Genre: Chick-lit
Description:
San Diego weathercaster Jaswinder Park is summoned to Maui to help her
grandmother. Planning on being there just a few days, she ends up with much
more than she bargained for.
Author:
The author of four other novels, Dee DeTarsio is a news producer and
writer, currently living in San Diego.
For more, visit DeTarsio’s blog.
Appraisal:
Haole
Wood has both mystery and humor, wrapped up in a chick-lit storyline.
The mystery revolves around a murder early on with several viable
suspects. These include Jas, the protagonist, who is the last known person to
see the victim alive (although she knows at least one other came after her,
since she didn’t do it). That another person with motive is her grandmother is
more than a touch unnerving.
The humor comes from multiple directions. Sometimes it is how the
author chooses to word something, like with the play on words in the chapter
heading of “Blonde Leading the Blind.” Other times it is the characters, as
with almost everything to do with Jaswinder’s grandmother, both the
communication difficulties the two have due to language differences and the
situations her grandmother gets herself in. That Jas is first sent to Hawaii to
bail her grandmother out of jail is one example, even though that seems
serious.
A chick-lit story line is a female protagonist, through her
experiences and events in the story, learning about herself and ending up in a
better place at the conclusion. That happens too, no matter how unlikely it
seems through much of the book. A fun read which I highly recommend.
FYI:
Some relatively mild adult situations.
Added for
Reprise Review: Haole Wood
by Dee DeTarsio was a nominee in the Chick-Lit/Women's Fiction category for
B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran October 8, 2013.
Format/Typo
Issues:
A small number of typos.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
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