Goodbye Paradise (Hello Goodbye Book 1)

Goodbye Paradise (Hello Goodbye series Book 1) Sarina Bowen 2017 274 pages Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ MM Contemporary Romance Plot: What happens in Paradise, stays in Paradise. The last time Josh Royce stepped beyond the boundaries of the little religious community where he grew up, he was in third grade, too young to remember much about it. No one leaves the Paradise compound without permission, and Josh has never been granted it. What’s the point in leaving anyway? Josh was born out here in the dust among people who want to be left alone, so he has no birth certificate. He has no money, no driver’s license. To the outside world, he’s no one. He has nothing. Except for his best friend, Caleb Smith. Caleb is the grandson of one of the elders, and with that comes certain privileges. Caleb’s place within the community is secure, and Josh knows Caleb will be granted a wife sometime soon. Josh has complicated feelings about this, since he’s in love with his best friend. For Josh, the pain of watching Caleb get married would be a just punishment for his sinful thoughts. One day, a gun goes missing from the community storeroom, and Josh’s name is the one that comes up on the list as the person to have checked inventory most recently. His own standing in the community is not so well-assured as Caleb’s, especially now that he's been accused of stealing. If Josh gets thrown out of Paradise, he’ll have nowhere to go. First Take: I didn’t really know what to expect with this…

(Originally published as In Front of God and Everyone under pseudonym). A friends to lover romance; a road trip story; coming of age; creating a new family in rural Massachusetts. This book is the gentle tale of Joshua and Caleb, raised together since they first toddled, in a religious polygamous cult in Wyoming. Josh has never been able to prosper in the cult, and he knows his time is limited before he will be expelled. Caleb is a better fit for the cult, because he is quick and clever with machinery, and a grandson of one of the cult leaders. Caleb always takes care of Josh, helping him through the demanding chores and daily grind. When Josh is expelled, there is little warning...and a time of misery changes to a new adventure for them both. The cult is rotten and unhealthy, but relatively little time is actually spent there in this story. The cult is with them for awhile, though. Josh has to work against the negatives he heard everyday and decide if he can establish a new self-identity, new goals and skills, and new confidence. Caleb continues to strive to take care of everyone around him. The story focuses on them traveling from a false dark world into reality of coca-cola, television and supermarkets. Their bravery at building new warm connections with each other and others in this new world is a lovely thing to read. The story focuses primarily on the MCs relationship, but with engaging secondary characters and interesting details about the context (from cult,…