Andrea Laurence

Good friends to lovers story, helped along by an unexpected marriage of convenience. Kal and Lana have been best friends for three years. Lana is the choreographer and a dancer for the hula show at Kal's Maui resort. They spend most of their free time together, except on those occasions when Kal lives up to his reputation as one of the Bishop Bachelors.

When Lana's older sister, Mele, is arrested on drug charges, her six-month-old daughter ends up in foster care. Lana petitions for custody, show more but as a single woman and dancer in the tourist industry, she worries about her success. Lana turns to best friend Kal and proposes a temporary marriage for Akela's sake.

I loved how Kal jumped right in to help. He's a little wary, as marriage has never been in his plans, but it's for Lana and only temporary. I liked his all-in attitude, from the traditional Hawaiian wedding to setting up the perfect nursery. Kal and Lana began the marriage as friends and determined to keep it that way. Neither wants to risk their friendship. However, between taking care of Akela and "playing house," the marriage soon begins to feel all too real. Add in the attraction that neither can deny, and it is obvious that their hands-off vow is in trouble.

Kal was aware of his attraction to Lana early in their friendship but fought it. He has no intention of ever marrying and knows that Lana has those dreams. Kal lost his parents ten years earlier and never wants to open himself up to that kind of pain again. So he limits himself to superficial encounters. Lana is attracted to Kal, but their friendship is too important to her. Besides, a man like him would never be interested that way in a woman from a family like hers.

I loved watching Kal and Lana's relationship grow and change. Before their marriage, Kal was a workaholic who spent more time at his office than at home. But with the arrival of Lana and Akela, suddenly, he had a reason to go home. Spending so much time together, it wasn't long before their attraction got the better of them. Kal was all for enjoying it while it lasted, but Lana is warier. She senses that it would be very easy for her to fall in love with him. I ached for Lana as she was proved right. When it was time for Akela to go back to Mele, that signaled the end of the marriage.

I hurt for Lana, who was brave enough to tell Kal how she felt. I hurt for Kal, too, because he was oblivious to his own feelings for her. I had to laugh when his brother, Mano, showed up at the hotel. Kal's misery rubbed off on his employees, and they called for help. It was fun to see the tables turned, as Mano gave Kal the same advice he had received a few months earlier (The Pregnancy Proposition). Once Kal saw the truth, I loved what he did with it. His big moment at the end was terrific. It's always great to see a strong man willing to put himself out there in public, all for love.

I enjoyed the setting of Maui for this book. The descriptions of the wedding and the dances were vivid and made me feel that I was there. show less

Terrific book. Paige has had a rough few weeks. Her boyfriend dumped her for her prettier sister. Then Paige found out she was pregnant with his baby. To make matters worse, her beloved grandfather died. In his will, her grandfather specified that Paige was the one he designated to take his ashes to Hawaii, to be interred with his shipmates on the Arizona. He even made the arrangements for the trip - first-class flight and luxury accommodations at a Waikiki resort. Paige was stunned to find show more herself in the penthouse suite at the Mau Loa hotel. It is far more than she expected, but so like her grandfather to spoil her that way. On her first night there, she runs into the hotel's owner, Mano Bishop, an incredibly handsome and sexy man who is also blind.

Mano has been blind since an accident when he was a teenager. Despite the challenges, he has become very successful. He rarely leaves the resort property, preferring to remain where he is comfortable and confident in his surroundings. He doesn't do relationships but indulges in flings with hotel guests once or twice a year.

I loved the first meeting between Paige and Mano. She's flustered and embarrassed about her clumsiness and floored by her immediate attraction to him. Mano is intrigued by the woman who isn't like any other woman he's met. Because he can't see, Mano depends on his other senses to learn about the people and things around him. It was fascinating to see the things that made an impression on him. Mano is determined to get to know Paige better and immediately makes arrangements to see her again.

I loved watching the relationship between Paige and Mano develop. Because of her work at a VA hospital, Mano's blindness does not fill her with pity or the need to baby him. She tends to lean the other way, and I enjoyed watching her push him outside his comfort zone. There were so many sweet scenes of their dates where Mano introduces Paige to the beauties and fun of the island. Both agreed at the start that it would only be a one-week fling, with neither expecting their emotions to become involved.

Mano has never forgotten that his high school girlfriend broke things off because she thought he'd be a burden. That feeling has stayed with him, making him determined to avoid any kind of permanent relationship. But Paige works her way past his walls, and he wants longer than a week with her. He doesn't recognize his feelings as love, and can't give her the commitment she needs.

Paige has two issues to overcome. The first is her pregnancy. She can't believe that Mano would be willing to raise another man's child. Paige also has some serious self-esteem issues. She considers herself to be very plain and that Mano wouldn't look twice at her if he could see. I especially loved how Mano saw Paige's inner beauty and worked to convince her of that beauty. I liked how she gained a bit of confidence, thanks to him, and the way it came out during that fantastic pool scene!

I ached for them both when the end of the week came, and neither could admit their feelings or get past their fears. Their parting did not go well, and some hurtful words were exchanged. It was fun to see Mano's grandmother call him out on his moping and give him the kick in the pants he needed. The ending was awesome. Mano's big moment was sweet and romantic, and I loved the reactions all around!

