Name: What Happens in Paradise
ISBN: 9780316426077

Elin Hilderbrand

Spend your winter on sunlit shores in the New York Times bestselling follow-up to Winter in Paradise, as secret lives and new loves emerge under the bright Caribbean sky. A year ago, Irene Steele had the shock of her life: her loving husband, father to their grown sons and successful businessman, was killed in a helicopter crash. But that wasn't Irene's only shattering news: he'd also been leading a double life on the island of St. John, where another woman loved him, too. Now Irene and her sons are back on St. John, determined to learn the truth about the mysterious life -- and death -- of a man they thought they knew. Along the way, they're about to learn some surprising truths about their own lives, and their futures. Lush with the tropical details, romance, and drama that made Winter in Paradise a national bestseller, What Happens in Paradise is another immensely satisfying page-turner from one of America's most beloved and engaging storytellers.

What Happens in Paradise

Solid second in the trilogy - not as drama as book one but enough and short enough to be engaging. Can’t wait to listen to the Steele family finale.

Paige Paul

Madilyn Taylor

Secret lives and new loves emerge in the bright Caribbean sunlight, in the follow-up to national bestseller Winter in Paradise A year ago, Irene Steele had the shock of her life: her loving husband, father to their grown sons and successful businessman, was killed in a plane crash. But that wasn't Irene's only shattering news: he'd also been leading a double life on the island of St. John, where another woman loved him, too. Now Irene and her sons are back on St. John, determined to learn the truth about the mysterious life -and death - of a man they thought they knew. Along the way, they're about to learn some surprising truths about their own lives, and their futures. Lush with the tropical details, romance, and drama that made Winter in Paradise a national bestseller, What Happens in Paradise is another immensely satisfying page-turner from one of American's most beloved and engaging storytellers.

Patricia Nelson

This is the second book in the series, and cliffhangers continue! I'm glad I read the first book before reading this one, because I was more invested in the characters and their journey. In this book we hear from Rosie through her diaries, which provides a lot of backstory for her and Russ. The book has you rooting for the characters who are caught in the consequences of actions that were not their own. Can't wait for the final part of the trilogy!

Kristina B

I found this one even more irritating that’s the first! The plot barely progresses, the love triangle drives me absolutely NUTS… just so predictable and imo poorly written. The one redeeming character for me is Huck

Madeline Waller

Lauren Attaway

What Happens in Paradise almost feels more like a novella, the words between. A great middle is still just a middle, but I enjoyed it enough to run to the final book.

Shay

Just like with the first one in this series the book ended in a cliffhanger, I just don't think it was as huge of a cliffhanger as the last book was. I really want to see how everything is tied up in the end. I think in this one I actually started to care for Baker which is huge cause I really hate his character! I'm in love with Irene, Cash, and Huck's stories and I cannot read them fast enough! I love this series so much! I just don't know how the next book is going to go I assume it is going to start tying up more of the loose ends that didn't get straightened out in this book!

Annalee Harris

The drama continues in What Happens in Paradise, with more secrets floating to the surface in this breezy novel.

What Happens in Paradise is worlds more entertaining than the first novel, which spent most of its time introducing the characters and getting the plot going. The sequel shifts its focus to the relationships and the theatrical drama that encompasses them: the tug-of-war game Baker, Cash, and Mick are playing with Ayers; Irene and Huck curiously looking at each other in a new light; and a more in-depth look at what was going on between Rosie and Russ (who is becoming more and more of a villain).

While the events are definitely a bit Hollywood, with the revelations inducing more than a few eyebrow raises, What Happens in Paradise is such an engrossing and entertaining novel. The inclusion of Rosie's diary entries is such an old and tired (and lazy?) narrative technique, but it works--mainly because Russ and Rosie are so mysterious, that Hilderbrand knew her readers were dying for some insider info.

Overall, this novel was vastly better than the first in the series and is impossible to put down.

Kate Gravelle

Wait .... that can’t be then END of the book!!! Urrrgh

Lauren Lopez

I am in love with this series, and I cannot wait until the final installment is released next year! Keep in mind this is a series that you will have to purchase three separate books for. Many readers have been angered by this and feel the overall cost isn't worth reading one completed story.

After I read "Winter In Paradise" earlier this year, I decided it was my favorite Elin Hilderbrand novel so far. The mystery of Russ' secret life on St. John and what exactly his job entails kept my enthralled. The sprinkle of love stories and new-formed relationships throughout the story kept it interesting. It really makes you consider that old saying "everything happens for a reason," because if Russ hadn't made the decisions he made then his sons and wife would have never met the residents of St. John nor would they have known this island they were suddenly drawn to even existed.

"What Happens in Paradise" begins with the Steele family living back in Iowa and Houston. Irene is forced to face her community with the news of Russ' death - a community who only knew Russ as her loving, devoted husband. Cash is living with Irene in Iowa with nothing else going for him after the failure of his business in Colorado. Baker has returned to Houston to deal with his split from Anna and discussions of custody arrangements for little Floyd. None of these scenarios are appealing to this family, so it is obvious that they feel compelled to return to the beautiful island of St. John - far away from those who knew their lives before they were irrevocably changed and right next to those who understand how their lives have been altered. 

Ayers is with Mick again, but she cannot quit thinking about the Steele brothers and the impact they made on her during their short stay in St. John. She's busied herself with helping Huck care for Mya and working her two jobs. Huck absolutely cannot get his mind off Irene and how he felt just having her near him while she was on the island. Their connections are unusual considering the circumstances in which they met, but it is obvious that they are meant to be in each others lives somehow. 

The story is told in the same points of view as the first in the series, but there is an added point of view that I certainly enjoyed having - Rosie's. Rosie's diary entries are an important part this story, and they fill in the gaps for readers who wondered how she and Russ met and how their relationship played out up until the time of their deaths. It made the characters of Russ and Rosie seem as real as the other characters because these entries weren't stories of people who had already passed when they were written. They also provide an explanation of Russ' career under Todd Croft - the biggest question, for me, that remained after finishing "Winter in Paradise". 

Finding out what Russ' job at Ascension entailed was the mystery in this part of the story. The questions surrounding his affair with Rosie are no longer the biggest issue as Huck and the Steeles deal with questions from the FBI and find that their lives may be turned upside down all over again.

Léa Blanchet

Bethany Williamson

Lacee Foutch 

Victoria Krueger 

Meredith McMillin

Secret lives and new loves emerge in the bright Caribbean sunlight . . . A year ago, Irene Steele had the shock of her life: her loving husband, father to their grown sons and successful businessman, was killed in a plane crash. But that wasn't Irene's only shattering news: he'd also been leading a double life on the island of St. John, where another woman loved him, too. Now Irene and her sons are back on St. John, determined to learn the truth about the mysterious life - and death - of a man they thought they knew. Along the way, they're about to learn some surprising truths about their own lives, and their futures. Lush with the tropical details, romance and drama, What Happens in Paradise is another immensely satisfying page-turner from one of the world's most beloved and engaging storytellers.