In the Summer especially, I love reading books where the main character is stranded on an island somewhere. I'm open to any kind of romance, mystery, historical...Thanks!

Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson.

You could also try The Trouble with Paradise by Jill Shalvis or Swept Away by Toni Blake. Both are contemporary romances.

All historicals (cuz that's all I ever read:P):

Beyond Sunrise by Candice Proctor

Seize The Fire by Laura Kinsale

Not a favorite of mine, but you might enjoy The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

And not exactly deserted Island - the island belongs to the heroine's family - but a lot of The Iron Rose by Marsha Canham takes place on a secret island, and the hero is sort of stranded there.  It's the sequel to Across a Moonlit Sea.  Both are pirate romances & really good.

And sort of in that same type of theme is Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss.  A warning on that one though - it's sort of old skool epic & the prose is signature Woodiwiss PURRR-UR-UR-ple:P

IN TOO DEEP by Cherry Adair (T-FLAC #4). Not quite deserted, but they are definitely stuck on an island in the South Pacific and the other people on the island want them dead. Great book. You do not need to read the entire series. Adair is pretty good at providing back story.

GUARDING JEANNIE by Beverly Barton (The Protectors #5). This is a romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. It is one of the best in the Protectors series. Like Adair, Barton is good at providing back story so you don't need to read other books in the series.

HOT FOR IT by Melissa MacNeal. This is a cheesy erotic romantic suspense story I'd label "mind twinkie." But of course, all that makes it a great beach read! Quick synopsis: She's a writer who wins the lottery and buys herself an island. Then she hires a pirate to "kidnap" her so she can live out one of her fantasies. But wait. Those kidnappers are getting pretty rough...

Colleen

OOOhh, thanks for all the suggestions so far!!! :)  I can't wait to build my escapism library, lol.

Anyone know of any harlequin type with this theme, too? I remember reading some years ago but maybe it's been overdone in those books.

Well, off to the beach today~wish I had one of the above books to bring along. Island Beach State Park, NJ--beautiful and feels remote, definitely a place that fuels my imagination!

Amy Fetzer has an anthology that I really enjoyed -- Tell it to the Marines -- One of the stories is a Seal type guy stranded with a scientist he rescued on a deserted island. Totally fluff but very enjoyable.

"Mind twinkie" lol I love it!

I have to second the recommendation for Seize the Fire - it's one of my all time favorites.   But then, I love anything by Laura Kinsale. 

I second the "mind twinkie" comment--perfect! LOL

{My day at the beach cancelled~surf too rough to swim so we came back home! :( }

Speaking of beach... How 'bout some smutty reads perfect for a day at the beach? There are scads of these truly trashy anthologies. Probably not a deserted island in the bunch, but I'm sure every one is like a huge box of Hostess HoHo's. Like ho's and mo ho's. I have read a few. My sis collects them like my daughter collects state quarters.

Beach Blanket Bad Boys

Bad Boys of Summer

Want more? Do an advanced search for exact phrase in title: "bad boys."  Sorry to hear about the bad beach trip. But think about it, Holly... You couldn't have read a book while swimming in the ocean anyway. '-D

Colleen

Ah but it's sooo nice to read just until you get too hot and then plunge into the cold ocean and come back and read some more until you doze off, then wake up and eat and swim again, then a walk, some more reading and then a last frolic in the surf. Ahhhhh, darn! lol, hos and mo hos, you guys are too funny!

Two that I can think of off the top of my head: http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780671521431-Imagine, Jill Barnett on my keeper shelf; the other is Nancy Martin's old Harlequin Superromance NIGHT CAP. In the Nancy Martin the hero is solo-sailing (in a two-man race) across the Pacific, and finds the heroine and her students stranded.

Gail

hummingbird --LaVyrle Spencer -- while not stranded on a desert island, they are alone in her house while recuperating from a gunshot wound for the first half of the book.