I loved this book! This is my first read from Carrie Doyle and I must say that I truly enjoy her writing style and how she crafts a story. I really enjoyed the characters. Plum quickly became a favorite for me; and Juan Kevin sounds like a dream. I can’t wait to see where the next book goes.

This story begins with Plum (an editor at a dying travel magazine), ruminating over how the art director she just fired caused a scene and had to be escorted off the premises by security. Sure, they used to be friends who had dinner and gossiped together, but being fired isn’t something to take personally. The next page, Plum’s boss fires her with as much empathy as she showed the art director (none!) and guess what? She takes it really personally and attempts to flip her desk over. She is also escorted out by security. She goes home and emails everyone she knows about job prospects, and they mostly ghost her. Then someone she knows who has an island resort calls her and flat out offers her a job, and she’s……….happy? relieved? thankful? Nope, not Plum the incredibly unlikeable protagonist; she’s offended! How dare this man offer her a job at a luxurious vacation destination! It’s sunny and beautiful, and she’s surrounded by cold, snow, and dirty streets - all of which she hates and complains about -but she’d rather be unemployed and buy regular milk instead of organic to save money. What will happen to Plum? Will she survive drinking regular milk? Will she ever get another date? ( apparently she can’t get to date number two with anyone because they don’t like her) Will she make a friend? She doesn’t seem to have any. That must be because she’s so incredibly unlikeable.

I don’t know the answer to those questions because I did not finish this book. I read at least one book a week, and this is the first book this year that I could not make myself finish. I persevered through chapter five just so I could write a review. Not only did I dislike the main character (I smiled when she was fired. I’m not proud of it, but it happened) I disliked all the characters. The main problem however, isn’t that Plum is unlikeable. Characters should be complex and flawed, and I don’t have to like Plum in order to find her story interesting. She may really grow as a person by the end of this story, but as a reader, I need to to care enough about her that it’s worth my time to go on that journey with her. That’s my biggest issue with this story. I didn’t care one bit about what happened. I wasn’t even compelled to keep reading to find out who the muderer was.

Plum’s world is tipped upside down she ends up out of work and lacking in job prospects. What's a gal to do? Take a job at a Caribbean resort, of course. Sounds great, right? Uh, not when a dead body turns up.

Plum undergoes quite the character arc over the course of this mystery and perhaps will continue in future books. She's lived a pampered life and is rather blunt. But over the course of the book she settles into herself and I can see her becoming a beloved character over time, even if she sometimes needs to watch her mouth a bit more!

Great setting, a mystery with lots of twists and turns and overall a very entertaining read. I would definitely continue the series.

I enjoyed the mystery which kept me guessing until the end, but Plum, the lead, is whiny, rude, arrogant, and selfish. By the end, her character has started to change for the better. You get the impression she had a bad childhood. I'm looking forward to the next book to see if she continues her character growth or backslides.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful story of a woman who doesn't have too many chances left to make it big in her life. It was very engaging, funny and fresh. A marvelous summer book!

Wow. This book was not what I was expecting. The mystery itself was great and had many good twists and turns and kept me guessing. On the other hand, I found Plum to be so unlikeable. I understand Plum is a harden New Yorker who gets softened by the island life but it honestly took me out of the book on a regular basis. I thought Plum dealing with Kristee, who was also not a nice person, would soften her quicker but instead two paragraphs later she was complaining once again. Enough loose ends were left open, that I would consider checking out others in the series, assuming Plum stays on the more cheerful front.

It Takes Two to Mango by Carrie Doyle is the first book in the Trouble in Paradise cozy mystery series. I almost didn't finish this book because I really disliked our protagonist, New Yorker Plum Lockhart. After Plum lost her job as a travel magazine editor in NYC, she took the only job she could get, as a villa broker on a Caribbean island. I am glad I stuck it out and read the whole book, and am looking forward to the next book in the series. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, give this book a try.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I almost stopped reading this at several points because the main character was thoroughly unlikeable. But I read through some reviews that encouraged me to stay the course and I'm glad I did. This was a fun book to read, the mystery was well written. Looking forward to the next one.

Plum Lockhart loses her job as editor-in-chief when her travel magazine abruptly folds. After being stuck at home for weeks in chilly New York, Plum abruptly takes a job as a villa broker and moves to a beautiful Caribbean island of Paraiso. Plum is whiny, blunt and not adjusting well to the slow pace of island life. When Plum is challenged by her colleague Damian to lease one of the challenging properties, Casa Mango, before the President's Day weekend, she desperately defies her boss and books a bachelor party. Things go wrong from the start but she does not expect to find one of the men, Nicholas, dead near the Jacuzzi. Plum has to convince the local police and the handsome Director of Security, Juan Kevin, that the man was murdered and that they have to find the killer.

