Thank you to Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Moments Like This, a sweet contemporary romance set in Hawaii! If you are a fan of the genre or just would love a bit of cyber-travelling by checking out the natural beauty and charm of the sights described in the book, the book has a lot to offer!
Book details:
Moments Like This (From Kona With Love)
by Anna Gomez & Kristoffer Polaha
Published by: Rosewind Books
Publication date: March 9th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
After Andrea “Andie” Matthews chooses her career over a marriage proposal and then loses a promotion she worked so hard for, she jumps at the chance to take a break and help run a friend’s coffee shop.
Alone in Hawaii, Andie befriends the staff and quickly grows to care for them, making her determined to revive the company.
As luck would have it, she meets the mysterious Warren Yates on Christmas Eve. They share a cup of coffee, some conversation, and even a moment, which leads to many more in the coming weeks.
But when Andie learns who Warren really is—and what he actually wants—she is torn between her feelings and his deception.
Will Warren be able to win her heart back?
http://fromkonawithlove.com/
Purchase
My thoughts:
What would you do if after having worked ridiculously hard for four years and having sacrificed your family, relationship, friends and kind of everything that makes life enjoyable, you suddenly found yourself passed over for the coveted promotion? would you just smile and promise to support the new guy with all your knowledge, contacts, ideas, blood and sweat? or would you be crushed by the disappointment?
Andie wakes up in a hospital. She fell down during the celebratory drinks for the promotion she hadn’t got and bumped her head. Luckily, she has some time to think over how to proceed and how to do ‘the business walk of shame’ of having to hand over her projects to the chosen candidate. Andie is exhausted, run down and frankly demotivated. Api, the only friend Andie hasn’t scared away, is going on a trip to Europe and needs somebody to look after her coffee shop in Honolulu. Andie recognises she needs a sabbatical or at least a couple weeks off and jumps on the plane.
As far as the plotlines go, this one is quite traditional- trying to figure out one’s priorities in a place with a different rhythm of life and then meeting somebody special. It’s a well-tried trope and it works, especially, since it is written by an author who has a first-hand knowledge of the corporate world Andie belonged to.
The setting was gorgeous and the cyber-traveller in me had a wonderful vacation checking out all the places mentioned in this romance. I loved that Andie kept defending the Chicago weather (I also come from a place with four seasons), but I could see how Hawaii became her number one place in the place.
Andie and Warren, her ‘tall, dark and handsome’ stranger, make a deal that since they are both at the crossroads in their lives, they won’t look for information about each other online. It is such a modern topic- should you try to give your love interest a fresh start and work hard(er) to discover what they are really like or is it really a sign that Andie doesn’t care?
They want to try to discover and share special moments, wonderful experiences. Can we really live without past? Luckily for us, Andie learns a lot about the local customs, food, and legends, and so do we. For me, this was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book.
The book is co-authored by Anna Gomez (you may know her under her pen name Christine Brae) and Kristoffer Polaha, but the writing flows seemlessly, and I will be looking forward to reading more from this duo.
I enjoyed this romantic escape and would love to find out what the next instalment in the series will be like.
Thank you to Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours, the publisher and the authors for the gifted review copy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Giveaway:Tour-wide giveaway (INT)
- $20 Amazon gift card
AUTHOR BIO:
Kristoffer Polaha is best-known for his long starring role in the critically acclaimed series Life Unexpected (The CW). Other TV series credits include Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O’Dowd, the limited series Condor opposite William Hurt and Max Irons, The CW’s Ringer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Valentine, as well as North Shore (FOX).
In addition to co-starring with Rainn Wilson in Backstrom (FOX), he had a multi-season role on the acclaimed series Mad Men (AMC) and Castle (ABC). Polaha is also well-known for starring in Hallmark Channel movies such as Dater’s Handbook with Meghan Markle, and the Mystery 101 franchise on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Polaha first received attention for his portrayal of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the TV movie, America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, opposite Portia de Rossi. He has appeared in numerous independent features, including Where Hope Grows, Devil’s Knot (Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon), and the Tim Tebow film, Run the Race.
Polaha has a featured role opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 and in Jurassic World: Dominion.
In addition to his work as an actor, producer, and director, Polaha is branching into the book world by co-authoring a new series. He is also involved with several charitable organizations, including being an ambassador for World Vision, a board member for HerArtsInAction, and The Polaha Family Circus Foundation.
Polaha was born in Reno, Nevada, and he is married to actress Julianne Morris. They have three sons.
Anna Gomez was born in the city of Makati, Philippines and educated abroad. She met and married her best friend who whisked her away to Chicago over twenty years ago. She is Chief Financial Officer for Leo Burnett Worldwide, a global advertising company founded in 1935. In her capacity, Anna serves on the board of several not-for-profit organizations, namely the Hugh O’Brien Leadership Organization and Girl Scouts of America. She is also the executive sponsor for a number of employee resource groups focused on Diversity and Inclusion.
Under the pen name Christine Brae, Anna has published six novels, has an established fan base, and a dedicated following. Her titles rank in the Top 100 months following their release. Her last three novels, In This Life, Eight Goodbyes, and The Year I Left, have won literary awards and were immediate bestsellers on Amazon, ranking #1 across multiple categories.
Thank you for reading the post! Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Ifyou would like to find out what other bloggers thought of the book, you can see the full blog tour schedule here:
March 1st
–Natasha Brooks’ Favorite Books >> Interview
–Currant7 Recommends >> Review
–Sunny Shelly Reads >> Review
March 2nd
–Viviana MacKade >> Guest post
–Sadie’s Spotlight >> Excerpt
–Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books! >> Review
March 3rd
–underneath the covers >> Excerpt
–Literary Gold >> Excerpt
March 4th
–I’m Into Books >> Excerpt
–BookishKelly2020 >> Excerpt
March 5th
–Iron Canuck Reviews & More >> Review
–Amy’s MM Romance Reviews >> Review
—
March 8th
–Delish, Devine and All Mine >> Review
–Marjay’s reading >> Review
March 9th
–The Avid Reader >> Excerpt
–The Bouncing Tigger Reads >> Interview
March 10th
–Reading Tonic >> Review
–Jayne Townsley >> Review
March 11th
–From the TBR Pile >> Review
–Book Lady’s Reviews >> Review
–Adventures in Writing >> Excerpt
March 12th
–Movies, Shows, & Books >> Review
–Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author >> Excerpt
readingtonic 
This sounds like a good story, even if it is somewhat predictable. I love the setting and would love to travel there, even if vicariously. The authors both have quite the interesting and successful biographies. Great review Toni.
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I’d love to travel to Hawaii. This is supposed to be a series, if I understood it correctly. I wonder if other books are also going to be set in the same place. I always read the authors’ biographies (sometimes they really surprise me, sometimes give an additional insight) and this time they were quite detailed 🙂
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I enjoy reading about the authors as well. It is always interesting to learn something about them.
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A lot of people are looking for own voices nowadays. How do you feel about that?
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I think it is more genuine, if certain experiences are written by own voices authors. Having said that, if an author does a lot of research and it is accurate, it doesn’t mean a person can’t write about something they didn’t actually experience. I enjoy own voices books, and have tried to read more of them.
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Couldn’t agree more. I’m also trying to read more own voices these days.
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