Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

So this is the third book in the Paradise trilogy set on the island of St. John. Irene (Russ' widow), Baker & Cash (Russ' sons) and Floyd (Russ' grandson) all plan to stay on St. John even through they have lost Russ' multi-million dollar villa and have no place to live. Of course they have lost their home in Iowa City as well, so it's not like anyone has a home to return to. Pretty much all of their assets have been seized since everything was purchased with money obtained illegally. (I did wonder about the life insurance money that Irene was supposed to receive after Russ' death. Wasn't that like $3 million? Why doesn't Irene get it? They never mention it in this book, which I found odd.) 

We find out that Russ was set up as the "fall guy" for all of the illegal dealings, which doesn't bode well for the Steeles. So the mastermind behind it all, Todd Croft, who is also the man who arranged for his partners (Russ & Stephen), as well as Rosie who happened to be along for the ride, to be killed on their helicopter ride on January 1st, has managed to escape the authorities and responsibility for it all. He had the forethought to set up Russell Steele as the scapegoat. An accomplished white collar criminal. What Todd didn't bank on, or predict, is his wife producing evidence against him. Ha!

Of course this book also focused on new relationships. Miraculously, both Irene and Baker fell in love, nearly at first sight, upon their original arrival on St. John after Russ' death. Although there were some rocky moments in each of their new relationships, (Ayer's brief engagement with Mick put a damper on things for Baker; Irene reading Rosie's diaries about her relationship with Russ put a damper on Irene's developing relationship with Hank, Rosie's step-father) they both stayed true to their original feelings. Cash I guess stuck to his instincts, which I questioned a few times. I am not sure he ended up with his "true love" at the end, but he seems to have an incredibly forgiving heart which isn't all bad I guess. He needs to keep in mind Ayer's motto though: "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." I would not trust Tilda after what she did to him. But, apparently, he decided to give her a second chance.

This author writes "happy ending" books and this trilogy was no exception. It's nice to read books with happy endings though when there is so much discord and conflict in the real world. It was an entertaining ride.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The setting of this story is intriguing enough, without the added mystery surrounding each of the main characters. The families and friends of handsome and charming Will Slater (up and coming television star) and beautiful and intelligent Jules Keegan (magazine publisher) gather together on a remote Irish island to celebrate Will & Jules' wedding. The island itself is "spooky", with an old graveyard front and center, the dangerous peat bogs surrounding the property, the cliffs, and the icy cold surf crashing against the rocks. Then, throw in a furocious storm and you have a setting that I would not want to be a part of, especially at night when the power goes out.

Each of the main characters has a secret. None of them feel safe sharing their secret with their loved ones, since it would reflect badly on them. (So they believe). The author does a nice job of telling everyone's story while weaving all of the individual stories into one big one. There are feelings of arrogance, shame, disgust, love, pride, distrust - but the underlying characteristic that most of the characters feel is insecurity. Most of the characters' actions, or lack of action, comes down to feelings of insecurity. They are not good enough; they are a disappointment; they are not smart enough, or attractive enough. This is a story of all the different ways people handle themselves to make them "feel better".

Most of the characters were difficult to like. Some I felt sorry for, like Olivia and Hannah, and they are the two I probably liked the most. Will & Johnno's school friends were a bunch of obnoxious jerks, and their deeds were painful to read about at times. They were a bunch of overgrown schoolboys acting incredibly immature, even though in their own private lives they all had accomplished careers. Which makes their actions even worse, in my opinion.

So, someone dies after the wedding ceremony, in the darkness of the stormy night, outside the Marquee where the wedding festivities are going on. By the end of the book, all the secrets have been revealed and there are plenty of suspects that seem ready to commit murder. I don't want to spoil this journey, so I won't say anything more except I was surprised by the ending. That's all you can ask for.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

I think I have to add Lucinda Riley to my favorite author list. This is the third book of The Seven Sister series and I absolutely loved it. Every book I read in the series I seem to love even more than the last one - and I am certainly reading them faster, even though they each have nearly 500 pages. This one I could not put it down until 3:30am, and then I got up and finished it that same morning. What a great storyteller! And I love the blend of historical figures and fictional characters.

The Shadow Sister is about the third sister, Asterope, also known as Star. She is extremely close to the fourth sister, CeCe. Too close. Star has lived her life in CeCe's shadow, thus the name. ;) CeCe and Star have always traveled together. Money appears to be tight for them since at the beginning of the book they are both 27 years old and living in a cracker box apartment, sharing the same bedroom. CeCe realizes that Star is getting tired of traveling the world and would like to settle someone. So CeCe buys a very nice apartment in London for them to live in, but still sharing the same bedroom. Star is being smothered and tries to figure out how to extricate herself from her co-dependent relationship with CeCe.

An extremely reluctant Star finally reads the letter her adoptive father (Pa Salt) left her at his death, which gives her clues about her birth family. The letter leads her to a book store that sells old, rare and expensive books. She becomes friends with the owner, Orlando, who is a kind but very unique individual. He offers her a job, which she accepts, and then she quickly gets involved with his family members (cousin Marguerite, nephew Rory, brother Mouse). 

Star's ancestral connection is Flora MacNichol, a strong and independent woman who lived in England 100 years earlier. Flora becomes friends with Beatrix Potter (author of children's books) and actually lives with socialite Alice Keppel and her family for awhile in London. (Alice was the mistress of King Edward VII.) Flora and Star both make sacrifices for their sisters' happiness over their own. They both uncover secrets about their parentage, which sends their lives in a different direction than they expected. Both women fall in love, but love is complicated and sometimes messy.

Again, Lucinda Riley is a superb storyteller. She is detailed in her historical facts and her fictional characters are well developed. I am happy that I still get to read four more books in this series. I know there is an underlying storyline throughout all the books, which intrigues me, but I also enjoy learning about each of the sisters, their personal lives and their heritage.

Wendy's Rating: *****