Synopsis: Love in Paradise (Contains Spoilers)

Love in Paradise is a romance-suspense novel that takes place in Zamzudan, a fictional country in East Africa. The two major characters are Tony Da-Silva, an enigmatic millionaire and Mimi, a fresh University graduate dealing with tragedy.

Mimi has mourned her parents for five years now, and is without any real family. Her parents’ friends have forsaken her, afraid to show her love or concern for fear that they would have to be responsible for a young woman attending a prestigious university with high tuition expenses. This unintentionally leads her to encase herself in a shell of isolation where she avoids relationships, for fear that she will only be considered a burden. The only family Mimi has left – one whom she never gets to see – is an adopted sister who lives far away and is struggling financially like the majority of the people who live in the country. Mimi mostly blames God for the tragedy she has experienced with the death of her parents, and blames him for the hardship the citizens in the country face. Her anger strengthens her resolve to stay detached from everyone, that is, until Tory Da-Silva- a Beautiful young woman with a bubbly personality- comes along. They meet in Mimi’s final year at the university and become roommates. Tory manages to draw Mimi out of her solitude, but does not quite succeed all the way.

Tony is a man that is much misunderstood. As the present CEO of Da-Silva Corporations, a multimillion-dollar African based company that invests in oil and real estate, Tony is liked by his countrymen because of his generosity, providing employment opportunities for his people who live in a nation ruled by corrupt military officers. Unfortunately, his avoidance of social gatherings has also resulted in mass speculation about him. He is a favorite subject of the tabloids who claim that he is a playboy and has mistresses in almost every city he visits. Mimi, like every other person in the country has read much about Tony, but gets to know more of him from her college roommate, Tory who also happens to be Tony’s younger sister. Mimi never imagines in her wildest dreams that she will meet Tony. However, on the first day of the school’s big break, she meets him. He has come to pick up his younger sister in school and take her home, since business has brought him to that part of town.

At that first meeting, they strike a conversation, and are strongly attracted to each other. However, Mimi tries to stay away from Tony, denying her attraction to him by comparing everything she has read about him in the tabloids to what she is actually seeing for the first time. She comes away from that first encounter more puzzled about his character, as nothing the media has said negatively about him seems to match out. Tony on the other hand, finds himself seriously drawn to Mimi and he cannot explain why. 

They meet again, this time at Galaxy, a fictional pharmaceutical company where Mimi has taken residence as an intern. Their attraction to each other gets stronger. Unfortunately, their meeting is witnessed by Paparazzo who constantly follows Tony everywhere he goes. The knowledge of how Tony’s life is constantly hounded by the media scares Mimi off. Besides, she still has reservations about Tony, unsure if she should believe what the tabloids say about him.

At one innocent meeting, the two start a love play, witnessed by a Paparazzo who will sell the photos to the highest bidder, since everyone in the country is always curious to know Tony’s latest love interest. Unfortunately, Mimi is almost in the nude in these photos. The knowledge of the possibility of the pictures coming out frightens Mimi whose terms of contract at Galaxy is that she is not involved in any negative publicity. Failure to adhere means automatic dismissal from the esteemed company. Not only that, but her reputation as the good girl, and as a serious professional is on the line. Tony- who has now realized he is in love with Mimi – promises to find the paparazzo and prevent him from publishing the photos. However, Mimi is done with Tony, whose life seems excessively exciting compared to her quiet one. Although Tony leaves Mimi a heartbroken man, he pours his emotions vengefully into finding the paparazzo behind the photos. The search for this mysterious man leads Tony to new discoveries about an unusual plot to kill him. The Paparazzo responsible for taking photo shots of Tony is a man hired by Tony Da-Silva’s archenemy, Charles Bakasi who has a vendetta against him. Unable to hurt Tony physically, Charles realizes that his only chance at destroying Tony is to hurt someone that Tony loves, and from the photos he has seen of Tony and Mimi, he knows that Mimi is the one he needs to use as bait. He captures Mimi, threatening to kill her if Tony does not relinquish the running of Da-Silva corporations to him. Tony is willing to do that and much more to save Mimi’s life. Mimi on the other hand has now realized that she is going to be killed, regardless of if Tony complies with Charles demands. She realizes that she loves Tony, and is even willing to die in his place so long as Tony is safe.

However with the help of good friends, Mimi is discovered in the hideout Charles Bakasi has kept her, she is rescued, and Tony’s best friend, Rashad, shoots Charles to death. Ultimately the two confess their love to each other and the novel ends with a chance at a happily ever after.