The many faces of love spun into a tale of loss, past political intrigue, and a young woman’s inner journey accepting who she is.
Gold Medal, 2025 Global Book Awards, Contemporary Fiction
Finalist, Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2024 Adult Fiction
For years, questions plagued Leilani: Where is her father, and why was the rest of her family forced to flee their country when she was nine ? But now, all she wants is to dedicate herself to healing people, like her father did.
A relationship-phobic psychologist with a dead aim, she rescues Justin, drunk from nursing a broken heart, when thugs assault him on a deserted street. Haunted by her mysterious past, she’s devastated when she learns why her family fled their privileged Pacific island life without her father—his role in a deadly political web.. Is her father still alive? Is he a hero or a villain? Can she accept him for what he is? And can she reconnect with her roots and be at peace with who she is?
Welcome Reluctant Stranger crosses genres: contemporary women’s fiction, multicultural fiction, mystery, cultural heritage and literary fiction , as well as romantic suspense.
Leilani has been plagued with questions since her family left Costa Mora when she was nine. What happened to her father, and why was her family forced to flee?
Leilani’s mother has never set foot in her school until the day she comes to whisk her children out of their country for America, without their father and without explanation. Eighteen years later, all Leilani wants is to leave the past behind, move forward, and dedicate herself to healing people, like her father did.
But the past is impossible to run away from. Taught how to shoot when she was a child, she rescues Justin who is nursing a breakup when thugs assault him on a deserted street. Then a stranger from her old country arrives and her mother is forced to reveal the shocking, shameful secret about her father’s role in a deadly political web.
A lovable computer nerd with a biting sense of humor, Justin finds himself attracted to Leilani. But she doesn’t want to get involved. And her past won’t remain buried.
Shattered by the truth, Leilani wonders: Is her father still alive? Is he a hero or a villain? With Justin’s help, she returns to her birthplace in search of her father. Can she forgive her father, accept him for what he is? And can she reconnect with her roots and be at peace with who she is?
Welcome, Reluctant Stranger is Book 3 in the family saga, Between Two Worlds.
