Book Review: Meet Me In Paradise

Oh lambs, have I ever mentioned how much I love my Once Upon a Book Club subscription? I'm pretty sure I say it with every box, but I'm going to say it again- I LOVE THIS BOX. I keep forgetting what month box these are, but I think this was April? It was the "Oh Darling, let's be adventurers" adult box and it was perfect. I have the young adult box from April as well, so stay tuned for that one. My May boxes are coming soon I think, so I'm anxious to see what those books are!

Meet Me In Paradise - Libby Hubscher

Marin Cole has never:

Seen the ocean

Climbed a mountain

Taken a risk on love

....But if her sister's plan works, she just might do all three.

Ever since her journalist mother died on assignment, Marin has played it safe, refusing to set foot outside the state of Tennessee. Her wild-child younger sister, Sadie, has trotted the globe as a photographer, living off of art and adrenaline.

When Sadie returns from a tough assignment abroad and looks a little worse for wear, Marin reluctantly agrees to a sisters' spa weekend on the tropical island of Saba. But her lifelong fear of travel is affirmed when Sadie misses the flight, Marin's luggage gets mixed up with another passenger's, and an episode of turbulence sends her hurtling into the lap of Lucas Tsai, the handsome stranger who stole her sister's seat.

For the first time in a long time, Marin has to step outside of her comfort zone as she explores the island with Lucas and learns what she's been missing out on. With each breathtaking new experience, Marin gets closer to her real self, the man she's falling for, and the heart-wrenching truth about why she's there in the first place. 

I have to start by telling you that one of my favorite books is called The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinski and you can see my review for that here, but just know this was waaaaaay back in 2009 so I was like, a baby book reviewer back then. Be nice. 

Anyways, books centered around the idea that life is short, do these crazy things on a list because YOLO, and all of that- I am completely here for. A bucket list, but cooler, if you will. I love that this was the book that came in this box because I almost bought it while shopping, so this was fate at play. Right? Right. 

In this one we have ridiculously uptight Marin, a control freak, but with great intentions. Her younger sister Sadie isn't a hot mess but she comes off as reckless and thoughtless as she treks across the world. Marin worries about her sister, especially since their mother died when they were younger and that made Marin put her life aspirations to the side and grow up quickly in order to take care of Sadie. Now that Sadie has a secret she's keeping from Marin, she knows this is her last chance to get Marin to live a little, to really break out of her shell. Sadie comes up with this crazy scheme, pulls people in to play their parts, and off we go. 

I loved this. I'll admit, Marin was so uptight and she really drove me nuts, more so at the end when she's making terrible, stupid decisions left and right, but she does pull her junk together. #teaser I really liked Sadie and despite her not being in the story a whole lot, it's just enough and I loved her arc in this. We also meet a whole cast of characters that I loved and I was reading this wishing we had more with all of them, too. I feel like that's a sure sign of excellent character development, when readers just want more of everyone. One of the prominent ones is Lucas, a man Marin comes to rely on first beginning on her disastrous first flight, but extending to her stay in Saba. Also, can I just mention I really want to go to Saba. (Yes, it's a real country and according to Google, the safest one in the Caribbean, though it gets the most hurricane activity so you should go in the winter.)

I really loved this entire story. The romance between Lucas and Marin is great, steam level is barely a 1, but this is a very PG-13 level romance so you can read this on a plane in case you're worried about freaking out the person who is reading over your shoulder. I honestly don't know what I would say as far as improvements, I was sad to see this one end! 

Do you want to see what I got in my box, though??

If you didn't see on Instagram, I posted what I got before I started reading. I just need to say I'm proud of myself because I am super good at not opening things before I get to the designated page! 

I got: a microphone, reusable straw, ring, necklace, and a reusable produce bag! 

Not the greatest picture, but the ring and necklace are super, super pretty. I've been wearing the ring because my wedding ring is missing it's big diamond (for real, I'm sick about it) and I have to get it fixed. It wasn't a very big diamond, and I'm not even sure it fell out at home, but I looked EVERYWHERE here, vacuumed everything and looked through the filter and everything, and I can't find it. Anyways. I'm currently ring-less right now, so this will do until I get mine back. 

If you are interested in subscribing, use my link and get $5 off, I get $5 off and it's fun times. In the meantime, you can pick this gem of a book- it's literally a perfect summer read and I just really want to go to the beach now. 

This post contains affiliate links.