| Title | : | Good Girl (Siren Island, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published November 13, 2018 |
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Tricia O'Malley, comes a brand-new series about love, self-discovery, and embracing your inner mermaid.
When Samantha books a trip to Siren Island, it’s because she has finally hit a wall. Worn-out, defeated, and dead tired – Samantha is ready to run away from it all. Her whole life has been spent playing by the rules, and for what? An empty apartment, a career with no upward movement, and one failed relationship after another. When it all blows up in her face, what's a girl to do but take a last-minute trip to the ridiculously named Laughing Mermaid Bed & Breakfast on an unknown speck of an island in the Caribbean?
Lucas is no stranger to burn-out. He landed on Siren Island seeking solace from his own troubled past. What he didn’t expect was to find that his mysterious neighbors at the quirky Laughing Mermaid bed & breakfast would show him there’s more to this world than he ever could have believed. When Samantha arrives as their guest - depleted and needing respite, Lucas can't help but feel like he could be the man she needs. Irresistibly drawn to her uptight demeanor, Lucas is determined to unwind Samantha and show her that life on Siren Island could be the answer to all her problems.
Good Girl (Siren Island, #1) Reviews
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Cute read but a bit boring.
I loved the premise of the story. A tropical island paradise with a beautiful blue ocean, a handsome next door neighbour and mermaids! Tricia uses wonderful descriptions when painting a scene and it feels as if you are right there on the beach with your toes in the sand. Unfortunately I had trouble getting behind the heroine. (Potential spoiler) To be 38 years old and completely dominated by your parents is really sad and, honestly, annoying to read. I like my heroines to have some back bone and personality. The mermaid portion of the story is touched upon but not really developed. The book just has a lot of build up to a very anticlimactic ending. -
Trigger warnings: toxic family relationships
I picked this up purely because I needed a book for a readathon that involved sirens, and I was pleasantly surprised by how fast paced this was. I think I'd been reading for about 15-20 minutes and realised I was already 60-odd pages in without even realising.
The concept was cute, and I liked that there was a slight magical element to what is, at its heart, a contemporary romance about learning that there's more to life than flogging your guts out for a corporation that gives zero fucks about you and a family whose idea of success is flogging your guts out for a corporation that can't even be bothered to give you a promotion over a brown noser who does no work. -
Ms. O'Malley's descriptive writing of both Siren Island and the characters pulled me in from the first page. I really enjoyed meeting Sam, Irma, Jolie and Mirra. The island sounds like a perfect escape and I could easily see myself living there and being friends with Irma who has so much love and magic for her guests. Magic and romance made this book hard to put down for me.
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Loved this book. Quick, fun read. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.
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3.5 ⭐️ interesting! Extremely quick read. The writing was a little weird sometimes. I didn’t love some comments that the characters made and the dialogue was off at times. Like too cringy or it felt a little forced. I honestly was happy it wasn’t a longer novel lol.
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This story was so well written. Each character was introduced in such detail; you truly develop a mental picture of each one.
As the story moves on it takes on so many different life places we live through, boundaries we need to have and challenges that we should jump into with hope and a little magic! -
3.5 ⭐️ audiobook
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If you're looking for a clean romance, this is it. The paranormal aspect here was mostly nonexistent, which was disappointing. Good clean romance (non paranormal).
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As I curate adult mermaid fiction, I’m always discovering new sub-genres. There’s the sea monster mermaid who lays waste to people and ships, the lonely siren/mortal man tragic romance, and–my all time favorite–mermaid intervention. Tricia O’Malley’s Good Girl, the first book in her Siren Island Series, falls into the latter.
The intervention trope encompasses stories where scaled goddesses help mortal women channel their own inner mermaid. This is, after all, why we are drawn to the mythology, right? To be more fearless, more powerful and unrepentantly feminine?
