Celebrating the Seventh Anniversary of SOS Aloha

Aloha!  Today is the 7th anniversary of my blog!  I created SOS Aloha six months after moving to Pearl Harbor - it became a means for me to remain connected to Romance Land!  I thank Mary Gramlich, the Reading Reviewer, for encouraging me then - and now - to find my own voice. I also appreciate the endless support offered by romance authors Anne Elizabeth and Cathy Maxwell.  I was honored that Pamela Clare asked me to review BREAKING POINT - my first full length review on SOS Aloha (link).    

I would not be here without the readers, too!  I still correspond with some of my first followers - Dani, Jane, Debby, Gale, and many more.

To celebrate my blog anniversary, I recommend books and films from my beloved Hawaii ...

Kauai, the Garden Isle, is home of romance author Jill Marie Landis, who gives readers a taste of Kauai life in MAI TAI ONE ON, Book 1 (of 4) in the Tiki Goddess Mystery series. Read my review here.  Also check out her novella, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, at this link.

Oahu, the Gathering Place, served as the backdrop for independent film, THE RIDE:

When cocky, young surfing champion David Monroe wipes out on a big wave, he slips back in time to 1911 Hawai`i. Washing up on Waikiki beach, he discovers the true spirit of surfing when he is befriended by a young Hawaiian beachboy not yet known to the world - the future Olympic and surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku.
THE RIDE is a nostalgic escape into surfing, a coming of age for a cocky surfer, and a romance across time.  Rent it from Netflix at this link.  I also recommend THE DESCENDANTS with George Clooney and PRINCESS KAIULANI with Q'orianka Kilcher - both are set on Oahu and refer to Hawaiian royalty.

UH Professor Chip Hughes launched the Surfing Detective mystery series with MURDER ON MOLOKA'I - read my review at this link.   I've enjoyed the other books in the series - WIPEOUT (Oahu), KULA (Maui), and MURDER AT VOLCANO HOUSE (Big Island of Hawaii).

Dee DeTarsio takes readers on a wild ride when a weather girl returns home to Maui, the Valley Isle, in HAOLE WOOD.  No sooner does Jaswinder bail out her grandmother for pakalolo (marijuana) than she finds herself becoming a suspect in an island murder.  Aided by oversized guardian angel who loves ketchup, Jaswinder soon learns that home was always in her heart. Check out my review at this link.

On the other side of Maui, Gina Robinson exploits every tourist trap and spy stereotype in THE SPY WHO LEFT ME.  Check out my review at this link.

The Big Island of Hawaii offers a diverse landscape, from snowy mountain top to black sand beaches.  In between are the ranches where paniolo - cowboys - are kings. Enter Shana Gray with COWBOY IN PARADISE, released earlier this week.  It is next in my TBR pile - review to come!

Hawaii's ninth island is ... Las Vegas!  Sin City is the No. 1 vacation destination for Hawaiians ... and home of a mini statue of King Kamehameha along the Strip.  Lori Wilde rolls the dice in LICENSED TO THRILL,

Wilde's fast-paced, steamy, and humorous novel follows beautiful, wisecracking Las Vegas P.I. Charlee Champagne, hired by uptight banker Mason Gentry to find his grandfather, who's on the lam with the family fortune. 

I read LICENSED TO THRILL long before I posted reviews on my blog ... so I will have to reread to share my thoughts on this laugh out loud romantic comedy with you!

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. What were you doing seven years ago?  Can you recommend any books or films from Hawaii or Las Vegas?  

2. Comments are open through Sunday, March 5, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Monday, March 6.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to Dee DeTarsio and GINGER KRINKLES - Book Review with cookie recipe!

Ginger Krinkles is crossing her fingers that this holiday season will be extra special, for once. She lost her job in San Diego and dreads moving back home to Ennui, Ohio, where she’s convinced she will end up like her mean ol’ grandmother (God rest her soul). Ginger has always been a holiday-hater. But she has a secret. Make that two. If you buy the first one, maybe it will be easier to unwrap the second: either Ginger is an elf, or there really is magic to be found in an old cookie recipe.

