Heroine Margaret Smith (who is 32) and hero Hank Wyatt (40) are both on an ocean steamer that sinks. Hank rescues Margaret and the three young children she has with her, who were on their way to an orphanage. They eventually end up on a uninhabited, secluded island...

Hank was wrongly condemned for a crime he didn't commit and has spent the last four years in a penal colony on Dolphin Island. He escaped and made his way to the steamer dressed as a priest. He was hiding in a lifeboat when the ship started to burn and go down. At first I didn't care much for Hank, he seemed crude and pigheaded and could have been more considerate to Margaret and the children. But eventually I started to really like him and I found some situations he got himself into very funny.

I liked Margaret. She was an attorney. Her mom died when she was seven and she was very close to her father, who was a judge, so she knew a lot about law. She didn't know much about children, but she learned how to deal with them on the island.

This was such a heartwarming and fun tropical romance! I really enjoyed the fantasy element with the genie in a bottle. Muddy (the genie) was quite a character. I also liked the humor in the story, and the lovely island setting. A wonderful read by Jill Barnett. ( )

The heroine is on vacation from job as an attorney in san Francisco. The hero has just escaped a brutal prison convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Their paths cross of the ship in the tropical islands and when the vessel catches fire and sinks, the hero-who was a stowaway on board- rescues the beautiful blonde and the three orphan kids she's found. From the moment they find each other they are like oil and water. She practices the law, he breaks it. She's a woman , he's a chauvinistic man. But they only have each other to survive. Shipwrecked on an island, they much work together-much to both of their dismay. The heroine starts out ignorant of how to be a 'mother figure'. She doesn't know how to cook and burned everything she attempts. This is something that the hero goads her about constantly and what later turns into teasing and a shared joke began as a way to just irritate the crap out of her. The hero is uncouth, gruff, a drunk and a criminal. Though you can so tell he's a good guy, he really is a pain in the ass. He had this demeanor about him the you'd hate to be stranded on a deserted island with him too. He was sarcastic, dismissive of any ideas but his own and very much the typical greaser you'd meet in a bar. But at the same time, he's capable of saving their lives and if not for him, they would not have been about to even make it to the island let alone survive on it. No matter his gruff exterior shell, is actions spoke of a deeper kindness and a good heart. The way he interacted with the young boy and the fact that he braved swimming with sharks to get the truck with the dress in it for the heroine made me love him. I totally believed their romance. It started out as reluctant companions, then turned to friendship, then evolved into love. This was something that happened for a span of a few months an you could steadily tell the difference in the way they spoke to one another as their true feelings began to sink in. I did however have a problem with the paranormal aspect of the story. It had absolutely no barring on the story. Okay, so, suddenly there's a Genie??? What the hell? The damn genie didn't even get them off the island, a ship found them! What was the freaking point of having a magical middle eastern genie on a deserted island? Anyway, if you can get past that fact as well as it wasn't anyway near historically correct, this was a decent enough book. ( )

Hank has escaped from a terrible jungle penal colony, imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit----not that Hank is a clean cut, innocent man; he just didn't happen to commit murder. Margaret Smith is an attorney. While I didn't have a problem with the fantasy elements of the story, it is set in 1896, and the actions and speech patterns of the characters seem jarringly modern. Hank is obnoxious at least 3/4 of the book. For such a well educated woman, Margaret seems remarkably inept and naïve at times. Really, if Hank can so easily outmaneuver and outwit her, how is it that she is such a skillful, successful attorney? I did enjoy the developing relationships each of them had with the children and might have enjoyed their developing relationship more if it hadn't seemed to be so one-sided. Overall, it's a reasonably enjoyable, light read. I'm glad I was able to get it for free, but it would be worth up to $2.99. ( )

Charming but no desire to read again. ( )

What a great read. I had moments of just laughing my ass off. And, well, there's a genie in this tale. I'm not a fan. Unless it's Disney. So, when the genie, er, popped into the story I was like "oh, no…..genie". But I was having so much fun at the point that I gave it go. I'm glad I did. ( )