Kate Allen - Snowbound on the Island

review by Ro Bennett on show 16th Feb

I read the following on Radio Scilly and decided to download the book:

A writer who has been visiting the Isles of Scilly since she was a teenager has just published a book set here.
Kate Allan, who has written several romances set in various locations from Cornwall to Poland, says this is the first time she has used the Scillies as a backdrop for one of her books.
‘Snowbound on the Island’ centres on the character, Lisa, who escapes to St Mary’s for a New Year reunion with old college friends after the breakup of a relationship, but there’s a twist when bad weather closes the mainland airports.
Kate first visited the Isles of Scilly as a teenager, staying at a friend’s holiday home and says she has always wanted to set one of her novels here.
She says the islands have had a profound effect on her, adding, “The opportunity and memory of being somewhere where one can be alone with the landscape is immense.”
The book is available as an ebook for download on Amazon.



This is the official Product Description:

"If you’re looking for something to read on your train journey or during your lunch break then I would recommend this novella. Instant escapism and romance in an hour to lighten your day." -- Jera's Jamboree


"The two main characters, Lisa and Dominic, were fun and likeable, they oozed a sexual tension that kept you in suspense throughout the story." -- Me, My Books and I


After the break up of a long-term relationship Lisa escapes to the remote Isles of Scilly, twenty eight miles off the coast of Cornwall, for a new year reunion with old college friends. But as winter weather sweeps across Britain the airports close and only two people make it: Lisa and Dominic. She always thought him attractive and he still is, but he doesn't even seem to remember her.


Snowbound on the Island is a short contemporary romance novella (10,000 words).


I found it absolutely dire. Kate Allen hasn’t done her homework - the book is absolutely riddled with inaccuracies and typos. It’s the sort of mush you’d expect from a young teenager, and if that had been handed in for a GCSE prep it would be handed back with, ‘Too many careless errors! Edit your work and check your facts more conscientiously.’


I’ll give you a couple of examples of why it made me cringe.
The taxi driver who is described as weather beaten with sideburns and a goatee - asks her, ‘Where you be staying now?‘ When she tells him Smuggler’s Rest he replies, ‘Ar, down past Hugh Town, but you still be close to Hugh Town enough.’
When she asks if the pubs are open at this time of year he replies, ‘That they be.’ He crunched his unhappy sounding gear box up into third. ‘Close enough to stagger to the pub you be at Smuggler’s Rest.’


Smuggler’s rest is described as double fronted, but on the ground floor there is just one open plan room with a small kitchen at one end plus a small utility room whereas upstairs there is a bathroom and there must be at least 4 bedrooms - enough for two couples, 3 blokes and 2 girls expected for the reunion...


There are typos like: ‘There would be a lot of carry’ and ‘Lisa but her tongue’ - mistakes which even with a cursory read through should be obvious.


As for being set on Scilly - it mentions the airport, the Co-op and an anonymous pub - and that’s it!


I found most pages irritating.


Fiona Robson’s just happened to say to me that she had read the book mentioned on Radio Scilly and found it dreadful, so I asked her to send me her review which she kindly did:


As this book was set on Scilly I thought I would give it a go, besides, it was only 84p to download onto my Kindle. I read the one review on Amazon which was very positive. I now realise this was probably written by a close friend or family member who did not want to hurt the authors feelings!
From the start it was obvious it had not been proof read. This, combined with the many factual errors during the book irritated me. It was worse than anything I have read in The Woman's Weekly and worse than a Mills and Boon novel which I used to read as a young teenager. Thank goodness it was a short story and the pain was over quite quickly. The reviewer wrote that she had been waiting in the Dentists surgery when she read it and it kept her mind off the appointment. I would rather have had my teeth filled than read this book. I sincerely wish I had spent the 84p on a bar of chocolate which may have added another inch to my waistline, but would have given me a lot more pleasure!

I agree!