Dee DeTarsio is a TV writer living in southern California. After growing up in Ennui, Ohio, and graduating from The Ohio State University, she vowed never to be cold again (in a tantrum more worthy of Suellen than Scarlett) and ended up in Tucson, Arizona, producing the news for the CBS affiliate, oddly enough called KOLD-TV. She moved to San Diego where she worked in the SeaWorld entertainment department as a producer/writer.  She then became a producer/writer for the NBC affiliate.

Ginger Krinkles, the heroine, is a hot mess.  Recently fired from her PR job, she now works part time for her former boyfriend in his food truck, TOOD FRUCK - Good Food with Attitude.   Ginger dislikes the holiday season - the result of endless teasing for her Santa-esque moniker by her older siblings with "normal" names.  She finds herself wondering if she is morphing into her mean Polish grandmother, Basha, God rest her soul.  Ginger watches her bank account dwindle, forcing her to consider moving back to the very cold Midwest.  Yet Ginger has a few stands of hope - her loyal friend Laura, her kind landlord Olive, and an unexpected inheritance from Basha.   Plus a chance meeting with a hot guy from Coronado Island.  

GINGER KRINKLES, the book, is also a hot mess. DeTarsio evokes the first person narrative ... and Ginger takes it to the extreme with her constant whining, sarcastic shtick, and confusing flashbacks to her childhood with Basha.  I almost gave up half way through the 157 page novella.  But then Ginger decided to embrace the holiday spirit, convincing me she was worth the effort to finish the book.

DeTarsio ultimately delivered a heartfelt "coming of age" story laced with the magic of Christmas.   And the hot guy from Coronado Island.  This is a romance after all.   DeTarsio also offers an easy recipe for ginger snaps!

Despite the rough start, I recommend GINGER KRINKLES for those readers who enjoy holiday cheer ... and romance with hot guys from Coronado Island (once you read GINGER KRINKLES, you'll understand the significance of the hot guy).

I received a print copy from the author for an honest review.

I am giving away "holiday" swag to one randomly selected commenter to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about your favorite holiday cookie and/or sweet treat.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, December 13, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, December 14.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out my review of Dee Tarsio's full length novel set on Maui, HAOLE WOOD, at this link.

Aloha to Dee DeTarsio and ALL MY RESTLESS LIFE TO LIVE

Time to play Seven Degrees of Separation ... 

1.   On this day in 1778, Captain Cook anchored in Waimea Bay and came ashore to the island of Kaua'i, giving him the distinction as the first European to arrive in the Hawaiian Isalnds.  

2.  Cook named the archipelago as the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty who funded Cook's expedition.

Captain Cook Monument 

3.  Montague was an accomplished statement ... yet he is "famous" for creating the sandwich.   Whether is it fact or legend, Montague requested a meal while playing cards.  Since he was unable to use a knife and fork (as a gentleman never lays down his cards), he stuffed the meat into his bread.   Viola, the sandwich!

4.   The Earl of Sandwich, a chain of sandwich shops, operates in 26 locations, including Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas (link).

5.  Las Vegas is considered the 9th island of the Hawaiian Islands - Steve McGarrett once explained the nickname on Hawaii Five O.

6.  Last night's H50 episode featured a scene near the Byodo In Temple in the Valley of Temples - a spiritual retreat nestled among the Ko'olau Moana (mountains).

7.  Contemporary author Dee DeTarsio intertwines endearing "spirits" in her humor filled books.  I was first introduced to her through HAOLE WOOD (link).

The name becomes clear as you read this story of a San Diego weather reporter who reconnects with her Hawaiian heritage in Maui. I posted my review on Amazon at this link and Goodreads and this link. This is a must read for all Hawaii lovers!

I just started (and already loving) Dee's recent release, ALL MY RESTLESS LIFE TO LIVE:

Life is a soap opera, especially for Elle Miller, who is a TV producer. (Ellen dropped the "n" in her name in hopes of finding a better ending for herself.) When her laptop crashes, she borrows her dead dad's computer and gets way more than she bargained for.

