Alice's Review: Aloha Rose

Summary:  When Laney Carrigan sets out to find her birth family, her only clue is the Hawaiian quilt—a red rose snowflake appliquéd on a white background—in which she was found wrapped as an infant. Centering her search on the Big Island and battling fears of rejection, Laney begins a painstaking journey toward her true heritage. Kai Barnes, however, is determined to protect the people he’s come to regard as family. He thinks Laney is nothing more than a gold digger and blocks every move she makes toward her Hawaiian family. As their conflict escalates, it puts at risk the one thing that Kai and Laney both want most—a family. ~blurb

Review:  I picked this novel from NetGalley because I have a fascination (bordering on obsession) with Hawaii.  It is a place I have never visited yet know that in my heart of hearts I will one day live.  Everything I have seen or read about it cements that resolve.  It is paradise, and yes I know it is very expensive.  Aloha Rose is my first venture into Hawaiian fiction. I was looking forward to seeing if the sense of family or ohana translated on the pages.  One thing I did not anticipate was the darkness.  Aloha Rose touched on a lot of subjects that went beyond the typical boy meets girl romance novel fodder.  It deals with adoption, the death of a parent, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.  This is definitely not a light-hearted, feel-good story.

We spend a lot of time with Laney, who traveled to Hawaii in search of her birth mother to fulfill the dying wish of her adoptive mother.  This journey is one Laney does not want to take.  As someone accustomed to running and avoiding, she’s ill-equipped to handling this. 

I liked Laney.  At times she was stubborn to the point of frustration.  Kai was no prize either.  Would it have killed the man to be open about his feeling just once?  Sheesh.  I didn’t particularly feel a great love between them, but the lack of actual romance was okay with me because it was the depth of the subplots that really carried this story. 

Aloha Rose is Christian Fiction.  I have a confession.  If I had known that before hand, I know I would not have read it.  Ms. Carter did a wonderful job of encompassing faith into the novel without having Christianity being the first thing that jumps out at you.  There were parts in Aloha Rose that were a little bit hard from me to read, but that is strictly because of my (lack of) faith lately.  Her words struck a chord, my eyes welled with tears and I felt that burning in my chest.   It was a reminder of what I have been missing. 

Overall, I enjoyed this novel.  It teaches us that ohana, ho’oponopono (forgiveness) and love are everything.  Mahalo.

Final Take:  3/5
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Julie's Review: Grounded

Summary: New York City flight attendant Annie Taylor is grounded, putting a halt to weekends in Rome and her jet-setting lifestyle. Soon her noncommittal boyfriends true nature is revealed, and to top it all off, she loses her apartment. With nowhere else to go, Annie leaves the city for the family farm in Kentucky, a place shes avoided for years. She finds a shotgun-wielding grandmother, a farm in disrepair, and a suspicious stranger renting the old stone house. The country quiet haunts Annie with reminders of a past that cant be changed. She tries persuading her grandmother to sell the farm, but is met with stubborn refusal? Yet in the midst of her crashing life, Annie sees a glimmer of hope for a second chance. Jake Wilder is contemplating jumping off the corporate ladder to follow his passion for sustainable farming. Hes almost ready to propose to Camille, a girl who wants more, not less. Annie believes Jake is about to make a terrible mistake, but does she have the right to tell him? As the summer heats up, so do Annie's unexpected feelings for Jake and her interest in the land. When a sudden phone call comes from New York, Annie is forced to choose between coming to terms with her past or leaving it all behind. ~powells.com

Review: What I really enjoyed about Grounded is that it showed me that while you might think you want something different than what you grew up with, you end up finding out that most of the time, you don't. This is what happens to Annie on her journey of discovery. Annie is easy to like. She's level-headed, has great friends and makes bad choices in men. This is what makes her identifiable to the reader. We've all been there and done that at some point.

As Annie joins her Grandmother back in Kentucky at the family farm, she realizes that she doesn't mind the hard work and that she's actually pretty good at it.  While helping her Grandmother recover from knee surgery, Annie finds that she and her Grandmother have a lot in common and don't need the buffer of her grandfather to get along.

