One Night on the Island

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One Night on the Island Josie Silver

368 pages | Published by Ballantine Books Publication Date: February 15, 2022

Cleo, a dating columnist from London, travels to the remote Irish island of Salvation on assignment from her boss: to marry herself (which is really just committing to loving yourself). She arrives at the cottage she's rented only to find an inconvenient American photographer, Mack, already there. Mack has journeyed to Salvation to create a photo exhibit of the land of his ancestors after being separated from his wife for a year. Cleo and Mack co-exist in the cottage, each hoping the other will cave in and leave, until they decide to grant themselves permission for a holiday romance.

I'll never tire of stories about escaping to a small quaint seaside town. Never. Salvation had an A+ cast of friendly and welcoming residents - I wanted to pull up a chair at the pub or in the knitting circle and become best friends with them all. I was lucky enough to study abroad in Ireland for a summer and now I'm LONGING to go back.

The escaping-the-big-city romances can often seem a bit impractical but One Night on the Island felt so grounded and realistic. Cleo and Mack had real lives with real conflicts (I want to give them both a hug!!!) that were never forgotten, despite their romantic seclusion. Their love and heartache really burrowed into my soul - I truly wasn't sure what direction Josie Silver would take their relationship, which kept me invested until the very end.

Despite how much I enjoyed their romantic relationship, this book needed the extended friendships that Cleo found on Salvation and her seemingly silly mission to "marry herself." Had the book just been a romantic getaway it would have fallen flat - we needed to see Cleo find people like Delta and Brianne and start to listen to her intuition.

Thanks to NetGalley & Ballantine Books for the advanced e-book!