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Book Review:: The Paradise Problem | Christina Lauren

The Paradise Problem Christina Lauren Book Cover

Anna opens the door one evening to find the last person she ever expected: her husband. In college, she married the brother of a friend in order to qualify for student housing. After graduation, they parted ways and she never expected to see him again. Turns out though, he’s been lying to his family this whole time that they’re not only still married, but happily so. It’s complicated, but he’s there to beg Anna a favor – come with him to a private island in Singapore to his sister’s wedding and play into this farce he’s built. Turns out his family is ungodly rich – the exact opposite of Anna, who is a struggling artist with debt up to her eyeballs. When he sweetens the deal with some cash, she can’t say no. Shenanigans ensue!

This is a very fun summer romantic comedy. Christina Lauren novels have a very easy and compelling readability to them, and this one is no exception. The Paradise Problem reminded me a lot of The Unhoneymooners…like, really reminded me of it (maybe too much). But I only recently read it, so I’m probably in the minority there. I mean, both are ‘fake dating’ tropes (essentially, I mean marriage of convenience is the same thing, right?) in an incredible tropical setting.

Anna is basically a stoner artist who has throw away jobs to make ends meet to pay her father’s hospital bills. She doesn’t take life very seriously. Liam has a terrible relationship with everyone in his pretty horrible family, and has an enormous hero complex driven by his traumatic history with them. It was really fun to see them getting to know each other for what is really the first time, with Anna so completely out of her comfort zone.

The chemistry between them was pretty steamy. Anna is very outgoing, and Liam would rather be anywhere else, and that really made for a fun dynamic. Anna, as the outsider, is quite perceptive to the problems within the Weston family, and their backgrounds are crafted in a way that juxtaposes the root of Liam’s issues. Most of the conflicts are very situational, so it’s not heavy to read, staying firmly in the romantic comedy territory, but the overall message is a meaningful one: live an authentic life.

You can’t go wrong picking up a fun summer romantic comedy. Absolutely this is a great choice if you’re in desperate need of a vacation – this might just be the escape you’re looking for!

Details

Title:: The Paradise Problem
Author:: Christina Lauren
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Gallery Books
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 43m
Audiobook Narrator:: Patti Murin, Jon Root
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: May 14th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Level:: 3

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If you liked this book, check out…

The Unhoneymooners | Christina Lauren
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Funny Story | Emily Henry

Book Review:: The Unhoneymooners | Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren is a fun and hilarious quick summer read that will have you turning page after page to find out what happens next. From the get go, this book grabs hold of your attention and doesn’t let go until the third act, where I personally felt it had some problems. Not enough to ruin the entire effect though, and of course, we get our happy ending.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Book Cover

Olive is the unlucky twin. Cursed, really. Ami is the one who seems to get any and everything she wants. So when Olive is (almost) the only one who doesn’t get sudden and graphic food poisoning the night of Ami’s wedding, and is the only one who can redeem the honeymoon to Hawaii Ami won, it seems too good to be true. And it is. The only other person at the wedding who didn’t eat the tainted dinner, is the groom’s brother, Ethan — the one Olive has never gotten along with — and he’s taking his brother’s spot on the honeymoon trip. They’re reluctant to go together, but figure they can avoid each other and enjoy the tropics individually…that is, until they have a few run-ins with people they know and need to team up to navigate the complications.

This thing is built on tropes, folks. Enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, forced proximity, fake dating, one bed (it is the honeymoon suite after all) — I may even be missing a few. For me, sometimes the fake dating trope can be done real badly, but I think in this book the logic tracks, despite the extremely high likelihood they wouldn’t run into anyone they know there, let alone two such someones…in the same day. It may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but if you can get there, the antics are pretty sweet.

It all works so well — until it doesn’t. When Ethan and Olive get back to real life and the unhoneymoon is over, things, of course, start to fall apart. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the third act conflict rubbed me the wrong way in this one. The trust between the two characters was broken (no cheating – can’t leave you guys hanging like that), and for me that’s hard to recover from. However, it was one of the more fun, funny, and entertaining books I’ve read this summer. Compelling, too. If you’re anything like me, you’ll fly through it. If you’re a fan of romantic comedy or just looking for a fun vacation read, this one is a great option!

Details

Title:: The Unhoneymooners
Author:: Christina Lauren
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Gallery Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 14m
Audiobook Narrator:: Cynthia Farrell & Deacon Lee
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: May 14th, 2019
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3