Island in the Sea

Hughes (Rome in Love) writes in ad-copy prose and with bland plotting in this lackluster disappointment. Juliet Lyman is a record company executive with a mission: fly out to Majorca, meet star songwriter Lionel Harding, and get him to honor his contract for a new album. In the first of many clichés, Lionel agrees to write the contracted songs if, after hearing his story of betrayed love, Juliet still thinks he should. As Lionel shares a thin tale of love riddled with repetitive and uninspiring sex scenes, Juliet explores the island and forms friendships with the locals. Characters sound like guidebooks (“You and your gentleman friend will enjoy your private terrace, the tables are set with silver candelabras and bottles of Mallorcan olive oil”), Juliet declares herself tired of eating tapas (as though it were the name of a single dish rather than a way of serving food), and Hughes rehashes the same few descriptions to the point of frustration. The story is riddled with shallow literary references and devoid of real conflict, and it lacks characters vivid enough to care about. Even readers who persist to the end will likely pass on Hughes’s future offerings. Agent: Melissa Flashman, Trident Media Group. (Apr.)