Paperback, 240 pages
Published February 4th, 2016 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

As some of you might’ve already noticed: I’m not much of a girly girl. I do use make-up but that’s mostly it. I can’t remember the last time I brushed my hair, actually. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that being a tomboy and reading chick lit can’t go hand in hand. True, I don’t read it very often (mostly only during the summer), but that doesn’t make it a no-go zone. So when Camilla asked me to read her book, I happily agreed to it and here we are, roughly 6 weeks later, with me giving it a 4 brownies-rating.

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~Goodreads Synopsis~

“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?“

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So Joanna just got married to Liam and they’re on their way to some tropical resort to spend their honeymoon at. On the plane, Joanna is stuck in a seat next to a guy you just want to strangle right away: Connor. And, of course, after waking up from the accident in the middle of a deserted island, who’s the only other person that seems to have survived it as well? Aye, captain McGrumpypants.

There isn’t any deep sadness or bawling over the fact that they’re stranded and unlikely ever to be found again. Instead, they just try to make the most of it. Joanna even gets a little monkey pup who follows her everywhere she goes. Connor is still a douchebag, but, at least, he’s also a gentleman when it comes to taking care of getting meat on the table and building things for both of them. He keeps his hands to himself as well, which is always a plus when you’re stranded on a deserted island together with a huge, strong hunk of a guy while you just got married to someone else…

Yes, let’s just say this ain’t called a romcom for nuttin’! Without trying to give away any spoilers, though, I can honestly say the romance is very clean, which I considered a good thing.

Speaking of spoilers, part two of the book got me furious. I can’t say too much about this but someone is being a giant dipshit. It also made me think about what I would’ve done if this happened to me, but no matter what: still a dipshit. Hmpf.

I loved the writing style. Even though it’s written in the present tense (something I always have issues with), it read wonderfully and the story really does come to life. Just like yesterday’s book (After Life), this is also a book which has clearly been professionally edited. No typos, no weird grammatical errors and the sentences just flowed very nicely.
The humour wasn’t a laughing out loud one for me, but more of a chuckling on the inside one.

“I really don’t want to drink from a condom-in-a-sock tank.“

What gave the story an extra loveable layer is that Joanna is a member of the book loving community. And not just any member, she’s an editor and loves reading manuscripts and giving feedback on them. Luckily for her, she has a variety of those with her which survived the crash, so she can spend a lot of time reading on the island. If I didn’t dislike warm weather so much, I’d say it sounds like a dream come true!

With a high predictability rate, this isn’t the greatest piece of literature, but nonetheless, a very entertaining one. If you’re in a reading slump or feeling a bit down for whatever reason, I can highly recommend picking this up and forgetting all about real life for a bit.
Come to think of it, I honestly don’t know why some people prefer to reading sad books or watching sad movies when they feel depressed. When I was at a poopy time in my life, I switched from Dexter to binge watching How I Met Your Mother and that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

A Sudden Crush has the same effect as watching a romcom with Ryan Reynolds in it. I’m usually not a huge romantic comedy fan, but the feel good vibes just speak straight to my ovaries heart (has anyone seen Reynolds in Deadpool btw? SO good!). Four brownies it is!

A big thank you to Camilla Isley for providing me with a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review!

Links to the book:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
The Book Depository
Goodreads
Bol.com (Dutch retailer)

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 ~About the Author~

I just copied and pasted Camilla’s biography from her website because it really shows what you can expect of her writing style, and because it’s just pretty cool for a bio in general:

Hi! I’m a writer of romantic comedy, cat’s lover, coffee addict, and shoes hoarder.
Besides writing, I love reading (surprise, surprise), cooking—and eating—especially pasta, going to the movies and obviously ordering a gigantic bowl of popcorn, and watching too much TV. I understand that mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem as a part of other animals’ diet, and I don’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but I could really live without them.

TEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME

1. I got married twice. Same man, different dresses.
2. In total, I’ve earned three driving licenses from three different states. I failed only one driving test overall.
3. I did bungee jumping once.
4. I’m a picky eater.
5. I think tea is disgusting.
6. I love Coke; I hate Pepsi.
7. I love the iPhone but I can’t use an Apple iMac for the life of me. I always end up pressing apple c and instead of copying text, I delete everything that I’ve written.
8. Once I was involved in a spectacular bike accident. A classic, a lady opened her car door without looking and I rode into it at full speed. I flew over to the other side of the door and landed flat on the concrete, unscathed.
9. I’m not a morning person.
10. I used to be good at baking cakes, but lately they either burn, don’t cook, or don’t rise properly. My mom says it’s a clear sign I got married.

You can find Camilla on her website, on Twitter or on her Facebook Page.

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