One of my favorite things about the book was the setting. I was born in Honolulu, though we left when I was only a year old. I returned with my husband when he was stationed there, and we lived there for four years. So many things in this book brought back wonderful memories of our time there, from luaus to the hotels on Waikiki to the beautiful beaches of the North Shore. Paige even had my favorite flavor of shave ice - Tiger's Blood! show less

Very good book with some fun parts and some deeply emotional ones. Natalie is a wedding planner who is excellent at her job, but doesn't believe that love really exists. She has seen too many marriages fail, including those of her own parents. In her opinion it is all hormones and doesn't last. Lust is fine - indulge and move on. When she sees Colin again she would love a chance to fulfill her teenage fantasies with him.

Colin is just as attracted to her. The problem for him is that he isn't show more into casual flings any longer. He is looking for the woman that he can build a future with, and he can see Natalie in that role. He can't believe that she is so anti-marriage. He had been married once before, to another woman who hadn't wanted marriage, but he had convinced her. He didn't intend to do that again.

So, though the attraction is there, they agree to be just friends as they work together to give Colin's sister the best wedding possible. The whole wedding planning was very strange. Colin was determined to give his sister Lily a dream wedding, and didn't understand why she was so uninterested in being part of the planning, leaving it all in Colin's hands. It was very interesting to see the way that he ended up just going with so many of Natalie's recommendations.

Another thing that surprises Colin about Natalie is her anti-Christmas attitude. Once he finds out why, he understands, but he's determined to change that. He bets her that she will like Christmas by his sister's wedding or he will buy her tickets for a trip to South America. I loved the way he started out slow, but began to up his game bit by bit. It was fun to see her build new and better Christmas memories thanks to Colin.

Spending as much time together as they do, their attraction soon overwhelms their vow to stick to friendship. Both of them discover that their connection is deeper than just the physical, but what they do with that knowledge is an indication of their own personalities. Colin wants to believe that now that love has entered the picture, Natalie's opinion of marriage will change. Meanwhile, Natalie is afraid of the feelings Colin has raised in her, and that like the others she has seen, won't last, leaving her heartbroken in the end.

Colin made big plans to show Natalie how he felt, and they went quite well until that moment at the Grand Old Opry. Then he went too far, and I hurt for both him and Natalie. Natalie was too afraid to trust her feelings and his, and the only thing she could do was run.

They still had to face each other for the rehearsal and wedding for Colin's sister. While standing in for the bride at the rehearsal, Natalie finally begins to face her fears and realize what she really wants, but getting Colin to listen is a whole different problem. When it came time for the wedding, I wasn't at all surprised by what Lily did. I loved Natalie's big moment, and how she dealt with the wedding crisis. I saw it coming, but that didn't make it any less romantic.

I loved the epilogue and seeing where all four couples are a year later. It was an excellent wrap up to the series. show less

Good second chance story for a couple torn apart by infertility issues and pride. Scarlet and Mason had had a terrific marriage until the stresses of starting a family became too much for them. Just weeks away from divorce, Mason has come to Scarlet for help. His sister-in-law has died in a crash, and his brother is dying, leaving Mason to care for their baby girl. Jay doesn't know about the impending divorce, so Mason wants Scarlet to pretend everything is fine for Jay's final days.

This was show more an emotional roller coaster of a book. Scarlet has finally begun to adjust to Mason's absence and the end of their marriage. She had been blindsided by Mason's request for a divorce. She hasn't stopped loving him. Scarlet still hurts over the loss of the baby they'd adopted, whose birth mother decided she wanted him back. When Mason asks for her help, she is reluctant because she doesn't want to go through the pain of losing him again after the charade is over. She is also determined not to let herself get attached to baby Luna. I completely understood Scarlet's viewpoint. She had been through a lot and was simply trying to protect herself. I also knew that there was no way she was going to be able to resist Luna. I ached for her as she confronted her memories in the nursery and smiled as she overcame them.

Mason frustrated me for a good part of the book. Thanks to the unreasonable expectations of his father, Mason grew up expecting perfection of himself. When things aren’t going the way he expects them to; he tends to cut his losses and move on. While this may work in his business, in his personal life it has been a disaster. Mason blames himself for their lack of a family, decided that Scarlet would be better off without him, and asked for a divorce, all without actually talking to her to see what she wanted.

From the moment Mason and Luna moved in it was obvious that his and Scarlet's feelings for each other were as strong as ever, but so were their fears. Scarlet tried desperately to keep both Mason and Luna at a distance, but it was a losing battle. It didn't take long before both Scarlet and Mason started feeling hopeful about the future, but a part of each of them was also wary. Scarlet feared that if things got rough again, he would revert to his cut and run ways. I liked the way that she confronted Mason early on and explained her problem with him. Though he promised he wouldn't do it again, Scarlet had trouble trusting him. Mason still has bouts of self-doubt and can't believe that Scarlet will really be happy with him. Things are looking very promising for them until Jay's death. Mason has a hard time dealing with the loss of his brother and the guilty feelings brought on by what he sees as his happiness at his brother's expense and withdraws into himself. With Scarlet's fears of history repeating itself it doesn't take much to push her over the edge to a confrontation with Mason. I ached for the misery that they inflicted on themselves. I loved that it was hearing Jay's voice in a dream that finally pushed Mason into realizing the truth: "Climb down from the cross, Mason. We don't need another martyr in this family." I loved his big moment at the end and the way that he showed Scarlet the depth of his feelings. The epilogue had an unexpected and heartwarming twist to it. show less