5 stars. Christina Lauren are one of those authors where the minute I saw the book pop up on netgalley, I requested it. That's right, I didn't even read the blurb. And to be fair, I also didn't read the blurb before I decided to dive in. So I truly had no idea what this one was about. But that is the magic of Christina Lauren, because I know that if they write it, I will love it. And I really loved The Paradise Problem.

I think The Paradise Problem is the perfect book for summer. It's filled with a marriage of convenience (between 2 people who don't even realize they are still married), amazing banter, laugh out loud moments (I will never stop thinking about Anna and her nails), an open door romance with a couple of steamy scenes, and a tropical island! Rom coms can be hit or miss for me, because sometimes the humor is just too obvious and too silly. But Christina Lauren's rom coms are like my crack. I cannot stop consuming them. Anna was such a relatable character and truly, the type of character I wish I could be friends with in real life. She's smart and loyal and ok, maybe not the most hard working, but she knows what's important in life, and I think that's really admirable. West is basically her opposite-- she's artsy with pink hair and he's an academic from a VERY prominent family (with tons of family drama). I think both characters showed a lot of growth, and although the plot was relatively predictable, I don't really care, because this isn't the type of story where I feel like I needed to be surprised. Truly, I read this entire book with a smile on my face, and if that's not the mark of a good read, then I don't know what is.

Thank you so much to Christina Lauren, Gallery, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I truly couldn't put this one down.

I have two favorite CLo books: 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 and 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦. Well…𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠 is now one of my top faves.
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I’m usually hit or miss with CLo so I’m glad this was PERFECT! I could not get enough of Anna and Liam. This was the perfect fake dating storyline! I could not get through these pages fast enough. The growing tension was up to par. I loved their chemistry so much!
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Dual POV
Destination wedding
Fake marriage
Close proximity
One bedroom scenes
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Highly recommend for all the romance readers! Will make the perfect summer book.

3.75/5 ⭐️

I went in totally blind and I think that is the way to go. This is a great beach read, and the wedding aspect made it fun - like a game!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Anna Green is a struggling artist. Liam West is an heir to a family grocery chain called Weston Foods. Back in college Anna and Liam got married so that they could get into family housing within their college.

Fast forward three years later and Liam is back knocking on Anna’s door with a proposition since they are still technically married. They need to stay married for Liam to get a 1 million dollar inheritance. He just needs Anna to act like his wife at his sister's wedding. I loved watching this fake marriage develop into real feelings for one another.

I enjoyed both characters throughout the story and I enjoyed this second chance, fake marriage romance! Christina Lauren always knows how to add romance with a twist of comedy. Add this to your summer reading list.


Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Anna meets Liam in college and agrees to marry him in order to get free housing. Once graduation is over, the strangers separate and don’t speak for three years. After being fired from her horrible job at a convenience store, Liam coincidentally shows up on Anna’s doorstep with a proposition. He’ll pay her to attend a family wedding and stay married past the five year mark so he can gain a huge inheritance. All seems perfect when they get to paradise, but all families have skeletons in their closet, and Liam’s are about to coming tumbling out.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
Arranged Marriage
Forced Proximity
Opposites Attract

Triggers:
Blackmail
Manipulation through money

My thoughts:
I loved this book. Liam and Anna have instant chemistry and I really enjoyed how they dealt with his families BS without compromising who they were as people. I hope we get more stories from this family!

Thank you to @netgalley @gallerybooks #partner and @christinalauren for a copy of this book!

A marriage of convenience with strings attached. While in college, in order to access affordable housing, Anna and Liam marry. After they graduate they go their separate ways except--little does Anna know, the legal papers Liam hands off to her weren't for a divorce. It was a contract to stay married for five years so Liam could collect the bulk of his inheritance. As their fifth year anniversary approaches, Liam turns up at Anna's doorstep, explains his situation (mostly), offers her a bundle of money, and asks her to be his very married plus one to a family wedding located on a private tropical island.

