Crash landing A novel

DEBUT Piper had her heart broken once, and she's vowed never to let it happen again. Instead, she's in a casual, no-strings situation with a fellow medical student. Med school itself is draining Piper, and she's hoping to forget about all her stress at her best friend's destination wedding. Then her flight is cancelled, with no more flights out until the next day due to an impending storm. Stranded at the airport, Piper can't think of anything worse than missing Annie's wedding, until she bumps into Wyatt, the ex who broke her heart and is also attending the nuptials. Wyatt, who has borrowed a private plane, offers Piper a ride to the wedding. The forecasted storm rolls in while they're still in the air, and their tiny plane crashes onto a deserted tropical island. Piper isn't sure if she--or her heart--will survive this disaster with Wyatt. McQuaid's amusing debut is well-written, with interesting characters and a nicely paced story. Wyatt and Piper's chemistry sparkles even before they crash, and it heats up as they swelter under the tropical sun. VERDICT Fans of enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, and extreme forced-proximity will love McQuaid's debut.--Heather Miller Cover

Two exes on the way to the same wedding find themselves stranded on a deserted island in this debut romance. A cancelled flight has jeopardized Piper Adams' maid of honor responsibilities. Instead of being on a plane to her best friend Allie's bachelorette party and wedding at an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas, she's stuck at the Atlanta airport. Fortunately, a knight in shining armor comes to her rescue, but unfortunately, he's Wyatt Brooks, the man who broke her heart. As luck would have it, he's attending the same wedding, and a former Army connection has offered him the use of a small plane to get him there. What should have been a two-hour flight ends in disaster, though, as Piper and Wyatt barely survive a plane crash on an unknown island. When Piper finally comes to, after having been unconscious for almost a day, her first thought is that she's missed her friend's bachelorette and may very well miss the wedding. Strange priorities for someone recovering from a plane crash. The story jumps between "Now," with Piper and Wyatt on the island, and "Then," when they first met as teenagers, and those flashbacks to a standard romance aren't as compelling as the current situation, with the pair having to navigate a harsh environment while fighting old feelings. Piper doesn't make a great impression on the reader, coming across as immature when faced with difficult experiences. She whines to a gate attendant just trying to do her job to get an entire plane full of irate passengers rebooked. She gets angry with Allie for inviting Wyatt to her wedding even though he's her cousin. Being stranded softens her a bit, but it's hard to be on her side. The deserted island setting adds some tension to the story, but Piper's self-centered behavior and decision to hold a grudge against Wyatt for his earlier relationship insecurities make it a challenge to reach a compelling happily-ever-after. The survival element does the heavy lifting here, since the main characters are incompatible. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.