Title: ⟫ The Isle of … Where? (An Isle Story – Book #1)
Author: ⟫ Sue Brown
Rating: ⟫ 4/5
Blurb: ⟫ When Liam Marshall's best friend, Alex, loses his fight with colon cancer, he leaves Liam one final request: buy a ticket to Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, and scatter Alex's ashes off the pier. Liam is tired, worn out, and in desperate need of a vacation, but instead of sun, sea, sand, and hot cabana boys, he gets a rickety old train, revolting kids, and no Ewan MacGregor.
Liam would have done anything for his friend, but fulfilling Alex's final wish means letting go of the only family Liam had left. Lost, he freezes on the pier... until Sam Owens comes to his rescue.
Sam's family has vacationed on the Isle of Wight every year for as long as he can remember, but he's never met anyone like Liam. Determined to make Liam's vacation one to remember, Sam looks after him-in and out of the bedroom. He even introduces Liam to his entire family. But as Sam helps Liam let go, he's forced to admit that he wants Liam to hang on-not to his old life, but to Sam and what they have together.
Review: ⟫ I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this story, but I definitely got more than I thought I would. Liam cuts a sorry figure – he’s lost his best friend, and pretty much his only link to the outside world. He has no family, very few friends, and has basically put his life on hold to see his best friend through the last months of his life.
The pain Liam is in is palpable and I felt for him so much. Sam was exactly what Liam needed – someone who, although he came across like a giant Labrador to begin with, actually had some depth to him. Sam saw someone he liked the look of and moved forward with no fear – or none that he let Liam see. The relationship between the two of them happened very quickly – understandable since it was viewed by both of them as a holiday romance with a definite end in sight.
It quickly becomes clear that they have both caught feelings, and I enjoyed the fact that apart from initial hesitancy, they were both upfront and honest about how they were feeling.
Through the course of the story, Liam finds a whole new family and raft of friends, proves himself to be Sam’s hero, and manages to say goodbye to his best friend with dignity and love.
This is a low-angst story, with a great cast of characters – villains included – and I really enjoyed reading it and have gone looking for the next in the series. The Owens family were entertaining, and I loved seeing Liam blossom beneath their clear-cut affection, as well as Sam’s honest care and love.
