While I did enjoy this book, I was more invested in the thriller portion of the story rather than any romantic interests the main character had. I think the name change from Enemies to Lovers to Trouble in Paradise was a fantastic choice. I loved the setting of a "summer camp" for couples on a tropical island- it made me wish summer would come faster. This was a quick, light read with more mystery solving than romance.

I’d expected this to be a quick light read, and even though it was a quick read, I’m not so sure about the “light” part. In some moments it’s like the book couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a romantic comedy or a thriller.

Lara and Sonny are rival journalists who are assigned a job together as a fake couple. They are to go undercover at a couples' retreat. I like Portia MacIntosh's books and this one was the same. Portia is great at writing characters who are likeable.

The story did get jumbled a little bit and it was sometimes difficult to follow all the characters who were at the retreat along with their stories.


Thank you to NetGalley, Portia MacIntosh, and Boldwood Books for the e-ARC of this book. This review is my own opinion.

This has been such a good read, I have really enjoyed it. Great characters , great storyline. Look forward to reading more.

For fans of Emily Henry this is the book you must read! Humor, paradise, and fake dating all in one fun read. For romance lovers, this has the right amount of tensions and feels more real than fiction.

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to Boldwood books and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5/5 (rounded up)

This is another easy, fun read (with a bit of twist) from this author, and it’s the perfect book to pop in your beach bag this summer.

I always prefer books to be written in first person so I’m glad that this book was written in this type of narrative. However, I think this book would have benefited from multiple perspectives. It was great to see everything from Lara’s perspective, but I think it would have intensified things for us as readers if we got to see things from Sonny’s perspective too.

Sonny and Lara had so much chemistry and tension. I think this was a good use of the enemies to lovers trope, however, I think it was definitely more enemies to lovers on Lara’s side, but it was more workplace rivals to lovers for Sonny. The forced proximity element really added to the tension.

I think this book definitely could have been a bit longer, with more moments extended. It did feel a bit rushed towards the end, and I would have liked to have seen an epilogue of them together in Australia as I think this would have rounded off the story nicely.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. The undercover journalists aspect of it was really good and kept the plot interesting, and Sonny and Lara had a lot of chemistry which kept me invested in their relationship.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Lara and Sonny are rival journalists and sworn enemies when they are assigned to pretend to be in couples therapy at the mysterious Eden.

I had high hopes for this (I love fake dating!) but it just fell flat 🫠 Lara and Sonny were definitely not enemies, more like work rivals at a push. It was easy to follow along but it was just a bit forgettable tbh! I did enjoy the friendship that formed between Lara, Sonny and the other couples at the Eden retreat but beyond that I wasn’t much of a fan. I do really love Portia as an author though so it won’t deter me from picking up more of her books!

This was a light hearted and funny read. Not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it, but it was certainly different from your normal romance stories. I think you need to take the situation Lara and Sonny end up in and just run with it! It makes for an amusing read! I do like how the author took an idea and developed it into something just a bit different from the norm!

Well this book was a bit of a disappointment. This is the second Portia Macintosh book I’ve read now and even though I quite enjoyed the first, this was bad in comparison.

I hate to leave bad reviews but I pride myself in giving truthful reviews and this book just didn’t cut it for me.

It felt rushed, which in turn made it a quick read, but it didn’t have gripped or wanting to read it. Maybe the author is churning out too many books, too quickly for them to be of considerable value?

The characters weren’t very likeable or interesting and I felt no emotion towards them.
And the ending was far too rushed as well, and the big, life changing decisions the main characters made after hating each other for the last 10 years was just unrealistic and not an overly enjoyable ending. Although I do like a happy ending so at least it got that.

The storyline was weird and a cross between a thriller/suspense and romcom with neither really being a talking point and I wasn’t a fan of the flip flopping between the two without a decent outcome.

It’s a very quick, light hearted, easy read which was perfect for what I was wanting after reading 4 fantasy books back to back, but I won’t be reading again and I’ll probably think twice about reading another book from this author unfortunately.

unfortunately, this was a dnf for me because of how slow it started. I got to about 35% and liked the writing a decent amount, but was really struggling to connect with the FMC

I was hoping for a cute rom com and was disappointed. The female main character was irritating and I couldn't get past it.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Enemies to Lovers, is another great love story by Portia MacIntosh!!!

In picking up this book, readers are in for a fun, sexy treat. Sonny and Lara had the best chemistry whether they were arguing or getting along. Having to go undercover as a couple was the perfect catalyst for getting them together.

If you are a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, you MUST give this a read, preferably while at the beach or on summer holiday!!!

Special thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Portia MacIntosh for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I think my favorite part of this book was Lara’s connection with her friends. Reading about their issues apart from the relationships was So refreshing. The book was a quick read with some light and some heartfelt moments

Didn't vibe with the characters or the story. Both the main characters gave me the ick. And it wasn't really enemies to lovers, as advertised.

To be fair, this one redeemed itself towards the end but I slogged through most of it. The writing felt clumsy and childish. The use of discourse markers to start a chapter were sometimes irritating because it set the narrative into an awkward space, as if the main character was always blundering her way through. It got to a point when it became expected.
Lara and Sonny were sent on a secret project together where they had to act as a couple, when in fact they were sworn enemies. The way these two would pit against each other was immature. As they were forced into situations that had them break down the walls between them, the storyline became less forced and immature.
I really think I would give this book 2.5 stars but will happily round up to 3 because the writing improved the longer I read.

I received an advanced reader's copy via Boldwood Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. (Disclaimer: I assume that because it was an ARC there were more editing errors that were hopefully corrected for the release.)

This is an author who I enjoy reading. I might not like all her books equally, but they have characters who are well-defined and people we want to reach their happily-ever-afters.
The two main protagonists in this tale are celebrity reports in sibling publications under the same media conglomerate. They have a history that comes out much later in the story, but their current rivalry is very cutthroat. They both want to present a unique take on celebrity interviews and not make it sleazy.
They both have been given a super secret assignment when their personal rivalry becomes a little more obvious and jeopardizes the image of the company. Their fights are petty but realistic. Once they get going, they can't stop - until they find a common objective and a zeal to do more than try to expose the not-so-ordinary lives of bigshots.
I like undercover stories as well as forced proximity plots, making this a winning combination for me. I would recommend this to fans of the author because she managed to keep me hooked all the way through.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This was a fun read. A rivals to lovers workplace romance it’s always a great choice. I guess my only wish would have been an epilogue with his pov, maybe so we get to learn more from him! Overall good book!

A fun light heartened read, thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. An inventive storyline with that added zip that makes all the authors books so enjoyable. No spoilers in this review but the formula for this book isn’t so predictable that you already know the ending from the start. Recommended read.

Thank you Netgalley

A great romcom featuring Lara and Sonny, sworn enemies and rival showbiz journalists who are forced to go undercover at a couples retreat to gain information about a celebrity couple. This is a lighthearted read, pure escapism , and very entertaining . Recommended