Island In The Sun by Katie Fforde

 

Island in the Sun by Katie Fforde.

Published 15th February by Century.

From the cover of the book:

Dominica. A beautiful remote island where the sun shines and the living is easy.

And where Cass goes to photograph a rare stone carving as a favour to her father.

With her is Ranulph, a deeply attractive, much-travelled journalist, who offers to help Cass with her quest.

But Dominica has just been hit be a severe hurricane, and Cass and Ranulph are spending all of their time helping the local community.

Cass knows she must not fall in love with him… He is just looking out for her. He’s being kind.

There is no way he could be even the slightest bit interested in her. Could he?

***********

Cass, as the youngest child in her divided family, has always felt overshadowed by her high-performing half siblings. At twenty-five, her parents still consider her flighty and unwilling to settle down. Her father, a famous wildlife photographer, wants her to follow in his footsteps, while also training to be a teacher, but she longs to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

Her last summer of freedom brings with it the prospect of an adventure. During a visit to her father and his new partner on the beautiful, and remote Scottish island where he is living, he asks her to take on an important mission in his stead. Cass must go to the rugged Caribbean island of Dominica to help Bastian, the son of one of his old friends, locate and photograph a very special petroglyph that lies at the heart of his research work. 

With a fragile map that promises to point to this rare carving secreted in her luggage, Cass sets off to Dominica in the company of the extremely handsome journalist, Ranulph, who has come along for the ride as something of a protector. It is a mission fraught with difficulties, as Dominica has just been struck by a hurricane, and Bastian is under time pressure to submit his research paper for a chance to win some much needed prize money for the island, against fierce competition...

Island in the Sun is an enchanting combination of suspenseful, romantic drama; gripping adventure yarn; and coming of age tale; that brings alive the magical, rocky island of Dominica, where the Caribbean and the Atlantic meet. At the centre of the story is Cass, who has drifted through life up until this point, unable to pluck up the courage to stand up to her family about the things she really wants, but her adventure in hurricane-torn Dominica brings with it a host of challenges that become something of a journey of self-discovery.

The spine of the novel follows the on-off love story between Cass and Ranulph, with all the necessary mishaps and misunderstandings to keep the will-they-won't-they factor bubbling along nicely. To spice things up, Fforde weaves in some Indiana Jones type excitement with the race to find the petroglyph, adding in a despicable baddie in the form of the meddling Austin, who is determined to throw a spanner in Bastian's goodhearted works and win the prize money for himself. 

Cass is a frustrating protagonist at times, with a tendency to be a bit passive for a modern young woman, but she does find her feisty side eventually, and I really enjoyed how she blossoms over the course of the story, building up her self-confidence and the ability to take pride in her talents. Fforde creates a lovely cast of characters around her, especially when it comes to the warm and supportive community on Dominica, and I became very fond of many of them especially the wonderful Delphine, who shares so much of her strength and wisdom with Cass.

As in all Fforde's charming tales, this one bounces along, keeping you engaged through all the twists and turns for its characters. Fforde's emotional connection to Dominica shines out, and this is very much a love letter to its people, landscape and history - all of which she touches on in the story to make you feel that it is a very special place indeed.

Island in the Sun is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Ed PR for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Katie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart.

Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She’s been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she's even been on a Ray Mears survival course.

She loves being a writer; to her there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories.