Temptation Island

by Victoria Fox

WELCOME TO PARADISE Only the rich are invited. . . only the strongest survive Fame. Money. Success.

Lori wants them, Aurora is being destroyed by them and Stevie's got them at her best friend's expense. These three women are drawn unwittingly to the shores of Temptation Island, all looking for their own truth.

But they discover a secret so shocking, there's no turning back. It's wicked, it's sensational. Are you ready to be told? But the glittering waters drown dark secrets. The island promises the one thing money can't buy - and the price is devastating...

Praise for Victoria Fox

'Jackie Collins for the modern gal' - Grazia

'The best bonkbuster of 2012' - Sun

'Perfect for a summer hol . . . If you think the Made in Chelsea crew live a glitzy life, you ain't seen nothing yet' -Heat

'Pour yourself a glass of Pimm's because this summer bonkbuster is guaranteed to get you seriously hot' - Cosmopolitan

'Even we were shocked at the scale of scandal in this juicy tale . . . It's 619 pages of sin!' - Now

'This gripping novel was just too exciting to put down' - Closer

'Fame, money, sex, lies and scandal in a high-octane Hollywood setting' - Grazia

'A deliciously old-school doorstop of a book filled with sex-fuelled fun' - Easy Living

'Laden with mystery, scandal and sex, Victoria Fox's glossy novel gives Jackie Collins a run for her money and has all the ingredients for a great beach-side read' - Irish Tatler

'This superb bonkbuster raises the temperature whether you're in a tropical paradise or the Trossachs' - Daily Record

'Hot encounters, breathtaking scandal, lashings of secrets and lies . . . you'll be lost to temptation until long after the sun has set' - dailyrecord.co.uk

'Temptation Island is a worthy successor to Jilly Cooper and Jackie Collins. A bonkbusting fantastic read: pure escapism' - Frost magazine

'[Temptation Island] has all the elements of a great beach read - fame, wealth and scandalous carry-on' - U Magazine

'Get ready for summer with this hot novel, perfect for lazy days in the sun' - Inside Soap

'If you like a good book to read while lounging by the pool then look no further . . . [Temptation Island] is well-written, completely engaging and exciting from the start. We couldn't put it down!' - Handbag.com

'Victoria Fox is a Jackie Collins for the twenty-first century: sharp, witty and scandalous. [Temptation Island] epitomises escapism' - Fresh Direction

'[Full of] shocking secrets . . . This is the glitzy follow-up to Hollywood Sinners' - Star

'An ice-cream-sandwich of a book . . . Page-turning escapism! Think bonkbuster a la Judith Krantz or Jackie Collins, oozing with glamour, glitz and betrayal; success, sleaze and scandal' - H&E magazine

• ISBN10: 1909490172
• ISBN13: 9781909490178
• Publish Date: 31 January 2014 (first published 1 June 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 627
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

When I read Victoria Fox’s debut novel, Hollywood Sinners, last year I was massively impressed. It was opulent, it was larger-than-life, and it seemed Fox was the heir apparent to Jackie Collins’s throne. It would then be safe to say that the wait for her new novel seemed endless. For me, it couldn’t come around quick enough as I waited to see what Fox would do next. Where it would be set, who would be in it and what would happen that was so shocking and so scandalous you forgot it was fiction. When I heard it was going to be set on an island, an island with secrets, well, I was sold and as soon as I received the novel I began to read it, expecting a book just as good as her first novel. Sadly though Temptation Island failed to tempt me.

I can’t seem to pinpoint what Fox did wrong with Temptation Island that was different to Hollywood Sinners. It had three gorgeous females with the world at their feet – and secrets they’re keeping, obviously – it had villains straight out of a cheesy movie, and it had what could have been a glorious setting. Had the novel actually been set on Cacatra, the alleged temptation island. Thing is, when a novel promises you a glorious island as its setting and it takes almost 400 pages to get there, you’re always going to be disappointed. And I was. Somehow it just didn’t work. Aurora, Lori and Stevie weren’t captivating enough to carry 400 pages of a novel before it got to the bit that was really, really shocking. Aurora and Lori especially. Aurora was just your typical spoiled Hollywood princess and she was so one-dimensional it hurt. Lori was the opposite of that, but still a stereo-type. Sweet, innocent, yada yada. Obviously meant to be the ying to Aurora’s yang but both were so far bad or so far good that it seemed a caricature. Stevie was the only character I really cared about but if I’m being honest, I don’t even know why she was in the novel. “Fame at her best friend’s expense” is what its billed as, but it wasn’t really like that. Or at least not the way it sounds.

I suppose I just felt mis-sold. I felt like I was reading a different book to the one the cover and the synopsis promises. And I’m sorry, but the big massive secret was improbable. It’s the most stupid thing ever. It felt as if it belonged in a crime novel rather than a Chick Lit novel. It just didn’t fit with the theme, not really. Everything just felt off. The characters were just playthings, the behaviour of the villains was funny not scary, and I can’t get my head around what Lori does. She becomes fascinated by a man named JB and I just kept waiting for her to see him for his true self, because believe me, he wasn’t how Lori saw him and I saw it a mile off. It was creepy. It was all just a bit horrible, really, which is a shame. Hollywood Sinners was an excellent novel and with Temptation Island Fox has sort of un-done all the work she did with her first book. It just didn’t work. The island idea is a good one, yes, but the rest of it should have been done differently. I don’t know how, but it just should have. Here’s hoping Fox can deliver the goods with her third novel.