Jennifer Yasutake Stagner

Mahalo Jennifer Yasutake Stagner

Michelle is living in limbo after graduating from college, undecided about her future career plans. It's pretty easy to do when you live in Paradise: Hawaii is full of temporary jobs, temporary inhabitants, and endless partying, with a backdrop of picture-perfect scenery and weather to round it all out. But when her predictable bubble of self-doubt is burst by a spate of uncharacteristically bold choices, she finds herself embroiled in not one, but TWO bad romances - her own and her best friend's. As their attachments grow, so do her misgivings, exceeded only by her addiction to the hot sex and pretty words strung together by her head-over-heels in-love boyfriend.... or is the man she thinks she loves only a figment of her imagination? She must examine her innermost soft spots and biggest identity questions, with the help of her friends and the guidance of powers greater than herself, to decide. If you are ready to escape from a COVID lockdown to a vacation in Hawaii, or wondered what it's REALLY like to live there, then this book is for you. Questions of race, ethnic identity, Hawaiian Sovereignty, spirituality, power imbalances, and sexuality are explored through the eyes of Michelle and experiences with her friends. The legal, the illegal, the right, the wrong: all are laid bare by this glimpse into the secret world of influence and ohana.