Book club questions for Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand takes a deep dive into the final book of the trilogy. There will be spoilers so for more context about the story, check out my spoiler-free review first.
I enjoyed this one! Again, I’m coming from a different place as I didn’t read the other two books in the series. But I felt Elin did a good job of catching the reader up to speed on what had happened in the previous stories. As you can imagine, my TBR (to be read) list is never-ending or I would have tried to fit in her other two books. But oh well, it was still a nice read with low stakes.
The synopsis
After uprooting her life in the States, Irene Steele has just settled in at the villa on St. John where her husband Russ had been living a double life. But a visit from the FBI shakes her foundations, and Irene once again learns just how little she knew about the man she loved.
With help from their friends, Irene and her sons set up their lives while evidence mounts that the helicopter crash that killed Russ may not have been an accident. Meanwhile, the island watches this drama unfold — including the driver of a Jeep with tinted windows who seems to be shadowing the Steele family.
As a storm gathers strength in the Atlantic, surprises are in store for the Steeles: help from a mysterious source, and a new beginning in the paradise that has become their home. At last all will be revealed about the secrets and lies that brought Irene and her sons to St. John — and the truth that transformed them all.
Book Club Questions for Troubles in Paradise
- So now that we’ve read the final book in the trilogy, what is your overall impression of this series? Do you typically read books with sequels?
- The other novels kept leaving it all on cliffhangers. What closure did you want to see in this story? Do you feel that it all wrapped up nicely or did you want more from it?
- Why do you think Irene and Huck are so drawn together? Do you like them as a couple?
- Why did Irene and her sons decide to move their lives to St. John? What would you have done if you were in their position?
- Why was Ayers so hesitant to start a relationship with Baker? Were you surprised when she found out she was pregnant with his child?
- What did you think about the setting overall? Have you ever been to St. John?
- This book seeks to provide closure on the Russ/corruption storyline. Did you feel that it accomplished this?
- What did you think about Cash’s decision to get back with Tilda in the end?
- This one features a hurricane hitting the island and causing destruction. What did you think about the hurricane scene? Did it feel a bit tacked on or were you engaged with it?
- What happens next for all the characters?
- There’s been some speculation that the author might write a series based on Maia. Would you read it?
- How does this story compare to other Elin Hilderbrand ones?
Additional recommendations
Hope you enjoyed book club questions for Troubles in Paradise! Here are some more recommendations along with links to book club questions.
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
If you’re a fan of this author, definitely check out 28 Summers!
When Mallory Blessing’s son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It’s the late spring of 2020 and Jake’s wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.
There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother’s bachelor party. Cooper’s friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere — through marriage, children, and Ursula’s stratospheric political rise — until Mallory learns she’s dying.
Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.
You can order the book on Amazon here. Check out my book club questions here.
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
Another great one for you all to check out is His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie.
Afi Tekple is a young seamstress in Ghana. She is smart; she is pretty; and she has been convinced by her mother to marry a man she does not know. Afi knows who he is, of course—Elikem is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen Afi in the hopes that she will distract him from his relationship with a woman his family claims is inappropriate. But Afi is not prepared for the shift her life takes when she is moved from her small hometown of Ho to live in Accra, Ghana’s gleaming capital, a place of wealth and sophistication where she has days of nothing to do but cook meals for a man who may or may not show up to eat them. She has agreed to this marriage in order to give her mother the financial security she desperately needs, and so she must see it through. Or maybe not?
His Only Wife is a witty, smart, and moving debut novel about a brave young woman traversing the minefield of modern life with its taboos and injustices, living in a world of men who want their wives to be beautiful, to be good cooks and mothers, to be women who respect their husbands and grant them forbearance. And in Afi, Peace Medie has created a delightfully spunky and relatable heroine who just may break all the rules.
You can order the book on Amazon here. Check out my book club questions here.
Happy reading!