This was great fun (mostly) with chemistry between the MCs, family members you love to love, and others you love to hate. An utter delight (mostly). A unicorn taking pride of place in my Kindle library. The authors have a knack for bringing top-notch banter to their stories. Again--seventh heaven. A toe snapper. I mentally rubbed my hands together in glee, anticipating this book would be the future palate cleanser I needed whenever I was in a reading slump.

And then, two "secrets" with fuses set to go off at 80% exploded. Heaven protect me from fictional secrets. They're usually duds that never pay off after the long wait. In this case, the biggie, I'm calling it, "The George," was preposterous. The second, "The Jerry," shouldn't have ever happened if Liam was as brilliant as he was portrayed.

It might not bother anyone else, but endings are important to me. What began as 5 stars slipped to 3.5, I'm rounding up to 4.. 

My thanks to Christina Lauren and Gallery Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Christina Lauren does it again! If you are a fan of her books, you will not be disappointed in this new one. It will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and you will find it hard to put this one down once you start it. Do yourself a favor and get this book!!

The Paradise Problem is a romcom told in dual POV between the main characters, Anna and Liam and is set on a beautiful remote private island…paradise. But when you throw in a complex, toxic, high society family and an obscene amount of money, you may have trouble in paradise.

Powerhouse writing duo, Christina Lauren, does an incredible job at describing paradise using vivid details and imagery which helps the reader visualize the extraordinary setting and characters, making you feel as if you were there with the characters. There was a perfect balance of well developed characters, and had a little bit of everything as far as personalities, insert toxic family dynamics here. Anna, the FMC, is an unemployed struggling artist who is outspoken, quirky and free spirited and Liam, the MMC, is a college professor and heir to the Weston’s dynasty, and is more reserved and business minded…talk about opposites attract. I enjoyed the swoon worthy, tension filled, witty banter and spicy chemistry between these two. All the pop culture sprinkled throughout the story was a lot of fun and an added bonus!
If you enjoyed the movies Pretty Woman and/or The Proposal, which I personally loved both, then this book is definitely for you. It is an ideal summer read!

Billionaire Romance
Fake Dating
Marriage of Convenience
Forced Proximity
Opposites Attract
Slow Burn

This would have easily been a 5 star read for me, but I couldn’t get past the language. Language isn’t usually a make or break for me, but I cringed every time the word "GD" was used as a euphemism.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Christina Lauren for granting me early access to The Paradise Problem in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Rating: 4 stars

I first fell in love with Christina Lauren’s novel after reading The Unhoneymooners, so I was super excited to get my hands on The Paradise Problem this year!

A big thank you to Simon & Schuster, NetGalley, and Christina Lauren for an eARC of The Paradise Problem!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for the summer, and I’m super happy that I liked it as much as I did. It was a lighthearted read, while still touching on some difficult topics like family drama and dysfunction. I felt for the characters as I got to know them throughout the book, and of course, who could bypass the setting — I mean a remote, private island?! Sign me up.

Definitely a read that you should add to your summer reading TBR! Perfect if you love The Unhoneymooners, Crazy Rich Asians, and (light) Pretty Woman vibes.

> Parts I Loved:

The Perfect Beachy Vibes:
Ugh, I just love a quintessential summer read, and a private island in Indonesia for a ritzy wedding was perfect. I could just picture myself walking through the white powdery sand beaches and dipping my toes in the cool, crystal blue water. I was fawning over the location the entire time!

The Family Mess & Drama:
I am such a sucker for family mess, drama, and dysfunction. And this one brought plenty of it. I felt like Christina Lauren did such a great job of conveying the upper elite and just how …out of touch so many with insane amounts of money can be. Of course, they also did a great job of making me love the MMC, who was the odd one out in a family motivated solely by money. I was cheering for Liam the entire time!

