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For most of us, a week in a luxury beach resort sounds like a dream. But in The Suite Life by Portia MacIntosh, a young woman spends her week in paradise scrambling to try to find the perfect date for her sister’s upcoming wedding.
The story finds Gigi Marsden facing an awkward situation. Her sister is about to get married at a destination wedding in Hawaii, and her ex-boyfriend is the best man. To make matters worse, he’s moved on with a gorgeous reality TV star, while Gigi is desperately searching for an impressive date to show that she’s moved on, too. When she arrives in Hawaii for the weeklong celebrations, a mix-up lands her in a posh suite. And she hopes that her upgraded status—and help from her new friend, Donnie—will help her find the perfect date.
While the rest of the wedding party spends the week together at the resort, Gigi spends it enjoying the hotel’s mix-up, avoiding her ex and his new girlfriend, and hanging out at the hotel’s exclusive bars, trying to meet Mr. Right-for-the-Wedding. She goes on comically terrible dates with athletes and businessmen who are so caught up in themselves that they don’t take the time to get to know her. And she spends the rest of her time laughing and lounging with Donnie, her new friend, who’s just happy to have someone else to hang out with following a bad breakup.
Of course, it’s not very hard to see where this story is going—but, as with most romantic comedies, that’s a big part of the novel’s charms: it’s funny and sweet and generally predictable. Gigi is a likably normal person who’s still trying to recover from the end of her relationship. But, while she secretly dreads her sister’s wedding, she ends up in an extraordinary position, staying in a luxurious suite in an exclusive resort where the staff is happy to give her whatever she wants. In a kind of modern-day Cinderella story, she goes through all kinds of amusing ups and downs on her way to her story’s cheery conclusion. And while it may not be full of shocking twists, it’s a sweet and entertaining read.
The Suite Life has all of the elements of a great beach read: comedy, romance, mix-ups, a tropical vacation, and a normal, everyday woman in an extraordinary situation. It’s a fun, light read to pick up for your next getaway.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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