Elle Female, 41, Married. USA

This book was a pleasant surprise! I was expecting it to be more of a 'fluff' or 'ditzy chick' type of book, but it actually had a very good story line! I enjoyed the action-adventure aspect of the story, the fact that a lot of the setting was based in the Caribbean on a yacht, and the icing on the cake (so to speak) was the main male character, Max Zamora.

Book description from Amazon.com:
"When ex-supermoddel Lola Carlyle learns that some very -- ahem -- private photos of herself are being peddled on the Internet, she hides out where there's sun and -- she thinks -- safety, until the gossip dies out. Then the private yacht she's blissfully napping on is "commandeered" by some man who says his name is Max Zamora, and that he works for the government.

It sounds crazy, but Max is telling the truth -- his cover's been blown, he's on the run, and now he's confronted by a very angry -- and beautiful -- woman. He's seen Lola before -- barely clothed on covers of fashion magazines. But she's more beautiful in person. From the top of her pert blonde head to the tips of her little painted toes, Max finds her sexy, curvy... and a pain in the butt. And that's before she blows up the ship!

Now, the unlikely pair is stranded in the middle of the ocean, it's getting very hot -- not just from the sun -- and Lola is about to reveal it all..."

In the Pacific Northwest, on a large island off the coast of Washington state, lived the McKenna family. Three daughters,
Kate, Ashley and Caroline. Eight years earlier they had sailed with their father, Duncan McKenna, in the Winston Around-The-World-Challenge and won the race. Now, eight years later, each girl was still struggling with the secrets that took place during the race. They were unhealthily hiding secrets that were tearing each of them apart inside. A reporter by the name of Tyler Jamison shows up and wants to do a story on the race the girls won years ago. At least that what he tells them. He has alterior motives in finding out about each of these women. As the women struggle with continuing to keep their secrets, their father's nemesis returns to town with the same boat the McKenna's won the challenge with. K.C., the nemesis, challenges Duncan to race in the Castleton Invitational Sailboat Races and he wants his girls along with him so they can win back their sailboat.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book and it definitely keeps you interested.

This is the sequel to Barbara Bretton's book 'Shore Lights'. I suggest you read Shore Lights prior to reading 'Chances Are'.

The continuation of this story finds Maddy Bainbridge and Aiden O'Malley engaged and planning their wedding. Maddy is unsure of the 'big' wedding her mother wants for her. Meanwhile, Aiden's daughter Kelly is having life difficulties of her own and doesn't feel that she can share her troubles with anyone since she has always been the girl who has always done the right thing. She doesn't want to disappoint anyone. Aiden's sister-in-law Claire is dealing with a lot of emotions and is also given a proposal from Maddy's Mom Rose and Olivia Westmore to help run a new tea shop they plan on opening.

There are a lot of characters in this story and they all carry over from the first book. I would like to see a third book in this series to see what happens to Kelly and her Aunt Claire down the road.

6/12/12 I'm 6% done with Return to Sullivan's : This book is in Beth's voice (the daughter of Susan, who was the voice of the story in Sullivan's Island). So far Beth is being portrayed as a stuck-up snob who feels she's too good for Sullivan's Island after being away for 4 years at college. Her character almost seems like a totally different person in comparison to the last book. Not sure if the author chose to show her grow from teen to 20-something this way?

6/29/12 This is the continuation of the first book, 'Sullivan's Island', which I thoroughly enjoyed. The first book was about Susan Hayes and her life as a child growing up and her present life. This second installment is about Beth Hayes, Susan's daughter, who is now a college-graduate and has agreed to house sit their family's beach home called the Island Gamble.

I had a difficult time even liking Beth in the first chapter of this book and actually started another book, finished that book, and came back to 'Return To Sullivan's Island'. Beth's character in the very beginning just seemed to be feel that she was above everyone else in her family. Snooty. The book seemed like it was starting to have some potential, but the story line got kind of wishy-washy for me. Without giving out spoilers to the story, it seemed like items were wrapped up quickly and abruptly and before I knew it the story ended. Beth's character was quite naive and portrayed as a she felt she was better than others. Not extremely likable, like her mother was in Sullivan's Island.