Cover Image: What Lies in Paradise

What Lies in Paradise

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Member Reviews

I usually love books with a fun storyline set in the tropics. The pacing was too slow and the characters were not well-developed. A miss for me.

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Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this book. The atmosphere was very good. I enjoyed the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. I think I was wanting more from the story but I still strongly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

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This was a good read :) I was hooked and couldn't wait to get to the end to see what happened. Quick to get through too

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I read this on a flight back to the UK thinking it would hit all of the boxes. A mystery set in a destination wedding resort? Just what I needed. However sadly the book wasn't for me. There was sections I enjoyed but I found it wasn't paced to my liking. Everything seemed rushed with characters that i couldn't relate to. Overall a 2 star read.

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This was a solid crime story with twists and turns. I loved the social media element, but it was a bit hard to connect to the characters. Other than that I would recommend this book.

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⭐️⭐️

DNF

I actually forgot about this one. I got like 10? chapters in then just actually forgot to pick it back up.

Maybe it's me, but I got bored. The premise sucked me in, but the actual story was just ehhh. Plus I just found out it's the first of a series... no thanks.

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3 for neutral. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this book on the multiple occasions I tried. I will update my review if able to enjoy and finish at a later date.

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Sydney is grieving the loss of her husband while trying to keep up a perfect life to her online fans. She is on the plane to her best friends wedding when tragedy strikes. One of her best friends is killed on the way to the wedding. Devastated and fearful for her life she agrees to go undercover with an FBI agent to investigate which friend is a killer. But what she finds, is more than she bargained for. This book got the action going right away! And it was a good escapism book but very predictable. Still, if you’re looking for a quick, fun read with some twisted secrets, this is for you!

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This story about an Instagram influencer that is grieving her husband in private while portraying a perfect life to her online followers. She finds herself involved in a FBI investigation after one of her friends dies while on the way to another friend's wedding. The only thing that took away from the enjoyment of this book is that the author made it obvious who the reader should consider good and bad. I prefer to figure this out as I read, so this was frustrating.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Vision Forty Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sydney, a recent widow is traveling to Jamaica for her best friend, Marissa's wedding. Marissa is super rich and marrying Ethan, who is Sydney's late husband, Jack's twin brother. Marissa and Ethan are flying on a private jet with her friend Lizzy and her boyfriend Will. Lizzy falls ill on the plane and dies. Sydney's plane is diverted to Atlanta, where is is taken off the plane, questioned and then sent to Jamaica accompanied by an FBI agent who will act as her date and try to find out who murdered Lizzy.

This book was OK at best. It was definitely a light read and that is alright, not every book needs to be deep. I just felt a lot of the things that happened in this book wouldn't have happened that way in real life. Too many things struck me as implausible and that detracted from my enjoyment, but considering it is a debut novel, it was ok.

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Overall I thought this book had good bones. Good plot, interesting characters. But, in the end it felt like a rushed story and we never really explored some of the more interesting aspects. Who did kill Lizzy and why? What is the back story with Jack and Ethan’s parents? It is intimated they killed them but why? There were also a few inconsistencies in the story telling. It wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t great, although it certainly had the potential.

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This was my first book by this author thanks to Netgalley. While it is a mystery you are told from the start who is good and who is bad. That's great for some and maybe what you like but I prefer to figure things out for myself. There are some really good twists and turns within the book and the writing draws you in.

Sydney is an influencer on Instagram and lives her what seems a perfect life in front of all of them. What they don't know is how much she is struggling after the death of her husband. She is on the way to her wealthy best friend's wedding who is marrying her brother in law. On the way there someone is poisoned on the plane. She helps the FBI as an insider to try to solve the crime. What she finds is directly related to her and more than she bargained for.

This was a nice quick read and I love the influencer tie in.

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I really enjoyed this book. I loved the premise of the social media usage and how fake that really is in most cases. It's such a current topic that needs to be addressed more. The crime and mystery that the book had wasn't as dark and heavy as I had expected from the title and cover of the story. However, it turned out to be a quick read that was quite enjoyable. This would be a great book to read while on vacation!

