REVIEW: The Island Villa by Sarah Morgan

In The Island Villa by Sarah Morgan, Being a best-selling romance novelist, you would expect Catherine Swift to know all there is about life, love, and family. Her books certainly resonate with readers across the globe. But in her own life, she hasn’t quite gotten the HEA or the tight-knit bond with both of her now grown daughters that her characters have enjoyed. Catherine still holds hope, though, that her recent engagement to a wonderful man will be the catalyst to fix the issues between her, Adeline and Cassie. Maybe this time she’ll get it right.

“Life doesn’t always give you a second chance, Addy, but when it does– Well you don’t turn your back on that. You grab it. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m choosing happiness.”

Adeline has spent years trying to forget the betrayal she felt after her mother remarried and started a whole new family while she was only allowed glimpses into their happiness. A rigid schedule and tight control over her emotions has kept Adeline on the level. But every time she steps foot onto her former home on the island of Corfu, she feels those emotions all over again. That’s why she’s dreading her mother’s fourth (fourth!!) wedding, set to take place there with a mystery groom. And then there’s Adeline’s younger half-sister Cassie whom she’ll have to make awkward conversation with for days on end.

‘They were family, and yet they weren’t family. They were like pieces of the same jigsaw that just didn’t fit.’

Cassie has been sitting on some surprising news of her own and hopes that when she’s finally at her mother’s villa she’ll be able to tell everyone about it. But little did she know that she wasn’t the only one who’d been holding onto information and that her closeness with her mum was about to be shaken to the core. Cassie soon finds herself banding together with her sister of all people–something she’s dreamed of for years, truth be told–while they navigate secrets from their family’s history that changes the narrative completely.

‘Sometimes love requires seemingly impossible sacrifice.’

Sarah Morgan deftly added multiple layers of emotions and familial issues to The Island Villa as a mother and her two grown daughters forged new bonds while they healed their relationship and settled into their new normal.

‘People said that you couldn’t go back, but who wanted to go back when you could move forward? When the future promised to be a better place than the past?’

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Domestic abuse, accidental death, infidelity. « Hide Spoiler

The Island Villa was a family saga as only Sarah Morgan can tell it. It was also a story that picked up speed as it went along, starting off by getting the three main characters’ POVs–Catherine, Adeline, and Cassie–about their somewhat broken relationships with each other. It was a little sad to see how secrets kept by Catherine, Adeline and Cassie’s mum, had such a profound effect on her daughters’ lives even into adulthood. There were most certainly valid reasons for what Catherine did, which we find out as the story moves forward. But Morgan was clever in not only her foreshadowing of what happened twenty years ago, but also how Catherine herself was cast as being somewhat self-involved for much of the book. Something that didn’t necessarily portray the sacrifices she’d made for her family.

Adeline and Cassie being half-sisters who spent very little time together since early childhood were a huge part of the rift in their family. It was interesting to watch them try to find a way to relate to each other as Adeline was a buttoned-up perfectionist who tightly controlled her world, while Cassie was a romantic at heart who loved people and let her emotions have free rein. But bond, they did, and it was a magical thing to watch. The awkwardness they first felt that finally turned into a true friendship as they dealt with one shock after another seemed oh so realistic and had me a bit misty-eyed as Cassie and Adeline faced it together.

I will warn that the subject matter at times was a little heavier than your typical summer read, although the absolutely gorgeous setting of Corfu (hello, bucket list!) was the perfect backdrop for this family to heal and overcome past issues and regrets. Morgan described the island in a way that was so immersive and so vivid that it basically became another character in the story. And each of the three women found solace in the beautiful location in their own way.

QOTD: Sarah Morgan writes both women’s fiction and contemporary romance. Which genre do you prefer?

Book Info:

Publication: Published May 2nd, 2023 |  Canary Street Press |

“The perfect summer novel—sharp, smart and so much fun!” —Viola Shipman, USA TODAY bestselling author

A messy family drama and a steamy little romance unfold under the Mediterranean sun for the perfect summer escape…

Celebrated romance author Catherine Swift has topped the bestseller lists for decades, though her personal story hasn’t been quite so successful. Three failed marriages have left her relationship with her daughters strained, but that’s about to be rectified. Engaged yet again, Catherine is counting on this wedding to be what finally brings them together as a family, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Adeline doesn’t know what’s worse—that her mother is getting married a fourth time, or that she’s being guilted into witnessing the train wreck at Catherine’s luxury villa in Corfu. It brings back the pain of her parents’ split, of her mother’s infidelity and the baby that was the result. Not that she blames her half sister, Cassie, but then she’s never made an effort to know her, either.

Cassie, on the other hand, is thrilled by her mother’s news and admires Catherine’s resilience. She’s equally excited about meeting the mystery groom, and at the prospect of spending her summer in Corfu, where she can process a secret of her own she’s been keeping from everyone.

As Cassie and Adeline arrive on the island, they each have very different expectations of what this week will bring—they haven’t been entirely honest with their mother about their lives, either—but in the lead-up to the wedding, all will be revealed, for better or worse.