I wish that Ms. Correll had spent more time on how sustainable living works. I like the concept and wanted to hear more about how Jake was going to make it work. I think all of us could contribute a little even if it's just by visiting and buying from your local farmers market. My mom is great at doing this, but I need to get better.

I think it's fair to also say that if you don't like any kind of religion in your reading, then Grounded may not be the novel for you. Personally, I think it fit well into the novel and wasn't preachy. It went along with what Ms. Correll was trying to convey in the novel, which is sometimes faith, family and a simple life are all you truly need in life.

I enjoyed Grounded and thought it might have been more "chick-lit" than it ended up being.

Final Take:  3.75/5

Thanks to Amy Bromberg for sending me a copy of this novel.

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Alice's Review: Remembering You

Summary:  35-year-old Ava Andrews' dream job is interrupted by an unusual request, fulfill her 84-year-old grandfather's last wish by joining him on a battle site tour of Europe. Ava is sure her boss will refuse her request. But, instead, he gives her a directive of his own, to videotape the tour and send it back as mini-segments for the show she produces.

As if juggling these two things isn't hard enough, Ava is soon surprised again ... twice. First, Ava and Grandpa Jack arrive in Europe, only to discover the tour is cancelled. Unwilling to let down her grandfather or her boss, Ava and Grandpa Jack head out on their own. Then, while they're on their way, the pair soon meet up with Paul, her grandpa's best friend, and his grandson Dennis. The same Dennis who just happens to be Ava's first love.

Before she knows it, Ava and Dennis are swept down memory lane as they visit the sites that are discussed in the history books. And even though Ava's videotaping old soldiers, she can see their youth, their hopes and fears, and their pride in their eyes. Soon Ava learns the trip isn't just for them ... it's for her too, especially for her heart.

Review:  Remembering You is a sweet and powerful story about a woman’s journey through remembrance of her grandfather’s World War II experience. I am a bit of a World War II buff. I love reading stories, fact or fictional, set during that time. What starts as a way to get closer to her grandfather while resurrecting her career, becomes a journey of love and the rekindling of faith for Ava.

I enjoyed this novel very much. The highlights for me are Grandpa Jack and Grand-Paul. I believe Ms. Goyer did an excellent job in embracing both characters in a very realistic way. They could be anyone’s grandfather. A part of me wishes they were mine. I enjoyed their camaraderie, it was very believable. I loved that their friendship stood the test of time and distance. There was a bit of humor in Grand-Paul. Of the two, he was the one with more spunk while Grandpa Jack was the more thoughtful one.

I enjoyed the journey the four main characters, Ava and her Grandpa Jack along with Grand-Paul and his grandson Dennis, who just so happened to be Ava’s first love. I got a real sense of the emotion building between the grandfathers especially during their travel from Paris to the Concentration Camp in Mauthausen, Austria. Ms. Goyer interviewed countless Veterans of WWII and her research shows. There is an authentic feel to her writing. There were times I had to remind myself this was fiction.

Sadly the lowlights of Remembering You were Ava and Dennis. I thoroughly enjoyed their backstory and the hint of a possible romance. What I did not enjoy were the characters themselves. In the beginning, Ava was too self-centered and a bit whiney. Dennis was a little too self-righteous for my taste. I don’t want to seem too harsh with them, both had redeeming factors that made me root for them in the end.

Ms. Goyer is an incredibly gifted writer. There were quite a few morsels of goodness in this novel. My favorite was this:
“Ava could picture that. She felt the same way. Not looking back because of the pain. Afraid to look ahead. Maybe she was just watching her feet too.”

I think that captured the essence of who Ava was at the moment her journey started. I could relate to it because I’m just watching my feel. The hope of this novel is that Ava does begin to look ahead. And what a journey it is.

