Customer Reviews

Paradise

5 star:		(248)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is probably my all-time favorite romance novel. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you groan in frustration and smile with joy- and when you get to the last page, you feel that you are parting from very dear friends.

You can feel the chemistry immediately when Matt and Meredith meet. Did you ever meet someone and after that first long conversation, you feel that you've lost a long lost friend? That's how Judith makes us feel when we read of the night they met.

They have been separated ten years when they meet again under rather amazing circumstances. I don't want to give any plot away, but Judith is so stinkin clever with the twist she came up with to bring them together again, and even more clever in how she keeps them together. Vague, huh?! Sorry about that but I don't want to give it away! I've never seen an author so cleverly weave such a crazy but completely believable set of events.

Meredith is strong, kind, and forgiving. Her father is autocratic and domineering, belittling her no matter how much she excels but she still manages to blossom into a caring adult. Matt is tough and confident and encourages her to be more assertive. He's not only a perfect mate for her but also the perfect partner.

Matt. Oh my. Where to start! He is one of my most favorite heros ever. He begins as a steel worker but builds a massive financial empire a la Trump. He's classy and smooth but a bit reserved and afraid to let many people get close to him. He's brutal with his payback when he's been wronged but will stop at nothing to win what he thinks he deserves, including getting back the woman he loves once he realizes she loves him back. Good, old fashioned ethics and a strong opinion of wrong and right. He's a knight in shining armor, whether she wants him riding to her rescue or not!

"PARADISE" is one of my favorite books. I pull it off the shelf every few months to re-read it, and it's still as fresh and interesting as the day I bought it. Meredith and Matt are irrresistable as the lovers whom you know in your heart will make you truly believe that love makes anything possible! Circumstances hinder their relationship at every turn, but still they manage to beat the odds, and find a way to be together. And best of all.... after you read the last page of "PARADISE" you get to pick up with Meredith and Matt in "PERFECT", and find out what happens after they walked off into the sunset. While not a sequel, "Perfect" is another great love story. Julie Matthison and Zachary Benedict will remind you just how great a writer Judith Mc Naught is. Two exciting stories that prove the true power of love. Sometimes,I try to decide if I have a favorite among the two, but there's no need. After all two are better than one anyway!Pick up "PARADISE" and "PERFECT". You Just can't ask for a better way to spend your 'reading' time!

A second chance at love is worth fighting for as Matthew Farrell and Meredith Bancroft prove in this blissful book by Judith McNaught. This book will keep you riveted from the first! You'll experience so many emotions and such intense feelings -- love, hate, grief, joy, sadness, anger and frustration -- that when you're finished you'll feel like you've just stepped off an emotional roller coaster that left you wanting more. Remember to have a box of Kleenex handy when you begin -- you'll need them!

Matthew and Meredith are some of the very best characters I've ever had the privilege to read about. They're true-to-life, three dimensional and so real that their emotions jump from the pages and weave themselves around you making the story come to life vividly. Matthew is the absolute definition of a romantic hero. Though hurt long ago by his true love he realizes he still wants her and does everything in his power to prove to her that they belong together. The way he stoically stands by his resolve to have Meredith for his own is beautiful. Though she feels betrayed by Matt, something inexplicably draws Meredith to him every time they meet. Watching Meredith burst free from the confines of her life that say she should not be with Matt is wonderful. The love between these two is explosive and oh-so-passionate! They have a deep and abiding love that even time and sordid lies could not kill.

Ms. McNaught has a keen talent to make you experience her work and feel as if you've stepped into the story. Her secondary characters are just as fleshed out as her main characters and become quite real themselves. Meredith's father is a hard, bitter and selfish man who makes everyone's life miserable. I actually wanted to climb into the book and choke a fictional character!

I really loved the way that Ms. McNaught showed the growth of her characters. Each character reshapes and expands throughout the book giving the reader a deeper insight into their personalities while keeping the characters genuine. By the end of the book Meredith's father even changes into someone half-way likable.

I appreciated the look at Meredith's youth that gave insight into the things that shaped her as a woman and I also adored the look into the future of our couple.

The plot was also outstanding -- I became engrossed in the business world that Ms. McNaught so realistically created.

I can't say enough good things about this book! My first by Judith McNaught that left me wanting to rush to the nearest bookstore and snatch up all her work. Don't be daunted by the length, this book will fly by and before you know it you'll be at the end. Don't forget to search up _Perfect_ by Ms. McNaught, I hear Meredith and Matt are mentioned in that book as well. Please don't hesitate to buy this book it's one of the best I've ever read.

