Bali adventure

‘A Sunrise Over Bali’ – Sandy Barker

Home is where the heart is…

When Jaelee Tan leaves her high-flying PR job in Miami for a sabbatical in Bali, the last thing she expects is for it to become permanent. But when her boss demands the trip be cut short, Jae does the only thing she can think of and quits on the spot.

With two months in Bali, a new group of friends and the gorgeous scenery and beaches, Jae is determined to make the most of her new-found freedom. And when she locks eyes with hunky Scot, Alistair, Jae wonders if she’ll lose her heart to more than just a Balinese sunrise.

I struggled to connect with this book; compared to my other reads from Barker, this was not my favourite.

Jaelee decides to upsticks from Miami and take time out in Bali. Barker does not take long to transport readers to the Indonesian paradise and before we know it, we are being introduced to others who are staying at this retreat for ‘digital nomads’. (Yes, I have looked this up and it is actually a thing – remote working from anywhere in the world.) In this paradise, one nomad stands out above the rest: gorgeous Alistair, who is compared to Chris Hemsworth. For me, that ticked a box straight away!

However, I never was really convinced by the blossoming relationship between Jaelee and Alistair. I didn’t get swept away by the romantic magic of their connection and instead felt it moving too quickly. Indeed, in my opinion, I don’t believe the writer developed the characters enough in this story. Not only did I not get a sense of the chemistry in this romance, I thought the supporting characters were quite bland and easily confusable. This lessened my enjoyment of the story.

It was the delightful descriptions of the settings that really captured my imagination. It is clear that the writer knows this area very well (as referenced in the acknowledgements at the end of the book) and I felt transported to the hot and humid climes of Bali. It was so vividly described that I could imagine walking around with Jaelee and I loved the escapism this provided. When the story moves to juxtaposing Edinburgh, I was also entranced by the setting. It might have helped that I have recently visited this beautiful capital but, just like Bali, the descriptions were spot-on and incredibly enticing.

Over the course of the story, I don’t think too much really happened. Jaelee experiences a kind of “rest” whilst in Bali: reassessing what she feels is most important to her and taking stock of her career. There’s a lot of chat between characters but I didn’t think it really contributed much to the story, finding instead that I was a bit bored by some of the scenes in the story. Whilst Jaelee’s relationship with Alistair develops quickly, everything else seemed slow and prolonged, especially the ending. I would have preferred some more energy in the story, but I guess the nature of the plot reflects the relaxing time the characters are experiencing in Bali.

By far, it was the backdrop to the story that made this the most enjoyable. I loved the descriptions and I think it has whetted my appetite to visit what seems to be a very beautiful part of the world. Unfortunately, not gelling with the characters and remaining unconvinced by the romance did lessen my enjoyment of this escapism fiction.

With thanks to Harper Collins, One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.