The Island

Compass Key #1

by Maggie Miller

🎧Run Time = 7 hours and 20 minutes

Decades after graduating college, five former sorority sisters reunite at an island resort after they all receive the same mysterious invitation. When someone from their past offers them a second chance, can they overcome their shared history to embrace it? This feel-good, escapist novel is performed by a talented cast of narrators and has over 2,300 five-star ratings!

Second chances do exist.

Five former sorority sisters, all in their 50s, undertake the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious invite reunites them at an exclusive resort set on a private island.

Olivia was the quiet one. Her divorce from her alcoholic husband freed her in many ways but caused a rift with her daughter that seems impossible to heal.

Amanda was the perfect one. Widowed and desperately broke but hiding it, she needs a new start more than anyone can imagine.

Leigh Ann was the cheerleader. Her ongoing divorce is completely amicable, or so she’d like everyone to believe. The truth isn’t quite as rosy.

Grace was the party girl. And she still is, much to the dismay of her husband, who’s struggling to keep their restaurant afloat. Grace hopes her time away will give them both the space she thinks they need.

Katie was the brains. Now she’s incredibly successful but hiding secrets that could change her life if they were to get out.

When their beloved house mother invites them on an all-expenses-paid vacation, then drops a huge surprise on them, the five friends face a major decision. Can they overcome their pasts in order to take advantage of the amazing future being offered?

Take the journey to Compass Key with them and find out.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Audiobook, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Summer, Summer Reads

334 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 22, 2022

About the author

Time off is time best spent at the beach, don't you agree?

The beach is my happy place. The sound of the waves are my favorite background music. And the sand between my toes is the best massage I can think of.

When I'm not at the beach, I'm writing or reading or cooking for my family. You know, life.

I hope you enjoy my books. Drop me a line and let me know what you think of them! You can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MaggieMiller... or at my website, https://www.maggiemillerauthor.com. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter!

Reviews

[Ishman Laghari · Rating 3 out of 5]

CUTIES BOOKCLUB READ #4!🐚

[Julie Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A mysterious invitation arrives; it is an all-expenses-paid two-week vacation at a resort on Compass Key, a reunion of their college sorority. Book one sets the stage, introductions are made, and their stories are told. These five seasoned women are at a crossroads; the family life of each woman has challenges. However, their former housemother has a plan and opportunities for each. Can the island work its tropical magic?

I am looking forward to the next book for some answers and continuing these ladies' journeys.

Thank you to the Booksprout and the Author for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Island by Maggie Miller
Compass Key #1
7h 20m narrated by Vivienne Leheny, Laura Jennings, Cindy Kay, Nancy Wu, Sara Morsey, Suzie Althens, Timothy Howard Jackson, 334 pages

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Clean Romance

Featuring: Quinquagenarians, Multiple POVs, Divorcees, Free Vacation Trope, Sorority Sisters, Florida Keys, Island Resort, Septuagenarian, Cliffhangers

Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult content and situations

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🏝🐚

My thoughts:📱6% 26:08 Ch. 3 - Ooooh! This is so cute I'm going to pause it and save all of these pretty cover books for after I read Dark Matter as an incentive and possible renewal.

This was pretty fun but despite having 7 narrators I still had a hard time distinguishing the ladies from one another. It felt like 3 narrators. I will be reading the rest of the series, but not immediately. The character development was a little shallow, but my main issue is not getting an ending for a single storyline.

Recommend to others: Only if you enjoy reading series. This isn't structured for you to read one book and decide if you want another, it seems like you only get a few days per book.

Compass Key
1. The Island (2022)
2. The Secret (2022)
3. The Dream (2022)
4. The Promise (2022)
5. The Escape (2022)
6. Christmas on the Island (2022)
7. The Wedding (2022)

[Marhaba Laghari · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dating market seems quite good for 50 year olds.

And okay, Olivia. We get it. You're an accountant.

[Melinda Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, fun story with enough depth to keep you reading without getting lost. Characters are interesting, believable and easy to identify with. Makes me want to return to the Keys! Sad to wait a month for the next book.

[Brett Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for island, beachy-type reads, and the THE ISLAND was a great book by a new-to-me author. Five women with varying life issues are brought to the island by a mysterious summons for a two-week getaway.

The story was well written and the characters were believable, though the story itself was a bit predictable and/or unbelievable. What are the chances that five women would come to a small island and all find a new love interest within two weeks? For me, that was a bit too predictable. One of them, maybe, but all five? The scenario didn't carry the ring of truth, for me, anyway. Since this is a series, I think it would have been much more believable to have most of the women find their true love at various times throughout the series rather than all at once.

I did enjoy that the book was centered around middle aged women who were flawed, not caricatures of perfection in every way. I also enjoyed that the book was clean and contained no sexual imagery or profanities. It is SO UNUSUAL to find a clean secular book, so I appreciate the author for keeping it clean.

