About the Book
In the quiet beach town of Paradise, South Carolina, Jacob Riley’s carefully constructed life begins to unravel as he lies in a hospital bed, sharing his life story with his son Chris. Through a series of revelations, Chris discovers that his father’s past is far more complex than he ever imagined – filled with forbidden love, dangerous secrets, and sacrifices that shaped multiple generations. As Jacob recounts his relationship with Michele Barton, his first love, who became his decades-long affair partner, and explores his complicated marriage to Chris’s mother Kate, the true scope of his father’s impact on Paradise slowly comes to light.
The story weaves through time, from Jacob’s early days in Paradise to his failed military career, his success as a restaurateur and author, and the intricate web of relationships he built along the way. But at its heart, “For Michele” is a tale of enduring love and the prices we pay for it. As Chris grapples with these revelations, he must also confront his own past and future – including the unexpected return of his former love Jessica Murphy, who arrives bearing secrets of her own. Through his father’s story, Chris learns that love, in all its forms, is both a blessing and a burden, capable of building families as easily as breaking them apart.
About the Author
Thaddeus Robinson’s passion for writing began as a teenager in high school. He worked on his high school newspaper from sophomore through senior year. After high school, he briefly served in the Army before a medical discharge. He earned his Digital Arts degree with honors from Horry Georgetown Tech in 2014. He continued his education at Coastal Carolina University, graduating in 2018 with a bachelor’s in Graphic Design and Photography minor, while working as a university photographer covering ASUN and Sun Belt conferences. With a decade of freelance experience in photography and design around Myrtle Beach, he completed his Master’s in Education from Francis Marion University in 2021. In June 2024, he relocated with his wife of 20+ years and three children to Northern Vermont. While living in Vermont, Thaddeus thrust himself back into his passion for writing, where he continues to work and live.
Qn 1: Can you tell us more about your book What is it about?
For Michele is an intimate, character-driven story about Christopher Riley, a successful New York attorney whose meticulously built life is upended by a phone call about his estranged father’s critical health. Reluctantly returning to his coastal hometown of Paradise, South Carolina, Chris is forced to confront long-buried family secrets, strained relationships, and the legacy of a man he realizes he never truly understood. As he reconnects with the life he thought he had left long ago and navigates the complexities of grief, love, and forgiveness, Chris’s journey becomes a search for belonging and self-understanding. Through evocative prose and a deep sense of place, For Michele explores how the ties that bind us—family, memory, and home—can also be the very things that set us free.
For Michele is the first novel in the Tales from Paradise series, a generational Southern family saga centered on the Riley family in the fictional town of Paradise, South Carolina. Spanning multiple decades and told through interconnected novels, the series delves into themes of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption. Each book builds upon the intricate web of relationships within the Riley family, weaving together the lives of siblings, parents, lovers, and community members who shape and are shaped by the evolving town around them. The series balances heartfelt personal journeys with broader family legacies, exploring the resilience of people who, despite hardship and distance, find their way back to each other. Anchored by the family’s enduring presence at Doc Robin’s restaurant and their deep ties to Paradise, the Tales from Paradise series is a rich, emotionally layered narrative about finding strength, identity, and home across generations
Qn 2: Who do you think would be interested in this book, is it directed at any particular market?
Tales from Paradise is perfectly suited for readers who gravitate toward sweeping, multigenerational family sagas that explore the fragile threads of love, loss, and redemption. This series will deeply resonate with women in their 30s to 60s who enjoy emotionally immersive stories with richly drawn characters and complex family dynamics. Readers who have experienced grief, complicated sibling relationships, or estranged parent-child bonds will find themselves reflected in the Riley family’s journey. Fans of Southern fiction and coastal settings will feel immediately at home in the atmospheric seaside town of Paradise, South Carolina, where the community is as intricately woven as the family itself. The books offer a perfect balance of romance, personal discovery, and the unearthing of long-held family secrets—making them ideal for book clubs and readers who appreciate narratives that linger long after the final page.
The series will appeal to readers who love the multi-layered family dramas of Kristin Hannah (The Nightingale, The Great Alone), the intimate small-town romances of Elin Hilderbrand’s Paradise series, and the Southern warmth and generational legacies found in Dorothea Benton Frank’s Lowcountry novels. Like Nicholas Sparks’s Carolina-based stories, Tales from Paradise pairs emotional romance with life-altering events, but with a stronger emphasis on sibling connections and family healing. This is a story universe for readers who appreciate slow-burning, deeply cathartic journeys, who relish peeling back the layers of family history to uncover the moments that shape us—and who believe that sometimes the hardest places to return to are the ones that ultimately lead us home.
Qn 3: Out of all the books in the world, and all the authors, which are your favourite and why?
I have always been personally drawn to the works of Nicholas Sparks, Thomas Harris, James Patterson, Robert B. Parker, Craig Johnson, and John Grisham because of their remarkable ability to craft immersive worlds that feel both intimate and larger than life. Each of these authors has a unique gift for pulling readers into extraordinary events while making them feel deeply personal and tangible. Their vivid, cinematic writing paints scenes so clearly that you can almost reach out and touch them, fully experiencing the texture, emotion, and atmosphere of the moment. Whether it’s Sparks’ heartfelt romances, Harris’s chilling suspense, Patterson’s relentless pacing, Parker’s sharp dialogue, Johnson’s rugged landscapes, or Grisham’s gripping legal dramas, I admire how each author creates stories that feel immediate, real, and emotionally resonant. Their work inspires me to strive for that same level of connection and sensory detail in my own writing.
Qn 4: What guidance would you offer to someone new, or trying to enhance their writing?
Never give up, never stop trying to better yourself, never compare with anyone, but the writer you were yesterday.
Qn 5: Where can our readers find out more about you, do you have a website, or a way to be contacted?
So, I have my own webpage, www.thaddeusrobinson.com
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