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This fast paced read is just okay. The plot is outlandish and predictable. The only character I found mildly interesting was Alex. The plot moves along at such a fast pace that every aspect feels rushed and there is no time to become invested in the characters. The influencer part of the story is probably the most entertaining portion. If your looking for a light beach read this may suit you.

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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

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Choreographed modern princess Rom-thriller

(Before reading on - I don't do Rom-Com in thrillers. Bear that in mind.)

That aside, I enjoyed some of this book. It was a quick & easy read, perfect for a light and casual read while you're travelling perhaps. The cover and description was misguiding - I expected a dark and brooding mystery, but it felt much more like a self-reflective and light-hearted personal journey of love and grief, during a wedding and a murder. That's a lot of tangents.

What I liked: The writing is easy to digest, very balanced with the context and feelings of characters. I could visualise the story details well. I could connect with Sydney's character well. After about 20% in, I was hooked enough to want to keep reading. Some of the romance was cute (albeit unrealistic). The exploration of dangers of social media perfectionism is good.

What I struggled with: The way everything sort of fell into place perfectly for Sydney, the modern day instagram influencer princess. The security and protection of a handsome FBI agent and all it's cheesy Knight in undercover armour connotations. The unfolding, unlikely & unprofessional love story. Implausible scenes. I spent the first quarter of the booking chronically noting "ew" whenever I heard references to designer brands, botox, spray tans and weddings (but that's just my disinclination to those things). Predictable twists (c'mon, twins..remote island). When I looked back at my notes on guessed outcomes, most were correct guesses. Authors need to be able to outsmart their readers. I also struggled to get into the twins mindsets.. it was so back and forth and vague - couldn't quite connect with these characters.

Then, the ending was almost too easy for the characters. It felt rushed, characters suddenly weren't in the picture anymore even though they were a very ominous threat... The overall story wasn't even about the murder of the poor character who everybody was sympathising with in the first place. I wanted to know more about some of the dangerous characters and less about the romance.

Then there was this scene where Sydney's running during a panicked moment, and she's reflecting on her love interest options...??? ..Srsly?

This book was a bit of an eye-roller for me. Predictable, impractical, delusional, cheesy and a bit superficial. I would recommend only for light reading, but not with the expectation that it's anything but a rom-com with a murder on the side.


The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. I received a free Advanced Readers Copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours and the author for this copy.

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The book starts our with our main character Sydney going to Jamaica for her best friends wedding. Sydney hates flying to she take a pill and blacks out when she awakes she is being questioned by the police and one of the bridesmaids and her close friend, (Lizzy) is dead. After a quick talk the police send Sydney on her way to the wedding with one snag, she is being accompanied by an undercover officer (Alex Birch), who's job it is to try to catch the person responsible. This book had me on my toes through the whole thing. The characters were amazing and I really found myself pulled into their world, by both the positives and the negatives. I found it interesting how much the used social median in the book as a plot point and to help move the story along it was very interesting and the social media stars a now common part of day to day life it was nice to see something like that mentioned in fiction. Every time that I thought I knew who was the killer I was pulled into another direction. This mystery will have you guessing the whole way through. This is the first book I've read by Leah Cupps however after the roller coaster ride that I went on with her first book I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.I loved all of the characters even the ones I loved to hate. They were very well rounded and impeccably written. Check out this book if you like a good mystery but also if you want to read the next big novel because I believe that this is one that is going to break the glass ceiling.
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The description didn’t live up to the book but that’s just my point of view. I think this would be a good story to watch on screen.

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This book was interesting to me because the main character Sydney is an Instagram Influencer. She teams up with an FBI agent to find a killer at her best friends wedding in Jamaica. This book has a bit of romance along with the mystery. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book to review.

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The blurb is a little misleading...but I won't give spoilers ;)

This story has a little of everything...a bit of drama...a splash of suspense...a touch of romance

It's a fun and easy read.

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