Though I'm not a fan of series books, I have no doubt that I'll move on to book two in the series at some point in the future.

Highly recommended!

[Freida Christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book !

This book is a can't put it down type book. I read the blackbird Beach series and it was this same way. Couldn't put it down either. But, I'm excited to get to the 2nd book of Compass Key ! I'm. Loving all the characters. And can even imagine myself being there.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

just stops, no ending

It is a beach read, but it just stops. Feels like part of a Netflix series, not a complete story.

[Anuradha Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a quick read on the 1st day of the year. :)

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started off great! Cozy summer … but after they arrived on the Island it dragged on and on with entirely too much detail. “She put her key in the left bottom pocket of her capris and her phone in the top right pocket. With her water bottle in her hand she was off”. We really don’t need to know this much detail unless it would be an important part of the book!!! I put the book down and did not pick it up until 7 months later because I was down with COVID and thought would be a good pick me up… Boy I was wrong! It just exhausted me more. I skipped chunks of the book to get to the last chapter and I still did not feel I missed anything or needed to go back and read what I skipped….. Guess What? The two weeks of vacation that the ladies were on was still NOT OVER🤦🏾‍♀️.

The book had great potential but bored me with details

[Fleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 women who once went to school together, 5 mysterious invites for a reunion and one amazing offer by a women who has always believed in them. I absolutely loved all the ladies you connect with each one in a different way, they are all flawed and struggle in different ways but they try to put on the persona of having it all together just life we all do in real life. This book covers re kindling of friendships, getting over loss and betrayal as well as learning to live and love again, mending fences and seeing no matter how old you are there are always opportunities to start again. I can not wait to see where things go for these ladies and eagerly await the next book!!!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christie Catalano · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had moments that were interesting but it never went deep enough into them. Overall it was just really dry, boring and (IMO) unrealistic. All 5 women have failed, or failing, love lives and each happens across a caring, attractive, single man that’s completely into them. Oh right, and also happens to be extremely rich. It also ends with nothing resolved. I get it’s a series, but usually the individual books can stand on their own. Not in this case. 2 stars (instead of 1), because I still want to know what happens next, just not enough to pick up the next book.

[Christy Theobald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book was not for me. As far as how well the book was written I would give it 5 stars. I am in my early thirties and this book is geared towards woman in their 50’s. This is a clean romantic book but if I’m being honest VERY unrealistic. Everyone finds true love or realizes they need to change themselves to save their marriage. But basically everyone finds love on the island. There are a lot of cheesy moments. Again, please keep in mind that I’m reviewing this book based off my personal opinion. I do want to say that the audiobook version was done very well. They hired multiple voice actors to read each person’s perspective and I really liked that. I wasn’t prepared for it at first and almost immediately stopped listening because I didn’t know what was going on, but after figuring that each new voice represented a different character that was actually kinda cool. One more comment, I didn’t feel like there was any true plot. It was very plain and boring. Again, for me. I guess what I was hoping to find in this book was a little mystery or action/adventure but this is VERY much a chic flick book. Not exactly what I was hoping for. If you have any suggestions for tropical adventure books with good plot and clean (no sex, or at least closed door), please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, I loved that someone is writing about older women, and that Amazon suggested this book to me! I'm glad it's getting good ratings, and that it's the start of a series. In The Island, five former sorority sisters are invited to come to a very pricey resort, all expenses paid, at the behest of the house mother who is now a wealthy widow. She owns the resort, wants to retire, and wants to give it to them. They will live there and run it. Lots of potential in this unlikely scenario, including the fact that most of the women instantly pair up with rich, handsome bachelors.

So I wanted to love it, but I didn't feel caught up in any of the characters' emotions, and it didn't pull me in. I am curious what's going to happen to some of them, but not really enough to read the second book.

[Sandy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware!

Unless you're really into cliffhangers, I wouldn't waste your time. Which is unfortunate, because the author is actually pretty decent. But a story has a beginning, a middle, and an end for at least one of the characters and this one doesn't. If I had read the reviews by others, I would have seen that at least the first 2 books don't have any ends to them ... Just cliffhangers.

I'm a voracious reader (150-200 books a year) and I just don't appreciate when an author leaves the whole story hanging like this. It feels like a money grab by either the author or the publisher, which is too bad because it really makes me not want to read anything else by the author.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first title in a series which I will slowly work my way through. Former sorority sisters now nearing the age of 50 are invited to spend two weeks on a private island in the Florida Keys. Low and behold, their former house mother is now the owner of this island thanks to a late-in-life marriage to an extremely wealthy man. So, the stories of these sorority sisters begins.

I liked the story but I listed to the audiobook and I think there are just too many main characters to follow. Each character had a unique reader and voice, but it was difficult to understand. If I can find hard copies, I will read the other books in the series. If not, it will be some time before I go back to them. Overall, a good listen.

