Ending with a Bang!
Breezie Bennett saves the best story for last! Ethan Vice, oldest of four brothers (12 minutes older than his twin, Jayson), is extremely interested in his family's business, Vice Hospitality, and has a reputation among his siblings as his father's clone and successor to the CEO role. Being dedicated to the business has left him hardly any time for life outside work; even as a child he worked on his computer and wondered why his siblings were playing outside, which seemed like a waste of time to him.
The story begins with a meeting between Vice Hospitality and the Haywood Group, which is arranging a trade of numerous prooerties and wants to sew things up quickly. One property catches their attention: a small resort on the tiny island of Sandpiper Key. Ethan's father says that he bought it nearly 30 years earlier, and in the small print of his purchase contract it states that the current owner needs to sign a contract approving the sale before it's valid. Confident that he can close the deal and make his father proud, Ethan volunteers to go. The Haywood rep, Mark Simmons, warns Ethan that if he doesn't deliver within three weeks, the deal is off. Ethan brushes off the empty threat and arranges travel from Miami to the small Key.
At La Magia, the Martinez family waits eagerly for the arrival of the mysterious Mr. Vice, who technically owns the resort but hasn't checked in for 10 years. Mari-Elena (nicknamed Emmy), the granddaughter of founder and Cuban immigrant Santiago Martinez, bursts from the main house with open arms and is surprised to find Ethan, a handsome 30-year-old who has "dressed down" for the Keys by removing his suit coat and tie but still looks like a too-serious businessman, instead of his much older father. She takes her own job seriously---if taking tourists the siaround the island in a golf cart can be taken seriously!---and begins showing Ethan around the resort. He sees a small boy running on the pool deck and tells Emmy it's a potential lawsuit. True to character, Emmy laughs and says that people come to La Magia for the magic ("la magia" in English), not for lawsuits!
As the three weeks progress, so does Ethan's attachment to the resort, its way of life...and its tour guide! He starts wearing Hawaiian shirts, stops wearing shoes, and---shockingly---starts smiling! When his siblings visit him, they can't believe the new Ethan...until they meet Emmy. Then the changes make sense.
Ethan warns his brothers and sister not to say anything about the intended sale, but Clay the chef insists that not telling Emmy will hurt him. Ethan says he will tell her "tomorrow"---a day that comes sooner than he expects.
Mark Simmons, impatient to demolish La Magia and erect a Haywood "eye sore" (according to Ethan), arrives at La Magia before the three weeks are up and demands to see Ethan, brutally telling the family that Haywood will tear down their "resort" and put up a *real* hotel in its place. What, Ethan didn't tell them? No wonder, given how distracted he's been! He looks over Emmy as he says that, further emphasizing his sliminess. Emmy is first hurt, then outraged---what else has Ethan been keeping from her? She tells him off, to Mark's amusement, and runs out of the lobby in tears.
Heartbroken, Ethan calls his father and comes clean about taking La Magia out of the deal and infuriating Mark Simmons. His father, contrary to Simmons's threat to "tell on him to Daddy", which may have worked before Ethan set foot on Sandpiper Key but doesn't anymore, congratulates his son on showing compassion for the Martinez family, telling him the promotion is his because his father's only reservation was Ethan's lack of empathy. Concern about the ethics of displacing a large family showed the empathy Mr. Vice wanted to see. Determined to do the right thing, Ethan returns La Magia to Santiago.
At a dinner for both families on Sandpiper Key, Mr. Vice announces his retirement and names Ethan the new CEO. Ethan promptly promotes his siblings to Co-CEOs, focusing on their areas of expertise---Ellie in publicity; Clay in food and beverage services; Noah in logistics, which includes his existing position managing the local football team; and Jayson in, well, fun! Then he sends Emmy and the rest of her family and his out to the beach, promising to see them soon. The next thing they notice is a paraglider---Ethan, who has refused to paraglide and sworn all along that he prefers land-based activities with a lower risk of plunging to death! After he lands, he proposes, and everyone---his family, her family, and readers like me---cheers!
I liked Ethan from the start; obsession with business aside, he's much less conceited than his brothers, and there's a fun side in him waiting to emerge! He also has a way with children, tutoring Emmy's nephew in math and saving her young niece from a riptide. Emmy herself is a ray of sunshine that not even super-serious Ethan can resist! I highly recommend this book!