“I finished Island Affair with a big smile on my face. I can’t decide what I adored more: Luis and Sara’s love story; their relationships with their complicated and difficult and loving families, or the setting of Key West, which sounded so beautiful I wanted to jump on a plane. I can’t wait to read more by Priscilla Oliveras!”
—New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory
USA Today … Jasmine Guillory
USA Today bestselling author Priscilla Oliveras launches a new romantic comedy series set in Key West, Florida and filled with humor, Latinx culture, and fun family dynamics perfect for summer beach reading…
Sought-after social media influencer Sara Vance, in recovery from an eating disorder, is coming into her own, with a potential career expansion on the horizon. Despite the good news, her successful siblings (and their perfect spouses) have a way of making her feel like the odd one out. So, when her unreliable boyfriend is a no-show for a Florida family vacation, Sara recruits Luis Navarro—a firefighter paramedic and dive captain willing to play the part of her smitten fiancé . . .
Luis’s big Cuban familia has been in Key West for generations, and his quiet strength feeds off the island’s laidback style. Though guarded after a deep betrayal, he’ll always help someone in need—especially a spunky beauty with a surprising knowledge of Spanish curse words. Soon, he and Sara have memorized their “how we met” story and are immersed in family dinners, bike tours, private snorkeling trips . . . sharing secrets, and slow, melting kisses. But when it’s time for Sara to return home, will their fake relationship fade like the stunning sunset . . . or blossom into something beautiful?
“A captivating love story.”
—Farrah Rochon, USA Today bestselling author
“Priscilla Oliveras writes about families and love with warmth and charm. If you love nuanced characters and big emotions, read her books.”
—HelenKay Dimon, author of The Secret She Keeps
“Don’t miss this lovely beginning to Priscilla Oliveras’s new series. Can’t wait to take my next trip!”
—Jamie Beck, USA Today bestselling author
more
Priscilla Oliveras’s latest released offers a fabulous take on the fake dating trope! Set in beautiful Key West, ISLAND AFFAIR will make you feel as if you’re at the beach. The family dynamic is another bonus to this breezy rom com. I highly recommend this one.
A great sense of place, sweet fake-to-real romance, immersive Latin culture, and strong (and complicated) family relationships. If you like to travel through books, Island Affair is for you.
This was the escape I needed! Not only am I dying to visit the Keys, but I adored getting swept away into this world of sun and sand and heart-melting kisses. I always enjoy a fake relationship trope, and the family depth surrounding Sara and Luis’s romance made this Island Affair even more beautiful.
Island Affair is a perfect, romantic Caribbean escape. Much like a warm ocean breeze, Pricilla Oliveras’s beautiful take on the beloved fake fiancé trope sweeps readers into a heartfelt story about two people who fall in love while helping each other overcome substantial personal obstacles. The author has a real talent for weaving serious topics like eating disorders into the story without overwhelming the romance. Both the Navarro and Vance families are dynamic and sympathetic, even with their flaws. Better yet, I could almost feel the sand in my toes and the sun on my face as the couple moved through the story setting. Best of all, Luis is the honorable, strong hero romance readers (and rational women everywhere) desire. In fact, I might have to fight Sara for him. Don’t miss this lovely beginning to Ms. Oliveras’s new series. Can’t wait to take my next trip!
Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras is a delightfully entertaining love story centered around Sara who is desperate to find a fill-in fiancé as she meets her family for a week-long vacation in Key West. Without giving any spoilers, I really enjoyed getting to know the characters that were craftfully created by the author. This is a fun, easy read that will make you laugh and will not be able to put down. My only criticism is the print is a little two small. I rated it a four.
Luis Navarro, a firefighter paramedic and dive captain with Key West Fire Department, is given a forced time off for a week to clear his head and is not at all happy about it.
He meets Sara Vance, a social media influencer and Blogger and when her unreliable boyfriend Ric does not show up for the Vance family vacation she hires Luis to play the part of her smitten fiancé.
