This was a tough book to grade. I found the setting interesting and liked the hero, but the heroine is far too weak for my tastes. I wanted her to get a spine and speak up for herself and, sadly, that didn’t happen until far too late.

AJ Rahia is back in his homeland of Rahiri to attend his brother Vanu’s funeral. Vanu was the King of the island nation and one of the reasons AJ left his home years earlier. AJ is now a successful Hollywood director and has no intention of living in Rahiri. He definitely doesn’t intend to follow his mother’s urgings to marry Vanu’s widow Lani and become ruler of Rahiri. But Vanu disappeared two months earlier without a trace and island tradition calls for a new successor to be named within 90 days, so the pressure is on. Island tradition also calls for brother of the dead king to marry the widow.

Lani and AJ are sexually attracted to each other right from the start but Lani doesn’t trust her feelings, nor does she trust AJ. Lani was abused and belittled by Vanu throughout their marriage and has no desire to marry again. She worries that AJ will be just like her dead husband. However, she also won’t say “no” to her mother-in-law’s expectations, and if AJ wants to marry her, she’ll go along with it. And this was my major problem with the book.

I thought the author did a good job with the characters of AJ and his mother. They both have fully developed personalities with conflicting emotions and thoughts. I wish she had done as good a job with Lani. Lani frequently describes herself as “just a village girl,” using this to explain why she won’t verbalize her own desires. She married Vanu because her mother expected her to do so. She’ll now marry AJ – despite her fears – because her mother-in-law expects her to. For most of the book Lani doesn’t have much of a personality and just goes along with what everyone else expects.

I initially questioned why everyone assumed that Vanu was dead when they never recovered his body and had no clear reason for he had left. However, I liked how the author eventually resolved the mystery.

I read the last words of this book with mixed feelings. The author created an interesting island setting in Rahiri. I came to know both the topography of the island and the history and traditions of its people. Almost in spite of myself, I was curious to see how the author resolved various plot conflicts. I liked AJ; I thought the author successfully depicted the genuine conflicts this honorable man felt in wanting to help his country without getting sucked back into the place. But despite all that, I never got over my basic dislike of Lani. Although things are neatly, and sweetly, wrapped up in the last few chapters, Lani remained a weak, timid woman for too much of the book.