Aloha Rose by Lisa Carter

About the book: When Laney Carrigan's adoptive parents encourage her as an adult to seek out her birth family, her only clue is the Lokelani quilt in which she was found wrapped as an infant. Centering her search on the Big Island, she battles fears of rejection from a family that abandoned her once before while her faith struggles to embrace God's love.

Along the path to her true heritage, she meets Hawaiian cowboy/helicopter pilot, Kai Barnes. Kai is determined to protect the people he's come to regard as family against a woman he suspects of being nothing more than a gold-digger, but he finds himself drawn to Laney in spite of his reservations. He's spent his entire life seeking forgiveness from past mistakes and longs for a second chance at happiness. 

Laney's painstaking journey to find restoration and a place to belong among the breathtaking allure of the Big Island will lead her closer to her past and maybe even something more.

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/qKmVW

Lisa Carter is a new to me author.  However, I totally enjoyed her Aloha Rose book.  From the beginning she draws the reader in and you don't want to put the book down.  The theme of this book is forgiveness and moving beyond tragedy. Two hearts are searching can they over come rejection?


Meet the author: Lisa Carter has been published in MomSense and Christian Parenting Today. Lisa is currently teaching music at a preschool and enjoying the enthusiasm and joy for life for which preschoolers are famous. She and David have two beautiful daughters.

Find out more at: http://www.quiltsoflovebooks.com

Aloha Rose centers on a topic that touches so many lives. Why this story?

I had a dear college friend who, although with wonderful adoptive parents, spoke of her curiosity concerning her birth family. We were in each other's weddings; got busy raising families; moved away; but twenty years later reunited. And she shared with me a bittersweet tale of love come full circle when she found her birth father in the exotic Hawaiian Islands. We laughed and cried together. Knowing I was a writer, she told me it was a great story if she did say so herself and gave me permission to fictionalize it.


How does "journey" become a theme in Aloha Rose?

I think like a lot of us, Laney and Kai are on a journey, a quest. Seeking a place to belong, a connection. The Hawaiians call it, a huaka'i. A journey that requires truth, heart and extraordinary courage. The kind of courage Laney and my friend displayed in traveling the world to find a family. The kind of courage required of those who seek God. The courage intrinsic to all to desire a place to belong and someone to love.


Quilts make appearances in both of your books. How does inspiration from quilting translate into your writing?

I think quilting—I only learned to sew after my children were born—taught me patience, persistence and gave scope as Anne of Green Gables would say, to my imagination. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to see a project through to the end—as does writing. There's parts to quilting I like better than others. I love creating quilt designs just as I love crafting characters and story worlds. I love selecting the fabrics and piecing the quilt top. I love researching my stories and watching the lives of my characters unfold from my imagination to the page.

As a musician, what parallels do you see between writing and music?

Each story has a flow of sound, like music. A unique beat, rhythm, tone. Part of this is the writer's individual voice, recognizable throughout their entire body of work if you listen/look carefully. Some singers have a crystal clear quality of tonality like Julie Andrews. I think of it as a bubbling, high arching fountain. Others, a deep, full sound like Etta James with a rich, Mississippi River quality.

The story itself also impacts the rhythm or beat of the music. Some novels will start out fast, hard-hitting, leaving you breathless on the edge of your seat as you turn each page. Other books begin at a slower pace with a tease, a promise, a building crescendo of tension or romance.

Music inspires me as I develop characters and plot. I usually identify a song that sums up for me the entire feeling of a character's story arc or as an overriding theme for the book. I listened over and over to the mellow sounds of Brother Iz Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over the Rainbow" during Aloha Rose.

What is your favorite quote?
Roy Chapman Andrews—the real life inspiration for Indiana Jones
"Always there has been an adventure just around the corner—and the world is still full of corners."

In honor of their new Quilts of Love releases, The Christmas Quilt and Aloha Rose, authors Vannetta Chapman and Lisa Carter are gearing up to ring in the Christmas season with a Kindle Fire HDX giveaway and a "Christmas Bee" Facebook Party on December 10th with fellow Quilts of Love author Lynette Sowell!

One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• The Christmas Quilt by Vannetta Chapman
• Aloha Rose by Lisa Carter

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 30th. Winner will be announced at the "Christmas Bee" Facebook Party on December 10th. Connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Vannetta Chapman, Lisa Carter, and Lynette Sowell, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, Christmas traditions and gifts, PLUS get an exclusive look at January's Quilts of Love book!

So grab your copies of The Christmas Quilt and Aloha Rose and join Vannetta, Lisa, and Lynette on the evening of December 10th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN at the event page. Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway and party via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on December 10th!

A copy of this book was provided for in exchange for my review and hosting this tour by...