Quick and easy book. Not great, but enjoyable enough. ( )

The storm of the century is about to hit Little Bridge Island, Florida - and it's sending waves crashing through Sabrina 'Bree' Beckham's love life...

When a massive hurricane severs all power and cell service to Little Bridge Island - as well as its connection to the mainland - twenty-five-year-old Bree Beckham isn't worried . . . at first. She's already escaped one storm - her emotionally abusive ex - so a hurricane seems like it will be a piece of cake. But animal-loving Bree does become alarmed when she realises how many islanders have been cut off from their beloved pets. Now it's up to her to save as many of Little Bridge's cats and dogs as she can . . . but to do so, she's going to need help - help she has no choice but to accept from her boss's sexy nephew, Drew Hartwell, the Mermaid Café's most notorious heartbreaker. But when Bree starts falling for Drew, she has to ask herself if her island fling was only a result of the stormy weather, or if it could last during clear skies too?

I bought this a while ago, read a bit, and put it down as I had trouble getting into the story. I finally picked it back up, but it probably wasn't my best decision.
Bree is a rich girl working as a waitress in a small cafe in the Florida Keys. She alludes to some trauma that sent her fleeing here, but it isn't explained until late in the book. Meanwhile, a hurricane is coming, and the community is in an uproar, except for Drew, the heartbreaker guy who's determined to ride the storm out at his place on the beach.
Honestly, the story feels very disjointed, with a series of scenes meant to be funny but really weren't. I was appalled by the number of people who just left their pets and then expected Bree to care for them all. The Drew and Bree romance felt forced. And the scenes having to do with Bree's trauma were ridiculous (I mean, shooting a gun at the guy was just stupid, even with Florida's absurd gun laws). Not a book I would recommend. ( )

This book wasn’t bad, but it didn’t exceed my expectations either. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be, a fun and quick romance. I mostly picked it up because the main character’s name was Sabrina just like me. I could definitely tell that the author mostly writes YA because of her writing style. Would still recommend if you’re looking for cute and fast read. ( )

I almost feel like Meg Cabot needs a pseudonym for this book! But I feel like this wouldn’t sell without her name attached to it, so that’s an odd line to balance. This was much more generic chick-lit than anything Cabot I’ve ever read, and that’s totally fine, but my expectations were quite different and I think I could have been disappointed if I had gone in really expecting something like one of Cabot's previous standalone adult books.

The amount of DOGS in this book is absolutely delightful! Seriously, all the stars for the abundance of dogs. Dogs make me happy and thus this book made me happy.

There was a Me Too moment in this book that I'm of mixed minds about. It felt like it was put in there as a way to be culturally relevant and to make this about the times. But I did love the way that the character dealt with it all.

I wish we had had a much deeper examination of the love story that develops. It's instalust and then instalove and there were no real conversations shown. Nothing like that good ol' Mia and Michael romance that is to date one of my favourite literary romances out there.

I would three star this for being not at all spectacular, but I'm throwing in the extra star for the animals and for how well paced it was. Four times, I checked the length, because it absolutely flew by and it felt like it was half the size it actually was. Normally I'm going the other way and thinking books should have been cut down, but this was super fast.

I adore Meg Cabot forever (there's a reason the Princess Diaries is the one series I've reread in the past few years) and this is a new direction for her. I can't say I'm thrilled with the more generic romance that lacks her general wit, but she's as readable as ever. ( )