Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Heat Level: Hot
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Imprint: Gallery Books
Price: $12.99
Anna and West met at UCLA. West is the heir to a grocery chain, and though he doesn’t care about the family business, he does care about his inheritance. Anna agrees to marry him while they are at school to help him out. They graduate, and Anna doesn’t even think twice about her marriage to West until a few years later, he shows up asking her to be his fake wife once again.
West thought he could fly under the radar and get his inheritance from his grandfather, but the old man put some stiff rules in place. West needs to have a wife and present her to his family during his sister’s wedding. Anna agrees once again, but they both realize quickly that they may be in over their head.
I’m not the girl to do quick re-reads or go over the parts of books that I enjoy unless I really love the story. The Paradise Problem is definitely one of those books that I will re-read when I need the feels again. I actually would love to pick this up in audio to see if it still leaves me with the cheesy grin that I had the entire time reading this book.
West and Anna are truly opposites. They grew up differently. West is privileged and never experienced the world like others. Anna is more laid-back and warm. She doesn’t fit into his wealthy family at all. They are more cynical and have certain expectations of her. West does a really good job of trying to shield Anna from his family, but some of them…whew! The side characters add a bonus layer to the story.
There is obvious angst and tension when West and Anna pretend to be a loving married couple. West’s family is a major part of the storyline, which at times takes away from their romance. During the last quarter of the book, they dominated with an added family scandal, which I could appreciate, but I didn’t really need it. Readers also need to note that the romance is a slow burn.
Overall, true fans of the authors will love this book. If you love a good fake-romance storyline, this is exactly the read for you.
~ Samantha
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