An historical romance taking place in Hawaii in the 18th century that’s original and exotic. Here we meet Maile, the chief’s second daughter, just before a battle where her fiancé and childhood friend is accidentally killed by John, one of the British sailors who arrived with the explorer James Cook. This novel is written in the first person present tense, told by Maile with excerpts from John’s diary at the beginning of each chapter. It’s a style I don’t like and I avoid as much as possible, unfortunately publishers rarely warn and Surprise!

Maile reminded me of Moana, the heroine of the Disney animated movie: chief’s daughter, loving the sea and wanting more than what her people’s traditions have in store for her. I thought her feelings for John where logical: she’s angry at him for killing her fiancé and she doesn’t want to care for him, but when she forgets she finds him interesting, even intriguing. She treats him because she wounded him and she feels guilty, but at the same time she’d like to hand him to her father for justice to be done. She blows hot and cold a bit, torn between her mixed feelings and her loyalty for her people.

John is a king hero but a bit transparent, we only know him through Maile’s eyes and his diary’s short excerpts. He’s curious about Hawaiian people and their traditions and seems to be quite open-minded. We feel the evolution of her feelings, very less those of the hero.

I liked the vision of the Hawaiian people told by the author, the descriptions of the traditions and beliefs, their way to make good use of nature. I also like that she show the culture shock, like when Maile brings to John Captain Cook’s remains – that is his members’ bones which can be passed through generations to honor his memory – and that horrifies the poor British hero (strange isn’t it ? lol).

I didn’t really understand however why Maile’s father would authorize a stranger to pass so much time alone with his daughter when it’s well said the royal family should be approached by people with lesser status, and that the strangers are considered to be at the lowest rung of the social ladder.

I also really liked that at the end the author explains she took her inspiration from her ancestors’ story, even if she changed some things. I also took a few seconds for each Hawaiian word to try pronouncing it at best (my knowledge of this language being limited to the words heard in Hawaii 5-0, to each his own references lol).

To conclude it’s a pleasant story but because of its style in the first person present tense it would probably be much better in audiobook. However just for the originality and change of scene I recommend it all the same.

I loved the way the two perspectives of Maile and John were shared in this book- both in first person perspective, with Maile telling the story and John's through journal entries. Sometimes letters or journals in storytelling makes me hesitant, but the author used it very successfully here, with John's emotions coming out clearly, his sense of wonder over the fascinating culture, his struggles vulnerabilities. Maile has tones of Disney's Moana with her independence, love of the ocean, and loyalty to her people. The historical story has darker themes however, with culture clash, misunderstanding, war, death, and grief. I thought the author did such a good job balancing the strong elements of the book and weaving them together- character development, interesting history and culture of the Hawaiian people, action with the battle scenes, and significant moments between Maile and John. They are both working through the devastation of loss, but Maile especially is confused and overwhelmed as she grieves her fiancé, heals and protects John, defends her father, worries over her people and the future, and experiences kindness from John. I liked seeing the lighter moments between them when they make each other laugh and some playfulness come out. John coming to know the ocean in the special way that Maile does is profound to him and deepens their connection. Their romance is so sweet and genuine and heartfelt. I appreciated the lovely storytelling that made this book stand out and it's one I highly recommend!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

I wasn't at all sure I would like this book but decided to give it a shot. Glad I did! I was fascinated by the history in it. I loved learning about the native's beliefs and how very different and hard to understand it would be for the English. And how foreign the English ways would be to the Hawaiians. And it was interesting to learn how they navigated without tools outside of a true understanding of nature. And I loved that the book is inspired by a true story.

I had some strong emotions during my reading. One summer I went on a whale watching tour which was awesome except for getting extremely seasick and because I couldn't just get off the boat out in the middle of the ocean I began to feel the anxiety of claustrophobia. I was so anxious to get out of the ocean even if the whales were fascinating. My anxiety overrode the wonder of it all. So when Maile has John get out of the boat in the middle of the ocean and tread water by himself for an hour I was feeling totally panicked. All that anxiety came back. How could John do it? I felt every wave and the panic that went with it. He was awed by the close up whale watching experience. I felt terror reading it.

Aside from my irrational fears while reading a book, the imagery of the Island was beautiful and made me desire to go there and see it myself. I want to go walk on the beach and swim in the lagoon. I want to see the plants and eat the food and know the people.

