Title: Joshua’s Rainbow
Series: Rainbow Key: Book One
Author: Victoria Sue
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 232 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: Some of these characters are broken on the outside and some broken on the inside, but they are a family together, and Victoria Sue has done an excellent job of communicating that.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Rainbow Key – an idyllic island retreat off the west coast of Florida. Think wedding destination, white sandy beaches, lurve… except at the moment Joshua is struggling to pay the electricity bill, they’ve no paying customers, and even if they did they can’t afford the repairs from the devastating hurricane that struck three years ago – and to top it off they have to take in Daniel, a grumpy businessman who has been ordered by his doctor to take some time off before he has a heart attack from too much stress.
Funnily enough, Daniel owns a very expensive hotel chain that has been trying to buy the island for the past two years. Not that Joshua knows that yet, and boy are sparks gonna fly when he thinks he’s been set up.
Of course, sparks of a different kind are also soon flying between them.
Then there’s Matt who just got let out of prison, Charlie who ran away from home, and Ben, a famous model until a devastating house fire destroyed his face.
Welcome to Rainbow Key – held together by love, family, and sticky tape.
Review: This is the first book in a brand new series by the amazing author Victoria Sue, and if this book is an indication of what she has planned for the remainder of the series, then I cannot wait for the rest of them! This book drew me in and I cannot say enough good things about it. This quirky, atypical cast of characters won my heart, but even the island of misfit toys needed someone to lead them and ground them, and this is what Joshua’s Rainbow is all about. Yes, technically this is a May/December romance, but honestly, the MCs fit together so well that they don’t notice the age difference, and neither will you. At first glance, you’re not sure how the two will get together but as the story unfolds, you realize the big picture of how they are yin and yang to each other. They are both at a crossroads. They are both so unsure. They both see the good and positive in the other that they cannot see in themselves.
The writing is well done in this book. The story paces really well and it’s all very believable. The characters stand alone, as well as with others, and there is a witty banter between them all that keeps the story from going maudlin or getting muddied with too many feelings. Sue sets the scene well, describing the island, the hotel, and the more secondary locations and images with accuracy, understanding that a good novel has good characters, but a great novel has great characters as well as great imagery to ground them.
Daniel is a forty-two-year-old business executive. He runs a very successful real estate development company which specializes in hotels. He’s exceptionally proud of all he has accomplished, but it has come at such a price to his health and to his general well-being that now he has to answer for it. Sent to Rainbow Key to recuperate by his doctor and longtime friend, Daniel is learning just how big a toll his workaholic lifestyle has taken on his body and his outlook on life. But Daniel realizes quickly that Rainbow Key is a resort his company has tried to buy several times, and that life may have handed him a plum of a property if he just keeps his mouth shut and lets the island die the very obvious death it is imminently in danger of. Problem is, he can’t. He’s come to realize that he may have just found the one place that feels like home—but how can he save it, himself, and the inhabitants?
Joshua came to Rainbow Key as a guest of the previous owner, a man who saved him from his former life on the streets. Clive was Joshua’s salvation, and Joshua has wanted nothing more than to pass along that salvation to others who may need it as much as he did. Unfortunately, no one taught him how to run a hotel, and he never got a lawyer to look into Clive’s will, because he couldn’t afford one. As a result, he’s being pushed out of Rainbow Key—him and the rainbow family around him. Agreeing to take a reservation for an overworked businessman is just one more stress in Joshua’s already over-stressed existence. Everything Joshua has built is hanging by a thread. What Joshua doesn’t realize is that he is the glue that holds not just the hotel but its inhabitants together. Joshua is the hardest on himself, seeing himself as damaged goods. He doesn’t see the hope he inspires or the confidence he gives to the other inhabitants of the Key. Falling in love with the overworked businessman is probably the stupidest thing he’s ever done. Or is it?
Rainbow Key is a refuge. Joshua took what was gifted to him and puts his heart and soul into creating a safe place for his little group of lost souls. The family they have made on the island is real, it’s solid, and it goes so far beyond the brick and mortar of the walls of the hotel. Each soul has their own reason for being on Rainbow Key, or reason they keep returning. Without it being obvious, Sue has introduced her cast of characters and set the foundation for the series. However, she has given us pieces of their lives and how they all fit together in this first book, and they don’t feel like secondary characters at all. Some of them are broken on the outside and some broken on the inside, but they are a family together, and Victoria Sue has done an excellent job of communicating that.
Josh sighed in complete happiness. “I’ve loved you nearly from the first time I saw you. I love the idea of the island but I want you to understand something. I adore you. You are my home,” he said softly and his breath caught at the understanding that shone in Daniel’s eyes. “Wherever you are is my home. I can walk away from here right now so long as you are holding my hand.”
I highly recommend this book. Can you tell? And I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Only problem is, I can’t seem to choose which character I want to hear about the most!
You can buy Joshua’s Rainbow here:
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