GRR Reviews For Love or Charity (McCallister's Paradis by Chantel Rhondeau

For Love or Charity flipped the trope by making the woman the rich and powerful one, and both FMC and MMC are generous people, but FMC had a bit of trust issue, and MMC does need her money... For his charitable project. So the motives are suspect. It didn't help when MMC was keeping a secret for someone else and that may harbor a timebomb for the relationship later...

Sydney McCallister has a rich family who owned an island resort, but she had to work like everyone else, and she chose to run the McCallister Foundation, funding various worthy causes, from New York. When Matthew Coleson got screwed by the government's reduction in budget, and turned down by McCallister Foundation for their grant, which was the last one available, he went to the office to argue his case, only to make a spectacular ass of himself. When Sydney's office was trashed then tagged with threatening graffiti, Sydney was sure it was Matthew, but a confrontation later and a make-up lunch showed that Matthew was much kinder and deeper than Sydney suspected, and Sydney understood his mission to rehabilitate former drug users by providing housing, counseling, education, and more. As they work to discover the identity of the person who threatened Sydney, they fell for each other. But the doubt was always there... was Matt there for Sydney's money... or was he there for Sydney? And what other secrets may Matt be keeping?

The characters are well-rounded, and the grand gesture was really cute. However, the book feels like it ran a bit long as it tried to introduce yet ANOTHER complication in the relationship AFTER the MMC's grand gesture for the darkest hour and the resolution from that, making for a somewhat strange emotional flow, as if the book was made longer just to resolve that plot point.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Guy needed money for charity falls for the rich girl who had no more money to give; does he want her or her money?

Tropes: different worlds, protector, woman in peril

Overall Rating:  4/5