Tag: Hawaiian Reunions series

#TheSundayPost | XXII | Wickedly delighted for this lovely #bookpost from Anna J. Stewart!

Posted Sunday, 13 April, 2025 by jorielov A Cowgirl on His Doorstep, A Hawaiian Christmas Romance, A Surprise Second Chance, Anna J. Stewart, Arctic Pursuit, Blackwell Belles series, Coltons of Owl Creek series, Half Life Empire, Hawaiian Reunions series, Hunting Colton's Witness, McKenna Code series, Shami Stovall, Susan Lanigan, White Feathers 0 Comments

[Official Blurb] The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books.. share them!

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Read this week’s #TheSundayPost!

Happy Spring, dear hearts!

I’m hopeful for a renewal of reading this season,

and lots of wicked good stories on the horizon for me to read!

Jorie’s life behind the blog:

The *best!* moment I was able to share over the past week was celebrating my 12th Blogoversary – which manifested itself through a variety of posts – both on Jorie Loves A Story and on my #bookstagram posts via @joriestory3. The first post on Insta was simply announcing the blogoversary itself and acknowledging the last *12!* years I’ve been book blogging and socially bookish online. Whilst the second post was a BIG reveal of what I purchased as part of the celebration of the milestone 12th Year whilst getting a firm start on my plans to focus on serial fiction throughout 2025! It was one of the goals I revealled on the third post on Insta which was a ‘fond farewell’ to (2024) as well as a nod to my Cuppa Book Love Awards for (2024).

I had intended to read more this past week – however, the last few weeks have been emotionally over the top for Mum and I. As we’re navigating the current medical issues of my father’s whilst sorting out what the next steps are in his care plan. I had a lot of days where I was just too exhausted (mentally, physically and emotionally) to do much past eat a bit of dinner and watch some tv just to ‘relax’ and ‘unwind’ after a long day of working two separate shifts. The stories I knew would wait for me to return to them as I just didn’t have the capacity to soak into their worlds at that point in time.

I am hopeful as I can rest today and on Tuesday, I will be a bit more rejuvenated overall. There are still a lot of uncertainties about my Dad, but we knew that one day our lives were going to grow more complicated because of his medical issues eventually. Blessedly, my Dad is in good spirits despite what is going on and he still retains his humour which is something that gave us a good laugh when we were with him. Humour is the best medicine in life. As we navigate this new path in our lives, we’re simply taking it one day at a time and one week at a time. It is hard to look too far ahead right now and we’re simply thankful for the times we have with him. If it turns out this is our final season with Dad we’ll be there for each other and walk through the grief of his loss together. So far, we haven’t heard the results of the doctor’s enquiries into his health and medical issues – as for whichever reason we’ve been told that could take longer than we’d expect it too. *le sigh*

For now, we have a reprieve and we’re taking it day to day. It is all we can do.

In regard to my blog and readerly life:

I also missed a lot of the announcements being revealled for #WyrdAndWonder’s 7th Year – which is something I will be rectifying this week. My lovely co-hosts have been featuring their announcements in my absence whilst we’ve been happily planning out our theme: Nautical Fantasy which will be celebrated in a variety of ways this May.

Ari has a lovely Intro to Year 7 which also talks our buddy reads and book club pick
Annemieke has a great round-up of all things Wyrd And Wonder
Lisa happily announced our Nautical Fantasy Wyrd And Wonder
Imyril helps you chart your course into our 7th Year

I’ve been preplanning what I want to do this year and although, Nautical Fantasy interests me greatly – I only picked a handful of selections to read per the theme this year, as other stories of Fantasy are calling to me a bit more which I’ll be focusing on throughout the month. I look forward to sharing what those choices are and which stories I started last year (either during May or October, for #SpooktasticReads) which have made the cut to be finished this May, too.

Aside from the JOYS of Wyrd And Wonder, I’ve been having some wicked good #bookpost of late and I am happy to share the latest stories I’ve received from Ms Anna J. Stewart. She writes the Harlequin Heartwarming series Hawaiian Reunions and the Harlequin Romantic Suspense series Honour Bound – both of which I am in the process of reading. Some of those stories have already been featured on Jorie Loves A Story, too! Whilst she has a new series which picks up after Honour Bound, too.

