The story centres around the serial planner and kindergarten teacher, Andie and Jack a born and bred Pearl islander.

Taylor, one of Andie's friends who has just gone through a heart breaking divorce. Her girlfriends rally around to help her overcome her heartbreak. They all decide to get away from it all for a week and go to this beautiful, idyllic island two hours of north of Sydney, only accessible by boat, thirty minutes from the mainland.

The story is masterfully told as the romance evolves through the changing chapters of Andie and Jack. 

Andie's mum and dad honeymooned on the island, but she doesn't tell her friends this is the reason she chose the island for their holiday. Her adored mum, Lily passed away recently and she feels responsible for her dad who has advanced dementia. She has a younger brother Toby in his mid-twenties but she still feels responsible for him although Toby tells her to go and enjoy the week away as he can manage quite well without her.

Andie immediately catches the attention of handsome Cap or sometimes known as  Captain Jack who ferries the boat to and fro when needed,  but Andie has so much else going on in her busy life and after all she is here to help Taylor and friends have a really great week away.

The friends have a schedule with plans for what they will do each day, or so they think.  Firstly, things don't go quite as expected. When they arrive at their beach house accomodation, The Moorings, they find it's been double booked by a group of guys on a bucks week.

Jack feels somewhat responsible as he thinks Pearl Island tourism has dwindled thanks to his previous business, so he does whatever he can to sort out this mess.

Set amongst a beautiful island with calm waters and sun kissed beaches the romance unfolds quite unexpectedly and we are kept wondering if this will be life changing or a super romantic holiday fling.

The story is beautifully and thoughtfully written - what a romantic the author must be, with several unexpected twists and turns. There are many relatable descriptions such as when Andie talks about her poodle hair, Jack learns to speak Andienese, his way with making delicious bacon and egg baps or sandwiches and of course his romantic beach picnic.

Jack and, his terrific relationship with his mum, their friends, his mum's former husbands, Jack's somewhat adversaries and his close friends makes this not only fabulous reading, but may get you thinking about what is really important in life.

I loved reading That Island Feeling and couldn't wait to read it each morning and several times for hours on end.

This is a book I would love to read again in the future.

The Author

Karina May who grew up on Sydney's Northern Beaches, is one of Australia's brightest new voices in women's commercial fiction. Her debut print novel, Duck a l'Orange for Breakfast (April 2023) was longlisted in the 2024 Indie Book Awards for Best Debut Fiction, with her second, Never Ever Forever (December 2023), hailed "a slickly written and highly entertaining summer read".