Piper and Wyatt to work this out! Quick and easy read if you need a romantic escape.

🏝️Forced proximity
💕Second chance
🏝️Childhood sweethearts
💕Dual timelines
🏝️Miscommunication
💕Friends to lovers
🏝️Spice 🌶️

This is a wonderful second chance romance with a plane crash and survival on a deserted island thrown in. Wyatt and Piper are meant to be together but their relationship and friendship suddenly ends their summer after their senior year of high school. Piper is resistant to take a private plane with Wyatt to her best friend's wedding but sees it as her only option. Even though they express their true feelings and have a passionate night together, Wyatt puts some distance between them again. All is resolved though by the end and there is a very satisfying HEA. I look forward to seeing what this debut author writes next! Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me a chance to read this early on NetGalley.

Thank you so much to Annie and @netgalley @avonbooks @harpervoyagerus for an advance reader’s copy of this book! 🫶🏼 it feels so special to be able to read an authors debut novel early and I am so so grateful!

This book follows Piper Adams on her way to her best friend, Allie’s destination wedding. When her flight goes from delayed to canceled, panic sets in. There’s no way for Piper to make it on time for the wedding festivities. Not until she runs into someone at the airport who might be able to save the day….. Wyatt, her beautiful, charming ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend.

Unexpectedly running into Wyatt at the airport was one thing, but him offering to fly them both on his friend’s private plane to Allie’s wedding was another.

For the sake of making it to the wedding on time, Piper says yes and joins Wyatt on the plane. Things take a turn for the worse due a storm and there’s a ✨crash landing✨….

Will Piper survive being stranded on an island with the last person she’d ever want to be with? Or will this be the perfect opportunity for Piper to put on her big girl pants and get the closure she finally needs from her past, in order to move on toward a better future.. with or without Wyatt?

Let me tell you, when I said I loved the cover, I really did. But my eyes failed to register the literal plane crash in the background. My eyes said: wow they’re beautiful, and so is the sunset. *request* So imagine how surprised I was when they literally went crashing down less than 5 chapters in? Even though the book is called CRASH LANDING. My brain was not working lmao. I was caught so off guard and that was literally my bad. Sometimes I like to go into books blindly and pick them based off of their cover. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyways!

This book goes back and forth between Piper and Wyatt presently stuck on a remote island, trying to survive and co-exist, and Piper and Wyatt’s friendship, leading to their romantic relationship developing back in high school. Typically these time skips are not my favorite to read, but I feel like Annie wrote them fairly well. Piper and Wyatt’s relationship in both past/present progressed equally in a way that kept me at bay and did not leave me wanting to read one time period more than the other. I enjoyed seeing Piper open up and become vulnerable with the only person she’s ever felt comfortable doing that with. I’m so proud of her for being able to ask questions and get the answers she was looking for in order to understand the past. Not only does this help her understand her past, but it shapes her future and allows her to finally make decisions for herself and not for the happiness of others.

Wyatt felt like a very stereotypical army MMC - and I don’t mean this in a bad way. I mean that, often times they always have that same mentality where they break the girls heart before they leave to “protect” the girl without giving her the option lol like dude?? c’mon. Granted this situation was very different and there were a lot of other elements which contributed to their initial break up (which I think was absolutely perfect, and SUPER super relatable). It literally hurt lol. I felt like I was being broken up with and it made me so so sad. Not just for Piper. Honestly, maybe even more so for Wyatt. This man spent his entire adulthood loving someone he had to push away, because he truly thought it would be better for her. This hurts lol I really loved his gentle and sweet personality, but I hated how he never viewed himself as valuable or worth it due to his upbringing and what other people had to say about him. 😞

There was one technical aspect, where in the past chapters it flopped between senior year, 9th grade, and then back to senior year. I think that should have been linear. And it did feel a bit slow at the start for me.. (granted they were deserted on an island and Piper had major trust issues) but I was waiting for it to pick up and it did eventually! Other than that this was a fun read and a lovely debut novel. You should check it out! I’m looking forward to reading more of Annie’s books and seeing her growth as an author.

𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚: second-chance romance, forced proximity, minimal spice 🌶️

Annie’s debut is incredible! I shipped this couple so much! Such an escapist romance that sent me to a desert island with them!

This was a quick and sweet second chance romance with a unique premise. I loved the dual timeline and getting to read how Piper and Wyatt's relationship progressed in both timelines.. Definitely would make for a great beach read... just maybe not a trip you take on an airplane! ;-) Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.