North to You (Journey to the Heart Book 1) | East in Paradise (Journey to the Heart Book 2)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Michelle
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review

East in Paradise by Tif Marcelo was one of those reads that had so much potential to be a great book but fell short in many ways. I liked the concept of the story of an independent woman wanting to venture off and try to make a name for herself with her culinary retreat. The idea sounds great but when the heroine is supposed to be perceived as strong, independent, and sassy but fails to come across that then as a reader I fail to connect with her. Personally the heroine was someone I found to be annoying with how she interacted with the hero. I loved that the author made the heroine a Filipino American, who has a strong sense of culture but when the author constantly reminds readers of that, it gets a bit too much especially for me and I am part Filipino.

In the beginning, the interaction of Bryn Aquino and Mitchell Dunford was sweet and adorable and I found myself looking forward to whenever these two made an appearance but as I read further along the book, I found myself only wanting to know Mitchell, the landlord who leased out the culinary retreat house to Bryn. I found Bryn to be someone unapproachable and stubborn which was a major distraction for me especially when I wanted to see the author showcase more of a romantic undertone than a heroine who is always complaining about her business and the insertion of Bryn’s sister was somewhat irrelevant, hence another filler distraction.
East in Paradise was overall an okay book. Writing was good but the storyline could have been condensed.While this book didn’t live up to my expectation as it did with the first book I will for sure give the third book a shot and hopefully the author can showcase more of a love story that will connect with the readers. I do applaud the author for making a story of a heroine of a different ethnicity and so major props for her that.






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