This is a lovely, modern take on Jane Austen's classic. Funny and clever, Ms. Austen would certainly approve!

This was a nice beach read and overall I enjoyed this book. There were some laugh out loud moments and I found the concept of the bartending competition really interesting. In my opinion the enemies to lovers trope was a little over done and it took wayyyyy too long for their love story to actually happen. Thank you to NetGalley & Hidden Gems Books for the ARC!

Another story by this author in a beautiful tropical setting with laughter, love and fun. Melanie Summers stories are always a fun, light, easy read.

I was drawn to this book for two quite simple reasons - pina colada and tropical island, and boy did it not disappoint!

I absolutely loved our two main characters, and although I haven't read the other books in the series - I absolutely adored the side characters. A cute, enemies to lovers trope with the right amount of sass between the main characters.

Will definitely be adding the author's other books onto my list!!!

surprisingly cute! i was surprised at first to read a pride and prejudice retelling with a dual pov but the darcy perspective was fun and refreshing. i liked how similar nora and theo were (both extreme overachievers) while still battling their own internal problems. i liked being able to pick up on the subtle changes from p&p while still having a sense of predictability. a fun, sweet read i would recommend for vacation

The book was a good read. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

How it was like Pride and Prejudice:
- There was a Mr. Wickham
- Enemies to Lovers trope
- FMC is prejudiced against rich people
- MMC is a complete introvert who does not wish to fall in love

I loved how the author put her own modern spin on it without copy-pasting the exact plot of pride and prejudice.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I had to struggle to get through the end of it. I love Pride & Prejudice retellings, but I just didn’t connect with this one.

The romance wasn’t there, and the characters were flat. There were a lot of things about her worrying about appearance that made me uncomfortable too. Nora seemed to think that getting fat was the worst thing that could happen, and it’s 2022, I just can’t overlook this kind of behavior in books anymore.

The only character that was minimally fun was Markos, but not enough to save the book, which had a weak plot all along.

I really wish I had liked it, but it wasn’t the case.

Even if you are not a huge Jane Austen fan, Pride and Pina Coladas is sure to bring you entertainment. Nora is an event planner in charge of the World Bartending Championship, and Theo is the corporate CEO sponsoring the event. Even though they butt heads throughout the book, their chemistry is evident and creates some hilarious situations.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Need to check out the rest of this series especially as they are all on KU! I love the added touch with the posters and maps at the beginning.

Nora Cooper has one thing in mind: a promotion.
Married to her job, Nora goes above and beyond at the Paradise Bay Resort for the guests, and to impress her bosses. When the World Bartending competition comes to town, this is just the event to show that she's ready to be a manager.
Except rum mogul, Theo Rojas proves to be a thorn in her side.
Rich, influential, and on a mission of his own to improve his company's reputation, Theo needs everything to be perfect. Constantly rude and arrogant, Theo becomes just another obstacle for Nora to overcome.
But when the two get stuck on a private island, it turns out that maybe, just maybe, they're more similar than either would like to admit...
**
This has to be the worst Paradise Bay book yet.
Nora herself is okayish. I found her hard to relate to, and borderline unlikable. I know where Melanie was going making her kind of forgettable in true Jane Austen style but Theo didn't feel like a "Mr. Darcy" we could root for. The whole premise fell flat.
Also...what was that love arc?
They literally went from "I hate you" to "I'm attracted to you" to "I love you." The reader needs waaaaayyyyyy more info about what they like about each other. So what if they're both beautiful? I NEED SUBSTANCE.

This is book 5 of the Paradise Bay series, but can also be read as a standalone. It is a fun and entertaining beach read, and a clever retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I always love me a good P&P retelling! Nora is an events planner at the Paradise Bay Resort. The resort will be hosting the World Bartending Championship and Theo will be the sponsor for this event. His multinational rum company is sorely in need of a relaunch after facing some scandal, and this competition might just help save his company. In true Darcy style, Theo is uptight and arrogant, wanting to have a close eye on everything during the event. Of course he and Nora do not get off on the right foot, him being so controlling and arrogant. But when they make a trip to a private island where the finale of the competition will be held, a storm prevents them from heading back to the mainland. Their forced time together gives them an opportunity to get to know each other better and see each other in a new light. Although they come to an understanding about one another, other forces still try to pull them apart.
I really enjoyed this contemporary spin on one of my favorite classics. It was well-done and highly entertaining and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to read it.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Nora's the events planner at a resort when a rigid, bossy Theo sweeps in and tries to tell her how to plan the resort's newest event - the World Bartender Championships. But Theo's family owns and runs the sponsor, so he thinks it means he gets to tell her how to plan everything. Now these two enemies are clashing all over the resort, trying their hardest to deny that beneath their antagonism is an attraction neither wants to acknowledge until it can't help but be indulged in.

This is the kind of rom-com that makes me love enemies to lovers so much. Fun, witty and brimming with tension. I love Nora and Theo together!

Review: Spoilers coming in the sense that if you've never read, seen, or heard of pride and prejudice you might not know what's coming in this book

Up until the very end this Pride and Prejudice retelling ws entertinaing and fun and unique enough to be an original story with classic inspirtion. After all, who doesnt love a enemies to lovers story where the girl has a backbone and the guy learns a little something about being a rude, arrogant jerk? Nora and Theo are very different and in normal circumstances wouldn't have crossed pasths in a million years, but over the course of the book they are thrown together again and again until they realie there is more between them than arguments.

