Score: 3.75/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆🍆/5

Thank you to Berkley for gifting me a review copy of Match Made in Paradise by Barbara Dunlop. This is the first in a new series, titled Paradise, Alaska.

Mia Westberg is a supermodel from LA, who heads to Alaska to hide out with her cousin after her husband dies. There is a ruthless legal battle over his fashion label, and the press start hounding her, and her lawyer suggests she go somewhere to lay low for a while.

Silas Burke is a bush pilot that works with Mia’s cousin, and while he and Mia don’t exactly hit it off at first, their chemistry can’t be ignored.

Does this sound a lot like The Simple Wild series? It does more than just sound like it, it reads very similarly. The events are slightly different, but I started making a list of similarities and it got pretty long. I actually found myself Googling to try and find out if this was originally written as Simple Wild fan fiction.

Although, I have to say, I didn’t actually didn’t like The Simple Wild series very much, and despised both of the main characters. I found them incredibly immature and whiny, and I just wanted to shake some sense into them constantly. However, I found Mia and Silus pretty likable. Mia isn’t super spoiled, she has a lot to learn about Alaska, but she wants to help out and be of use. And unlike Jonah, Silas isn’t an immature ass just for the sake of it. So I’d say the characters in this book were more mature in their behavior even though they’re still pretty very young in years.

As far as things I didn’t love…if I did the math right and Mia is 27 and she had been married for 9 years, that means she married her husband when she was 18. Assuming they didn’t get married immediately upon meeting, was her husband dating a 16 or 17 year old when he was 41?! Is that legal? Even if it is…ew.

Also, I do wish there was a bit more build-up between Mia and Silas to create more believable chemistry and tension. Plus, the ending tied up a little too neatly for me, I think it could have been left in a more realistic place.

Overall though, it was a really fun escape to Alaska, and who couldn’t use a bit of nature, love, and bears in their life right now? I loved watching Mia learn new things, embrace being out of her comfort zone, and try to help those around her however she could. I’m really looking forward to the next book, and seeing what becomes of the matchmaking scheme that’s being cooked up in this book. Plus, I’m dying to read more about Raven (Mia’s cousin) who is a no-nonsense, bad-ass, lady.

This book is sexy, but not explicit. I’d call it ‘cracked door’. You know they’re doing it, but you’re not getting a play-by-play.

This would be a really cute book to read by the pool and escape to the wilds of Alaska for a while.

Synopsis:

The first in an enchanting new contemporary romance series featuring rugged Alaskan pilots who are about to meet their match from New York Times bestselling author Barbara Dunlop.

Supermodel Mia Westberg has found herself under the scrutiny of the paparazzi after her much older husband dies and leaves her his fashion house. In order to stay out of the public eye, she packs her things and leaves Los Angeles, escaping to visit her cousin Raven, a shipping expeditor working in a remote part of Alaska--where Mia is sure the tabloids won't follow. But she isn't ready for everything Paradise, Alaska throws at her: the wild animals, insanely harsh weather, and a certain no-nonsense bush pilot.

When pilot Silas Burke flies a beautiful blonde into town, it doesn't take him long to figure her out. She's a spoiled, entitled city girl who has zero business in the rough terrain of Alaska, where the storms are as unforgiving as the dangerous wildlife. After seeing her struggle, and against his better judgment, he helps her acclimate to life in Paradise. But he's an impatient teacher and she's a frustrated pupil--and nothing gets them fired up more than each other. Can these two polar opposites find common ground and possibly something more?