Stats for my copy: .pdf review copy, Jellyfish Press, 2020.
How acquired: Hidden Gems Books
First line: Charlotte Jones paused amid the crowded departure lounge of Los Angeles International Airport.
(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)
My thoughts: One misunderstanding after another after another. Charlotte and Jack parted ways ten years ago when Jack's father called on him to return home from London. Charlotte, young and idealistic, accused Jack of being a sell out, and frustrated Jack couldn't understand why she would not give him a chance to explain. Ten years later, after a chance meeting on a plane to Hawaii, they are still angry and hurt and each blaming the other for the breakup.
The story is set at a resort on Oahu, which unbeknownst to Charlotte is owned by Jack's family, and the author does a wonderful job with the descriptions of the resort and it's surroundings, especially the lava caves and a storm. There is a lot of internal monologuing from both characters, and as the reader, being privy to both sides of the story, there were times when I wanted to shake one or both of them and tell them to talk it out. Or shut up and let the other one talk. Even when it seems that everything has been resolved and the HEA is on it's way, there is one more misunderstanding to drive Charlotte and Jack apart, which made the final resolution that much sweeter.
Along the way there is also a short subplot about Jack and a detective investigating an employee for possible identity theft, which was resolved almost immediately and which I would've liked to have had more of, and Jack agonizing over his nineteen-year-old sister and her inappropriately older boyfriend. Meanwhile Charlotte has her own issues, having come to Hawaii for some rest and relaxation and attempting to overcome panic attacks she has recently been plagued with.
The characterization is nicely done, and I liked both Charlotte and Jack, though I think I connected with Jack a little more than with Charlotte. Although that could be because I do often tend to be more drawn to the hero than the heroine! I also really liked Jack's mother, and having raised two daughters I felt his sister was an accurate representation of an exasperating nineteen year old who is still a teen but thinks she's all grown up.
I read most of the book in one sitting, as the further I got into it the more I was drawn in, impatiently waiting for Jack and Charlotte to get past their issues and finally come together, and the wait was worth it in the end!
Goodreads synopsis: Celebrity blogger Charlotte Jones is having a bad year. She's been trampled in a riot, her therapist has told her to take a break from work, and she's developed a crushing case of anxiety. If she can just make it to her holiday hotel in Oahu, everything will be okay … or not! When she boards her plane, she finds herself strapped into a seat next to the man who sold her out nine years ago.
Hotel executive Jack Diamond is having a bad year. He's used to pressure: running the global family business, supporting his widowed mother, and trying (and failing) to make his little sister understand why her grungy boyfriend is bad news, are problems he can cope with. But the police just called to tell him his general manager might be a crook, his mother's had a stroke, and his latest business deal is going bad. If he can just make it back to the family hotel in Oahu, everything will be okay … or not! He boards his plane and finds himself strapped into a seat next to the woman who ripped a hole in his heart nine years ago.
Jack and Charlotte are in for some turbulence as old hurts and rekindled passion gate-crash their plans. And just when it seems they may finally overcome their past, a tropic storm threatens to wipe out their chance of a future.
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