Christina Lauren’s beach read makes for a feel-good summer romance
The trope of Grumpy X Sunshine makes for a very exciting read when it comes to romance novels. With two opposite personalities clashing, there is room for a lot of banter and just as much sexual tension. The Paradise Problem is one such Grumpy X Sunshine novel with a prim and proper male lead – William (Liam) “West” Weston and his chaotic, foul-mouthed female lead – Anna Green.
With additional tropes like forced proximity, contractual marriage, one-bed, rich male and poor female leads amongst others, The Paradise Problem makes for a perfect feel-good summer romance.
The novel narrates the story of Anna Green, a starving artist who struggles to make ends meet. Five years ago, Anna married Liam, her friend Luke’s older brother for access to subsidized family housing. However, Anna does not know this and assumes that she had divorced Liam three years ago when he graduated.
Now, Liam is at Anna’s doorstep, asking her to join him on a private island in Indonesia for his sister’s wedding. In exchange, Liam stands to win the 100 million dollar lottery left behind by his late grandfather and Anna stands a chance to make 100,000 dollars, money that would change her life and that of her sick fathers. Will Anna take the bait and enter the complicated world of the rich or will she mess it all up for Liam?
The Paradise Problem makes for a very hilarious read in the beginning. The chaos between two familiar strangers is hilarious as Liam shows up at Anna’s doorstep unannounced when she is high and is not speaking any sense. Even though the plot of the novel is similar to any other contemporary romance, the energies that the main leads bring to the table are enjoyable.
There is no denying that Liam is attracted to the pink-haired off-beat and foul-mouthed Anna when he sees her at the airport. This one is full of a lot of open-door scenes and the sexual tension between Anna and Liam is unrivalled. The two have the hots for each other and it is evident every time Anna mentions Liam’s “goddamn”.
Despite being poor, Anna was raised by a loving father. Meanwhile, even after having all the wealth in the world, Liam did not get any love from his parents or his siblings. The two characters are opposites in every sense of the term and this force pulls them together. Anna and Liam take their time falling in love with each other but when they eventually do, there is no going back.
The novel has a lot of pop-culture references that sit well with the Gen Zs making this a very fun beach read. The epilogue to The Paradise Problem is the hardest to read as I did not want to say goodbye to these characters just yet.
The author duo – Christina Lauren is a great pair when it comes to contemporary romances and it looks like this novel, like the others, is an instant hit. I am hoping there is more to the Weston family as we hopefully see spin-off romances with Alex, Jake and Charlie’s stories.
Read More: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren (2024) – Ending Explained
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Verdict - 8/10
8/10