This is such a feel-good, witty, charming, and entertaining book with lots of family drama. I loved it from start to end. All the characters are so real, believable, and relatable. The Navarro family is full of life and each member is so wonderful. Vance family dynamics were very similar to my own family and I could relate with them in a better way.
Sara and Luis are great together. They are intelligent characters, share witty banter, they understand each other and their chemistry is swoon-worthy. Luis Navarro is an absolute book boyfriend material.
The author’s writing style is remarkable and the description of Key West is impressive and breathtaking. I want to visit Key West.
This book also thought me a few things:
1. You can only be happy in your present and in the future if you let go of the mistakes of the past.
2. Family is always so important.
Give me a fake fiance trope and a sunny Caribbean beach, and I’m THERE FOR IT, BABY!
Island Affair is a whole lot of romance, sometimes-complicated family relationships, and tropical fun in one delightful book.
I highly recommend this book! Very very good!!!
This was my first book by Priscilla Oliveras and I can’t wair to read more. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and the story development. I look forward to reading more with these characters.
Nothing I love more than a fake relationship trope and add it to a great summer setting in the Florida Keys and I am set. I love the depth of the story as well as the fun and heartwarming story between the two lovable characters, Sara Vance, a social media influencer and Luis, a Cuban American firefighter/paramedic who stole my heart. The writing was superb with the witty banter and hot chemistry, I could not ask for more. This was a fun read that I enjoyed – nice escape! Thank you author Oliveras – I cannot wait for the sequel.
A perfect summertime rom com story set in the beautiful Key West! I am very excited to read that there is a second book coming out! I hope the same characters are in it!
I CANNOT wait for the next book in this series! It had everything I would want in a contemporary romance novel.
The story was well told. It kept my interest long into the night. I loved the family presence, and how it all connected them together. The characters were very much like able people. The Cuban language was an excellent touch too!
I am now a Priscilla Oliveras fan, and can’t wait to dive into her other series!
When I started Island Affair, I was expecting to read a simple summer romance. Instead, I read a beautiful story about loss, family dysfunction, and of how learning to make peace with one’s past can open the door to beautiful relationships.
I loved the ebb and flow of the story as Luis and Sara divulged details of their life, building a foundation of friendship that matched their sparkling chemistry. Their interactions were so genuine-their laughter, their frank discussions about past hurts, their desire to help each other find peace within their families. The relationship was equal parts playful and poignant, and I was completely invested as their honest communications led to a more intimate connection.
This was my first read by this author and I thought the writing style was pure magic. The pacing and characterization hooked me from the start, and I appreciated the honest-and sensitive-portrayal of the health issues that the female main character faced. I found the secondary characters to be just as engaging and would love to read more about any of them. In addition,the wonderful backdrop of The Keys-the scenery, the food, the music, the smells-all of it came to life for me. Although I’ve never visited Florida, I now have an appreciation for what that experience would be like.
In short, I loved everything about this book! I’ve added a copy of Island Affair to my keeper collection and plan to enjoy it again!
Was a good reaf
Priscilla Oliveras writes about families and love with warmth and charm. If you love nuanced characters and big emotions, read Island Affair.
I finished Island Affair with a big smile on my face. I can’t decide what I adored more: Luis and Sara’s love story; their relationships with their complicated and difficult and loving families, or the setting of Key West, which sounded so beautiful I wanted to jump on a plane. I can’t wait to read more by Priscilla Oliveras!
Key West “fake-dating” romance take me away! Island Affair is a beautiful tour of Key West as seen thru the eyes of our couple as they navigate falling for each other while deceiving their respective families in a fake relationship. Always one of my favorite tropes, they get to act like they are madly in love, when they cannot help but actually fall in love.
Sara Vance lands in Key West just to find out her expected boyfriend is skipping out on the planned family vacation. Thinking that she must be in a relationship to soothe her mother’s rehabilitation from cancer, she needs a new guy and fast. Enter our hot local firefighter Luis Navarro. Luis is a Key West native and just happens to be hanging around the airport pondering how he will spend his forced week off from the squad. Problem solved for the both of them – fake it til you make it thru the week!
