I had to sympathise with Ruby Locke, ostracised by the media and then the public, through no fault of her own. I really felt for the character – she was so likeable and obviously innocent. As for her ex fiancé Tyler – what a douchebag – condemning her rather than sticking up for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be behind Ruby’s social media hacking in the first place, such were the bad vibes I got from him. Philippe and his family were godsends and I loved the descriptions of the family time Ruby spent at their abode, while she was hiding out with them. They came across as so genuinely caring, one couldn’t help but like them.
Once in Sicily, Ruby talks about soaking up the local sights, sounds and smells and I felt as though the author also afforded me that luxury vicariously, through her descriptions. There was also humour in the book, for example when Ruby mistakes the Scottish owner fo the villa for an Italian builder. This made me laugh out loud and I didn’t see it coming!
My curiously was aroused by Ruby’s Sicilian neighbour, Clark. He seemed a nice chap, if not a little too good to be true, but Nero the dog always growled at him – and this made me suspicious of him, in that animals are often a better judge of people than anyone. I really hoped that I was wrong about him! Mitch on the other hand, the owner of Ruby’s hideout, continued to grow on me and seemed like a thoroughly decent if not occasionally grumpy gentleman. I held out great hopes for the two of them!
The turn of events takes Ruby and Mitch to The island of Skye, the descriptions of which rivalled Sicily, for sure. I started to feel unsure of Ruby’s agent, Valerie and just hoped that she wouldn’t be implicated in the hacking. It did seem a bit odd though, that she had sent Shelby, her assistant, to stay with Ruby. Meanwhile, the more the story continued, the more Mitch grew on me. He seemed such a ‘nice’ chap and someone I thought I would trust myself. I loved the author’s portrayal of him.
The villagers on Mitch’s home island were all amazing and I especially loved the portrayal of young Evin. They made me want to up sticks and live there.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly but thought it served as a stark reminder to us all about the dangers of social media and cyber bullying and not believing everything you read online. Indeed, are we, as a society, fuelling press bad behaviour, through the simple act of reading the tabloid stories that constantly seem to be pushing the boundaries of acceptability?
To summarise – an absolutely fabulous book, set in amazing locations – practically guaranteed to have you enthralled.
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Eatwell Reads-Well 