Fortunately, Plum learns to mellow out a bit while she is asking questions, dealing with guest complaints and thwarting attempts to get her fired from her new job.

This was an entertaining read and promising start to the Trouble in Paradise mystery series.

I received a digital ARC from SOURCEBOOKS/Poisoned Pen Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

This is the first book of the Trouble in Paradise series and after reading her Hampton series, I was tempted to read this one.

Plum Lockhart loses her job as a travel magazine editor due to corporate cuts and she moves to a Carribean Resort to work as a broker. But soon, one of the men who had come for bachelor party turns up dead inside the resort and Plum must work out who the murderer is.

Just like any cozy mystery books, this book was engaging with some funny events in the book that will make you laugh at some parts. The writing was good and the author did a good job making the reader feel like they are in this exotic Carribean island enjoying the sun. Though there were not much unexpected twists and turns you would expect in a fast paced thriller, still, it was quiet enjoyable and unputdownable. The book cover is really cute and whoever designed the book cover did a good job drawing the reader to the book. Plum's character initially at first I found her annoying but gradually in the book, I got used to her character and began to like her character. Overall, this was a cute mystery book and worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

It Takes Two to Mango is the debut of the Trouble in Paradise series featuring Plum Lockhart, editor of a New York based travel magazine. When the magazine closes up shop, Plum suddenly finds herself without a job, running out of money and faced with the reality that she really has no friends outside of her job. Desperate, Plum accepts a job on the Caribbean island of Paraiso, working for a luxury villa rental agency and quickly finds herself having to adjust to life on an island.

The one other person working for Jonathan Mayhew Caribbean Escapes, Damian Rodriquez has it in for Plum from the start. When he challenges Plum that she will never be able to rent a run down villa, she goes out of her way to prove him wrong, and breaks the rules by renting to a group of guys hosting a bachelor's weekend. When one of the men turns up dead, Plum has to team up with the resort security guard, Juan Kevin Munoz to catch a killer.

A great plot and a spectacular setting. Plum is not a likable person at the start and you may be offended by her brash behavior, but by the end she's turned into a totally different person and you'll be rooting for her to succeed. I loved following Plum's transformation and discovery of romance, and will definitely be looking forward to many more adventures on Paraiso.

I received an advanced copy of It Takes Two to Mango from NetGalley via Poisoned Pen Press. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Plum impulsively takes a job with a real estate company in the Caribbean and finds herself managing the (pretty awful) Casa Mango. Her colleagues at the company are hateful (or are they?) and she's very much out of step with the calmer slower pace of Paraiso. Then, a tenant is murdered! And of course, this being a cozy, Plum despite not knowing pretty much anything about the island or the people who live there, must investigate. The mystery has some nice twists (not really red herrings but still). This is the first book in the series so the characters, with the exception of Plum, don't feel really well fleshed out, which I expect will happen with the next installment. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley, Carrie Doyle and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of It Takes Two to Mango. This is my personal review.
This is the first book in a new series Trouble in Paradise.
Plum Lockhart has lost her job as a travel magazine editor. She is given the chance to rent out Villas in the Caribbean. This is just a stop over job until she finds what she is looking for in publishing.
Things change when the first person she rents to is murdered. She is eager to help the head of security at the resort to find out what happened.
This book had enough twists and turns to keep me reading. I had to get past my dislike for Plum in the beginning of the book but by the end she had grown on me a bit.

It's all fun in the sun until someone ends up dead." Couldnt be more true. It took awhile for the narrator to grow on me, but I am looking forward to more Plum mysteries! It was nice to see her find herself and mellow out!

Sometimes us readers can be foolish! Years ago, I won a Goodreads Giveaway for the 2nd book in Carrie Doyle's Hampton Murder Mystery series... immediately I purchased the first novel and read both in order; it's a necessity on my part, I cannot skip around. I enjoyed them immensely but got caught up in other series and only returned to finish the third and fourth last year. When I saw Doyle's new series, Trouble in Paradise!, I held off... not because I don't love her writing and storytelling talent but because I already had so many series in my queue. Then I saw it on NetGalley and wished for the first one, never thinking it would happen. But it did! And I read it this week, and so... I'm foolish for waiting. It's a fantastic start to what I think will be an exciting collection.

Readers are not meant to like Plum Luckhart. She's whiny, rude, arrogant, and selfish. Some of the comments she says (while humorous) are the exact things that make me dislike people so often. Blunt can be helpful on occasion, but Plum thinks nothing of meeting someone for the first time and telling them what's wrong with them or their appearance. She wants to be waited on hand-and-foot, and with each chapter, I grew more infuriated with her style and tone. But around 20% in, she's sidelined by a colleague, which begins a path to salvation -- okay, not completely, but enough that I want her to catch a break and beat this guy at his own game. From there, it only continues to soar, and at the end of the book -- despite her still having some serious personality flaws -- I like her a lot and want to spend more time together.

