Stacia in Progress

Well, not quite. However, if you ever wondered how Ma and Pa got it on in that one-room cabin with other kids/people around, maybe this book will shed some light on that matter. Hint : find other places outside of the cabin.

The concept : Modern-day people are taken out of their element to compete on a reality show by heading out to the middle of nowhere to live like they're stuck in the year 1885.

Was it unique? Sure. I've actually seen a PBS show where the participants did the same thing, but I can honestly say that this is the first book I've read with this theme. 

Did it work? Yes...and no. One of my favorite things aboutLittle House on the Prairie is that you get to observe the day-to-day details of how tough it was to keep a household running back then. I would have liked more of these details in the book, although the author did do a great job of presenting what she did.

In all honesty... The story floundered in too many parts for my liking. There were at least a couple of chapters which could have been cut out. 

I didn't ever warm up to the female lead (just my own personal annoyance with women who can't see obvious abuse, especially when the book isn't meant to be specifically about about abuse), even though I loved the way the male lead wanted her. He was so genuine and earnest, and it was more fun to watch his reactions than to be in the female's head.

The romance was cute, although a bit tamer than I'd expected. It was sort of surprising that the hero even mentioned wanting to have rough sex, when the sex scene itself kind of just came (hah) and went. 

The pseudo-suspense turn at the end was... Weird? I don't think the story needed to take that turn, but it didn't bother me either.

The harping on reality-show stereotypes was...Possibly realistic, but presented awkwardly. I wasn't a fan of how the mention of this kept coming back. 

Even so... I'd recommend Welcome to Paradise for contemporary romance fans who are looking for something completely different from their normal fare. There was enough here for me to want to read something else from the author, even with a few small complaints.

This book was borrowed as a freebie through Amazon Prime.