Meet Me in Paradise, Libby Hubscher's debut novel, blends one part self-discovery adventure, one part vacation romance and one part family heartbreak into a story that reads like a summer romantic comedy movie with a surprisingly tragic base.
After the death of their mother, teenagers Marin and her younger sister Sadie take two different approaches to life. Marin assumes responsibility for Sadie and everything else in their lives, while Sadie adopts a "life is short" mentality and eventually follows their investigative journalist mother's footsteps as a risk-taker and world traveler. Hoping to convince Sadie to finally settle down, Marin agrees to her first-ever vacation outside of Tennessee--but Sadie abandons her before the flight. While Marin stumbles through a comedy of errors--an emergency plane landing, misplaced luggage, accidentally exposing herself to Lucas Tsai, the sexy owner of the resort where she's staying--Sadie is at home coming up with more ways to keep Marin out of her comfort zone. While most of the book is told in Marin's point of view, short interstitial chapters from Sadie reveal the reason she's so determined to give Marin the adventure of a lifetime.
Every vacation has to end, and as Marin finds herself--and a new love--she's about to lose something precious. Not simply a breezy romantic comedy, Meet Me in Paradise captures the duality of life's highs and lows. --Suzanne Krohn, editor, Love in Panels