Iris Abroad

by Emily Mayer

I, Iris O’Sullivan, have drawn the short stick. Literally. My family drew sticks to see who had to take Yiayia on a cruise to scatter Papou’s ashes around the Greek Islands.

I knew the whole thing was rigged, but here I am anyway, smuggling a Ziplock bag of ashes—don’t ask—halfway across the world with my four-hundred-year-old grandmother in tow. She is on a mission to tell the world that this generation doesn’t know how to make a good baklava, too. The woman is fueled solely by spite and fig newtons.

Needless to say, the absolute last thing I need is to spend the trip with an actual Greek god. Apollo Nikas. The man my parents hired to make sure Yiayia and I don’t end up on the next episode of Locked Up Abroad, because the only person they trust less than Yiayia is me. The man is allergic to wearing properly fitting shirts. And now that I’ve seen him in a speedo, there is no going back. Zeus help me.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Contemporary

Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2021

About the author

Emily Mayer is a best-selling author and a book lover with a capital L. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her in the kitchen burning dinner with a book in her hand or tucked away in one of her favorite reading spots promising "just five more minutes." In addition to books, Emily is addicted to coffee, dogs, and cat videos. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and dog, both of whom are very good boys.

Reviews

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned: Iris is too clueless and the whole spreading ashes thing got old fast. And it turns out I'm just not interested in a vacation romance that I'm supposed to take seriously. At least in this instance.

[Mindy Lou's Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something about this authors writing that I like very much. Iris Abroad is a short novella about a young girl falling in love on vacation. Her whole family cracked me up. Apollo sounded absolutely delicious and I thought it was sweet how they fell in love.

[Brooklyn JoJo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was well written, very cute and sweet. It was on the short side but there was absolutely no drama so it was a fair trade lol. Not gonna be a reread but it definitely earner five stars.

[A.A.B · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is nothing likeable about this story. Trigger Warning: The ageism right from the start is so blatant and insulting, it's severely triggering. The family dynamics are disrespectful, manipulative and borderline emotionally abusive in all directions - the only positive part being that they all do it to each other in somewhat equal measures, so nobody seems to be too unfairly victimized - silver linings and all... The main character is in her mid 20's, but behaves like a bratty horny airhead teenager throughout. That's all we know about her personality (in addition to the above-mentioned inherited familial general rottenness of character). Nobody else has enough character showing for any sort of evaluation. The supposedly romantic feelings are nothing but insta-lust between two shallow bored people on vacation, making this story more pornographic than romantic.

There is very little happiness to be expected from this book's "happy ending", but then I didn't like the characters enough to genuinely wish them any happiness at all. Another silver lining, I guess.

It was short enough to finish, but still too long, and just generally not worth the bytes it's stored in.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this at first because it almost read like a traveler's blog with so much focus on Greece.

Short stories are hard because it's very little time to really have to learn the characters enough to root for them. I did like Apollo a lot and grew to adore the grandmother. Iris, the lead female charater was harder to like because she wasn't nice to her grandmother, although eventually she started to change but it felt a bit rushed (again, would have perhaps benefited more from a full lenght novel). In the end, I thought the romance worked and this was a quick read so although I didn't love it, I am giving it 3 starts and definitely still looking forward to more form EM based on the Eveything Girl alone.

3 stars

[Preet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute and adorable novella. I love Iris's yiayia and family. It's both funny, heart warming, and sexy. Emily Mayer does a wonderful job at making a short tale seem long and full. Not to mention her descriptions of Greek places of interest makes me yearn to see them with my own eyes.

While I'm not familiar with the authors or titles in the unrelated series, I do think I'll be giving them a chance.

[Bookgyrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely and romantic novella. Iris and her grandmother are embarking on a 7 day cruise in Greece and Apollo is their guide (as arranged by their family) as he knows Greece. While they see the sights and help her grandmother leaving ashes of her beloved husband behind at beautiful places, a spark ignites.

I really liked the setting of the story and wished it was a full book!

[Gabriela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great

You don’t get time to fall in love with the characters. The dialogue isn’t great. The story reads too quickly. The “issue” is a non-issue. Not heart-wrenching, not exciting, just not much of anything. I gave it two stars because you can definitely read is casually in about an hour if you’re just bored.

[Abigail Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a very very quick read…just not enough time for character development or story development even. I think because it was so rushed it felt less realistic so you couldn’t really get lost in the book.
I loved rocket science and everything girl so so much so I still want to read whatever she puts out!

[Marcela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the last book of the seven days to fall in love series that I needed to read, and what a treat it was. Iris is responsible to take her Greek grandmother on a cruise to scatter her grandfather ashes, and Apollo is asked to accompany the duo. It’s a super light reading, fun and yiayia is the best character ever!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story that is cute, light and summery - perfect for what I wanted in this moment. It’s a less than an hour read so when you want something quick, fun and sweet this summer it’s a good choice.
3.5 ⭐️

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a superb read

I found this story to be well written, a fantastic storyline that held me captive from start to finish. Fabulous characters bring the story to life. With plenty of romance, a little steam I really enjoyed this story

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute and a quick read. Just long enough to wet your romance whistle. 4 solid stars!!!!

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty dull even for a novella

[Catarina Águas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Iris was awesome, I loved her. Apollo was so cute. These two, them together was so good

[Kotori · Rating 2 out of 5]

For you if...

you enjoyed Sisterhood of the travelling pants.
It's written very dry, and as such failed to communicate any emotion.
was a dnf for me