Good Girl is a perfect read to lift your spirits when you’re social distancing–or any time you find yourself hating your career, doubting the life choices you’ve made, and losing in love. It transports you to an idyllic Bahamian island where you live vicariously through Samantha, the unhappy tourist who is set straight by three beautiful inn keepers who mysteriously know exactly what she needs. (And a sexy new boyfriend who knows exactly where she needs it!) Herein is the fantasy: we women are always taking care of others–wouldn’t it be lovely, just once, to be fixed by beautiful strangers? To get a personality make-over by simply showing up and being loved?
Good Girl is a story of self-awareness, self-acceptance, and finding the courage to say, “I'm outta here” to the people and circumstances you’ve let control your life. I can’t wait to read the rest of the Siren Island Series! -
True rating: 3.5.
You must be willing to allow this delicate and whimsical love/magic story to enchant you. It's a very fast and simple read, with interesting and relatable commentary for specifically over-worked, female readers.
The inner dialogue is well done, but sometimes what's supposedly spoken between characters is stiff and overly composed, distracting from the casual flow and pushing the reader further from the books reality.
The main character (Samantha) is a high strung corporate woman who, after years of being overlooked by her company despite merit, sets off to Siren Island on a last minute vacation/break-down. The island characters intend to point out how unhappy Samantha is and how deeply she's disrespected and controlled by her parents. However, I can't help but to feel that they are also emotionally manipulating her. There is apparently no room to reward or even admit to the fact that Samantha is a hard working, successful, corporate worker, and the traits she imbues therein are valuable. To me, the characters don't give her enough credit for who she is, even to her faults, constantly telling her she's living a false and broken life and they're there to save the day. In an attempt to be empowering, it puts Samantha (and readers alike) in a feeling of near-constant denigration.
Maybe I'm projecting, but likely the book just has to move quickly. I appreciate the tempo; it hosts enough detail of the beautiful island and vibes, develops lovable characters, and indulges necessary relationship components while avoiding the terrible and cringey romance story traps you may find in cheap or YA fiction. I'll be reading the next book to see if it hooks me for good! -
Got this free from Amazon and I adore this author. Plus Mermaids! Fun!
Samantha Jameson is smart and great at her job...but after being skipped over for the promotion, she decides to cash in her vacation time and actually take a long vacation. She randomly goes to an small island in the Caribbean. There she comes across Lucas who knows all about having a burnout at his job. She also meets the mysterious neighbors at The Laughing Mermaid Bed & Breakfast. This island might be everything she needs.
This needs to become a Hallmark movie for real. In a good way of course ;) This had all the elements. An over-worked woman who deserves the stars but who's company and family stink finally gets away. Meets a hunk....and some fun side character/new besties.
And there is a lore of mermaids....even better! So fun! Spoiler, not spoiler, the fun neighbors are mermaids and will help Samantha unwind and find her inner mermaid. Fun! I do wish we had more mermaid-ness.
This was a whimsical love-story! Some slow parts, but like the islander there was no rush and it wasn't a race. I enjoyed it.
Overall, I highly recommend this and it's a great way to end the summer. So fun and cute romance. I'll give this 4 stars. -
Samantha Jameson & Lucas Mosteron
Sam is passed over for a promotion after giving her entire career and free time to the company (and after they told her she was a shoe in for the position). She ends up going on a much-needed vacation after not taking one the entire time she worked there.
She gets there and ends up staying at the inn belonging to a lovely family that immediately embraces her, and she also meets Lucas.
She and Lucas develop a relationship and that is lovely, but she also has to deal with her family who are disappointed in her and are not afraid to state it (in the harshest ways possible).
Going to Siren Island was just what the doctor ordered for Sam, and I'm glad she met these people and had a friend like Lola.
I honestly thought she would be younger or had been at her job longer since I assumed she started working at her job straight out of college, but we learn that she's 38 and that she's only been there for 7 years.
There are mermaids, but the story could have been told with or without them, since the fact that the mermaids are there didn't really add much to this particular story (maybe it will later in the series?). -
Samantha Jameson has lived her life doing all the right things, but, it hasn't gotten her anything but a boring life. She is a manager for the properties of a large hotel group. She worked hard to get he promotion that was promised and it was given away to someone else who was better at kissing up and delegating while not doing the work. She has given up her life to please her parents and she is not happy with the way things are going. So she decides to take a vacation on Siren Island and get a grip on what she wants out of her life.