As Elle tries to save her career with a storyline featuring a trip through Atlantis, she takes a trip to the Emmys, and finds herself in the middle of a romance between a real doctor and a hunk who just plays one on TV. Friends, family, and clues from "the other side" all help Elle figure out the difference between living the good life . . . and living a good life.

Praise for The Kitchen Shrink: "Dee DeTarsio is easily the next Sophie Kinsella. Her writing is fast-paced, hilarious, and engaging. I loved The Scent of Jade and am hopelessly heels-over-head for The Kitchen Shrink." --Chick Lit & Wine

In honor of Dee's homage to "the other side", I am giving away a special gift from the Byodo In Temple (link):

The Byodo-In Temple is located in Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. It was established on June 7, 1968, to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. The Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu is a smaller-scale replica of the over 950-year-old Byodo-in Temple, a United Nations World Heritage Site in Uji, Japan.

The good luck cat at the Byodo In gift ship.

To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about soap operas - love them or loathe them?  I grew up as a fan of Young and the Restless ... although I haven't watched in over a decade.   I'm now a fan of "evening" soap operas such as H50!

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, January 25, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 26.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

To learn more about Dee and her books, check out her website at deedetarsio.wordpress.com.

Aloha to Dee DeTarsio and HAOLE WOOD

Aloha!  Yesterday we chatted about spirituality ... it reminded me of Dee DeTarsio's HAOLE WOOD.  This small town romance with a cozy mystery is sprinkled with a giant spirit, er, Guardian Angel who helps the heroine finds her way.   I invited Dee to be my guest today ... and she prepared a funny post!

Fifty Shades of Kitty Litter

I was going to do a guest post for Kim in Hawaii on eOrgasms (Mahalo!) to spice things up, but I sat in front of my laptop for such an embarrassing amount of time, nothing came. Har har. I wish I could write erotica. I hear it pays well.

I apologize–this is strangely personal for someone you’ve never met. Let me digress. I grew up in Ennui, Ohio. (Which is a joke.) (Because it gives far too much credit to my hometown.) Anyway, back home, they don’t talk much about their feelings, so you can bet the farm you’re going to hear nothing of their feelings. Tingling, twitching, tightening, grinding, clutching and shifting are all reserved for some guy named John Deere. 

Call me suppressed, call me superstitious, just don’t call me sexy because every time I write that adjective I turn fifty shades of red and can’t stop giggling inappropriately, like that time a little boy in church several pews over blew his nose on his mom’s Easter dress and she didn’t know it. That’s funny. No, it’s not. (If you say the last part fast it’s kind of funny.)

I’m trying. I call my husband beditor because he thinks all my novels should be more risque. While every writer shares intimacy, some just have better vocabularies, imaginations, and experiences than others (and I’m not calling anybody s-to-the-lutty, here).

Throbbing members just make me laugh and remind me of pitiful chalkboard drawings from the seventh grade health and human hygiene talk. To this day I still crack up whenever I see the cover of Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears A Who.

I’m up for the challenge, though I have some work to do. My bra and underwear don’t match. Sometimes, I speed race into my jammies before my husband sees an elbow or something and gets any ideas. But for the record: I put out when my husband takes out . . . the kitty litter. Now that’s sexy!

We can’t all be Nympho-Ninjas--what are some of your favorite things that, you know, insert euphemism here . . . Somebody, please help me out!

Dee DeTarsio is a writer living in southern California. (There are some good parts in her new novel, Haole Wood! Mahalo!)   To learn more about Dee DeTarsio and her books, check out her blog at deedetarsio.wordpress.com.

Dee gave me the honor of reviewing HAOLE WOOD.  The name becomes clear as you read this story of a San Diego weather reporter who reconnects with her Hawaiian heritage in Maui.  I posted my review on Amazon at this link and Goodreads and this link.   This is a must read for all Hawaii lovers!   I am giving away an ecopy of HAOLE WOOD to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  What's your favorite Dr. Seuss character or book?  

(I know, we should talk about sex, but my mother in law reads this blog).

My favorite character is the dog from THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS.

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, July 14, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on July 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

My picture of a Lahaina Sunset