Customer Reviews

Paradise Wild

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Hands down, "Paradise Wild" is Lindsey's WORST novel. It shouldn't even qualify as a romance, it is so awful and boring.

The plot of "Paradise" revolves around two characters plotting revenge. Jared hates Corrinne's father and marries her as part of a plan to ruin her family financially. But Corrinne is so humiliated that she tracks Jared down to Hawaii to get her own revenge by ruining his reputation.

Both Corrinne and Jared are despicable as the heroine and hero. Corrinne is angry, unreasonable, catty, and money-hungry. She does have an interesting vice - she's a gambling addict - but even that bad habit (and its interesting results when she runs out of money) cannot make her sympathetic. She's just lame - and, in my opinion, gets what she deserves. Jared is also blah. After we are treated to a detailed love scene with his mistress (sure way to make the hero unlikable), we get to hear all the boring details of his business and his plans to ruin Corrinne's father through poor investments. After spiting and mistreating each other CONSTANTLY, these two somehow fall in love, though I'm not sure why. Jared refers to Corrinne's beauty enough times that I'm pretty sure it was her looks he loves, not her personality. Pretty shallow, all in all.

The only thing remotely interesting about "Paradise Wild" are the descriptions of Oahu, Hawaii. However, I've been to Oahu several times and had no problem following the tidbits Lindsey dropped about location, foods, and language. I'm not sure if a reader who has never been to Oahu would appreciate these details fully.

Over all, this book sucked. The plot was listless, the characters terrible, the romance nil. Even the writing was stiff as a board. "Paradise" is on par with "Captive Bride" and "A Pirate's Love" as seriously terrible Lindsey romances, though "Paradise" is the worst of the lot. I wouldn't waste time with it.

If you want to read a wonderful Lindsey romance, try "Savage Thunder," "A Heart So Wild," "Once a Princess," or "Hearts Aflame." These are REAL romances.

I read the reviews for this book after I read the actual book and was SHOCKED by the bad reviews. I LOVED this book. If you are looking for a mushy, can't live without you, run of the mill, contrived and predictable romance don't read this book. BUT...if you are looking for a firey, love/hate, emotional roller coaster, you may just like this book. I read a lot of romance novels and after a while, you can predict exactly where each subplot is going and what is going to happen next. This is NOT one of those books.

Yes, the charecters despise each other, but that is what makes this book so good. Even so, it is easy to see how the characters fall in love toward the middle and end of the book when both Corinne and Jared let their guard down for some real romance.

Out of all Johanna Lindsey's books, I thought these two characters were the most "real". Jared was a developer building a local hotel; he was not terribly rich, not some undefeated warrior and not royalty somewhere. Corinne could be thought of as "willful", but certainly didn't fit into the mold of any heroine I have ever read about (I love that she is a gambler). I really related to Corinne and felt her feelings and reactions were in line with exactly what mine would have been in the same situations. -- How many times have you read a book and thought about a character - "I can't believe she is crying now"? Sometimes I want to transport myself into a book and slap some of these "heroines" around. Not so with Corinne.

If you are looking for a lot of fluff and mush, choose another book. If you are looking for a novel to break the run of the mill romance mold, try this book out.

I find nothing appealing about a hero who will publicly humiliate a woman to get even with her father, hurting her a lot more in the process than the man he wanted revenge on. I also find it truly offensive when the hero later hits her across the face hard when his sister took offense at something she said. There is nothing at all romantic in a story with a hero who is nothing more than a violent, mean-spirited man who will use his strength to hurt a woman half his size. The heroine acts like a spoiled brat almost from the moment the story starts, but you have to feel sympathy for her because she certainly didn't deserve what she got. I wouldn't wish a man like this on my worst enemy.

This is the second story I have read by Johanna Lindsay, and I can honestly say she just isn't for me. I don't like her violent, rapist heroes. It was all I could do to finish Paradise Wild, and when I was done I mostly felt sorry for the heroine. She ends up with a man who might backhand her again if she makes him angry. Some people liked this story, and I respect others opinions but I will not be reading anything else by this author.

