Chapter by Chapter

What should be your number one reason for reading Paradise city by C.J. Duggan?  Luke. Ballantine.  A sexy, bad boy surfer who does bad in such a sexy way.

Lexie Atkinson has been home schooled for pretty much her entire life.  At seventeen years old, Lexie has been nothing but the epitome of “good girl”.  When her parents decide that it would be a great idea to send Lexie away to Paradise City to finish off her Grade 11 and for Grade 12 and perhaps reconnect with her cousins Amanda, Lexie is beyond excited and so ready to enjoy her teenage life.

That is, until her daydreams of a joyous and momentous reunion with her cousin is anything but.  Amanda seems to be the complete opposite of what she remembers as a child.  Rebellious and not at all happy to have Lexis living under the same roof.  And on her first night in their shared bedroom, Lexie is awoken by her cousin sneaking out of the house with a couple of guys, and her eyes fall on Luke Ballantine.

With hopes and dreams of what her first day at school with her cousin would be like, things continuously get worse and worse for Lexie, and Amanda does not help at all.  Being sentenced to detention because of a cruel trick played by her cousin, it is here that things between Lexie and Ballantine start to stir, and it’s one ride that you do not want to miss.

Paradise City by C.J. Duggan is a cute coming of age story that will leave you a little hot and bothered and craving the next book.  I had a lot of chuckles and felt the embarrassing moments with Lexie.  And I also felt the swoon worthy moments that she and Ballantine shared, and I couldn’t help but smile for her.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand her cousin, Amanda.  Back and forth personality, and she was nothing but a user in my mind.  Only befriending Lexie when she needed something, and then turning around and being impossible again (at least, that’s how I saw things).  I also didn’t understand what the Uncle’s problem was.  It didn’t really explain why he was being a douche towards Ballantine.

I guess also because the storyline takes place in Australia, there were some terms and lingo that I didn’t really understand, but that’s just a minor thing.  There are also parts where the characters seemed way to immature to be seventeen years old (i.e. rumor mill thing).  I don’t if it’s because Lexie did not have the experiences due to her homeschooling, but even her daydreams seems immature-ish for her age.

I’ll tell you what I did like about this book though…Luke Ballantine.  Author C.J. Duggan does a great job of painting a picture into your head of this sext surfer bad boy that all the girls are lusting over.  His smirks, his dimples, his one liners…it all melded together to create this guy that is so drool worthy.

 If you’re looking for your next book boyfriend, look no further my friends.  Ballantine will make you swoon all over the place.  I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute coming of age book that will make you chuckle and grin.