I love all books by these authors. They create such amusing storylines with lovely characters and so much romance. This was the perfect beachy travel read. The trajectory of Anna and West's relationship was not believable but was so much fun. His family drama was heartbreaking but I loved how she didn't fall into the trap of being the annoying partner but actually stood up for him. A must read for the summer.

Once again, Christina Lauren knocks one out of the park. This might be my favorite one of all her books yet. It's hard to say, but WEST is perfection. He just says all the right things. This trope was something I didn't even know I wanted. What a twist on the marriage of convenience/fake marriage/fake dating/forced proximity. I ate this up, and I would definitely read it again, and I RARELY say that.

Fake fiancé/spouse books are always guilty pleasures. They are fun reads, although rarely very original. In this book, we have a very original protagonist. Anna (the fake real wife, figure that one out) is a premed student turned artist who is hired to attend a wedding with Liam (West). This isn't just any wedding, it is an over the top richy rich wedding in paradise. And, not just with normal wedding guests, but with Liam's very toxic family and a variety of business associates and reporters. When Anna does all the appropriate grooming and acquires all of the appropriate clothes (thanks to a very supportive friend and Liam's money) but then shows up with pink hair, I almost fell off my chair laughing. She is there to help Liam through this mess he got himself into, but she is still her very original artistic self. Some of my favorite scenes are her with her "husband's" niece. This is a very satisfying addition to the fake fiancé/spouse group of books.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

This book was not only so fun to read and witty, but Anna, the FMC, was just so charming and hilarious.

You will absolutely love this one if you love:
✨a witty FMC
✨a sweet MMC
✨marriage of convenience
✨opposite attracts
✨a refreshing romance
✨paradise setting
✨and a lil bit of spice

I have yet to find a Christina Lauren read that fails me, so get to it friends…it will not disappoint!

What a fun read! Finally a Christina Lauren book that delivered!
LOVED the overall plot and all the tropes involved! There is something for everyone. Fake dating/marriage, opposites attract, slow burn, dual pov. And add a dreamy tropical background! Anna as a MFL was a near perfect balance of being quirky and artsy with being practical and caring and empathetic. Liam slowly breaks down his walls and finally stands up to his family. I also love a good dual pov so we as the reader get insight into both characters and how they are experiencing the story. It makes it more rewarding to see the development and growth., The mix of banter, pop culture references, the slow burn made the story fun, upbeat and a quick read. Definitely perfect for a summer read!
My one drawback: it's just never super believable that all these feelings can build during the course of a week or two. I wish we had a little more backstory into their previous arrangement.
Always looking forward to another Christina Lauren!

This is a tough review for me to write. This was my first and will be my last book by Christina Lauren.

Good stuff - Five stars
🏖️ Great beach read
🏖️ Interesting characters
🏖️ Fun story
🏖️ Awesome female main character

Did not work - I wish some of the reviews would have had a warning. I would have never read the book.
☹️ Foul language - lots and lots of it
☹️ Detailed sex - over and over

I thought this was a stellar romance novel. My second Christina Lauren book. Great plot development and believable characters and conflict. Definitely recommend!

I love Christina Lauren's books, but the second-chance romance trope is one of my least favorite, so I went into this book with mid expectations. I am happy to say that I enjoyed it very much.

I adored both Anna and West. The differences in their upbringings and expectations made for some very believable conflict, but I liked watching them learn about each other and really begin to appreciate one another for their differences.

This book had a lot of fun moments, pop culture references, and good tension.

A great summer read!

Love the cover and love these two authors most the time. This book did not disappoint. The spice was spicy and the chemistry between Anna and West was palpable. Love a fake marriage trope. There was a lot of character development and they both grew emotionally throughout the book which was nice to see.

I loved every minute of this book (except the dad-what an ASS-which was the point but still!)! I always enjoy Christina Lauren books but this one reminds me of the ones I loved when I first discovered her(them?): My Favorite Half Night Stand, Roomies, Josh and Hazels Guide to Not Dating. Thanks to net galley for letting me read this early!

I LOVED this book. Christina Lauren never disappoints. I devoured this one in 2 sittings. Perfect beach/summer read that left me wanting more (even though it was tied up perfectly)

“I’m telling you, he was wearing that girl like a mood ring.” ☠️😵🪦😂🤣😂

“This dynamic isn’t kooky and wonderful. This family isn’t a charming group with a few warts. This family is gross.” 🙌🏻 Yup.

The biggest takeaway is INTENT MATTERS People make mistakes but it truly is the intent that matters. I always say that so I was like YES YES YES!

Unfortunately, I was all over the map with this one, sometimes I liked it and was all in, other times I had a hard time focusing on it.
It just wasn’t what I was expecting, it was a lot heavier. Liam’s family was really awful. I thought it would be more like a romcom but it was romance with a huge helping of dysfunction. The nastiness and manipulation of Liam’s family was too much. It just really bummed me out tbh.

