Sandy M’s review of Solace Island (Solace Island, Book 1) by Meg Tilly
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 6 Nov 18
This is my first Meg Tilly book. While I had a couple of small issues with it, for the most part Solace Island is a good story that kept my interest and made me laugh out loud, which doesn’t happen for me very often while reading. Since this is Ms. Tilly’s first romance, I’m now definitely looking forward to Book 2.
Maggie has suffered one of the worst betrayals women can go through, but hers is much worse due to the fact her fiance calls her the day before their wedding to call if all off, instead of face to face, and then she later discovers the jerk is nothing he pretended to be during their courtship and working together. She needs peace and quiet to come to terms with everything, so she meets her sister Eve on Solace Island, perfectly named for her life as it is currently. I really enjoyed these sisters. Eve is the spontaneous one, while Maggie is a bit more cautious and has to think things through.
First meeting Luke Benson when Maggie loses her way to their cabin – which is one of those funny scenes – she runs into Luke again at the Saturday outdoor market, where he’s a baker and sells out of his breads every week, he’s that good. I really, really like Luke. He’s a bit down on himself after his ex-fiance used him like a pro. He left his very successful security business in his brother’s hands and hightailed it to the island, where he likes his simple and quiet life. He’s in for a huge surprise when the sisters talk him into sharing his stall at the market to sell Maggie’s baked goods – more fun scenes to be had there, along with others in which Eve pushes Luke and Maggie together as often as possible and also tries to talk Maggie into moving to the island permanently.
Once Maggie makes arrangements to sell her portion of the business she created with her ex, mysterious and dangerous happenings begin, and if not for Luke, either of them could have been seriously injured or killed. Luke has his own secrets about his background, so it’s possible he’s the target instead of Maggie. He moves them into his home as more strange things transpire, and he and Maggie get closer, of course. Because they are both cautious due to their recent pasts, I enjoyed the slow buildup of their relationship, especially when it’s time for Luke to come clean about his secrets.
There are a couple of questions that aren’t answered, left to be sewed up in Cliff’s Edge, I hope. The biggest nitpick for me is at times, while the writing is good, it isn’t up to par to other romance authors. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, this is Ms. Tilly’s first foray into romance, and I like the fact she got laughter out of me numerous times, so I’m keeping the hope alive her writing will elevate with each subsequent book. This is a solid start and I’m more than willing to give her next book in the series a go.
Grade: B
Summary:
Dumped on the eve of her wedding and looking for a quiet place to lick her emotional wounds, Maggie Harris joins her sister on Solace Island, where she hopes to recover from the stunning betrayal. At first, Maggie resists Eve’s impassioned argument about relocating permanently so the sisters can open their own local bakery. What she definitely doesn’t need on her road to recovery are Eve’s efforts to fix her up with their mysterious and alluring neighbor, Luke Benson-even if he is incredibly handsome and desirable.
Just as Maggie starts to get comfortable in her new surroundings, a car tries to run her down in the middle of the street. If it weren’t for Luke’s extremely quick reflexes, Maggie could have been killed, leading her to wonder just who exactly Luke Benson really is…
Luke thought he’d left the violence of the high risk security world behind. But he can’t stand by while Maggie’s life is threatened. Luke will do anything to keep her safe-even moving Maggie and her sister into his house with its state-of-the-art security features. But with the secrets between them and an unknown threat stalking her heels, Luke will have to think fast to prove to Maggie that she can trust him with her life-and with her heart.
No excerpt available.
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