As I've come to count on in a Doyle mystery, the plot is clever and has tons of witty characters. I read the book all in one setting and couldn't help but think... this is a really strong start for a new series. There's minimal backstory, but what's included is valuable. I wondered how the author could pull off switching settings in a book from NYC to the Caribbean after getting to know a bunch of characters who'd likely disappear. But they don't. Some of the NYers end up in Paradise! and the others are just a phone call away. I found myself intrigued by this series and give it 4.5 starts... very high for a first in a new collection. Number two is scheduled to be released in the next 6 months and I will definitely be reading it.

cozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor, island-life, Caribbean, murder, murder-investigation, security-staff, law-enforcement, caricatures, snarky, snobs, family-dynamics, friendship*****

Plum is a caricature of the classic perception of a driven NYC editor: aloof, self absorbed, better than everyone else. Then she gets downsized and can't find a job. So she decides to take a temporary job at a classy resort on a small island in the Caribbean where she most definitely does not fit in! Very slowly she begins to become more humane as she spends more time with others who live there and grudgingly begins to adapt to the ways of people who live in hot, humid, sunny climates. And, of course, there's the murder. So she decides that she is better at sleuthing than anyone else. The descriptions of everything and everyone are great, and the caricature characters had me ROFL. A nice fun read!
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

It Takes Two to Mango is the first in a new cozy mystery series by Carrie Doyle. The cover drew me in.

CW: fatphobic comments, neglectful parents (past)

After getting fired from her job at a magazine in New York, Plum takes a job as a villa broker on a Caribbean island. After someone dies in the first place Plum rents out at this new job, she becomes instantly suspicious and decides to take the investigation into her own hands. Well along with the help of Juan Kevin.
I loved the food descriptions as well as the location ones. It felt like I was on a vacation on a Caribbean island.

For about half of the book I couldn't stand Plum. She was controlling and a snob which made it hard to root for her. But as she spent more time on the island, she began to soften, which helped me like her. I feel like she had a bad upbringing and it severely impacted how she saw herself and interacted with others. .

The mystery was good, it had a few red herrings that kept you guessing about who the murder was. In the end I was able to guess it, but the misdirection was done well and made sense. The relationship between Plum and Juan Kevin was good. I'm excited to see what the two of them are up to in the next installment of this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

It’s winter in New York City. Plum (Vicki Lee) Lockhart has been fired from her job as editor of Travel and Respite Magazine and no one in the industry is returning her calls. So when Jonathan Mayhew offers her a position handling publicity for Las Frutas, his aging Caribbean resort, she accepts.

Of course, it’s not what she expects. She shares a crowded office with office manager Lucia and Damian, a handsome blend of manipulation, me too and ego. Tricked into finding renters for the challenging Casa Mango (Casa Mildew might be more appropriate), she turns it into a somewhat attractive villa and finds tenants for the approaching holiday weekend. Problems ensue, the least of one being a dead body. Oh, and the hunky security guy who is investigating just happens to be the guy who dealt with a (definitely) overserved Plum on her first night on the island.

It Takes Two to Mango is sparkling, laugh out loud funny and, I hope, the first in a new series. Plum is a delightful character, critical, insecure and bossy at the same time. She’s a New Yorker transplanted to a Caribbean island where “tranquillo” and “manaña” are keywords. I want to read more of her adventures! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Carrie Doyle for this ARC.

IT TAKES TWO TO MANGO is the first book in the brand new Tropical Island Cozy Mystery series by Carrie Doyle. I’ll start out by saying this new book gets a solid 5 out 5 stars from me, however, up until midway through the book, I wasn’t sure… the protagonist, Plum Lockhart, starts out harsh and quite unlikeable (at least by me). But, if you stick it out, by the end Ms. Doyle performs magic and creates a worthy character that I couldn’t help but cheer on! I can’t wait to find out what further mischief she gets involved with in future books. That said, whatever your feelings are about the protagonist, the author has crafted a mystery that is topnotch with a heavenly tropical island setting which makes it all worthwhile!

I chose this book offered by NetGalley solely based on its cover and description. I must admit, I really struggled to commit to it. Plum, the protagonist, is highly unlikable. Lately, I find myself wanting to read about characters that I can pleasantly escape into. She isn’t it.
I did finish, and am glad that I did. Overall, a nicely written mystery. Plum also grows into a more tolerable character. I would recommend this book to readers who might enjoy exploring a different type of cozy mystery main character.