Paradise

• Author: Judith McNaught
• Publisher: Pocket
• Year: 1992
• Setting: Present day Chicago, California
• Amazon Listing: Paradise

Book Description

Meredith Bancroft, heiress to the family department store, is always looked down upon by her overprotective and overbearing father, who she knows wished had a son to willingly give over the family enterprise to. Despite this setback, she is driven to, one day, be able to run Bancroft & Company on her own and uphold her family legacy. One night, she meets Matt Farrell, a young, working-class gentleman from Indiana, who sweeps her off her feet in a night she never forgets. She is distressed later to find out she is pregnant with Matt's child when she's only 18. Both Matt and Meredith agree to get married for the sake of their unborn child, which doesn't bode well with her father, who hates Matt because of his social standing. Meredith's marriage is short-lived when she and Matt end up getting a divorce not long after they get married, and never to see each other again.

11 years later, Matt, now CEO of his own company, is in Chicago on a business assignment for the first time since his marriage to Meredith. Bitter from the betrayal, but willing to move forward, he has progressed and become a man of power and respect in the public eye. His paths cross again with Meredith, of course, who is now interim president for Bancroft & Company, while her father is on vacation. With their paths crossing, old feelings resurface and the two of them learn about truth, betrayal, and trust as the story unfolds. Paradise was one of Judith McNaught's bestsellers, as Matt and Meredith's love story unfolds, it captivates readers till the very end.