☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆
What It’s About:
She’s the workaholic everyone loves to hate. He’s perfectly content basking on the beach.
Can these two polar opposites find enough common ground to let their undeniable spark of attraction ignite?
Lizzie Lowe didn’t mean to steal her best friend, Roxy’s, fiancé the night before the wedding. It happened, though, and now Lizzie’s desperate to make amends with Roxy’s family for that dumb mistake.
Knowing her planning skills are needed to avoid having Roxy’s sister, Ruthie’s, reality television wedding turn into a complete disaster, Lizzie follows the family to the lovely island paradise of Antigua.
Local island slacker, Shay Sanders, is the last man Lizzie can imagine playing a role in her organized, structured life, yet he keeps miraculously saving her from difficult predicaments.
Two crazy grandmothers who despise each other, producers intent on gaining ratings by any means necessary, and the perfect storm all combine to create a hilarious game of one-upmanship that the entire world is watching.
My Thoughts:
Island Hopping is the finale to Ann Omasta’s Escape series. The books in the series are romantic comedies. Each book can be read as a standalone.
Readers first meet the infamous Lizzie in Getting Lei’d (book one in the series); her impulsive actions lead to her best friend becoming a runaway bride. Naturally, she is “persona non grata” with the bride (Roxy Rose) and her family. When a reality TV producer offers her the chance to be the “fixer” for Ruthie Rose’s reality TV wedding, Lizzie jumps at the chance to help her former friend have the wedding of her dreams while hopefully getting back in the good graces of the entire Rose family.
Lizzie is particularly suited to being Ruthie’s fixer as she is a driven, workaholic. Her planning and organization skills are second only to her creative problem solving ability. This “Girl Friday” is passively in search of her dream man, and salary and career aspirations top her list of dream attributes.
As with any reality television, there is a bit of reality and much plotted turmoil. Lizzie has no end of hurdles to jump—for herself as well as for Ruthie’s wedding. With every misstep, the handsome beach bum who runs the beach water sports rental shack appears and helps Lizzie save the day. While handsome and resourceful, Shay Sanders’ resume doesn’t match Lizzie’s perception of marriage material, but could he be an island fling?
Ms. Omasta’s characters are wonderful. The Rose family matriarchs are odd, quirky characters. I loved Lizzie’s grace under pressure, and her infamous reputation with the Rose family doesn’t get in the way of Lizzie quickly becoming a lovable character. The fun and humor come in the form of reality TV hijinks and Murphy’s Law situations that arise in the days leading up to the wedding. Island Hopping is a light-hearted romantic comedy that nicely wraps up the series of standalones. This fun novella provides a tropical escape in the dead of winter.
Check out the first two books in the series:
Review: Getting Lei’d by Ann Omasta
Review: Cruising for Love by Ann Omasta
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