This book is a good retelling in the sense that you get faint whiffs of the original story by Austen without being hit in the face with similar names of people and places like some retellings do; which I find boring and lazy. My one true complaint is that the majority of the change we see from Theo (our Mr. Farcy in this version) comes between the end of the book and the epilogue. His big change during the main story is to treat people in the service industry like people? Sorry, but that's just not enough for me to get on board with him being a completely different person.

I genuinely like Melanie Summers books. They are always entertaining and fun and usually hilarious. I feel like this one fell a little bit short for me. The main reason for that is my undying affection for the source material. It's hard to compete with a story that is so near and dear to my heart and give it something altogether new that I didn't expect, see coming, or want.

Synopsis:
I’m Nora Cooper—single woman about to turn thirty, wildly unsuccessful plant fanatic, and event planner at Paradise Bay Resort. My shot at ‘the big time’ has finally arrived—the resort is hosting the World Bartender Championships and I’ve been asked to head up the hospitality team.
There’s only one big problem. And his name is Theo Rojas. You’ve heard of his family—they own Rojas Rum (and about 200 other premium liquors, some of which may be on your shelf right now). As the major sponsor of the event, Theo has decided to be onsite, micromanaging every second of the competition.
He’s stuck up, rude, and arrogant (and a bunch of other adjectives I had better not use). He also seems to have added ‘make Nora’s life absolute hell’ to the top of his to-do list.
Too bad for Mr. Grumpy Chinos because he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. I’ve taken on far worse foes than him. And if he thinks he’s going to get the best of me, he’s in for a wake-up call.
So when we find ourselves stranded on a private island overnight, I’m determined to put him in his place once and for all.
Only somehow, instead of continuing our constant sparring, I find myself gazing longingly into his gorgeous eyes.
And now I have totally forgotten all the nasty things I was planning to say to him. Something about him being arrogant, right?
Gah! Someone please send help because I absolutely CANNOT fall for this guy…

This is a retelling of pride and prejudice, but set on a tropical island…seems perfect right? Nora is a single, soon to be 30-year-old, event planner. She’s up for a big promotion and trying to prove herself by hosting the World Bartending Championship at the resort she works for. But that’s proving difficult when she meets Theo, the CEO of Rojas Tum. She thinks he’s rude and stuck up. They get started off on the wrong foot and never seem to find solid ground after that. Will they be able to put aside their differences to run a successful event?

Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me. Nora was super judgmental. She judges Theo, based on the fact that he was rude to her once, he’s rich, and she never really tries to get to know him at all. She hears a negative story about him, and instantly takes that as a fact…she never gives him a chance to explain himself. I also thought her dieting storyline was a bit odd. I feel like it just plays into the unrealistic expectations of women, and it didn’t bring anything meaningful to the story. Theo was fine, nothing to write home about but I liked him. I didn’t like her mom or sister. I felt like they didn’t respect boundaries and were manipulative and selfish.

I really feel like things between Nora and Theo escalated so quickly. They went from hating each other to instantly being in love so fast that it made my head spin. This might have been more believable if they had more of a foundation of friendship or even if they had kissed one time. There was no build up and it was actually quite bizarre. The plot twist with the Kat/Paz sex tape…I really wanted more from that. I feel like that was kind of just brushed over and resolved so quickly that it almost seemed pointless. I think overall this book is cute but maybe just not for me. I just wanted a bit more from there romance and character development.

This is a 33- chapter story of Nora and Theo. Nora worked to arrange the event for Theo's company . They started off on the wrong foot, with Theo criticizing Nora about her appearance (sound familiar?).

Yes, this was a sweet, clean variation of the classic. It has the pride, arrogance, proposals and the drama. I loved the way the author showed the development of their feelings and the subtle humor embebded in the story,

It was lengthy but one will not get bored from this delightful page turner, So glad the author made the title close to the original, otherwise I would have missed this chance to read this refreshing variation.

Highly recommend to P & P fans.

I have received an ARC and voluntarily leaving this review

I was really excited to read this but sadly this book is a mess. First there isn’t really a plot? It felt like these characters just got to together to discuss literally nothing. I didn’t get the pride and prejudce retelling either. Very dissapointed.

This was a really cute book super fast read I really enjoyed it and would continue to read and buy from this author.

Enjoyed this sexy, laugh out loud fun and action-packed adventure filled with interesting and engaging charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and thrilling passion. An edge of your seat emotional roller-coaster from beginning to end.

Pride and Piña Coladas was such a fun read! It was my vacation beach book, which was perfect because I read it in the Bahamas. I really loved the grumpy/sunshine love story.

The only thing I didn’t like is the animosity between women in the story. For such a likeable heroine, she made a lot of enemies and the friction with her colleague was never explained. Also, some of the male dialogue wasn’t convincing. “My heart belongs to another” doesn’t sound like something a man would say.

Despite these two issues, I really enjoyed this book and now need to go read the entire series!

I was extremely excited to read this because I'm a huge Austen fan and Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books. I love inspired-by, retellings, or anything like that with their own twists.

This was not one of those. It does not give P&P vibes, even with a couple similar plotlines. Nothing else here gives off that it's a retelling with more modern times and a different setting. The 'drama' of the story really didn't make sense here and the leads were immature and nothing like Elizabeth or Darcy. Unfortunately, even if you took away the P&P retelling, it still isn't worth the read.