Acquired Book By: Whilst speaking with Ms Stewart about being a guest on @SatBookChat in the New Year of 2021 (as our conversation was in late 2020) – I realised there was a whole collection of stories by her I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading! The first series which charmed my heart was Butterfly Harbour – which we happily discussed during #SatBookChat in January, 2021 and it is the series I am continuing to read throughout 2023. At the time, she mentioned to me she also writes for Harlequin’s Romantic Suspense and I was quite curious about those stories as I regularly read their Love Inspired Suspense novels. The key difference between the two is Love Inspired is their faith-based imprint and the Romantic Suspense stories are Contemporary and mainstream. I tend to be a hybrid reader of both mainstream and faith-based markets which is why I was keen on reading her Romantic Suspense releases.
I am a member of her Review Team (as you will see the badge I created at the bottom of this review) and I am thankful I have the opportunity to be clued into her new releases and series, as they become published and available to read. I will be continuing to read her Heartwarming and Contemporary Suspense releases via Harlequin as a Review Team member, too.
I received a complimentary copy of “Their Surprise Island Wedding” direct from the author Anna J. Stewart in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
NOTE: All the Press Materials for this series (Hawaiian Reunions) were provided by the author, Ms Stewart for use on my blog. 
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
You might recognise the author I am reading (ie. Anna J. Stewart) as I first became introduced to her style of storycrafting whilst reading the #BlackwellBrothers series via Harlequin Heartwarming! Whilst continuing to get to know her further through her guest appearances on @SatBookChat (the Saturday chat I’ve hosted since 2014 celebrating Romance, Women’s Fiction & Feminist Lit and of which is on sabbatical). You’ll find me reading selections from her Romantic Suspense stories for Harlequin as well as her wicked lovely series ‘Butterfly Harbour’ which is a celebration of family, community and new beginnings!
In recent years, you will have found reviews of the following novels
featured on Jorie Loves A Story:
Undercover Heat and Colton on the Run
Gone in the Night, Guarding His Midnight Witness and Recipe for Redemption
as well as: Her Island Homecoming
Settling into a Heartwarming novel felt like the right choice for me. Whenever I pick up one of these lovelies, I feel as if I can just soak into a story, relax into the lives of the characters and settle the chaos for a bit. We all need those moments to ourselves where we can just find ways to decompress and find what can relax us outside of work and life’s commitments.
One of the hardest things to reconcile about returning to Nalani for me was to emotionally put aside what happened to Hawaii IRL. As the fires in Hawaii erased an entire towne and caused so much heartache and devastation. My heart was already anchoured to Hawaii through the first novel in this series Her Island Homecoming – both through reading the story itself and through recounting my experiences with the characters, on my blog and in IRL with conversations with my Mum. Part of me couldn’t find a way to get past the news coming out of Hawaii (post-fire) and find a path back into being in the right mindset to resume reading the series. Thereby, I set the book aside and hoped I could reconcile what happened and find my joy again in reading the series which gave me such an uplift as a reader and as a blogger. Sometimes real life can affect how and what we choose to read, and, in this instance, my heart was just full of emotional anguish and grief for those people who survived the horrific whilst my sympathies were extended to those who perished.
And, of course, right when my heart and mind were re-aligning together to emerge back into a beloved series like this one, my work life became quite taxing and with the extra hours I was picking up, I found myself unable to unwind into a book, as I was genuinely too exhausted to do anything else than catch-up on some much-needed rest and sleep. Thereby, this review was meant to be read and reviewed closer to when I received it as I was so happy about the books I received around Christmas by this author – but I had to carry it over into the New Year. A lot of my absences online and on my blog were due to needing Progressive glasses which blessedly has also been resolved as I now have two pairs of glasses: a main pair of Progressives and a pair of readers, which in effect is changing my life! I spoke about this during the last couple of Sunday Posts, as well.
Around March/April, I felt I could finally start to resume reading, blogging, reviewing and becoming more active on #bookstagram as I had put in the groundwork towards that goal in late Autumn. However, Spring proved to be a bit more than Mum and I had expected. Our car needed repairs in March and by April we both fell horridly ill and I had to take nearly a full week off from both my jobs and resume working before I was fully recovered as I couldn’t afford to lose any more hours at either of them. I barely remember April as a result. By May, I was recovered but it was a month where my Dad had more bad days than good. It was also the month of my parents’ milestone anniversary and it just proved to be a hard ending to Spring.
This lovely review and the times in which I spent reading the book – marks my return to Jorie Loves A Story and regular posts arriving each month throughout the course of 2024! I might have had a rocky start to 2024, but I am hopeful this year provides me a new passageway back into reading but also, a joyful respite from work and a continuing adventure into seeking out the stories which are calling me to read them. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ruminations as always as much as I look forward to aligning myself back into series by favourite authors across genres of interest and in finding my route through literature during my 11th year as a book blogger! My 10th year might not have been the best, but I have a wicked good feeling this year will be on that will be bookishly delightful in both stories and memories alike – here’s to a lovely New Year of reads for us all.
Meanwhile, I have a lot of anticipation of excitement for this series because of the lovely way in which Ms Stewart has started to set-up the background on the characters but also, the series overall – as she’s opened a few doors that can be explored later and there are plenty of characters of whom I’d love to see continued to become developed and have stories of their own! That’s the bigger blessing with stories of this nature – you get to re-find reasons why the series renews your joy and your own curiosities about what happens after you finish each installment!
Join me as I journey back into the Hawaiian Reunions series
and let’s see what we shall find together!
Their Surprise Island Wedding
Subtitle: Hawaiian Reunions : Book Two
by Ms Anna J. Stewart
Source: Author Review Team
Could her fake boyfriend be her true love?
Her sister’s Hawaiian dream wedding is a nightmare for water-phobic, workaholic Marella Benoit—especially when a breakup leaves her without a plus-one. Laid-back surfer Keane Harper is a sun-bronzed distraction. From stargazing to zip-lining to snorkeling with manta rays, Keane is showing the big-city girl how to have fun. And posing as her boyfriend for the wedding may be the adventure of a lifetime—together!
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1335475466
Also by this author: Undercover Heat, Colton on the Run, Gone in the Night, Recipe for Redemption, Guarding His Midnight Witness, Her Island Homecoming, Prison Break Hostage
Published by Harlequin Heartwarming
on 26th September, 2023
Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)
Pages: 384
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
The Hawaiian Reunions series:
Her Island Homecoming (book one) | (see also Review)
*features Sydney and Theo and a cheekily scene stealing gecko!
Their Surprise Island Wedding (book two)
*features Keane, the surfer who returned to Nalani in book one!
A Surprise Second Chance (book three)
*features Daphne and Griffin!
A Hawaiian Christmas Romance (book four)
→ a forthcoming release on Christmas Eve, 2024!
*features Wyatt and Tehani!
View the list and keep tabs on this series via Fantastic Fiction!
Converse via: #ContemporaryRomance and #HawaiianReunionSeries
as well as #HarlequinHeartwarming
Her Island Homecoming
The Girl in the Painting
The Paris Dressmaker
The Vanishing at Loxby Manor