A real pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour and to share my publication day review of A Secret Escape to Sunshine Island by Georgina Troy. The second book in her feel-good sun-drenched Sunshine Island series (and isn’t that cover just lovely?), published by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
This is the first time I’ve read and reviewed a book from Georgina Troy – yes, I know, I was surprised too – although I’ve shared posts a number of times in the past for various blog tours. I know her rather better as Deborah Carr – her 2015 WW1 novel, Broken Faces, remains one of my all-time favourites (you can read my review again here – it’s free via Kindle Unlimited, or just 99p to purchase), and I also enjoyed The Poppy Field, released in 2018 to coincide with the significant anniversary (review here). I really wanted to read her later Mrs Boots three book series, but the timing was never right – and I sadly also missed An Island at War in 2021, and The Beekeeper’s War this year, but I have pre-ordered The Poppy Sisters (out in May 2023) and will make absolutely sure I get there this time. But this time it’s Georgina Troy – and I was looking forward to finding out why her books are loved by so many…
Welcome to the sunshine island – where the beaches are golden, the lifestyle is perfect and anything is possible.
Popstar Matteo Stanford is eager to escape to the sunshine island to catch up with his old friend Alex and secretly film his latest music video. But within moments of landing, the location for the shoot is leaked to the press, and his island escape and video might be over before they start.
Not to be defeated, Alex’s girlfriend Piper recruits her two best friends Casey and Tara, who run the Smoke and Mirrors stall at the The Cabbage Patch market. It doesn’t take Casey more than a moment to realise the perfect setting for Matteo’s video is Gorey castle, but securing the venue means Casey is soon planning a secret wedding, finding an actress and becoming a set designer!
It’s chaos and crazed fans, peppered with the sweetest moments she’s ever experienced. But could a popstar really fall for island girl Casey Norman?
It’s never ideal to start with the second book in a series – had I read the first, I might have been a touch more comfortable knowing more about the relationships between the characters and what’s been happening in their lives. But I soon caught up – and the focus of this book isn’t Piper and Alex of the first book but their friend Casey, and the gargantuan task she takes on of organising a surprise wedding and a video shoot for Matteo, a visiting high profile pop star. The developing relationship between Casey and Matteo is also central to the story – a really convincing one with plenty of chemistry between them. He’s such a genuinely lovely guy, but with such an alien lifestyle – Casey runs a stall at The Cabbage Patch market selling candles and mirrors, and she’s convinced that a real relationship between them would never work out.
There was a lot about this book that I really enjoyed, not least its wonderful sense of place – I’ve never visited Jersey, the sunshine island, but I was so impressed by the settings the author visited in this book that I’m almost ready to book my own flight (with the Grantez headland overlooking St Ouen’s Bay and Mont Orgueil castle with its view of Gorey harbour top of my “must visit” list). And as well as the vistas, I really enjoyed the interior scenes too, all the gothic detail Casey organised as a backdrop to both the wedding and video shoot, and the ingenious conversion of the barn into a reception venue.
The story moves at excellent pace, with a nice focus on the friendships and families, and some beautifully drawn multi-generational characters – and some of the individuals behave badly which adds some moments of real drama. Carey’s workload is particularly testing, and it’s not surprising that she drops the ball occasionally – giving rise to a few more heart-stopping moments. And through it all, she’s also wrestling with the growing attraction between herself and Matteo, the obstacles to their relationship looking quite insurmountable.
It’s a lovely light read, although I will admit that I didn’t find its young characters easy to identify with – but I’m not really the book’s target audience, and someone a little closer to the possibility of young love would, I’m sure, find them particularly engaging. But the dynamics of the relationships are really well handled, there’s a lovely sense of community (all pulling together…), the twists and turns of the story are nicely unpredictable, and the emotional content absolutely spot-on – and I certainly had a little tear in my eye at its perfect ending. If you’d appreciate a little sunshine and a romantic escape at this gloomy stage of the year, I’d certainly recommend this one – a series so many romance readers would thoroughly enjoy.
About the author
Georgina Troy writes bestselling uplifting romantic escapes and sets her novels on the island of Jersey, where she was born and has lived for most of her life. She has done a twelve-book deal with Boldwood, including backlist titles, and the first book in her Sunshine Island series was published in May 2022.
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Thank you so much for taking part in the blog tour for A Secret Escape to Sunshine Island and for your wonderful review, I’m delighted you enjoyed my book.
My absolute pleasure…! xx