Final Take: 4/5

Jenn's Review: The Gnostic Mystery

Summary: An ancient mystery in todays Middle East... Jack Staunton, an American businessman, makes a pilgrimage to war-torn Israel in hopes of rekindling his Christian faith. While traveling with his friend Punjeeh, an ER doctor from Jerusalem, Jack acquires an ancient scroll written by the Gnostics, a mystical group of early Christians, and his spiritual quest takes an unexpected turn. The scroll makes the startling claims that the Gnostics were the original followers of Jesus, and that they retained secret knowledge of Jesus that was not included in the Bible. With the help of the ingenious Chloe Eisenberg, a professor of Philosophy and Religion, Jack and Punjeeh navigate the dangerous terrain of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in an attempt to decipher the puzzle of the scroll and bring the Gnostics revelations about Jesus to light. Threaded with the searing realities of today's Middle East, The Gnostic Mystery is packed with historical facts about the Christian religion. The thrilling mystery makes a compelling case that the origins of Christianity are far different than we believed... until now.

Review: I had a hard time deciding what to label this book, as there really isn't a lot of mystery. This book is a history lesson thinly dressed with a story. If you have never delved into the history of Christianity, this book is for you. This is a quick read of a very condensed history and it's incredibly interesting. If, you are well versed in the origins of the religion, I must tell you there is nothing new here. I do appreciate his views on conflict(s) caused by religion; here he makes several valid points, reminding me of one of my favorite quotes:

"At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political ideas."~ Aldous Huxley

However, while I appreciate Mr. Davila's attempt to convey the information in a highly accessible manner, I was disappointed that he couldn't bring more excitement and mystery to the fictional story that surrounds it. Perhaps he didn't want to detract from the history lesson, in which case, maybe he should stick to non-fiction.

Final Take 3.0/5

Jenn's Review: Nothing But Trouble

Summary: PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:

After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that’s become her life, she needs a fresh start.

The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister’s wedding is Boone—her former flame and the reason she left town.

Her best friend’s husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg, Minnesota, has seen in more than a decade.

What PJ doesn’t know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she’ll uncover much more than she bargained for—a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she’s been longing for.

Review: I received this as a LibraryThing Early Review. In all fairness to all parties, and as you can plainly see above, there is no reference to the fact that Susan May Warren is a Christian Lit author in the LibraryThing blurb. If there had been, I never would have requested to review the book. Not that I have anything against Christianity or any other religion, for that matter, (I just don't like points of view, religious or political, being forced on me) and I'm certainly not here to spark a religious debate. However a review is only as strong as the reviewer's point of view, so here goes.


The phrase "That was before I was Christian," is tossed around in this novel by several characters in an attempt to excuse everything from Grand Larceny to refusing to date someone. This type of blanket moral escapism infuriates me. Being Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, etc. makes you who you are, but it doesn't automatically make you a better person. It doesn't excuse past wrongs and it doesn't preclude a person from making mistakes in the future. There is no celestial delete key. PJ also credits surrendering to Jesus with her dumb-luck in solving the case and nearly getting herself, her nephew, and her friends killed in the process. Actually the only times that PJ turns to prayer in the book are in passing and it seems purely self-serving. I could have looked beyond all of it if it didn't seem so forced into the story. It almost feels like the author went back and added it as an afterthought.

Religion aside, neither the plot nor the characters have much depth. I had a hard time finding likable character. PJ's mother is supposed to be a hard woman with soft heart but she's so flat as a character that it just comes off as inconsistent writing. Her sister is too busy creating her own perfect career and marriage to pay any heed to her attention starved toddler; she just uses PJ. Boone, her high school sweetheart, wants her back but won't trust her and completely dismisses her opinions. PJ herself seems to be a 10¢ knock off of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, with none of the humor or charm. She has a bad-girl reputation she didn't earn and is really just a drifter who ran from her problems and never grew up.

The plot is far fetched, at best. (Who goes to a shooting range on a date?!? Oh, wait, it was just a rather obvious plot device.) In the end, PJ is hired by a detective agency, but for the life of me, I don't know why. (At least with Stephanie Plum, the fact that she still has a job makes sense; Vinnie is (blackmailed) family and Ranger finds her amusing.) And PJ's country club privileges are restored... because that's what's important, right?

If you're looking for a Christian Stephanie Plum with no personality, this is the book for you.

Final Take: 1/5