I have to admit. I was skeptical about this book in the beginning. The description at the back sounded boring and the length didn't help either but I told myself ' What the heck, just give it a try ' In the end I was totally captivated by the very true and everlasting love that was experienced between Matt and Meredith. Their story touched my heart and made me yearn for a love like theirs. If I had only 1 wish in the world, I will wish to be Meredith Bancroft. I guess the same goes out to many of you too, right? Anyway, I've read all of JM's books and my favorites are Paradise, Whitney my Love and Once and Always. I think that these 3 books have truly captured the essence of true love. I'm desperately awaiting the release of Water's Edge. I can't wait ! I've tried other romance authors but I feel that JM's still the best! Keep up the good work and keep on writing good books......=)

This is officially my favorite Judith McNaught novel! Paradise is a roller coaster ride of emotions that will keep you riveted from beginning to end. This story of two people who fight against all odds because they belong together kept me reading until the wee hours of the night. All Meredith Bancroft has wanted is to become president of Bancroft & Company, her family's department store for many generations. A woman has never been the president of the company and Phillip, her father, is determined to keep things that way. He is also determined to control her life and keep her away from former steel miller turned multi-million dollar tycoon Matthew Farrell. Phillip had succeeded in parting them eleven years ago, back when all Matthew had in his name was the dream, ambition and drive to make it big one day, but will he succeed once more after Matthew and Meredith meet again? An eleven-year-old misunderstanding keep them cautiously at bay and there will be obstacles to overcome once they begin to break the ice. There are many twists throughout the novel.

As said earlier, I felt so many things while reading this novel. I felt sadness, irritation, frustration, joy and was emotionally exhausted once I finished with the book. The 708 pages just flew by! Matthew Farrell is McNaught's most endearing hero. He has over ranked Royce Westmoreland (A Kingdom of Dreams) in being the author's perfect romantic hero. He is the signature McNaught alpha male and is adorably love struck and sensual to boot. His love for Meredith, even while angry with her, felt so real it was almost tangible. He is such an amazing character and for once the male lead got more sympathy points from me than the heroine did. Meredith is also wonderful -- a savvy, strong and determined businesswoman who fights for her rights to be respected as such. However, the fact that she had a difficult time trusting Matthew, even after their affairs are in order, frustrated me because he was as much a victim as she was of her father. He does and says some things while he is angry, but his feelings are perfectly understandable throughout the novel. And, as said earlier, I never doubted that he loved Meredith, even when he tried to lie to himself regarding his feelings for her. Well... those are few of the many feelings I felt when reading this novel. The story is intricate and beautifully romantic. The one flaw I find in this novel is that there is too much corporate jargon as well as boardroom meetings and office politics. I know the aforementioned things are an integral part of the story, but there was just too much of them. As for the characters, they are fun, at times flawed and very three-dimensional. I loved Joe, Lisa, Parker and even Phillip. They are such well-developed characters! I read about the protagonists and Joe in Perfect and Every Breath You Take, but I wish I'd read this novel before reading those other ones. Ah, well. Paradise is one of the most beautiful romances I've ever read and this book will have a special place in my library -- on my to reread pile. I cannot gush about this book enough and I urge anyone who hasn't read it to give this gem a whirl!

Paradise is a contemporary novel and the fourth book of Judith Mcnaught that I have read. After reading the glowing reviews here, not to mention my delight with A Kingdom of Dreams, Something Wonderful and Once & Always, I was eager to read more of her work and find out why this book is the highest rated of all her novels, and now I understand why...

Meredith Bancroft was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. As the daughter of Phillip Bancroft, the president of the most exclusive department store in Chicago, she has everything that a girl could want, at least everything that money could buy - for Meredith is insecure with her looks, hardly has any friends and lives a pretty sheltered life under the watchful eye of her manipulative and overbearing father. But four years later and the 'ugly duckling' turn into a swan. Those who have treated her as if she were invisible are now eager to befriend her. Yet, her father still expects her to do his bidding and follow his orders. But everything will change when she finally defies him.

Matthew Farrell comes from the lower class town of Edmunton, Indiana. He works in a steel mill five days a week, as a mechanic for the remaining two, and lives with his sister and alcoholic father. But Matthew has a burning ambition to succeed. Thus, after accepting a job in Venezuela that will see him with a large sum of money after two years, he finds himself at a party in Chicago one night where he meets Meredith, and where he dared to reach for the moon. And so begins a romance that will result in a decade of hate, deceit, doubts and misunderstandings.

When that chance meeting see them married a few weeks later, they make a pact to get to know each other and make their marriage work. Yet Phillip Bancroft never gave them the chance, for as soon as Matt left for Venezuela, he did everything in his power to drive them apart and so their ill-fated marriage ended up in divorce.