I liked Ikaika and the relationship he had with Maile so I was sad at his death. But I also really liked John and his kind and tender heart so I was able to root for his relationship with Maile too. I loved that he sought to understand not just the language of Maile's people but also to truly understand their culture. And he saw the beauty in it.

I loved that Maile was strong and brave. She wasn't afraid to learn what was not traditionally women's work and was even brave enough to go to battle. And she was a strategic thinker and not afraid to offer her thoughts to her father and others. Definitely a feminist. Sometimes they even listened to her ideas.

I want to hear more of their story. Did Maile ever travel with John? Did he ever take her to England? Did he teach her English and to read and write? Or was there just never any need to do so? Did she ever get to read his journals? Did they deal with negatives for having an interracial marriage or was it respected by the people? Did John become a farmer or just part of the royal family? They say a sign of a good book is that it is too short and since I wanted their story to continue I had to give this one 5 stars.

My one negative was that I'm not a fan of first person present tense. I get used to it after a while but it isn't my fav.

Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: yes. war battles.

This book started slow for me and the first person POV in present tense was harder for me to get into. This book is similar to Moana and Pocahontas but I loved it so much more than both of those things! I loved that this story is written by a Hawaiian (I'm Native American and appreciate representation from all races) and that this is loosely based off of her own ancestors. It made me think about my ancestors and what their story was. This book had so much feeling to it and it was perfect. I received an ebook of this from netgalley and these are my opinions.

What an interesting book about early Hawaii in all of it's primitive ways and worship. This story is based on the author's  great great great great grandparents lives. It is most interesting to know that she had records of her ancestors. She based her book on real people Hawaiian and English. It stands to reason that the island became civilized by a man who fell in love with a Hawaiian princess and stayed behind [when his ship left] to marry her and teach them of the white man's God and civilized ways and methods. The setting is amazing, the customs and language too, as well as the history between the English sailors and the Hawaiian people. Also a beautiful love story. This is a book that is hard to put down and will keep you turning the pages..........I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

When I review 2019 and my adventures in reading, I am going to have to make a special award for all these stories based on the author's lives. Also I just really need to get myself to Hawaii.

The scene-Hawaii 1799. James Cook's crew has returned to the "Sandwich Islands" and instantly the tension between Europeans and people that inhabit the islands heats up. It is within all this turmoil that the author's fourth great grandparents emerge and their story unfolds. A story of cultural clashes and ultimately the love that blossoms between a member of Cook's crew and the second daughter of the local chief.


I felt that A Song for the Stars made for a very compelling read. Maile was the type of female protagonist that I enjoy reading about-strong, stubborn, and opinionated. This historical fiction romance definitely worked for me and I read it in one sitting.

This beautifully written story about an English sailor and a Hawaiian princess is a breath of fresh air. I love reading historical fiction and this book is a different type of story to any I have read before. The emotional struggles Maile goes through with the loss of a loved one and threats to her people while trying to figure out what she is feeling towards a foreigner really tugged at me. This is one of those books I didn't want to put down, but I didn't want it to end, either.

Loved this novel! Beautiful writing and images that linger characterize this unique historical love story. The characters reveal themselves as big-hearted, upright, confused, and yet kind as they seek to bridge two worlds. Though they stumble and cause pain, they ultimately find understanding and love. Hawaiian culture and thinking suffused the story and did not feel like a tacked on history lesson. The author simply pulled me into this lovely world, and I did not want to leave!

Thanks to Ilima Todd, NetGalley, and Shadow Mountain Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

Quotes I liked . . .

“But it doesn’t feel like home anymore . . . The wind hasn’t just shifted. It’s a new wind altogether. I don’t know how to decipher this wind. I don’t know the pictures in this sky, or the pattern of this water. Nothing I’ve been taught will help me navigate this new world. One with strange weapons, new languages, foreign clothing.”

“Time moves slowly, but I am patient and wait. I spot a pod of dolphins in the distance, gently gliding through the water with a speed I could only dream of. The clouds drift slowly in little puffs; the winds are calm. And the sun . . . He is happy today, spreading his warmth to everything he touches. I wonder what the sun feels like in England. If their clouds and skies and seas are similar to ours. I know nothing of the world beyond our shores, and for a moment, I feel silly teaching a man about observing nature when he’s observed more things in his life than our people could ever imagine.”

