BY: RAMONA FORREST

At a “fat” convention in Tahiti, an attack by pirates, during a storm at sea, leaves Jamie Moran stranded on a deserted island with Mick, a craven, yet devilishly handsome drug smuggler she’d pulled from the raging water. Fearful of being alone in a terrifying place, she tends his injuries, while he teaches her far more than mere survival. Joined by two others, they work to stay alive, while Jamie fights a hopeless sexual attraction to this secretive man of mystery. As they wait for a rescue that never comes, she becomes slender and healthy. Facing a devastating typhoon, death-dealing smugglers, and dangerous wild animals, Jamie and Mick are drawn into love with dire consequences. But he promises her that it will all work out and he will be with her in the end. Finally rescued by a US Navy cruiser, Jamie dreads the trial in Tahiti that will have Mick hauled away in chains to spend long years in a tropical prison. Has he made a promise he can’t keep?

TAYLOR JONES SAYS: In Survivors by Ramona Forrest, Jamie Moran is attending a “fat” convention in Tahiti after divorcing her mentally abusive husband. Now single again, she wants to lose the weight she gained during the marriage when eating was her only comfort. At the convention, several attendees, including Jamie and her new friends Felicia and Jim, take a scenic schooner ride out on the ocean. A terrible storm comes up, but that’s not the worst of the problems for the little schooner. A band of pirates/drug dealers attack the ship, sinking it. Jamie and her friends manage to get into life rafts, and, while at sea, Jamie picks up a sailor from the schooner who she knows was in cahoots with the pirates. But he’s a human being and she can’t let him drown. So she pulls him into her raft, and they make it to an island, soon after to be joined by Felicia and Jim. Jamie operates on the sailor, Mick, with his Swiss Army Knife, and takes a bullet out of his shoulder, saving his life a second time. Stranded on the island, it’s clear to everyone that Mick is not what he appeared to be on the schooner, and Jamie is soon head over heels for him. But what kind of future can she have with a criminal, even if he is too well educated and well spoken to be the illiterate sailor/drug dealer he pretended to be on the ship?

As usual, Forrest’s story is heart-warming and romantic, with vivid scenes and wonderful characters. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be stranded on a tropical island, this story will give you an idea—both the good and the bad. A really good read.

REGAN MURPHY SAYS: Survivors by Ramona Forrest is the story of a young woman, recently freed from an abusive marriage, who longs to be her old self and find real love. Jamie Moran has just divorced her abusive husband and received a generous settlement. Free at last, but obese due to the overeating she did while trying to cope with her marriage, she wants to have her figure and self-esteem restored. So she attends a fat convention in Tahiti, and on a whim, goes for a jaunt on the ocean in a schooner. And that’s when the trouble starts. As a severe storm arrives, some members of the crew won’t let the captain head for port because they are waiting for another ship to arrive. When a Chinese junk appears, they tie up the captain and put him the brig, then board the junk, which shoots a cannon at the schooner, sinking it. Jamie manages to get into a small six-man life raft that is barely big enough for her expanded size. She makes it off the ship, and into the middle of the storm. Then an arm appears over the side of her raft, and Jamie recognizes a member of the crew, one of the ones waiting for the junk. She knows he’s a criminal, but it isn’t in her nature to let him die, so she pulls him into the raft, and they eventually make it to a small deserted island. But Mick is an enigma, and nothing like what he pretended to be on the ship. They fall in love, but Jamie knows they have no future. Mick is a criminal, after all, isn’t he?

With a well-thought-out plot, some surprising twists and turns, and enchanting characters, Forrest has crafted a tale that will make you laugh and cry. Survivors is a fascinating, charming, and thoroughly enjoyable story.