Fast forward to eleven years and Matt is now an industrial tycoon, with women throwing themselves at his feet, while Meredith is an executive at Bancroft and Company and engaged to Parker Reynolds, the man she adored as a child. When their paths cross once again, they find themselves dealing with suppressed pains caused by each other's 'betrayal'.

If there ever was a couple that you would most like to find everlasting happiness - Matt and Meredith would be them. Theirs is a story that's guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings. You can truly feel the love they have for each other and the agony that they have gone through during the years they've been apart. There are so many twists and turns in the story, that just when you think that things are finally working out, another obstacle will drive them apart. The author's talents shine in this book. She brings life to the characters that they almost jump out of the page. I laughed and cried, and in the end, I didn't want the story to end at all.

Don't let the length of the novel put you off - this book is fast paced and will hold your interest from the very start. Reading about Meredith's childhood will make you appreciate her more. And even though I wish that the same emphasis were done with Matt's childhood, I didn't think that the lack of it detracted from this book at all.

This truly is a special story and one that I will read over and over again. I can't wait to read Perfect, as I know that Matt and Meredith make their appearance in it.

Despite hearing good comments about Judith McNaught books, I have never read one before Paradise. The book was totally captivating, a real page turner! I wasn't really a romance novel reader before this book, but I became so completly absorbed into the lives of these two vivid, striking characters, that I can say I am now one of the converted. After reading this book I had to buy the next novel available by J.M. I haven't been let down yet, Whitney, My love was equally enjoyable! Paradise is definately fast-paced, with witty lines and two irresistible main characters. Meredith, was a capable heroine, but her character was also bolstered by her friend Lisa who adds a light-hearted frank air to the books atmosphere. There were some good plot twists, and brief distractions from the focus of the main characters to develop the other characters in the book. I found that interesting as the romance novels I had read before were completly centred and fixated on the main characters only using the others as bystanders or convenient devices to bring some issue to a climax. They were that and more. All in all it was a good read. More importantly was that each time I read it (5 times and counting) i found something fresh and new, to love about the storyline, or the charaters. Read the excerpt on this site, but don't draw any conclusions from the first few pages of the book, buy it and delve into the heart of it and discover the true gem that I found when I read it.

TRUE STORY!!! I had this sitting on my book shelf for 3 years and never read it, not because i didn't have the time but because i thought it didn't sound interesting and wonder what can a romance author write within a 708 page book like come on seriously. BUT THEN I WANTED SOMETHING TO READ, soooo i was desperate and decided why not read the Big BOOK as i call it. But to my surprise O.M.G.!(O MY GOD) the book was really good couldn't put it down i wanted to finish it so bad just to find out what happen, from the start of the book it feels like your their growing up with the characters together getting to know them and going through their highs and lows with them and i found it so true what people say in their reviews its like you just don't want it to end, I actually was at the end of the book and felt a little disappointed because i was getting ready to turn the page and it was the end...GET IT...READ IT...TREASURE IT PARADISE it's one of those books THAT'S a keeper sorry it took me so long but it was worth the read i'm going to read WHITNEY, MY LOVE (read my review later on this book) I hear its just really good. Kinda scarey when a romance author has a collection that has at least 90% of her books worth 5 stars some people might disagree but her reviews speak for themselves THIS IS A GOOD BOOK..

If you do decide to get this book I hope you enjoy it as I did i know its 708pages but i think its worth a read...

This is my all time favorite love story. The plot is compelling and evokes the full range of human emotions. The dialogue is skillfully crafted, believable, funny, and poignant. The characters are people with values that you easily fall in love with. I laughed and cried while reading this book and I have lost track of the number of times I have read it. I am ready to buy another copy because I have worn mine out. ENJOY!

Wow.... This book has left me wanting to read more of Judith McNaught's writings. This was the first one i've read of hers, and i want to read more of JM's, but i am scared that they will not live up to the brilliance of this one. I can't wait to start on the sequel Perfect. I was so captivated by all of the characters. They all had their own unique qualities. Lisa was definetely a favorite.. robust and always breaking the silence. I fell in love with Matt instantly! The way he cared for Mer. I couldn't put the book down, and i am not a big reader. I have to say, I didn't want to read it at first, it did not appeal to me, but my best friend kept bugging me to. This was the first time i've ever wanted to get home so that i could read. There were times when i cried, felt overjoyed and times where i wanted to throw the book and scream at the characters. JM gets you emotionally involved with the book, she evokes emotion, and you feel the characters frustrations/happiness/sorrow/excitment. The last time I felt the characters emotions was in Melville's "Bartleby". There were times in the book, when it went slow..too much business jargon that i think was needed, but only to a point. I love this book!!!!!!!!I definetely cannot wait to read more~~!