Liam’s family sort of overshadowed the growth between Anna and Liam, because in my brain I’m like wait I can’t even focus on romance with these pretentious jerks running around. I think the only character I truly enjoyed was Anna’s dad.

CLo does give us our #hea so that helped for sure.

I can’t wait to read their next one, because if CLo writes it, I’m buying it. No hard feelings 💋.

This was the perfect summer read! I'm almost a little sad that I didn't save it for my upcoming beach trip. The characters, world building, mystery, and intrigue were absolutely on point. Even though I'm mainly a closed door girlie these days, the plot was absolutely worth the language, innuendo, and explicit scenes that I shy away from most of the time. I've only read one other Christina Lauren book (The Unhoneymooners) in the past, but this one definitely makes me want to check out more of them.

Anna...I absolutely love the description of her as a Muppet in human form! I don't typically gravitate towards artsy FMCs because I'm pretty analytical (planner, lover of numbers, etc.) myself. However, Anna is just so lovable and genuine. I adored how she was incredibly supportive of Liam and believed in his goodness even in the midst of some pretty messy stuff.

Liam...Bless. This guy is extremely well-adjusted to have grown up in the family he has. Like Anna, I want to believe that events like the ones in this story don't happen in the real world, but I'm sure they absolutely do. Liam is extremely giving and thoughtful and I respect how he chose to break away and make a life for himself as a professor totally separate from his family. I also enjoyed how he fought so hard against truly falling for Anna, but found that he just couldn't resist her (swoon ❤️).

Things I loved...Anna's pink hair, Vivi (top tier bestie), all the fabulous descriptions of the island (I seriously felt like I was there), the fancy parties (even though they were ludicrous), Anna's interactions with Liam's niece and nephews (especially Reagan), Blaire (and all of her absolute inappropriateness), Anna's dad (what a sweetheart), and the epilogue (SO good and tied everything up nicely).

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 rounded down
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I absolutely loved this book! I loved how quirky Anna was. That was one of the first things that really hit me about this book. Usually the guy is the sort of flaky, fly by the seat of their pants type so it was refreshing that it was Anna instead.

I love the fake dating trope. And with that, people who read that trope know what will happen. They'll "accidentally" fall in love and somehow it will come out that their relationship was a farce. But how it was done in this book was so good.

This is my 4th Christina Lauren book and they've all been home runs!

With a different twist on a marriage of convenience story, The Paradise Problem was a really fun read. I enjoyed the characters, the story and the happily ever after.

Anna and Liam couldn't be much more different. He's too serious, she can be not serious enough at times. He's an accomplished professor, she's a newly fired, struggling artist after giving up going to medical school. She didn't even read the contract she signed well enough to understand all the requirements so she's quite surprised when he shows up at her door years later requiring her to step into her "wife" role. Can they convince his family they've been happily married all this time? Can they get through an extravagant destination wedding so they can get their divorce and go their separate ways?

You can problably guess that it's not all that easy. It turns out his family thinks she's been pursuing medicine all this time. He's not exactly who he's let her think. There's more to this contract than getting good student housing. And, they're starting to really fall for each other. I loved seeing Anna stepping up to defend Liam and reach her heart out to him when she realizes his family dynamic's effect on him. She's pretty great with his siblings too. Watching these two slowly fall for each other is so entertaining and touching. I loved their journey although it wasn't all sweet and fun. As a matter of fact for much of their trip the stressors are intense and painful but they bring Anna and Liam to each other. I just loved watching them together.

Christina Lauren always give us a good story and this was one the ones I enjoyed the most. I definitely recommend it.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I just love Christina Lauren, and love them even more after meeting them/hearing them speak at my local bookstore last month! This book is exactly what I expected and wanted it to be, and couldn’t have asked for a better book to bust my slump with!

~A lovely twist on a marriage of convenience for student housing that turns into a marriage of convenience worth a massive inheritance~

Anna and Liam “West” marry only to secure affordable family housing at UCLA. Years later after graduation while pink-haired wild child artist Anna is slumming it and recently fired from her gas station attendant gig, wealthy grocery store heir Liam suddenly shows up to tell her they aren’t actually divorced and offers her an opportunity of a lifetime. If she could only pretend to be his happily wedded wife for a little while at his sister’s tropical wedding on a remote island (hence the “paradise”) where his whole dysfunctional family will be present and counting on meeting her, she will receive a decent sum of money out of his inheritance that he needs assistance to help him claim (hence the “problem”).

This was cute romance and a pretty quick read for me, but I didn’t get invested much with the characters or the whole rich family drama plot. Got a little bored with some of it.

Thank you so much to the authors, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for the e-galley!

Unfortunately, I think the newer Christina Lauren books have lost that spark that made me fall in love with them. They some how feel more formulaic and tamer?

I absolutely loved this book! I heard such great things about it and it did not disappoint. Now I need to read more of her books!

Thank you NetGalley! This was such a cute read! This book had an unusual storyline but I loved the chemistry between Anna and Liam. This was my favorite Christina Lauren book!