Troubles in Paradise (Volume 3) (Paradise, 3)

I’m reviewing the three books of this series together. They are really one story and flow one into the other seamlessly. Same setting, same characters, one long storyline. They actually could have been written as one book, but this way the publisher got three books to release: Winter in Paradise (2018), What Happens in Paradise (2019), and Troubles in Paradise (2020). I liked this series. I haven’t read all of the author’s books yet, but this series is among my favorites of her writing so far. It’s set primarily on the island of St. John in the Virgin Islands. It’s fascinating to read about what life is like on the island for those who live there year round. Descriptions of beautiful scenery and delicious food and interesting excursions made me want to visit. Most of the people we meet are youngish and white and they work at businesses that cater to tourism, such as restaurants and sightseeing businesses. There is some diversity in the cast of characters, many of whom are West Indians, including a couple of the main characters. But the extended family that is central to the plot are from Iowa. A wife (now widow) and her grown sons travel to the island in search of answers about a tragedy that occurred there. Their husband/father has been killed in a helicopter crash. They did not even know that he was visiting St. John, let alone what he was doing in that helicopter. And who were the strangers he was traveling with? And then, how and why did he own a villa there? The series follows as this family investigates these mysteries, make friends on the island, and learn not just about their husband/father’s secret life but about themselves and each other as well. The final book includes a devastating hurricane, which is a nod to the actual hurricanes, Inga and Marie, which slammed St. John in 2017 and destroyed many of the businesses referenced in the series. I wish there had been one more book which focused on the characters post-hurricane. A short wrap-up is included, but I wanted more. As it stands, I recommend this series and I also think we should all support St. John and the other Virgin Islands in their rebuilding efforts by paying them a visit and infusing some tourist money into the local economy. I’ll go first!

I enjoyed this book really more than the others. I still wish the story of Russell and Ascension played a bigger role in the books- while it was the reason for everything, it seemed like this plot line was an afterthought- though it was the one I was most interested in.

While the book and writing style were enjoyable, I did not like the transition in perspectives three-quarters into the book. I recognize the reason for it now that I’ve finished, but again the Russell/ascension plot line was more interesting to me and it was very lazily concluded throughout all three books.

Another thing that I think will affect this particular book’s future is its reference to cultural movements of the current time- things like the “me too” Movement and reference to “Latinx”- when the book was written, women and others supported “me too,” but as time has passed, many have abandoned it because of abuse of the movement has diluted its effectiveness. With “Latinx”, many Latino(a) people find it an affront to their cultural roots or Americans forcing themselves on their language since the Spanish (and many Romance languages) have a binary gender base. So while I could just read over it, use of modern day movements will possibly limit future audiences.

This book is the third in a series. I enjoyed the description of St. Johns and the British Virgin Islands. Having a book with changing narrators does not bother me but in this case there were repeated story lines and the overlap made the novel feel disjointed. Then there were story lines forced into the book at the end that were relevant yet it felt rushed and unfinished. I finished the book since it was the last in the series and I was vested in the characters but if you were on the fence I would not even start the series.