“That’s what Maile does. She tells me things I least expect and teaches me things I never even considered. She expands my limitations, allowing me to learn so much more than I thought possible. It makes me feel naïve, amazed, and blessed all at the same time.”

“Observation is an art—Maile has taught me this over the last weeks. You can’t simply look around at your surroundings and expect to know all there is to know about where you are. You must slow down, pause, let the signs of the world come to you. You can’t force it. And it takes practice, a lot of practice. But if you’re patient, the world will reveal all its secrets. You can use that information to chart your course, to plan your journey. But when I try to observe Maile herself, none of the rules of nature seem to apply.”

“But she is in the stars I try to read. She’s in the wind of our sails and in the water that surrounds us. I’ve discovered the problem with learning to observe everything in nature—it means I am aware of her, always, because she is in all of it.”

“What I mean to say is, sometimes we do terrible things, make terrible choices, but it doesn’t mean the circumstances of our lives are destined to become terrible as well. It reminds me of what Maile told me on our first day of navigational training, when she made me sit in a pool of water all day: having gone through the trial, we become stronger than we were before.”

“I see that same capacity in Maile. Not just to love, but to understand, to trust. I feel like a line is forming again, a barrier of protection in the sand that will help define our peoples’ relationship and widen our understanding of each other. It gives me hope that we can make our way back from the indignation born in our recent battle to find a semblance of peace we can all accept. My only desire is that neither I nor my men make a choice that will erase that line again.”

“We both want peace but don’t always know how to find it. I’m surprised how willing Maile is to find that peace, even after all my men have done—after all I did. She is truly royal, looking beyond herself for what is best for her people. We both appreciate beauty in the things around us. I’ve been so moved by the beauty of this island, this Eden reincarnated, that I know I will never be the same again. But the natives don’t take it for granted, either. Though this is all they’ve known, they understand that this place is special. In fact, they may have mastered the appreciation of beauty more than we ever will.”

I love that this story is based on the lives of her 4th great grandparents!
The Hawaiian islands and the Hawaiian myths of Maui and his magical fishhook. Get a very Moana vibe (with even the words hei hei making an appearance). I love the traditions and the way they honor their ancestors.
Beautiful love story. It starts with it's difficulties, but blossoms slowly into love.

This book is really beautifully written. The Hawaiian culture weaves throughout the narrative is fantastic. This book was just a little too slow for me.

I love that this book is based on the author's family. Such a fun story of finding one's place in the world. The history comes alive in this story. I appreciated the glossary at the back of the book for the Hawaiian words I was unfamiliar with.

Wow! This historical fiction was mesmerizing. And when I read the authors note and realized it's loosely based on her ancestor's love story, I loved the story even more. I love how the story is told from two points of view, Meile's in prose and John's diary entries. The story of how two cultures meet and learn to understand each other and love each other was moving and engaging. I also appreciated a clean romance. Yay! Finally a book that I can recommend without a caveat!

Filled with themes of loss, loyalty, family, honor, discrimination, cultural differences, determination and girl power. LOVED it!

A Song for the Stars by Ilima Todd is an unusual and fascinating romance novel. It was inspired by the true story of a British sailor marrying a Hawaiian princess in the late 1700s. The author is a descendant of John Harbottle and Papapaunauapu, who had eight children. Ilima Todd grew up on the island of Oahu.

The author weaves together some historical facts that occurred at different times to make the novel tighter and more informative. For example, Captain James Cook is present in the book, but he visited the Pacific islands at a different time than John Harbottle. She also used her imagination to detail the courtship of her ancestors. The novel focuses on two people from two different cultures learning to understand each other.

Although A Song for the Stars is part of Shadow Mountain’s Proper Romance series, it is more of a historical novel than a traditional romance. While the couple do end up together, their courtship is an unusual one. Only at the very end does it even become possible for them to marry. Not only must the princess and the sailor learn to work together, so must the Hawaiians and the British. The author uses Hawaiian words to help set the scene, and a helpful glossary is included at the end.

If you enjoy learning about other cultures and watching as two people come to know, respect, and love each other, you may enjoy A Song for the Stars. It will be released in April 2019 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.

I read an advance reader copy of A Song for the Stars.

