New Giveaway! Enter for a chance to win a copy of Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii by Bodie Thoene. (Includes bonus review!)

To enter for a chance to win this book, simple post a comment stating if you've ever been to Hawaii. If you have, where did you go? I've always wanted to go there but so far it hasn't happened. I do have friends that are from there (Maui) but that's it. I will pick a winner using the Randomizer program next Sunday, August 8th.



About the book:

In 1890, Lahaina is in the midst of unrest. Kaiulani, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii, has recently become known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination to restore her nations monarchy. When a Scottish missionary lands on the shores of Lahaina, he finds himself drawn into a revolt by those desirous of annexing the islands to the United States. Will he underestimate Kaiulani, the barbarian princess or can they work together to restore peace to this normally tranquil paradise?

My review:


This "love finds you" title started out pretty slow, so I set it down for several days. It started picking up pace about a third of the way through the book so I kept reading. The more I read, the more I enjoyed it. There were two men trying to win the Princess's heart, which always makes for an interesting story. The fall of her kingdom was disheartening, but historically accurate. She loved her people and wanted to serve them, but the corrupted descendants of former missionaries had decided they wanted to own Hawaii and that wouldn't happen unless the kingdom fell.

There were some nice surprises in this novel. I enjoyed the Princess's free spirit and her torn heart when it came to duty versus her personal life, but duty always won out. The hero was pretty heroic and the one guy I thought was decent turned out to be a scary man. Nice plot twist there. Guess you never really know who to trust if you are royal. That has to be a hard life.

The modern day (if you call 1973 modern) part of the story was heartbreaking, yet beautiful as well. I couldn't imagine waiting five years with my husband "missing in action" to find out if he was alive or dead. Life should go on, or shouldn't it? The guilt the heroine felt at enjoying her life was believable, as was her grieving. I loved this subplot because of how she had to deal with her growing affection for the Hawaiian man. Again, another plot twist at the end of this tale, too.

Overall this was a decent read. Once I got a third of the way through the story I read until I finished the book. There are a lot of historical details in this book - about Hawaii and about Victorian England, because the Princess attends school there for several years. There was a portion of the story when the characters went to see a famous evangelist who traveled England preaching. That scene was believable, too.

This was a heartwarming romance that was heavier on the history and culture than the actual romance, but it was still satisfying enough to make me smile. If you love history, you'll love this story.

A copy of this book was sent to me to review for this book giveaway.




Decent story (more like 3.5 stars)