Meet me in Tahiti

The splendor of Tahiti's culture and natural beauty shines in the otherwise messy third installment of Toffolo's Meet Me series (after Meet Me in Hawaii). Zoe Tayler, an accessibility focused travel writer with paraplegia, reunites with Finn Doherty, a former gang member and the bad boy of their small English village, Hawke's Cove, who now co-owns five luxury resorts, including the one Zoe's been assigned to cover. As teens, Zoe and Finn harbored a mutual secret attraction for each other, both believing their feelings weren't reciprocated. Then a heated argument in the aftermath of the car accident that paralyzed Zoe destroyed their friendship. Now physical attraction simmers as they explore Tahiti, but as each waits for the other to make the first move, they seem destined to repeat their teenage missed connection. Toffolo overloads her characters' backstories, which does nothing to prevent them from coming across as deeply unpleasant people. The conflict is similarly overwrought and, though Toffolo has clearly done her research into the lived experience of wheelchair users, the presence of an aggressively ableist secondary character--who both Finn and Zoe nonetheless think of as a "good guy"--mars the narrative. Armchair travelers may get some joy from the setting, but others can skip this. Agent: Amanda Harris, YMU Books. (June)

A travel writer reunites with her first love when she realizes he's the owner of a resort she's covering in French Polynesia. Though nearly 28 and an accomplished traveler, Zoe Tayler often feels like she's at the mercy of her helicopter parents. When she was 18, she was in an accident that left her using a wheelchair, and despite her efforts at independence, she feels constantly undermined by her parents' worries. Now her regular travel companion, Cristina, is hovering, too, making it hard for her to enjoy her latest assignment at the Poerava resort in French Polynesia. Finn Doherty was the bad boy in Zoe's hometown of Hawke's Cove, and while he may have had a chip on his shoulder due to a tough upbringing, he always had a soft spot for Zoe. It broke Zoe's heart when Finn left town, but in the decade they've been apart, he's become an accomplished businessman, owning several resorts around the world. When Zoe realizes that Finn is the owner of Poerava, her feelings for him come flooding back. Toffolo has created an aspirational setting--what better place to rekindle an old flame than on an island paradise? Zoe's friends are the main characters of Toffolo's previous romances, including Meet Me at the Wedding (2022), so readers new to the series will struggle with some lost context. Both Zoe and Finn feel like victims of arrested development--the hormones run high here, as do the constant miscommunications. There isn't enough depth to the romance, with meaningful conversation too often tabled for lustful encounters. This novel is high in romantic settings and raging hormones but low in substance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.