Take a Romantic Vacation to Key West in This Compelling Book

While in the middle of writing my own island novel, I was given the opportunity to review Island Charm by Audrey Wick and snapped up the free review copy lickety-splickety!  Okay, so I just put in my request and waited for the day to read it to arrive.  Would I like it?  Would I love it?  Did I find a new, must-read author?

Well…

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Take a Romantic Vacation to Key West in This Compelling Book

Okay, going to be honest here. Then again, when am I not?  Still, here’s the deal. Island Charm has several things that shouldn’t work for it. Conflict–almost none. Expected romance “misunderstanding?”  Yep.  Predictable and yet… not. Instant attraction?  Absolutely.  It’s all here.  The good, what should be the bad, and… oh so much more.

Here’s the deal. I should be writing that this book was a miss for me.  Seriously, as I got through the first few pages, I thought, “Oh, no…”

But something interesting happened as I read. Audrey Wick drew me into island life the characters’ lives and even the side characters’ lives.  I wanted to be sure Jack was taken care of. I wanted to be mad at Anna (of the palindrome) for not just going over and talking to Gunnar.

Oh and I totally expected to be complaining about the sensuality in the book.

And yet here I am oddly satisfied with a perfect read for a day at the beach (or by the kiddie pool on the patio surrounded by cornfields. I’m flexible). What threatens to be a fluffy read oddly has a few deep roots that holds it firmly in place and just allows things to sway where they should go.  Kind of like a palm tree.  Interesting.

Even the one hold-out complaint that I had fell flat at the end of the story.

You see… there’s basically nothing in the story that made me see it as Christian fiction. It’s clean (unless mention of wine offends you).  It has less sexual and sensual content than some of my favorite Christian authors, even.  I expected to argue that this book is actually clean and wholesome or sweet and clean romance.

But then the book finishes off with scripture and discussion questions that when you read them, you see a thread through the whole thing–a thread I hadn’t expected.

Bravo, Ms. Wick.

Would I have preferred to see it play out in the lives of the charcters?  Sure.  But what she did there was a lovely bridge between my favorite kind of Christian fiction and general market… a way to open a conversation about Jesus and His Word whenever the reader is ready for it.  I have to give kudos for that.  And yeah, I’m grateful for the free review copy I received.  I’m even more grateful that I ended up really liking it.

Best part of the book for me is the personality of Gunnar.  Something about him is just crazy endearing.

Recommended for lovers of contemporary romance, clean reads, and beach reads.  If you’re looking for deep, spiritual nuggets… well, you might like it anyway.

About the Book

Book:  Island Charm

Author: Audrey Wick

Genre: Christian Contemporary Beach Read

Release date: May 14, 2021

An imposter in paradise.

When Anna Worthington’s twin sister gets jilted by her fiancé, Anna steps in with a plan for a girls’ Key West getaway instead of a honeymoon trip. Yet when her twin has her own crisis of commitment and doesn’t board the plane, Anna finds herself on a romantic getaway that she’s forced to navigate alone.

A vacation romance with an expiration date.

Gunnar Lockhart, whose specialty is island tourism, is the perfect match for helping Anna complete her vacation bucket list, but time together forges a connection more personal than either anticipates. As they make island memories, Anna has to untangle her mixed emotions. Are her feelings toward Gunnar real? Or like her sister’s wedding day, has this connection been doomed from the start.