It just ended up not being my cup of tea.
I was just uinterested and bored. The writing was good, but the book itself just was not for me.

Beautiful and thought-provoking, an experience of the 'reinvention dream,' with fate at hand and the courage to explore a different way of living. Each step along the journey brings inspiring characters, a wonderful sense of magical place, and what I especially loved is that it didn't let me speed through it as I wanted to. It gave so much to think about that I had to put it down and sleep on it, then eagerly return to the realism later. I loved this book. So visual and so connective.

I'm having a hard time w/this read. To believe that a New York Businesswoman is so naive and childlike in her experiences in Hawaii is a really hard swallow. I think the story could have started where the main character introduced her mom, because the backstory to her career situation did not appeal to me or make the character likeable. This feels more like a self help exploration than a novel, and I'm not sure whether that's the intention but I'm having a hard time getting thru this. It's just really hard to envision this character being so weak, and talked to as though she's a child in some situations, with her being a New Yorker. It doesn't pan. Not sure I'll finish this, and if I do.. I will certainly finish this review and hopefully like it more (I'm currently half way through).

Maya is a corporate go-getter. She is a workaholic executive in a tech security corporation and has her eye on a promotion that comes with a corner office on the 'top' male-dominated executive floor, but all this comes at the cost of a social life and some of her male colleagues resent her success. One day she is asked to speak at an important conference in Hawaii to promote the company and win more clients, but a chance meeting with an elderly couple on the flight over forces her to re-think her values. After throwing her hard-won career to the winds at the conference Maya suddenly finds herself desperately needing guidance, and another chance encounter with a young surfer on the beach is about to change her life completely.

Set half in the corporate world of New York and half in the chilled beach life of Kauai the author managed to imbue each with a sense of authenticity. I liked reading about the cut and thrust of the corporate jungle and Maya's role there, but I loved the atmosphere in Hawaii and it made me want to go and live there in a house with French doors that opened onto the beach.

Yes, ultimately this book is a romance, but I think a major part of why I enjoyed it so much is that the romance didn't completely dominate the story of Maya's transformation from corporate caterpillar to high-flying butterfly.

My one issue is that there are some kindle formatting glitches that need to be fixed, although there were less as the book went on (or I was so engrossed that I no longer noticed them 😊

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent novel which centers on Maya, a strong, driven professional woman who experiences somewhat of a life changing transformation when on a business trip in beautiful Hawaii. There is much in this lovely book about corporate “politics” and the difficulties that women executives face in the workplace. However, it is mostly about Maya’s passion and mission to change all of that.

I haven’t been in the executive world for some time now, but I found Maya’s Story inspiring. It’s about honesty, integrity, and being authentic, as well as creating a life that makes us happy instead of continually stressed.

I loved the characters... they were believable and relatable.. I especially loved the mystical nature of Josh, plus the lush descriptions of the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i. And there was just the right amount of romance thrown in.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.