A strength of the Quilts of Love series is the uniqueness of each quilt, the meaning behind it, and the love of family it symbolizes. In Aloha Rose, Lisa Carter uses the beautiful Lokelani quilt to guide Laney to her birth family in Hawaii, and blends exotic setting with appealing storyline to create an interesting read overall.
Lisa very effectively conveyed the setting and flavor of Hawaii through such images as erupting volcano, rain forest, rainbow, waterfalls, dancing the hula. I was also drawn to the secondary characters of Laney's family and they way they supported each other - welcoming Laney unreservedly, making a memory book of major events and people for Laney's grandmother who had Alzheimers, Teah passing on a family tradition by teaching Laney to quilt.
Several characters are introduced at the beginning, which was a little confusing, but they quickly become familiar and the narrative really picks up about halfway through, along with a couple of surprise twists that readers will love.
Kai suffers from PTSD, and both he and Laney have emotional issues that they have worked to hide. Teah points out to Laney: "You and Kai are a lot alike. High walls. Self-protective barriers between you and the rest of the world."
The main negative for me was that, while Laney and Kai have great chemistry from the very beginning, their romance was my least favorite part, as I missed seeing their relationship move beyond surface attraction to a deeper level. And I'd like to see less character monologues where they keep mulling over their thoughts. Still, Aloha Rose is a good story overall and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I loved the heartwarming ending and think this is a novel many inspirational romance fans will enjoy.
This book was provided by Litfuse Publicity and Abingdon Press in exchange for my honest review.
Lisa very effectively conveyed the setting and flavor of Hawaii through such images as erupting volcano, rain forest, rainbow, waterfalls, dancing the hula. I was also drawn to the secondary characters of Laney's family and they way they supported each other - welcoming Laney unreservedly, making a memory book of major events and people for Laney's grandmother who had Alzheimers, Teah passing on a family tradition by teaching Laney to quilt.
Several characters are introduced at the beginning, which was a little confusing, but they quickly become familiar and the narrative really picks up about halfway through, along with a couple of surprise twists that readers will love.
Kai suffers from PTSD, and both he and Laney have emotional issues that they have worked to hide. Teah points out to Laney: "You and Kai are a lot alike. High walls. Self-protective barriers between you and the rest of the world."
The main negative for me was that, while Laney and Kai have great chemistry from the very beginning, their romance was my least favorite part, as I missed seeing their relationship move beyond surface attraction to a deeper level. And I'd like to see less character monologues where they keep mulling over their thoughts. Still, Aloha Rose is a good story overall and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I loved the heartwarming ending and think this is a novel many inspirational romance fans will enjoy.
This book was provided by Litfuse Publicity and Abingdon Press in exchange for my honest review.
