Anna Emerson is a thirty year old teacher desperately in need of an adventure. She is in a relationship that is going no where, so when the opportunity presents itself to become a private tutor on a remote tropical island to a sixteen year old boy, she jumps at the chance. T.J. (the sixteen year old boy) is in remission from cancer and desperately wants to go back to normal, everyday life, but fate has other things in store. When the two board a private plane to meet up with his family, things take a turn for the worst as their pilot has a heart attack and they crash land in the water. The pilot dies but T.J. and Anna survive and they make it to a remote island. Stranded and alone, the two fight to stay alive with little resources that they may have. But, that may not be the biggest obstacle as the two of them start to have feelings for one another.
For months now I have been hearing raving reviews for ON THE ISLAND, so I thought I would finally give it a whirl and I was not disappointed. This book grabs you by the seat of your pants and doesn’t let go until the very end. I absolutely adored both T.J. and Anna and was rooting for them the entire time (although I must admit that T.J. is definitely my favorite character between the two). This book has it all – there is suspense and heartache but there is also a lot of love too. I must admit though that luck was definitely on their side as they slowly found usable items on the island, because if they hadn’t, I don’t think that they would have made it. There are also a few laughs here and there too … some of my favorites are the awkward scenes in which T.J. talks about his bodily reactions to seeing Anna. I laughed out loud several times. Overall, a truly fantastic tale about two people falling in love, in the most unforeseeable circumstances.
