Summary from Goodreads:
There's bound to be trouble in Paradise...
When her parents decide a change will be good for her, seventeen-year-old Lexie Atkinson never expected they'd send her all the way to Paradise City. Coming from a predictable life of home schooling on a rural Australian property, she's sure that Paradise will be amazing. But when she's thrust into a public school without a friendly face in sight, and forced to share a room with her insipid, hateful cousin Amanda, Lexie's not so sure.
Hanging out with the self-proclaimed beach bums of the city, sneaking out, late night parties and parking with boys are all things Lexie's never experienced, but all that's about to change. It's new, terrifying . . . and exciting. But when she meets Luke Ballantine, exciting doesn't even come close to describing her new life. Trouble with a capital T, Luke is impulsive, charming and answers to no one. The resident bad-boy leader of the group, he's sexier than any boy Lexie has ever known.
Amidst the stolen moments of knowing looks and heated touches, Lexie can't help but wonder if Luke is going to be good for her . . . or very, very bad?
I was immediately drawn to Paradise City because of the cover (hello beach and summer), the title, and the fact that it takes place in Australia! What I didn't understand was why this is considered New Adult when the MC is still in high school but oh well. Paradise City had me definitely laughing at parts (like Lexie's entrance into the school assembly in the beginning of the book - it reminded me of an embarrassing moment I had at a school assembly in high school when I tripped down the stairs in front of everyone!) and then had me feeling super embarrassed for Lexie when she realized she was in the wrong class (yikes!). I loved when she got detention and got herself into so many other mishaps. I thought Lexie was so cool when she was able to stand up for herself and she had some witty remarks but then enter Luke Ballantine (THE HOTTEST GUY EVER FYI) and I swear she has two personalities. What kept me from giving Paradise City a higher rating was the fact that Lexie wants to have all of these experiences and the second she shows up in Paradise City, she has them all within a couple of months. Maybe for some people things happen that fast but it didn't feel totally believable sometimes and I just felt like Duggan was trying to make Lexie different people instead of just Lexie. What I also didn't like was the ending! I personally don't think there was any reason to make a sequel because the "cliffhanger" was pretty stupid. Honestly, I never seem to have the best experiences with Australian anything - books, movies, tv shows... But what completely saved this book for me was LUKE. GOOD LORD WHAT A BABE. Like literally my notes are just page numbers with OMG written next to that page number because everything Luke said or did killed me! I can still here Luke in my head saying one of my favorite lines. I love him. And I picture him to look like Luke Hemmings from 5 Seconds of Summer (even though in the book Luke is a surfer). And I probably picture Luke Hemmings because he is Australian.
Here he is :)
Rating: 3/5
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