I read this book early in my love affair with Johanna Lindsey heros. This was one of two (A Pirate's Love being the other) I wish had gotten away from my stack of books to be read. The hero was too angry (abusive). The only reason it gets two stars is for a strong beginning which sets up a potentially great spurned love scenario. I wish the rest of the book had lived up to its beginning. Perhaps a good replacement title for this place on the list would be Once a Princess.

First, let me say that I LOVE Johanna Lindsey. Her characters are wonderful and most have a lot of humor to them. However, I HATED this book of hers. It was torture to finish it. The two main characters were so cruel to each other and the reasoning and dialog didn't make any sense. Here is a story of two stupid people who would rather think the worst of each other and get their revenge then think logically and humane toward each other. Then, to make matters worse, Johanna skimms over the love scenes with trite description. I usually read her books in 2 days. This one took me 2 weeks. I was just hoping it would get better but it kept getting worse.

This was the 2nd book I read by JL, and I really enjoy her books a great deal. In this one I felt like I was there in Hawaii with them both. There was so much love between them, too bad it took them so long to figure it out. I didnt care for the abuse in the way that Jared treat Corrine, but in the end thier love won over. Too bad it wasnt like that in the real world!

This is the first book by Johanna Lindsey that I've read and I can't believe it could be classified as a romance. Jared and Corrinne are two of the least engaging characters I've met in a 'romance' novel. Jared is vengeful, violent and vicious. Corrinne is spoilt, bad tempered and completely unloveable. So Jared has, as a little boy, witnessed the death of his mother by suicide - yes, a traumatic experience for sure, but I could not forgive his violence towards Corrinne nor his downright vindictiveness. Men who are violent towards women are NOT romantic figures and should not be portrayed as such. Ask any woman who is the victim of domestic violence. I was appalled to find Jared and Corrinne having passionate sex after a particularly violent episode. I could see no development of any deep loving feelings. Corrinne just wakes up one day knowing she loves this violent creep - but with her background and personality, how would she know anyway?

I have always loved Johanna Lindsey, and read this book years ago. I just finished rereading it! I forgot how wonderful it was. The man is so frustrating and prideful! Once again, Lindsey shows how two people instantly attracted to each other, who think they hate each other can be bound for life! And the wonderful descriptions of Hawaii made me feel as though I was there, feeling the ocean breeze myself. I was up all night, again!

I won't describe the story since others have already outlined it and in fact I wish I read them before reading the book myself. I have been a Johanna Lindsey fan for years and have read almost ALL her books, including books with violent themes, but I can honestly say that this is the first book that I have finished and felt that hero will likely repeat his abuse. I know the characters aren't real, but I love to think characters in books move on to have beautiful lives together and this wasn't the feeling I had finishing Paradise Wild. The book should have a built in scary song chip that plays when you're reading the last chapter, because the thought of them sailing off to Hawaii together was not a happy ending.

ok - this was one of the worst books i have ever read in my life. if it was possible to give negative stars i would. the basic story line is that our 'hero' (and i use that term loosely) uses our heroine (once again i use that term loosely) to get revenge on her father for something he believes her father did to his mother. complicated enough for you?

the whole book is about the 'hero' - jared - plotting revenge on corrine - the heroine - and her father. after he has gotten his revenge through corrine, she decides to get her revenge on him. both characters were nothing more than spoiled children, and jared was an abusive one at that. and i don't just mean mentally, i mean hit you in the face hard enough to knock you over and go to hit you again, lock you in a room type abuse. neither character ever grew at all, and they both were selfish and abnoxious. i am must admit that i had a little sympathy for corrine for having to deal with him, but that was her choice - she should have taken her baby and run.

there isn't even any good supporting characters. jared's sister is almost a carbon copy of corrine - selfish and immature. the whole book is disappointing. i would strongly advise against reading this book, unless you like the seriously 80's books - as in abusive hero and stupid heroine. corrine's father is an idiot as well (in my opinion) and i never really did understand the point of jared's uncle - to me he was a wasted character.

if you want to read a good book by lindsey, try angel, that was a pretty good. but i would definately recommend skipping this book - don't even bother checking it out of the library.