Dee Montoya's Reviews > Someone Else's Ocean

Five Beautiful Stars*****

A standing ovation to author Kate Stewart for writing this phenomenal story. The beautiful beach setting, the lovely and multidimensional characters, and the intense passion in almost every chapter make Someone Else’s Ocean an epic summer read.



Koti Vaughn comes from an important family in New York. She used to be part of the high ranks in society, complete with a high powered job, and a killer wardrobe. From the outside anyone could see she had it all, but at what price?

After one faithful event, Koti was done with that New York life, she packed one suitcase, and left everything and everyone behind. She moved to the one place where she remembered being happy last, the beautiful island of St. Thomas.

Her life didn’t magically change, but she has the life she truly wants. Candles and wine, ocean view, and a best friend that is also her savior.

Koti works with her best friend Jasmine managing a vacation rental company. Her neighbors house is one of the homes she manages and when she notices that their son shows up unannounced ruining all the previous rental agreements , she’s ready to move him to a hotel. All that before she sees the utter devastation in his eyes.

Ian is recently divorced, his pride and joy is his daughter Ella, everything he does is for her. He was married for fourteen years to a woman who made him sacrifice a lot in his life for her, and now he discovers that she’s been hiding the most awful secret that might destroy him for once and for all.

Like Koti, Ian too fled to the island looking for peace, for answers, for clarity. They knew each other when they were kids and spent one summer by the beach, but now the only thing they have in common are , heavy emotional baggage.

Their friendship rekindles once again, and quickly new feelings are born between them. The beach, the moon and the stars will be the witnesses for a passionate affair that they both know can have no future. But the heart wants what it wants, and even if these two characters fight it, love and heart break will light up the beaches of their beloved island.

My favorite thing about this story was the father/ daughter aspect. Ian was not only sexy, tormented, brooding and dirty mouthed, but he was also the most caring father to his daughter. Like Koti he wasn’t perfect, and I loved that too. Kate Stewart created these characters with as many flaws as beauty, humanizing them in such a way that the story felt raw and real at every turn. What a magnificent story. Another thing I loved while reading this book was Koti’s and Jasmine’s friendship, it added the perfect amount of humor and sensitivity to an already great plot, and let’s not forget about cute Disco, the puppy, she was the star of the book, LOVE HER!!!!