“Maybe he was one of those people who had the appearance of being an open book but after you started reading, you discovered half the pages were stuck together.”

Lovestruck is the first novel by New Zealand journalist, travel writer and author Bronwyn Sell (who also writes as Brynn Kelly). Amy Lowery returns to her family’s island resort in the Whitsundays for her father’s wedding to Sanjay. Almost sworn off men when each man she falls for treats her more like a friend (sometimes with benefits) than a proper girlfriend, she’s dismayed to see that same look in the gorgeous eyes of Sanjay’s son, Josh. And a little more: Josh is apparently quite intent on treating her as a little sister.

Sophia Wicks would have been on Curiosity Island for her honeymoon, had not her groom backed out. Now her plan is a one-day pity party followed by a concerted effort to get her life back on track. Except that step two is several days late already. When Amy’s cousin, Harry turns up delivering her room-service hangover cure, she finally has the impetus to crawl out of her depressive ditch.

Harry Tova is a marine biologist, and reluctantly agrees to let Sophia help him with his afternoon’s activity: removing more Crown of Thorns Starfish from their bit of the Reef. He can see that this jilted bride needs a bit of compassion, and perhaps he can provide her with some distraction from her plight…

Josh Brennan is thrilled at the prospect of having the sort of family he has lacked all his life. He revels in the idea of having Amy as a little (step-)sister, but the inconvenient (and sort of inappropriate) attraction he feels for her, evidently mutual, could jeopardise all that, so he needs to marshal his self-control and keep it brotherly.

Nan is intent on getting her daughters and grandchildren married off, and it turns out that other wedding guests and the new Naval Base on the island may provide some match-making opportunities. The intended pairings are quickly clear to the reader, and soon enough, to the singles, even if they do try to resist the inevitable.

The siblings and cousins provide each other strong support which often comes as devastatingly ego-deflating comments and critiques. In fact, most of the dialogue, especially between the family members, is snappy and funny; there are some hilarious inner monologues; Sell gives her characters some words of wisdom and a generous helping of double entendres; and there’s lots of chemistry between certain characters (what Amy deems The Pull).

Four separate narratives carry the part of the story set on the island, with each clearly marked by name, and separated by (quite negative but blackly funny) trip reviews of Curlew Bay resort; post-wedding off-island events are covered by text messages between various characters. Any reader who is familiar with these islands will agree that Sell conveys her setting extremely well. A brilliantly entertaining, feel-good read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Better Reading Preview and Harper Collins Australia.