Posted Sunday, 13 April, 2025 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, The Sunday Post

A Romantic Summer | celebrating the novel: “Their Surprise Island Wedding” (Hawaiian Reunions series, Book Two) by Anna J. Stewart

Posted Tuesday, 25 June, 2024 by jorielov Anna J. Stewart, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, HarperCollins Publishers, Hawaiian Reunions series, Their Surprise Island Wedding 0 Comments

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!

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Romance Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

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

Posted Tuesday, 25 June, 2024 by jorielov in #RomanceTuesdays, 21st Century, Book Review (non-blog tour), Contemporary Romance, Geographically Specific, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Life Shift, Modern Day, Post-911 (11th September 2001), Romance Fiction, Small Towne Fiction, Small Towne USA

#RomanceTuesdays feat. Harlequin Heartwarming | “Her Island Homecoming” (Hawaiian Reunions series, Book One) by Anna J. Stewart

Posted Tuesday, 18 July, 2023 by jorielov Anna J. Stewart, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, HarperCollins Publishers, Hawaiian Reunions series, Her Island Homecoming 0 Comments

I received a complimentary copy of “Her Island Homecoming” 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). 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

And, this Summer, I am returning to her novels as I re-establish where I am within the Honour Bound series and Butterfly Harbour whilst beginning my journey into this NEW series: Hawaiian Reunions. I am also going to be dipping back into the Blackwell stories as well as there are more than one series of the Blackwells available, and I haven’t had the chance to properly finish the last two series about them. I am overjoyed their stories continue to enter our lives as I was so dearly attached to the first one (ie. Return of the Blackwell Brothers) and look forward to new memories and reactions as I continue to proceed inside the series which follow suit.

Betwixt the angst of life’s uncertainties, an unplanned relocation and a new job – you could say, I’ve been a bit whisper quiet on Jorie Loves A Story for the last several months! I had been attempting to read this novel for several weeks, especially at the latter half of June when I thought I was going to have a bit more balance in my work life. However, with my new job came a lot of training hours and sometimes, those hours were a bit more intensive than I perceived them to be originally. In essence, it was a lot of commuting and exhaustive hours to where unwinding into a book I wanted to read was pushed aside for much needed rest. As I was still juggling my night job whilst training for my new ‘day’ job. The only good news on that front at least, is the new company I’m working for is paying for mileage for my last two weeks of commuting. I wish it had been retroactive from the beginning but at this point, a little return on the commute is a blessing.

Shifting into July, I had inked out some downtime for myself over the Fourth, only to be greeted by lightning storms and internet outages. Not the best timing for a girl who ached to soak into a novel! It took a bit more time to get another day off in order to continue reading “Her Island Homecoming” and I was especially grateful the day arrived sooner than later! As my training schedules were getting a bit more complicated with delays and re-scheduled transitions, etc. I am hopeful by the close of July my training will conclude, and I will no longer have a long commute as I will be working locally at long last. For now, the joy of being in Nalani rejuvenated my readerly spirit but also, gave me a bit of a ‘holiday’ away from work and the stresses of life. I truly loved being set in this world!

This also marks my return to reading and blogging. I’ve had a lot of unbalances in my life since February and even, further back since last October, 2022. A lot of life has been lived between those months and although, things are starting to get better for my family – it simply has been a long haul to get to this point. I’m grateful to have regular hours at work starting after I shift to working locally as I will know my schedule for day and night shifts and which days, I’ll have off vs the pattern of insanity I’ve been going through with training at my new (day) job. The night job has always remained consistent but it’s the day job I replaced with a new one which has caused the recent strife in my hours.

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. If you’ve been waiting for me to showcase new content, I appreciate your patience. And, if you’ve had a hard-won year this 2023, I hope you’ll find some peace soon in a story that lets you take a step out of your everyday and just soak into something uplifting and renewing like this novel has been doing for me.

Her Island Homecoming
Subtitle: Hawaiian Reunions : Book One
by Ms Anna J. Stewart
Source: Author Review Team

Will he stay too?

From sand in his shoes to a gecko eating his dinner, Theo Fairfax is way outside his comfort zone in Hawai'i. Sent to convince pilot Sydney Calvert to sell the tour company she just inherited, he finds himself being won over by the tight-knit community, the natural wonders and Sydney’s free-spirited beauty. Could exploring their growing feelings lead to a future as magical as a tropical sunset?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Romance Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1335584984

Also by this author: Undercover Heat, Colton on the Run, Gone in the Night, Recipe for Redemption, Guarding His Midnight Witness, Their Surprise Island Wedding, Prison Break Hostage

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 23rd May, 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)