Paradise City (The Paradise, #1) (Paradise City)

by C.J. Duggan

[Leah]

A lot of books recently have left me with that urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh feeling. In a good way. Like urghhhhhhhhhh it’s sooooooooo goooooooooooooooooood. Honestly, the YA and NA genres elicit feels out of me like no other genre and it’s like a bloody emotional roller-coaster. Paradise City left me gasping for more. And I almost didn’t read the book – it was only by chance that I read the email from Netgalley and didn’t just sling it in my junk folder (because they send a LOT of emails these days promoting books/publishers). BUT I DIDN’T. And I got to meet Ballantine and Lexie and it feels like my life will never be the same again, sigh.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a REALLY GOOD New Adult book; in fact, C.J. Duggan reminds me a bit of Cora Carmack – Paradise City is similar in tone to Carmack’s Faking It series, which is actually one of my most favourite NA series, ever. It’s fast paced, Lexie’s a bit of a goof (and I loved her for it) and oh God, Ballantine. Can I get me a one of them, or what? UGH. What is it with these perfect NA boys, and where can I find myself one because THEY DO NOT EXIST IN REAL LIFE.

It felt so refreshing to read Paradise City. I loved the Australian setting, although there were a few words I didn’t have a clue what they meant (haha); Australia is one of my favourite places, and somewhere I really want to visit so the next best thing is always books set there and this one was freaking awesome. I loved Lexie! I felt so sad for her starting a new school (after years of being home-schooled, like Lohan in Mean Girls) and her cousin Amanda was hardly a delightful person, but Lexie was so much fun to get to know. Even rolling in to the staff room and getting into soooo much trouble was hilarious. AND BALLANTINE. Oh sweet Jesus, Ballantine. If you read this book it should be so you can meet Ballantine. Then when you’re finished, you can catch the first flight to Australia and find your own Ballantine. He’s so broody and sexy and mysterious but also really sweet and funny and it was just so hard to get a reading off him, but I loved him anyway.

I am STOKED for the second Paradise City novel, Paradise Road. There’s a very delicious love triangle brewing between Lexie, Dean and Ballantine, and while that’s not normally my thing (it’s very Vampire Diaries-ish, considering Dean and Ballantine are BROS!) I’m actually pretty stoked to see where it goes because Lexie has pretty intense chemistry with both boys, and Dean has rather snuck up on me as Paradise City progressed. There’s some evil glint in his eyes, and his words that tell me there’s a lot more to his story, and while I adore Ballantine, I’m intrigued to see how it plays out. I just can’t believe I have to wait until September *SOB*