Book of the Week: The Paradise Problem

Yes, for my first BotW of 2025 I am breaking my own rules again and picking a book I finished on Monday. I just can’t help myself. And also if I could have finished it sooner I would have but Carlisle to Northampton is a long drive, even when it’s not snowy/sleeting/raining/foggy – and at various points on Sunday I had all of these, which does make it particularly ironic that this is a book mostly set on a tropical island!

The plot: Anna married West when they were both students in order to be able to access subsidised family housing. She also thought that the papers she signed when they graduated meant they were divorced. But then three years later West turns up on her doorstep, just after she’s been sacked from her gas station job and it turns out they’re not. And also that West is the heir to a huge amount of money and if they can’t convince his family that they’re actually a happily married couple at his sister’s wedding it would have dire consequences. And he’s willing to pay her to help him pull it off and the money would help Anna pay for her dad’s medical treatment but also maybe give her some breathing space to help her focus on her art career.

So there’s a couple of things to note here: firstly Anna would have to be incredibly incurious to not have figured out who West is, especially given she is also friends with his brother (and as a nosy person I had to suspend disbelief here!). Secondly there are a lot of awful rich people in this (not West!) and although there is comeuppance, your mileage on this may vary. But that said, I enjoyed this a lot as escapist fiction with a good twist on the fake relationship-turns real trope and plenty of witty banter. I’m a little unsure how West and Anna didn’t get any action together when they were roommates the first time but hey, staring a relationship with a roommate is a bad idea in case it doesn’t last. Trust me.

This one should be fairly easy to get hold of – I’ve seen the paperback in shops, although I have a copy on Kindle.

Happy Reading!