Go Cards! L1C4!!

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a carefree romance read that follows 5 former sorority sisters at a crossroads in their respective lives.

They receive a mysterious invitation to reunite at an exclusive resort set on a private island in the Keys. The rest of the book features the five characters- explaining what their struggles are and what they plan to do with this mysterious opportunity for a second chance.

Very fluffy easy read- that I listened to while taking my daily walks. I wouldn't race out to read it- but it's not a bad choice if you want a mindless romance that features mature (at least age wise- some are still a hot mess emotionally) characters.

[Mary C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Island Life for me..

When five (5) sorority sisters receive a two (2) week all inclusive invitation to a remote island they all decide to go!
What awaits them is an offer to good to refuse.
Their former college dormitory "mother" needs to slow down
and retire she thinks of her "girls" to leave her exclusive island to.
Each arrive with their own set of problems. So...who's in and who's not? I guess I have to get the next book to find out.w
Is really enjoyed this story.
ENJOY!
Happy Reading!!
MARY C

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very far out of my normal reading style, but I wanted something new and light so I gave it a try. It’s almost set up like you’re watching a movie with all the different characters and lives. I’m only in my early 30s so the characters are a bit different for me to relate to in the story. Easy read and I’m kinda jealous I’m not at that resort with how nice they make it seem! I do find it a bit out of reality that 4 of 5 women have met magical, rich, hot guys on a small island but I digress. I’ll probably continue with the series whenever I need a light read.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. The first few chapters were great, mysterious invitation, cute boat boy, old rivalry. But then bored me with minute details, we know why someone puts sunglasses on their head. The relationships (both friendship and romantic) were not realistic. The decades old rivalry gone just like that due to a misunderstanding. The spiciest thing is a friend who drinks too much, and the men. Super perfect in every way but also they all needed the support of a man to start seeing themselves in a different light. No thank you.

[Melissa A Hackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of five sorority sisters that all went down different paths are brought together by their beloved housemother. What she has in store for them is something I could only dream about.
I with I had an Iris in my life 🥰

This first installment, The Island introduces us to all the ladies and few handsome men that play right in to the story.
The 2nd installment is out now; The Secret.

I am heading right into kindle unlimited to snag it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preview book of the whole series

It was a quick read. It follows 5 women who are making big changes. It was sometimes hard to follow along with each of them as you are reading short little spurts of 5 very different life changes. The books ends with enough but you must continue the series to discover what ends up for each of the women. It was nice to have a plot focused on older women.

[Sherry Mandel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Listened on audible. Story about 5 friends in their 50’s who were invited to meet at an all inclusive vacation resort but had no idea who invited them or why. They were sorority sisters back in college. All had some hardships they dealt with and their former college sorority house mother invited them all. Had high hopes but it was challenging to follow the stories of the different ladies. It’s a series so will try the 2nd book…

[Rita A. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am totally hooked on this series!

I have so many books in my Kindle library , many of them still not read. I am trying to cut my expenses, however keep adding to my library. I MUST read this complete series, I feel as
though I should be on this magical island with these ladies !
I will complete the series, just wish the prices did not add up so quickly.
One down and now ready for book 2!

[Kara Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super cute, feel-good story. Not my typical go to when picking a book but would definitely recommend. Maggie Miller did a great job incorporating deeper messages into the book such as the focus she brought on the fact that you really never know what someone is going through. She touched on important topics such as alcoholism and showed the importance of having a support group when overcoming something like that. Very sweet story.

[Joann Boone · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great surprise

I’m not prone to give fiction five stars but Maggie Miller has given such depth and sincerity to these characters I had no choice! There is also mystery and some humor along the way and I feel as if these ladies are in my circle of friends. Can’t wait to continue reading her work.

[Pat Everett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have loved this book, but…

There was no satisfying conclusion. I wish I had known before starting it that this is the first in a series that goes on and on (according to other reviews I wish I had read first). This type of series is not my reading preference. I like books with endings.

[Pam Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

This is the 2nd series by Maggie Miller I've read, & I found them to be extraordinarily relatable. Their characters' evolution is both entertaining and inspiring. I highly recommend Miller's books to any one who believes in a positive outlook blessing peoples' lives. Enjoy!

[Sue G · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice story

I really love series. I like to get to know the characters and sometimes a stand alone book just isn't enough. But, I'm really not a fan of continuing books, and would rather read just a long book. However, I'll follow through with this pseudo "series" because I'm enjoying the characters and the struggles they are experiencing.

[Deana Ralston · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a nice summer read! This is the first in the series…so I will be sure to read the rest of them so I can definitely see the outcome since it seems all of the women friends have some sort of a secret!!!! Will definitley read a thriller in between…which are my favorite for sure!!! Now onto the next read!!! 📖📚♥️