Who says a beach read needs to be read at the beach or in the summer only? As the fall season arrives you’ll still be sure to enjoy the Hawaii-set novel, Where The Sun Rises (Rosewind Books), written by Anna Gomez and Kristoffer Polaha. The story presents a captivating romance between two unlikely partners — Maele and Adam — and emphasizes the power and excitement of following impossible dreams.
The novel opens with a heart-stopping prologue in which Maele undertakes a supremely difficult surfing move. With the outcome left unstated, the story opens six years later when Maele and Adam meet at the wedding of Adam’s half-brother to Maele’s close friend. Maele is a bridesmaid and Adam is the best man. These star-crossed lovers don’t realize how quickly their lives will become intertwined.
LOVERS WITH DIFFERENT PASTS
Twenty-two-year-old Maele is a tall, lean, golden-skinned Hawaiian native. Born and raised in Kauai, she grew up surfing every day. For the past six years, Oahu has been her adopted home. As the only child of a plantation worker and a housewife, she lives with her doting parents on their farm, working at a coffee shop by day and attending a community college by night. After six years in Oahu, she is finally poised to follow a bigger dream. Will her fears prevent her from succeeding?
Adam was born and raised in Oahu but comes from a strikingly different economic class. While his mother did not come from money, his father “was part of the nouveau riche class with grotesquely large homes, fast cars and loud toys.” Adam spent his childhood days surfing and making movies with his friends on a camera his parents bought him.
Now twenty-four, he works in Los Angeles as a screenwriter, with Universal Studios poised to buy his first screenplay. Will the deal go through on his journey to become a famous Hollywood screenwriter, director and producer, or will his unhealthy lifestyle get in the way?
A COUPLE CHASES DREAMS TOGETHER
Written in six parts, Where the Sun Rises alternates between chapters in Maele’s point of view and Adam’s, with insight into their different views on their relationship and life in general. The plot twists and turns with triumphs and struggles, showing Maele’s private journey to success when she returns to Kauai and Adam’s struggle to get healthy and be the person he wants to be.
Despite their differences, they both work hard for their dreams, which they slowly reveal to one another as their attraction and trust deepens. But will that be enough to overcome their vastly different backgrounds?
Gomez and Polaha illuminate issues of class through their contrasting characters. Maele wonders how she can afford her bridesmaid dress while Adam rents a nightly hotel room at the posh Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood. To add to the mix, the bride herself comes from wealth, but not the nouveau riche sort like Adam’s father. Instead, she belongs to a very small and select group of Hawaiian families with generational wealth. As pioneers in the island’s early days, they now have established roots — and in this island life, seniority matters more than money.
BEAUTIFUL NOVEL WITH A VIVID SETTING
Where the Sun Rises is book two in Gomez and Polaha’s From Kona with Love series. Like the first book, this novel is set primarily on the islands of Kauai and Oahu where sunrises evoke gorgeous imagery of perfect waves and hopes of glorious sunsets.
Adam’s stretches of time in Los Angeles include certain locales that get mentioned with pleasing specificity — like the original Katsu-ya sushi bar in Studio City with its little white neon sign, and the quintessential LA hotel Chateau Marmont — places that will resonate with any southern California readers.
For those of us with a fondness for Hallmark classics, this story will delight as much as its predecessor. Well-paced from the first page, Where the Sun Rises makes us cheer for Maele and Adam as they learn what this beautiful world has to offer all of us, if we trust our loved ones and believe in our dreams.
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About Anna Gomez:
After experiencing a great loss in her life, Anna Gomez, who writes as Christine Brae, decided that it was time to channel her feelings on paper and see where it would take her. She never imagined that her words would touch the hearts of many women with the same stories to tell. With an established fan base and a dedicated following, Anna Gomez has published several novels, three of which have won Literary Awards: The Light in the Wound series, Insipid, In this Life, Eight Goodbyes and The Year I Left.
Her books have debuted in the top 1,000 at Amazon and continued to rank in the Top 100 in the months following their release. Anna is currently collaborating on the From Kona with Love series with actor and producer Kristoffer Polaha. Together, they have written two books — Moments Like This and Where the Sun Rises.
About Kristoffer Polaha:
Kristoffer Polaha is best-known for his long starring role in the critically acclaimed series Life Unexpected (The CW). Other TV series credits include Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O’Dowd, the limited series Condor opposite William Hurt and Max Irons, The CW’s Ringer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Valentine, as well as North Shore (FOX). In addition to co-starring with Rainn Wilson in Backstrom (FOX), he had a multi-season role on the acclaimed series Mad Men (AMC) and Castle (ABC). Polaha is also well-known for starring in Hallmark Channel movies such as Dater’s Handbook with Meghan Markle, and the Mystery 101 franchise on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Polaha first received attention for his portrayal of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the TV movie, America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, opposite Portia de Rossi. He has appeared in numerous independent features, including Where Hope Grows, Devil’s Knot (Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon), and the Tim Tebow film, Run the Race. Polaha has a featured role opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 and is in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Polaha was born in Reno, Nevada, and he is married to actress Julianne Morris. They have three sons.
