Thursday, July 23, 2015

BOOK REVIEW-Welcome Reluctant Stranger


Frantic flight, peaceful life. Act of treason on an island country. Cauldron of warring emotions. Exotic beauty, ace with a gun. Geeky hunk with gifts for mockery and cooking. 
Nine-year-old Leilani and her family mysteriously flee their country, leaving her father. Eighteen ears later, her peaceful solitary life ends when she rescues Justin Halverson from thugs and learns her father plotted to kill the murderous Costa Moran president. 
With Justin, she returns to smuggle her father quietly out of Costa Mora, where she reconnects with her roots. But can she forgive her father, accept him for who he is? Can she finally be at peace with who she is?   AMAZON

First thing I wanted to say was that I really liked Leilani.  The author helped make that happen right off the bat by introducing you to her when she was a young child.  At least that's the way I saw it.  You see her as a young, sheltered girl, protected from what was even going on in her own country. 
Until the fateful day that her Mama` unexpectedly shows up at her Catholic private school.   Then without explanation, they race to the airport with the rest of her family.  No one knows the fate of her father at that time because he doesn't make it out of the country with them.   I like the unusual way that Leilani meets Justin, making her the "hero" of the piece.  This is also were Leilani meets Justin's sister and her husband.  They were a sweet addition to the story, I enjoyed them as well and wondered what their full story was.  Justin had his own drama that he is going through.  He needs to heal from the situation that  put him in a situation where he needed to be rescued. And also some physical healing from the attack.  I liked this book, the pace was pretty good, except for a few places where it seemed to bog down a bit but not enough for me to stop reading.  Both Justin and Leilani found themselves attracted to each other but there were concerns that maybe things were moving too fast.  Leilani was fighting that attraction but Justin, not so much.  It was cute how Leilani said it was hard for her to have fun and Justin just knew how to bring humor to so many situations.  Their interplay was sweet.  She found that although he kidded about things, he was also kind and compassionate too.     There is the ongoing thread about her father and more information about him is released slowly with a twist or two towards the end of the book.  
 I really like the picture for the cover of this book.  It was attractive and felt like it fit.  



I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

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