"Love From Ashes"

"Love From Ashes" by Yvonne Lehman appears to be book 3 in the Aloha Brides series.  Although it was an easy read and contains some historical references, it didn't entertain me enough that I'll be looking for any of the other books in the series.  As I discussed it with my husband, we did talk about some of the issues it raised -- like the lack of males after World War II and the creative ways women left with children chose to support themselves and one another.  It, of course, deals a lot with loss -- parents who lost sons (since women weren't usually found in combat zones in that era), those who came back damaged physically or emotionally from the war, those who lost siblings in the war, those who lost or never knew a parent, and/or those who lost husbands, fiances, boyfriends because of the war.  Those only touch on "military" losses but civilians were also killed or psychologically damaged in that war as well as all the holocaust victims.  Internment of the Japanese brought its own losses and long lasting prejudices because of the attack on Pearl Harbor.   The author dedicates the book to authors of articles in "Chicken Soup from the Soul of Hawai'i" from whom she gained personal insights. 

Amelia Thurstan, the daughter of a Hawaiian minister and his wife, meets and falls in love with Joe during World War II but then he is killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  When Joe's brother shows up after the war to meet this woman his brother wrote home so glowingly about, Amelia does her best to keep him from learning her secret.  pazt