Welcome to the Paradise Motel

Welcome to the Paradise Motel is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing set in Florida.

Quick-tempered Beatrice Bright has carved out a niche for herself as a small-town reporter for the Paradise Post. Unfortunately, the biggest news in her tiny beach town is that her old rival, Ben Constant, is moving back and bringing his depressingly successful video game company along with him. With the arrival of the company, Bea's world begins to change rapidly. Bea and Ben engage in battles of wits in the midst of parades, interviews, holiday parties, and hurricanes. Fed up with the years of romantic tension between them, their friends and neighbors at the Paradise Motel decide to trick them into revealing their feelings for each other. But when one of their friends is slandered, Bea and Ben must face up to their feelings and work together to reveal the truth.

"A light, charming story of best friends in a small Florida town who navigate conflicting relationships, careers, and values on their journey to love. Inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, this novel will especially appeal to young adult readers." - Kathleen Anderson, author of Jane Austen's Women: An Introduction, SUNY Press, 2018"Welcome to the Paradise Motel by Olivia Taylor is a delightful retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. While it follows the basic plot structure of Shakespeare's comedy, it is perfectly adapted to contemporary Florida. The two main female characters-Bea, a quick-witted journalist, and Honey, a pink-haired schoolteacher-are protagonists readers can and will root for. This book has everything a reader could want-pirate tales, exciting fight scenes, true love. Brilliantly executed." - Maura Jortner, PhD, author of 102 DAYS OF LYING ABOUT LAUREN

Olivia Taylor grew up in Fernandina Beach, Florida, which has a healthy population of pirates and community theatres. In college, she lived in a motel-turned-dorm that inspired the Paradise Motel. She now lives in Waco, Texas, where she is a graduate student at Baylor University and one of the editors of the Mark Twain Journal. She enjoys painting, cozy videogames, and exploring local coffee shops. Her poetry has appeared in The Avalon Literary Review, The Lamp, and Living Waters Review.

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