Badass Bloggettes: *** REVIEW *** A SUDDEN CRUSH by Camilla Isley

Book Title: A Sudden Crush

Author Name: Camilla Isley

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Chick Lit, Adult, Contemporary

Sexual content: Clean, not explicit

Length: 65k Words/240 pages

Publication Date: February, 4 2015

Joanna Price is a city girl with the perfect life. She loves her job as a book editor, she just married Liam, high profile bestselling author and the man of her dreams, and she’s headed to the Caribbean to enjoy two weeks of paradise for her luxurious honeymoon.

Connor Duffield is a gruff, grumpy rancher from the Midwest. He is a country boy who has a no-nonsense approach to life, more scars than he’d like to admit, and he hates city girls.

So it’s just a misfortune they have to sit next to each other for a six-hour plane ride. Even more so when their flight is caught in the perfect storm and Joanna wakes up stranded on a desert island with Connor, the very man she hoped she would never have to see again.

Why are they alone on this forsaken island? What happened to Joanna’s husband?

When her dream honeymoon turns into a hilarious tropical nightmare, Joanna’s first thought is survival. However, she and Connor will quickly discover just how boring paradise can be. As the days turn to weeks, and then months, this mismatched pair will have to learn how to coexist and how to resist the sparkles of an attraction they weren’t prepared to feel.

When they are finally rescued will Joanna’s marriage be saved as well, or will the life she knew and loved be in ruins?

A SUDDEN CRUSH is only the second book from Camilla Isley and let me just say up front that her sophomore book release is more polished than her first book, I Wish For You, and I thought that a great debut novel. I’m becoming a major fan of her work. I can’t believe how talented she is at telling a story with a slightly different twist to it. Ms. Isley has a talent for combining humor, romance, loss, recovery and interesting characters into her story.

I truly love the heroine in this book, Joanna Price. She is strong even when she thinks she is falling apart. The character development is well thought out and the reader wants to see Joanna overcome the heartbreaking obstacles that life throws at her. Joanna has a sense of humor and I love her spunk and attitude. She is in a tough situation stranded on a deserted island with a hunk of a guy who is very difficult to get to know. She is a woman who loses everything important to her but after a minor pity party, she picks herself up and redefines herself.

Connor Duffield is a different kind of hero. He is the alpha male with a hot body but he isn’t a man that you can love immediately. He is very closed off and doesn’t show his feelings at all. He has a gruff manner and, at times, he says things that hurt Joanna (unintentionally). Once he realizes his error he goes out of his way to make it up to her. I love the scene where he is catching lobster. It is worth reading the book just for this scene.

A Sudden Crush is written in first person from Joanna’s point of view and covers a little over a year in her life. The time jumps that occur are smooth and do not take anything away from the story. I never felt like I missed something important or didn’t understand what happens. The humor is perfect. I laughed out loud several times while reading. This is a fast paced story that is an all-around fun read.

The only criticism I have with the book is that I wish the ending had a little more. Don’t get me wrong it is a very good ending I just want to know more about the couple’s future. For me this is the perfect book for an epilogue. I want to know what happens next and how they actually resolve the distance career issues. I know the solution is hinted at but is it that easy. (Maybe there is going to be a sequel or little novella covering the next few years. Hint, hint.)

All in all, this is a very entertaining, well written story. I recommend this book. Ms. Isley has a lot of talent and I can’t wait to see what she is going to write next.

4.5 STARS