She meets her neighbors at the Laughing Mermaid bed and breakfast, as well as a handsome man who lives down the road.
Lucas Mosteron recognizes a person who has been in the trenches and is tightly wound up and is close to meltdown. He was in the same boat when he arrived. Lucas is determined to get to know Samantha and maybe it will give them both a new direction. -
I’m so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book...I always have low expectations when I try a Kindle Unlimited book, ESPECIALLY when it’s a short book part of a long series by an author I’ve never heard of with very few reviews. But this book was so well written, with many endearing characters, great dialogue, and so much emotion and meaning. It was simple and straightforward while also retaining some magic that worked in the most un-cheesy way. I so look forward to reading more from this author, not just in this series. This book really touched my heart and it’s been years since I read a book that made me feel as good as this one. This was a book I feel like I needed to read in this season of my life. Thank you, Tricia O’Malley.
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2.5 stars. Sweet characters with a sweet love story, but I think it relied too much on stereotypes. Buttoned up protagonist needs to learn to embrace her sensuality and herself to find happiness with a guy who can relate to her. I think that in trying to project empowerment for women, the author actually fell deeper into the trenches of sexism and the pre-defined characteristics of men and women - women have to be sexy and flirty and can’t be both smart and successful while achieving that. Men are overprotective and possessive. The book certainly has some charming moments, but overall I found the dialogue stilted, the characters too stereotyped, and the conflict not fully fleshed out.
TW: -
When Samantha doesn't get the promotion that was practically promised to her, she finally takes a vacation. Although she works for luxury hotels and travels a lot, she never has time to stop and see the sights. It's work, work and more work for her. Siren island is the perfect place for a vacation away from work and her family although it takes time for her to realize that. Sam isn't quite sure how to relax and have fun. The ladies she rented the cottage from and their sexy neighbor next door show her how to do just that. This is a fun book set on a beautiful island with some great characters in it. It's a wonderful read and I highly recommend it!
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As a general rule, I don't read romance novels, unless there is a paranormal twist. I was intrigued by the idea of mermaids and a tropical paradise, plus being familiar with author Tricia O'Malley, I picked up Good Girl.
I found the book lived up to my expectations, as Tricia O'Malley is one of those authors who never disappoints.
When overworked Samantha finally decided she just HAD to get away, she booked a three week stay on Siren Island. Little did she know her life would never be the same after this vacation.
Believable storyline, exciting characters, good writing, and beautiful, tropical surroundings ... what more could you ask? -
There’s pure magick and love in this book!! Sam leaves her corporate job in a moment for a vacation after she’s passed over for a promotion she deserved. When she arrives on Siren Island and meets her hosts at the Laughing Mermaid, she begins to slow down. Through a story of love (with the ever dreamy Lucas), learning to love and accept herself, and mermaids, Sam grows into the person she always wanted to be. She also makes some shocking discoveries and finds the real magick in her happily ever after.
This is an absolute must-read and another incredible book from O’Mallet and the perfect intro to the series!!! -
Good Girl by Tricia O'Malley is the first book in her The Siren Islands Series.
Samantha Jameson is a successful business woman, driven and dedicated to her job. But when she doesn't get the promotion she wanted , she has to regroup. She books a vacation on a tropical island and fate has his fingers in the play.
I loved this story. I mean what's not to love, tropical island, new friends, gorgeous hunk of a man who's a good guy, great emotions that give you alllll the feelings. The writing is great and I greatly enjoyed reading this romance novel. I give 4,5 stars. -
Every Girl Needs A Lil Magic!
I love the mix of romance and magic! I felt like I was right there on the island with the characters, sharing in their pains, mysteries and joys. This book was right on time for me as if the universe was screaming to me that there always was and will be hope as long as I believe. I feel empowered after reading this gem!!! I can’t wait to dive into the others of this series. This is my first Tricia O’Malley book and I’m so excited to read more from her.
