No Sunshine When She’s Gone by Kate Angell: Book Review

Rich boy meets poor girl and is fascinated by her bag of tricks. Poor girl is too wide eyed to think much. No Sunshine When She’s Gone is one Cinderella story minus the evil step sisters.

Aidan Cates as good as owns the island of Barefoot William. Yes, owns it! He has a successful construction business with a loyal sidekick in the form of a grumbling grouch. Jillian Mac and her childhood friend have just arrived in town on a new job, one that will involve closely working with the Cateses. Oblivious of this little detail, Jillian or Jillie dons a psychic’s hat and lets Aidan know that his girlfriend is doing some nasty business on the side. And then she is shocked when she comes across him at a dinner party, sorry barbecue.

Aidan’s sister offers her houseboat to Jillie, and Aidan offers a fancy penthouse to her friend. Both settle in happily, but her friend has a secret visitor who turns into a roommate. The girls’ job is to build excitement for a baseball team, and they do it admirably. Both the girls have grown up pretty poor and are very frugal. Little wonder that they are awed by the high style and wealth that surrounds them.

As expected, sparks fly between Aidan and Jillie. But this is not the only love story here. I think the other romance in the book is played down but has more significance. The book has tremendous feel good appeal making it a light read. Romance is very much the centre of the book, and it is also filled with rich, benevolent fairy tale characters who go around spreading smiles and barbecues.

No Sunshine When She’s Gone will bring a lot of sunshine into lives. The story did not offer many surprises but its appeal lies in the ‘kid in the candy store’ illusion it offers. So you can forget your worries and dream of being on a family owned island somewhere in Florida, where you have a snazzy penthouse and a Jacuzzi with 120 something jets, courtesy of someone, and silk sheets costing thousands on your bed, courtesy of someone, all without any strings attached. Wouldn’t that be the life?

Enjoy!