Total-e-bound, £3.99, ISBN 978-1-906328-00-9
Contemporary Erotica, 2007

I’m sure nobody will be surprised to learn that Ashley Ladd’s Shipwrecked revolves around a hero and a heroine stuck on a deserted island in the South Pacific when their ship, Sylvia Dawn, decides to pay a visit to the bottom of the sea. Katie McLaughlin is nursing over some lousy ex-fiancé blues while Scott Vanderhorne has a fiancée. Kate also wishes that she has been stuck on “Gilligan Island Central” with “Leonardo Di Capprio” (that’s how the name is spelled in this book) but I suppose these two need to do something with all their spare time in the island. What goes on in the island stays on that island, right?

The main characters fall in love way too quickly for their romance to be even a little believable. I also don’t really know much about Katie and Scott but they are generally pretty harmless characters that don’t do anything stupid or get on my nerves. On the plus side, however, the love scenes are quite hot. Ms Ladd sets up her story so that it’s like Adam and Eve in a private paradise. The story bounds along fine without becoming too campy or unbelievable. Even the moments when the story takes the two lovebirds back to civilization are done well. They don’t drag, the poor fiancée is dealt with as best as she can be dealt without embarrassing anyone in the process, and everything ends on a high note.

Shipwrecked, therefore, may not be too deep a story but it nonetheless manages to offer a most enjoyable vicarious escape if you’re looking for that kind of thing.