There are other concurrent story lines – Sara is a media influencer recovering from an eating disorder and Luis is struggling with painfully memories of lives lost – both personally and in the hazards of his line of work. Mix in various parental and sibling drama and it makes for a lot of twists on top of the fake/not fake romance. Luis is my favorite — strong, loyal, and a calming guide for all the other characters – except for one brother (queue the sibling drama.) Sara is sweet but a little overly dramatic regarding her family’s perception of her. I am hoping that Oliveras’ next installment in this series (Keys to Love) will provide some more Navarro Cuban cultural family dynamic.
Happenstance puts them together. Time spent on their Key West Island Affair has them falling into their Happy Ever After. This was my first read from Priscilla Oliveras and it won’t be the last. I genuinely enjoyed Island Affair – for the romance and the reminders to all that Key West has to offer. Planning my next trip soon and will be bringing this delightful vacation read as a tour guide.
Thanks so much to Bookishfirst and Priscilla Oliveras for this book in exchange for an honest review.
One of my favorite romance tropes is the fake boyfriend/fiance, so I was super excited to read Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras. The story started out very fast with Sara getting a call from her boyfriend, while she’s at the airport, that he won’t be coming for the week that she had planned with her family to celebrate her mother’s cancer remission. Sara starts freaking out because the rest of her family is type A and she knows they are expecting a perfect version of Sara. In steps firefighter Luis, who just happens to have the week off from the fire department because he’s going through some things and needs to get his act together.
They are physically attracted to each other, and Luis is referred to as looking like Vin Diesel, so that was a plus for me. Luis has a huge white knight complex so he agrees to pose as Sara’s boyfriend for the week. They have some time to kill before the rest of the family so they decide to take a tour of Key West and get to know each other.
This is one of the ways that Oliveras really shines, in her descriptions of the city and the people. I’ve never really wanted to go to Florida after seeing way too many articles about the crazy things that people do down there (Google: Florida Man or Flakka, the zombie drug!), but after reading the descriptions I wouldn’t say no to taking a trip down there.
The other way that Oliveras really shows her writing skills is by the family dynamic in both families. I ended up enjoying Island Affair more for the way sibling rivalry was realistically portrayed and to see the loving ways both families came together.
As for their chemistry, it was hot, but the love scenes were just alright. They didn’t leave me with the desire to go see what my husband was up to. 😉 But I am perfectly fine with that because I would rather have a story in a romance then just a lot of sex. And even though they meet and fall madly in love in a week, which some readers may find totally unrealistic, I’m cool with that too. This is a work of fiction, so anything goes!
If you’re looking for a fun romantic read or a good beach read definitely get yourself a copy of Island Affair.
Sara and Luis go from fake boyfriend to real boyfriend!
Social media influencer Sara Vance needed some help when her sort of long distance boyfriend cancelled a trip to Key West to meet her parents when she ran into Key West firefighter Luis Navarro who was on a mandatory break from work. Luis had a reputation for always helping people and when he ran into Sara crying, he decided to help her out by acting as her boyfriend. Luis knew that was going to be a problem since he was a Key West native and the chance of running into people that know him was high. Sara and Luis had planned out their story to tell her family but when her family wanted Luis to spend time with them that things started to become real.
I loved Island Affair because Priscilla Oliveras has written a book that makes you feel Sara and Luis fix their problems and each other s and finally realize they are in love and that a relationship is possible.
P.S. I want to read the next book about the Navarro family!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Island Affair is a cute romantic comedy. Although it took me a while to get into it, I really enjoyed the book. It’s funny, touching, and romantic without explicit sex scenes. I loved the family drama and the beautiful Key West setting. My issues with the book include Sara’s job (social media influencer) seems to be overused in books lately, the repeated descriptions of her eating disorder could have been cut down, and an epilogue would have been nice since the story ended so abruptly. I didn’t go into this expecting reality. So, I wasn’t bothered by their agreement to pretend to be in a relationship minutes after meeting. If you are looking for a realistic love story, this isn’t it. But, if you’re in the mood for a sweet, funny, touching, easy read, Island Affair is a good choice. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and spending more time with the Navarro family.