What Happens in Paradise

Loved this book

This was the perfect book to sink my toes into with the return of winter the last couple of days. The description of the sand, sun, and heat sounds absolutely perfect at this moment. We return to the island with Irene and her grown sons. Each has an agenda of their with the same idea, to move on from Russ’s betrayal and subsequent death. Friendships have the possibility to turn into something more but does anyone have the strength to move forward. I really enjoyed the diary entries from Rosie’s point of view. You know what she is doing morally wrong but being blinded by love can skew your feelings. In all of this Maia is the one hurt the most by the deception and deaths of both her parents. I am deeply invested to see how this saga unfolds. Again another cliffhanger at the end that makes you automatically pick up the next book.

I also lived in St. John and reading this story that names local beaches, bars and restaurants takes me back to my second home. Thrilling story.

Read the first book for bookclub and needed to finish this series!! This book had me hooked, I needed to know things ended!! This book ended on a cliffhanger and now I need the next book!

I'm really enjoying this story with all its twist and turns and interesting characters and their growth. Looking forward to the resolution But sorry to see it end!

I am a huge fan of Elin Hilderbrand's books, and have read tons of them. Fell in love with "Winter in Paradise" and couldn't wait to read book 2 in the trilogy. I was intrigued by the helicopter crash, and sensed foul play from the get go, and I admit, I loved being transported to St. John by the beautiful canvas she painted through her the use of imagery. Do you sense the but? While I was patient with being reintroduced to the characters and the plot from book 1, I found myself quite disappointed in the character development of Cash, Baker, Ayers, .and even Irene to some degree. The only characters who seem to have any depth are Huck, the the rest seem to be rather foolish and very easily swayed. Wouldn't anyone with half a brain know that the house, and funds would be eventually seized because they were obtained with illegal funds? They all settled into this lifestyle way too easily and the book lost credibility for me. I will read book 3, but I will take it out of the Library when it's available as I want to see how she wraps up the details, and redeems the characters - which I believe she will. In my opinion, Hilderbrand's "Winter St." series did a better job at weaving characters and story lines together.

What Happens in Paradise is another hearty helping of family and romantic drama, where the secrets of the past are finally revealed. Reading this book is like returning to old friends and getting a front-row seat to the chaos of their lives. Irene continues to untangle her late husband’s double life while finding unexpected joy and maybe love on St. John. Her sons, Cash and Baker, navigate their own messy hearts, and just when you think things might settle, the FBI shows up. Loved it. Can’t wait to read the final book!

What Happens in Paradise: Paradise series Book 2 is by Elin Hilderbrand. This is fantastic. The writing is such that it takes you right to St. John and places you in the exact places the characters are in. You can visualize the stunning beaches and the turquoise water as well as the bars and restaurants. When they are on The Mississippi, you can visualize what they are seeing and feeling. Elin’s way with words is amazing. The book continues the story of Russell Steele and his dual lives. One life was with his wife Irene and their two sons, Cash and Baker in Iowa City. The other was on St. John with Rosie and his daughter, Maia. How he managed to keep Irene from knowing about his twelve-year affair with Rosie is amazing. She just put his being absent off on his job with Tom Crofts. On the other hand, Rosie knew from the start that he was married but continued to hope that he would leave Irene and stay on St. John with her. In the meantime, he also managed to keep everyone from knowing just what he did to make all the new money that he had. Irene and both her sons end up back on St. John. Cash to work on the tour boat, Treasure Island, with Ayers and hopefully get her to like him as much as he likes her. Baker and his son Floyd come to the island with the intention of moving there. His wife has left him for Louise and they are moving to Cleveland so it no longer matters where he lives as long as he gets Floyd to Cleveland for his visits. He intends to marry Ayers as soon as his divorce is final if she will have him. Irene comes back to work for Huck on his fishing tours. It gives her something different to so which she loves. She hopes to come to some final closure on the death of Russ. Now, waiting for the final book in the series will be difficult. I can hardly wait to see what happens to all of the characters. Russ certainly left a mess behind him.

I love the book all three of them. It’s a series really good read this, light and entertaining.

Bonne lecture, relaxante, avec une histoire qui se passe dans un lieu qu’on aimerait visiter si on en avait le temps où les moyens. Intrigue pas très complexe, même un peu prévisible. Des personnages pas trop nombreux et pas compliqués non plus. Bref un livre d’été quoi. Bon je le lis en anglais pour avoir une activité cérébrale pendant la lecture.Quand même. Allez y, vous ne serez pas déçu.

If this book had a taste, it would taste of conch fritters. If it had a colour, it would be the gleaming translucent turquoise of the Caribbean at Caneel Bay. Elin has such a gift for evoking setting through visual and culinary details. I thought Rosie was the most intriguing character in the first Paradise novel, so I was delighted that we get to see how her romance with Russ developed through her diary entries. The Baker/Mick/Ayers triangle was also a suspenseful narrative, with twists and turns right up until the end. I don't understand why some readers are complaining about a cliffhanger? I'm really looking forward to the next book and am even planning a trip to St John! I still hold out hope that Elin will write about Hurricane Irma, or a fictional version. Her talent for describing scenery and weather, and for building narrative tension, would ensure that such a novel would be a phenomenal read.

Inzwischen bin ich ein richtiger Fan der Autorin. Jedes der bisher gelesenen Bücher ist ein Easy-Read, den man nicht mehr aus der Hand legen kann. Intelligent und fesselnd geschrieben! Danke für die schönen Lesestunden!

I liked the characters and the concept of this series, but it was all just missing the mark a bit. Not enough excitement it was like catching up with friends, I did enjoy reading it, but it wasn’t what you want from a book, that pull to keep you from not being able to put it down