Illusion

Swept Away, Book 1

By: J. S. Cooper

Narrated by: Carly Robins

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Bianca's day starts out like any other...until she is abducted and locked in a van with a man she's never seen before. Ten hours later the two are dumped on a desert island, with no explanation and no means of escape. Confused and frightened, Bianca finds that the only thing keeping her terror at bay is her attraction to the stranger with whom she is stranded. But is he friend or foe?

Jakob wants only to figure out why he and Bianca have been kidnapped and how they can be rescued. But as the days go by, he can't ignore his growing fascination with Bianca. In order to survive, Bianca and Jakob must figure out how their pasts are connected. But as they reveal their darkest secrets, the truth threatens to shatter their fragile trust - and everything they thought they knew about each other will be destroyed.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 Jaimie Mancham-Case (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Realistic characters bring the book to life and make the steamy scenes much more intense." ( RT Book Reviews)

Cliffhanger

This is Book one of three. Each ends in a cliffhanger with the third book being the finale to the story. I think this was the best of the three books.
There were so many half truths and contradictions that by the second book I was reminded a little of the Scooby Doo series. (The "clues" were a little ridiculous after a while and drew out the story too much.) This story could've definitely been paired down to two books. I have read other series that I have enjoyed more than this one. It had such promise that I ultimately finished all three books and I am disappointed that what could've been an amazing thriller ended up a watered down mediocre series.

Pay attention...

Carly Robins narrates JS Coopers book in such a way that she is clearly a good reader, and albeit subtle in changing her voice a bit for characters, there is so much going on I had to relisten to a few conversations to understand who was saying what in the novel.

After losing both parents Bianca is going through her fathers items and discovers that her mothers death may have nefarious undertones and might have been murdered, but not sure why.

Then Bianca finds herself drugged and kidnapped with a guy named Jakob and she can't figure out if the handsome guy she is stranded with on a deserted island is friend or enemy. I find Bianca to be a bit of a princess and a whiner - At times when she focuses on the wrong things in a conversation and blows them out of control.

Not really knowing each other previously the two of them attempt to figure out what they have in common while not giving too much away to the other and trying to survive on the island.The one issue I had with this is the constant prodding for answers about Bianca's life while Jakob give little in return. In the meantime, another character is introduced, Steve. Neither of them trust Steve, and neither of them are comfortable on how they got on the island or how and if they'll leave the island.

So Much Potential but Fell Flat....

OMG I want my listening hours back! I think the possibilities for this story could have been great but there was so much repetitiveness, the characters were very forgetful, Bianca was called a gold digger NUMEROUS times throughout the story, and Jacob was just strange. I thought I was getting a stranded together story but I got was a mystery with awkward sexy time between kidnapped and stranded people.

This video review will be included in the July 2018 wrap-up.

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Rom Book Talk.

DNF 35%

This just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the story and found the characters difficult to like to the point I didnt care about them. The overall plot had promise but it never went anywhere before I just gave up.