Anna’s & Liam’s Relationship Development:
I LOVED this part. Christina Lauren always does such a phenomenal job of showing us how the relationship develops, without having to necessarily resort to insta-love or insta-lust. Sure, there’s initial attraction, but the inner dialogue for each character wasn’t solely revolving around how hot the other is the entire time. We truly do get to see their relationship build over the course of the novel, and it worked beautifully!

> Book Characteristics:
- Fake dating
- Forced proximity
- Only one bed
- Pretend marriage / marriage of convenience
- Millionaire fake husband
- Opposites attract
- Family drama & dysfunction
- Dual POV
- Light beach read

“I want to be on your team. I’m here for you. I’m your ride or die, West Weston.”

author: @christinalauren
pub date: May 14
*thank you @netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! buddy read w @sunshinereadswithlil

it has been a minute since I’ve read a Christina Lauren book and boy have I missed their writing! this perfect mix between the spanish love deception and the unhoneymooners with all the family drama of the dreamland billionaires series is sure to be a summer vacation hit!

the aesthetic was everything, the characters were entertaining, the main couple were swoon worthy, and I have serious fomo rn that I’m not at the beach. this is absolutely a slow burn that has you wanting more and will totally convince you to buy some plane tickets!

read if you like: fake dating, family drama, vacation vibes, steamy slow burn, marriage of convenience, one bed, dual pov, witty banter, opposites attract

rating: 4.25/5 ⭐️

Anna Green and Liam “West” Weston didn’t marry for love, they married to take advantage of university family housing. So Anna doesn’t shed a tear the day West moves out and she signs what she thinks are divorce papers. Needless to say, it’s a bit of a shock when West shows up three years later and not only are they not quite as divorced as Anna thought, but West also wants Anna to play the part of a loving wife in front of his family so he can inherit his share of his grandfather’s grocery store fortune.

This book is a DELIGHT! The connection between pink-haired bohemian struggling artist Anna and buttoned-up professor / millionaire West was magnetic, and even though their romance was a slow burn, their chemistry and flirty banter made it well worth the wait! I laughed – A LOT! I even woke up my husband with my giggling when I was reading after bedtime! When our couple finally gets together, the spice sizzles right off the page. Even with all the funny scenes and steamy ones too, there’s quite a bit of family conflict and drama. If you’re a Christina Lauren fan, you’re going to love this funny, sexy story – it might just become your new favorite!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me an advance copy of this book.

4.5⭐️ - The Paradise Problem is a spicy, adventurous, marriage-of-convenience romance between West and Anna. To gain access to his inheritance, West needs Anna’s help proving to his family that he has been in love and married for five years at his sister’s ten-day wedding extravaganza on a private island… only problem? West and Anna barely know each other aside from being legally married.

Dare I say this might be in my top 3 Christina Lauren books, and I have read A LOT of their books. Though the start was slow and it took a little time for me to buy their chemistry, Anna and West are so magnetic and balance each other out beautifully. I love their witty banter, their tension and longing, and sizzling chemistry. The tropical setting is so fun, and the rich family drama adds an interesting layer to the story. This book is the PERFECT light read for the summer!

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for graciously giving me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't read much straight romance, UNLESS it is the dynamic Christina Lauren duo. They can do no wrong in my eyes, and The Paradise Problem was no exception. The perfect beach read for the summer and it will find some ways to surprise you, even when you think you know exactly where we are headed.

OMG. This is definitely my new fave Christina Lauren book!

Anna believes her marriage of convenience to Liam Weston (West) has been over for years since they agreed to marry each other for family housing while in college. Once West moved out she signed the divorce papers and that was that, or so she thought.

Now, five years later, West shows up to give Anna an offer she can’t refuse - a shit ton of money to attend his sister’s wedding with him in Indonesia. He needs her to pretend to be his happily married wife of five years because as it turns out, the divorce papers she signed weren’t as clear cut as she thought. In order for West to get access to his trust he had to be married for 5 years, so the stipulation was that they’d be divorced *after* that. So, to Anna’s surprise, they are still legally married and he needs Anna to show up with him to his sister’s wedding in order to keep the pretense up and save his inheritance.

