ILLUSION (Swept Away #1) by J. S. Cooper-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 11, 2014

The day started like every other day…

Bianca London finds herself kidnapped and locked up in a van with a strange man. Ten hours later, they’re dumped on a deserted island. Bianca has no idea what’s going on and her attraction to this stranger is the only thing keeping her fear at bay.

Jakob Bradley wants only to figure out why they’ve been left on the island and how they can get off. 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 they’re connected, but as they grow closer, secrets are revealed that may destroy everything they thought they knew about each other.

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REVIEW: ILLUSION is the first installment in J.S. Cooper’s contemporary, new adult, Swept Away romantic, suspense series focusing on movie reviewer Bianca London and billionaire Jakob Bradley.

The storyline finds Bianca and Jacob kidnapped and abandoned on a deserted, tropical island. Although our couple did not know one another, it will be revealed that they have more in common than their recent abduction. A few days struggling for food and water find Bianca struggling with her attraction to Jakob. It is only when another stranger mysteriously appears on the island with messages of danger does Bianca begin to suspect that Jakob knows more than he is letting on.

The relationship between Bianca and Jakob is first established by an ‘accidental meeting’ but within a matter of a few hours, Bianca will find herself drugged and abandoned with a man she knows nothing about. Jakob is either her savior or the devil but as the storyline builds Jakob’s presence will become all too readily apparent.

There are some issues with the heroine that cannot go unaddressed. She knows something is wrong beyond the obvious; the man with whom she has been partnered and abandoned on the island continues to push for information and answers as well as revealing some important details that he should not have known. In this, our heroine is ‘too stupid to live’ and places herself in the hands of a man who has lied to her from the start. There are moments of unbelievable stupidity for a woman whose recent life has been centered around uncovering the truth.

The overall premise is easily deduced from the kidnapping and abduction, to the reasons for the secrets and lies but in the end, it still makes for some interesting reading when the truth is finally revealed. The storyline ends on a cliff hanger so beware when you set out on your island adventure.

J.S. Cooper pulls the reader into a suspense filled mystery where the past meets the present; where a father’s love for his daughter is shrouded in lies and deceit; and where a woman’s need for answers finds her facing a mad man whose is willing to destroy everything to get what he wants.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy