Customer Reviews

Midnight Sea (Aloha Reef Series #4)

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Midnight Sea is Colleen Coble's latest Women of Faith novel and draws on characters from her Aloha Reef series.

Leilani Tagama is making every effort to lay to rest her reckless past, working on her aunt's coffee farm and pursuing her love of floristry design when she is blinded by a bullet in an attack against a fellow worker.

Ben Mahoney reluctantly agrees to help Lani as she comes to terms with her blindness as he has a special affinity for those without sight, stemming from his past and the guilt that eats away at him. He introduces her to Fisher, a golden retriever he is training as a guide dog, and Lani falls in love - with the dog!

The mystery surrounding the shooting looms larger as Lani's life is threatened again, she befriends a young Tongan boy she fears is being abused and she discovers a treasure people are willing to kill for.

Colleen Coble has written a terrific romantic suspense, one I would rate as up there with her best. The setting in Hawaii is again captivating and her detailed descriptions have you smelling the coffee and hearing the surf. Lani and Ben are fascinating and substantial characters and while they struggle with the usual issues of guilt and a sad past, Colleen's writing is refreshing and totally absorbing. The suspense will have you anxious to turn each page but hoping the story doesn't end. A number of the secondary characters are calling out for their own stories to be told - I hope Colleen gets a chance to write them!

In this book, Colleen Coble crafts another tight suspense plot filled with twists and turns and rich characters. She transports readers back to Hawaii, the setting for her Aloha Reef series. While this book stands completely on its own, if you read and enjoyed the Aloha Reef series, you will enjoy the reappearance of characters from that series.

Lani is faced with something I think most of us fear - she wakes up one morning unable to see anything. In the midnight sea of darkness, she must learn to cope and strive for some independence. Ben reluctantly agrees to help her learn how to use a guide dog and adjust to her new world. However, he's heard too much about her to be drawn in by her beauty.

The characters struggle with real questions about how their faith can sustain the circumstances of life. And they are brave enough to ask the questions many of us would love to scream to the heavens. As they wrestle with the mystery and their doubts, they also develop a relationship that could extend beyond friendship if they could let go of their pasts.

The book is rich with layers of characters and plots. And Coble does a fantastic job bringing all the layers together into a cohesive and compelling book. And if you're looking for a book to transport you to the beaches of Hawaii on a cold afternoon, this book is the one for you. Coble again creates a vivid setting and a story that could only be set in Hawaii.

With the help of a handsome ex-cop, a blind woman searches to find the man who did this to her before he comes after her again. Like all of Coble's books, Midnight Sea has an endearing animal (a golden retriever who makes me want to hug my dog!) and is filled with fascinating characters, unexpected twists and a pace that leaves you breathless from start to finish. This is a keeper!

Midnight Sea is a great story that you just don't want to put down. I like how the author gives you details without giving the ending away. Another great book by a great writer. Enjoy!

I enjoy reading a book that does not have a bunch bad language and over the top sex. Bring more on Colleen...

This was my first book written by Coble. I am hooked! The carefully laid out plot is full of twists and turns. The characters are well developed. Coble has created a style of writing that is like a woman's version of Stephen Hunter.
The main plot line of the book centers around Leilani. She has recently come to Christianity, and is beginning a new life in Christ while laying her reckless life and reputation aside. Leilani then finds herself with a concussion, amnesia and blind, after a shooting has occurred.

As Leilani's memory returns, questions about the nature of the shooting and the motive behind the act place Leilani and the people she cares about in danger. Leilani begins to question everyone around her, and her new found faith during this trial.

Coble makes good use of her setting. It doesn't steal the show,but enough information is given about Hawaii to give you the feeling of taking a mini-vacation while reading the book. Much of the story takes place on a Kona coffee plantation, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned about coffee farming while reading this book.

The characters in Coble's books aren't perfect. They all have pasts with less than stellar choices. Characters wrestle with what it really means to forgive and live a Christian life. There is action and blockbuster style plots, that all tie up nicely at the end.

If you are looking for a Christian book that is a page turner, full of action, and a little romance, then this is a book for you!

I had read another book, Alaska Twilight, written by this author. I doubted that "Midnight Sea" could be as terrific a book as the former. I was wrong! Colleen's way of telling a story couldn't be any better in keeping a reader glued to the pages. The story locale is Hawaii in the midst of the many coffee plantations. Leilani Tagama, known as Lani, is the featured girl in the book. Lani has a terrible accident that leaves her blind and prevents her memory from seeing who she had seen murder a good friend. Lani had always been a very active person and she could not imagine how she could live a decent life without her sight. In her previous years Lani had been very loose in her many romances with men. She had recently turned to God to get her life in gear and now could not understand why God allowed this blindness to occur.

Ben Mahoney had taken on training guide dogs to assist those that had lost their sight to live a much better life. At this time he was training a two-year old golden retriever and "Fisher" was doing quite well. He was almost ready to help those in need of his services. While in training, Ben and Fisher had run into Ben's former police partner, Yoshi Tagama, a cousin of Lani's. Yoshi requested the help of Ben and a guide dog for Lani. Ben wasn't sure that Fisher was ready for active work yet but finally gave in and told Yoshi he would take Fisher to Lani to see how it would work out. His hesitation was further enhanced knowing Lani's past reputation as being too free with the men but realized Lani needed help with her total blindness.

Ben's brother, Ethan and wife, Natalie, are almost always spaced out on alcohol, leaving their adorable daughter, Meg, without caring parents. A boating accident takes the lives of Ethan and Natalie but somehow Meg survived in her life vest. The accident also exposed criminal activity taking place in the area. Ben and Lani then cared for Meg.

The story continues as it brings Ben and Lani closer together through Meg and their feelings for each other even though they did not express those feelings to each other. Lani's life was at risk because the killer felt Lani had seen him before her sight was lost and would someday remember who he was. Lani and Fisher made a great team as they adjusted to life together and Lani grew so attached to him that she told Ben she could never give up Fisher even if she regained her sight, which she felt she would some day.

Yoshi stayed as close to Lani and Meg as he could but he had other police work to do and could not spend every hour protecting them. Lani had several attempts on her life and her senses had saved her along with her friends being on the alert constantly. She even got to the point where she could distinguish by feel the ripe coffee beans and helped in the picking with Meg sometimes at her side and other times with friends and family watching Meg. Meg loved gum and everyone knew that fact as she insisted loudly that she wanted some gum!

The Christian atmosphere all through the book stand out especially well as Lani sometimes wonders why God let all these thing happen but then realized that God had done so many good things for her too. Midnight Tea is a page-turner that is extremely hard to put down. The reading is easy but pleasant and certainly not boring. There are no slow sections to bog you down. I highly recommend it.

Midnight Sea transported me right away with the rich setting and tropical details. I enjoyed the tidbits about coffee production as well as the complex plot which kept me guessing. I am a mystery gal and I didn't guess the ending! Lani's relationship with Ben and Fisher the guide dog were interesting to watch as they evolved. A very enjoyable read! Dana Mentink

Colleen, you did it again. Every book in this Aloha Reef series just kept getting better and better. More mystery. More intrigue. More romance. Is this really the last book. I want to read more. Thanks for the series.

As a person who loves the Hawaiian Islands, this series of books from Colleen Coble has been a refreshing way to transport myself from the mainland to the islands by just picking up the books and begin reading. I love the fact that the places she references in the stories are real and accurate in her descriptions. I am able to actually visualize what she is speaking of through the characters. I am sad that when I finish Midnight Sea book #4 in the Aloha Reef Series that I am at the end! I hope Colleen writes a 5th book!