Paradise Lost & Found
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Falling hurts . . . even falling in love. What happens if you meet the perfect person, in the perfect place, and then the holiday ends? Paradise Lost & Found is the perfect beach read, exploring an LGBTQ romance set in a tropical paradise. Honeymooning alone after being left at the altar, Adam Callaghan is hoping two weeks in a tropical paradise will clear his head and soothe the ache in his heart. But with the romantic setting weighing on him, Adam soon realises he’s made a mistake. He’s about to throw in the towel when fate—and a mix up with the hotel’s reservation system—brings him together with the charismatic Kip Carter, a guest at the resort for his sister’s destination wedding. Sparks fly, and as they enjoy the island together, bringing out the best in each other and exploring emotional baggage they’ve both tried to bury deep, Adam grapples with the possibility of letting himself move on. But with the clock ticking on their time together, what will become of their burgeoning romance once their two weeks are up? If you’re looking for a ‘slow burn’ summer romance with ‘only one bed’, elements of fake dating, and idiots in love that will make you want to dip your toes into the ocean, then this is the book for you. (Content warning for adult themes and mentions of depression / PTSD / dissociation.)
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Paradise Lost & Found is a cute story, it really is. Adam has been left at the alter by Vanessa. Instead of losing money on the honeymoon, Adam goes on his own. While there he meets Kip, who is there for his sister's wedding. There's a whole debacle with a room — they end up sharing one — and well, they fall in love over the course of a two week vacation. It's adorable. The premise is solid.
Unfortunately, think it could have used another pass by an editor before being published. The book clocks in at a little over 400 pages, which felt much, much longer while reading. Paradise Lost & Found is dual POV, which I normally like. However, each time the book changed POVs, there was a rehashing of what had just gone on. This was completely unnecessary and made the book much longer than it needed to be. There were also frequent UK-isms in the text, which was slightly jarring as both Adam and Kip were from the US. A few examples off the top of my head: cooling box = cooler, tin = can, whilst = while.
On the romance side of things, Adam and Kip were steamy together, with rock-solid chemistry. You couldn't help but feel how attracted they were to each other. This part of the book was top-notch. But I do wish the steamy scenes had actually been steamy, instead there was a lot of vague references, and some fade-to-black.
Overall, Paradise Lost & Found is a cute book. Cute, but not something I'll probably pick up again for a long while.