This was SO FUN. It kind of reminded me of the enjoyment I felt while reading The Unhoneymooners but this was much deeper. This had such an excellent plot that went beyond the usual romance plot tropes, and it actually had a fantastic story going on. The banter, the spice, the hijinks, all of it was entertaining and a blast to read, and then the actual twists in this story made this a top tier romance in my eyes.

If you enjoy romance books that are more than just “one bed” and smut, this is the romance for you. I ate this up and didn’t want to rush a second of it. This had so much depth & character development without sacrificing the pure fun of a story like this. I loved the personality of the characters and I truly felt the sparks and chemistry between these characters. I was grinning like an idiot reading this cheesy but perfect romcom.

This was sweet, bingeable, and just an absolute romcom delight. Thank you so much NetGalley and Gallery books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I'm really torn on this book. I really liked the story, and I could not put it down. While I was pretty sure it was going to have a happy ending, I needed to know how it actually got wrapped up - so much so that I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish!

What I didn't love is the lengthy sexual descriptions. In my opinion, it took away from the story line and was just distracting.

Thank you Gallery Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren is the most perfect summer read. The banter between the two main characters is fun. I was really invested in the storyline from start to finish. Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this book - I couldn’t put it down and I didn’t want it to end. The slow burn turned into the perfect amount of spice. I could read 5 more books with the 2 main characters. Highly recommend this novel to anyone looking to be swept away while lounging by the water with a cold beverage. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC - it was just what my soggy weather brain needed.

this was SO GOOD - I truly don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much while reading a book! the absolutely stunning setting had me wanting to book a flight 🤭 I’m also a big fan of the fake dating / marriage of convenience trope when it’s done right, and MAAAAAAN this was *chef’s kiss*! I also really appreciated the complexity of the main characters (we love a badass FMC who owns who tf she is!!!), their backgrounds, and the discussions of difficult family dynamics - and HELLO, the pop culture references?? obsessed.

you’re gonna want to grab your copy ASAP (pub day is tomorrow - may 14th!!!) - it’s the perfect summer romance!

shockingly only my second CLo read, but it made me want to read through their entire catalog!

thank you to NetGalley + Gallery Books for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The most perfect summer romance! I’ve loved every second and would recommend this book 100 times over!

Here’s what I liked most:
•Dual POV
•Summer / private island setting
•Great side characters
•Lovable main characters with great banter
•Marriage of convenience
•Only one bed trope
•Billionaire romance

Every Christina Lauren novel blows me away and this is no exception!

Compared with other books by Christina Lauren, this one was just... meh. Don't get me wrong; I still found it enjoyable and consider it a fun summer read. It just wasn't as good as some of the other books I have read by this duo. At times, the descriptions of the scenery, parties, and spicy moments were too long, and I found myself getting bored and wanting to skip ahead. The main characters were, for the most part, likable. I wish the authors had developed the relationship between Annie and Liam more. Their attraction was too "instant," and it never felt like they truly connected, except physically. With all that being said, I still loved the idea of their fake marriage, the Pretty Woman vibes, and the trip to a lavish private island! I gave it 3.5 stars overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

I always love a good Christina Lauren romcom and The Paradise Problem was another enjoyable read from this stellar duo.

I liked that there were some unique elements to this story in that Anna and Liam were already married. I was so confused at the beginning about their dynamics but it worked so well and made this one really fun. I loved that they had lived together for years and knew almost nothing about each other, including West's real name!

There was a lot of suspension of belief for this one, but it works. It was also pretty formulaic which isn't always my favorite, but if you want a feel good romance, a stunning setting, over the top opulence, and a healthy of mix of likeable and totally despicable characters, this one is for you!

This book is a great way to kick off summer!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the copy.