The Palms

by Ellie Greene

Escapist fiction from a USA Today bestselling author.
'Elin Hilderbrand meets THE WHITE LOTUS in this addictive poolside read.' ★★★★★ CLOSER

Welcome to The Palms St Lucia; the perfect combination of high-end luxury and tropical Caribbean surroundings. Set on palm-fringed white sand bordered by pristine turquoise waters, the famed five-star resort has long been an oasis of sanctuary for vacationers.

But this season The Palms is under threat.
One hotel visitor is not who they claim to be, and it's up to new guest relations manager, Erin to uncover who could be trying to undermine the beloved resort's reputation and why.

Is it the newly-arrived single groom, apparently jilted before his destination wedding? Or the handsome widower who's just checked in with his cute-as-a-button daughter. Maybe it’s the charismatic CEO who says he's at the hotel to secure a business partnership yet wants to know a lot about day-to-day operations.

In at the deep end firefighting a sudden flurry of resort issues, while uncertain who to trust among management, staff or guests, can Erin outsmart the saboteur intent on destroying The Palms' future - and her own?

'Blissfully escapist, with a hint of mystery...' YOU MAGAZINE.

334 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2025

Reviews

[PB · Rating 1 out of 5]

All romance, no plot/drama. Cheesy, predictable and lacked depth. I admit I fell for the “Elin + white lotus” title clickbait but it did not live up to either of those comparisons…. so many typos too. In fact this book was so poorly written I think it is AI

[Janet L. Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Product of AI

Obviously written by AI...SO many mistakes and grammar issues, obvious plot etc. Cute story is the best I can say.

[Kasey Verna · Rating 2 out of 5]

read this bc it was on kindle unlimited. honestly, loved the beginning and the potential of the plot, but it absolutely did not live up to my basic expectations… the plot ended up going nowhere interesting on the mystery/problem solving and just developed purely into a romance book. not at all what i was expecting based on the elin hilderbrand/white lotus comparison. also, there were many grammatical errors that I found distracting as I read.

[Tatum Sandvigen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started out loving the book. Perfect mix of detailed vacation fiction and small mystery. It’s acknowledged to be a mix of Elin hilderbrand meets white lotus. And it was that. I was super incest until the last 10% when the ending fell short and was underwhelming. It’s a series so I will probably continue reading it. But hoping the author can give a little more next time.

[Macie White · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars for me! Not the worst book I ever read but I felt like there were elements missing!! I think this could have been a really good book but there were so many plot lines that none of them were strong. There also were a lot of typos on the kindle version so that was interesting! I wasn’t waiting for it to end which is why it gets the extra .75!!

[Stephanie Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story but…

The concept of this book was nice, if somewhat predictable. Everything wrapped up neatly into a happy little ending. That being said, the writing left something to be desired. While it did improve toward the end, through most of the story, the author was a little too descriptive. The run-on sentences almost made me give up on this book. If you can make it past that, this book was a fun little read.

[JoAnn Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good but not great. It was more romance than story for me. It’s like reading 5 episodes of the old tv show Hotel. It goes from one employee to another and their dealings with the guests staying at the Palms hotel which is an older landmark hotel in St. Lucia. Is someone trying to take over the place for the property value it’s worth or is it just a string of bad luck? Erin the new guest manager needs to find out but what if it’s the new guy she’s suddenly getting close to? Anyway that’s the type of storyline. Did I get any hilderbrand vibes? No not really. It’s set on an island and you get some sightseeing throughout the story but nothing that’s going to make me hop a plane and head there.

[Kathryn Laplante · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a high hopes because I do really like Elin Hilderbrand books and tropical themed books but it was quite disappointing. I had a hard time getting into it but I kept reading hoping that things would get better. It was very anticlimactic and there were a lot of different characters and storylines going at the same time which made it confusing. I wanted more from this book but it just didn’t get there.

[Kari Walter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Desperately needs an editor!

The only thing this book has in common with an Elin Hillenbrand novel is an island location. The writing was juvenile and in need of editing (typos along with spelling, usage, and punctuation errors abound). The ending didn’t fully resolve or explain - it feels like the author just stopped writing. An epilogue might have been a useful tool to conclude the story. I’m glad I didn’t spend any money on this title.

[Linda HR · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should not be compared to Elin Hilderbrand books. I purchased the book as Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorite authors. The storyline was not believable with so many people finding love on vacation in a very short timespan. There were also many grammatical errors throughout the book. However, I did finish the book.

[BethanyKate · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love Elin, this book is worth the read. It is VERY Elin-esque. Lots of characters, all with their own stories and drama.
I think it's her debut, and it's a pretty decent one. It was very predictable, but still enjoyable. A bit of mystery, that unfortunately turned out to be a flop.
Still a fun read.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author deserved a better editor. The grammatical errors were silly and distracting; the overuse if a thesaurus was obvious; and the extraneous storylines and irrelevant details were tedious. The story deserved more.

[Amanda Laffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The white lotus reference is a stretch and a way to hook you imo if you’re a fan. Otherwise good, easy book read. Felt like some thing were left out and other things were dragged out but still enjoyed reading it

[Lelia McKee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorites for true escapist fiction and this book was no where close. Too many characters with plot lines going in too many different directions. Typos distracted what little plot there was.

[Cori Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to White Lotus in that it follows a manager of a hotel bumbling through her day trying to fix things. We’re introduced to many characters who work/came on vacation to The Palms. No major conflicts or plot twists and kind of predictable.

[Barbara Combs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story very much. However, the Kindle version had so many grammar mistakes, misspellings, mis-used words and “missing” words, that many lines had to be re-read to make sense and thus besides being annoying, took much longer to read the book. First time I’ve ever had this experience.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good storyline

Terrible editing!!! Ruined the reading experience. Enjoyed the story, otherwise I would have set it aside in frustration. Do better, the author deserves it.

[Shaye Baine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute beach read! Def some white lotus vibes

[jordy Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

cutesy beach read!

[Sara Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out so good then turned out to be soooo anticlimactic. Felt no attachment to the characters. It was cute tho!

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun plot but the writing was so-so and the editing was not great. Lots of missing words and mid sentence repeats.

[Wendy Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline is fairly good, but overdone. Reading was problematic with many grammatical errors and typos. Needs editing.

[Leslee Horning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but the grammatical and typographical errors throughout the book were annoying!

[Mel Mcdivitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

slow and simple

Setting is lovely but the storyline is predictable, silly and incomplete. Editing is atrocious, mistakes throughout. Not like Elin’s books.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

the storyline was interesting enough, but the editing was horrible! totally detracted from the storyline and made it really hard to finish

[Elle McCreary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda all over the place & there was a slight build up that lead to nothing. The “white lotus” vibe was not there at all but it was a cute book about a hotel

[Clancy Kress · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Palms

This was a bit of a mystery and a feel good story that ties several stories together into one enjoyable read.

[Marcia Seybold · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed reading this book

[Patty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this author needs a proofreader or better editor!! The errors were way too distracting to enjoy this simple story.

[Erin Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book! Perfect vacation read