#ASongForTheStars #NetGalley

A story set on an island in Hawai'i. The British come and they take away. Life will never be the same for Maile, who is the chief's second daughter. Everything she knows is taken in an instant, but what if what you know changes into something unexpected. Maile must teach John how to navigate the stars, so he can sail his ship, but she also learns how to navigate her life. I love how this story is about the authors ancestors, There was so much to love about these book, the lyrical writing style, the people who live off the land and sea and how creative they are in making things found in nature. ,A story about the importance of family,how our ancestors are connected to us. I loved this book!!

This was a beautiful story!

First I have to say, how amazing it is for the author to have a record of her ancestors and how they met. My ancestors were so poor they never learned how to read and write. I only have their names because of the excellent way the Catholic church keeps records.

Back to the story. It took me a couple of chapters to warm up to the format (journal entries alternating with 1st person present tense), but I was soon intrigued and couldn't put it down.

The setting is amazing, the customs and language too, as well as the history between the English sailors and the Hawaiian people. The way the two main characters met and formed a relationship kept me reading and wanting more. John and Maile complemented each other so well, and even their faults worked for their good.

This is a story I won't soon forget.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

A Song for the Stars is a beautiful story about the power of love to unite people to accomplish the impossible. It is rich with culture, history, and people who can see the good in others. I highly recommend this wonderful book.

This book is a unique historical proper romance and I absolutely loved it! It was an amazing and sweet story of two cultures colliding and the results. It is a story of forgiveness and new love. A story of family and finding where one belongs. If I didn’t already want to go to Hawaii, it would now be at the top of my list of places travel to. Thank you Ilima Todd for sharing the beautiful story of your ancestors with the world.

Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for an eARC.

I loved this book. I suppose that's obvious from the five-star review, I don't tend to give out many of those, but this story and the way that it was told earned it. I was captivated from the moment that I first started reading to the last sentence.
This is a love story. A romantic love story, where two people grow to love one another as they learn more about each other, but also a love story about the place that it is set. I have never been to Hawaii, but it was portrayed so clearly, that I could picture it clearly. I do have some experience in the Pacific, currently living in New Zealand and having visited a number of other Polynesian islands. Even for someone who knows little of the culture, it's so clearly explained through the eyes of Maile, who has never known anything different and John, who is a visitor to the shores.
I'm not sure if this is a more of a romance or more of a story about two different cultures meeting and learning about one another for the first time. Either way, both parts of the story weave together to create an overall fascinating and satisfying read. Maile and John learn that they have as much in common as they have differences and as they discover more about one another, they fall in love.
This was the kind of book that gripped me from the start, pulled me willingly along on the journey and then left with me with a contented sigh at the end. In many ways, it was perhaps inevitable that I would love this book. Historical fiction has long been a soft spot, combined with the Polynesian setting and a romance, what wasn't to love. What really brought this story to surpass all of this was the wonderful way in which it was told. I fear the only downside is that I may now be left suffering from a 'book hangover' for a while, where nothing else quite measures up and I feel the loss of the joy in its pages. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A Song for the Stars is inspired by a true story,and that makes it more interesting. I liked the historical aspect about Captain James Cook. It's informative and fun to read all at once. The heroine is an adorable character, and I felt sympathetic for her. The setting of the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii, etc. is refreshing. Overall a good read.

Maile is relieved when James Cook and his sailors leave her beloved Hawaiian island; while most of her people believed Cook to be their god, Lono, Maile wasn't convinced and is glad the men are gone. However, the men soon return--and the islanders aren't so welcoming this time. A battle ensues, and Maile's fiancé Ikaika is killed by one of Cook's men; Maile takes that same man hostage when her life is threatened.
John Harbottle has quickly come to appreciate Hawai'i and its people, so he is sickened by the battle and the deaths, particularly the one he caused. Although he killed to protect his captain, he doesn't want any more conflict between the people. Although Maile is wary of him at first, she reluctantly cares for him throughout his healing process. His genuine kindness and interest in her people show Maile there is much more to him than simply being her enemy.

This book was lovely, made even better by the fact that it's inspired by a true story. It was so interesting to see how the native Hawaiians viewed the Europeans and to learn more about their life and culture. The backdrop for the story (both the setting and the plot elements) was really beautiful, and then seeing John and Maile's growing feelings was just fantastic. I loved how it moved slowly, from wariness to appreciation to friendship to love, and I really enjoyed the teasing between Maile and John. This was just a highly enjoyable story from start to finish.

5 stars. One of my picks for the best of 2019.

I read an ARC via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.