The Ohana Cottage
by Megan Reinking
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.0

Romance, PTSD, Iraq war veteran, Hawaii.

It was a cute romance but the descriptions of Hawaii were lacking. It was like the girl went to Hawaii to sleep and stay in her room all day, but thanks to the cottage's owner she got to go surfing, fishing and biking around town. I was expecting more descriptions of Hawaii, places to visit on the island. All she did was walk to the farmer's market, a coffee shop, a bar, then she went swimming near the cottage, tried to surf but failed, tried to go on a fishing boat but puked, ate papaya and poke bowls.

After another breakup with the boy that she's been dating on and off for 4 years, Mia Taylor (23 yo) decides to go to Hawaii, her bucket list destination, to get away and finally move on. She rents a cottage and intends to work from there and explore the local area while she's there. When she sees the owner of the cottage in the backyard of the main house she can't stop looking.

John is about Mia's age and he has recently been discharged from the military after some bad events. He suffers with PTSD due to the war in Iraq. He has trouble communicating with people and prefers to stay alone at the house that his aunt and uncle left for him when they left to California. And thats why when Mia comes to say hi he freezes. Trying to fix the situation he follows her to the bar and after that they start talking.

When Mia's mom calls, Mia tells her that she's been dating John. What Mia didn't know was that her mom and her bff would show up in Hawaii as a surprise. Mia asks John to pretend to be her boyfriend for a few days so her mom and friend thinks she's moved on. He later agrees and he takes the job very serious. After her mom and bff left, they start hanging out more often and start dating, even though John is scared of not being enough for her. They have dinners and lunches together, sleep together, and go to the beach together. John has nightmares at night and Mia is there for him, he also doesn't open up about what happened to him. She's been very good for him and she's been helping him put himself together. After a discussion, Mia goes back to her state leaving him in Hawaii. The descriptions of John's PTSD was little and after a few therapy sections he was already healed. He flew to her state and asks her to forgive him and ask her to move in with him. Even though she dreams with a tradicional family she accepts to live with him in Hawaii and he didn't even propose. I though he was gonna go there with a ring and make it official. But anyway, it was a cute and quick read, and I enjoyed most of it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review
#TheOhanaCottage #NetGalley

Thank you @netgalley for this eARC in exchange of my honest review.

After Mia breaks up with her on again/off again boyfriend of the past four years, she decides to escape a potential on again situation by fleeing Minnesota for Hawaii and renting a guest house for a few weeks.

John has secluded himself ever since his discharge from the military. There are just certain memories that he isn’t ready to face, and anytime he ventures out people tend to ask too many questions. So he stays in. That is until Mia rents his guest house and finds a way into his life and his heart.

This one was a hard one for me to rate. I absolutely loved the concept of this story, but the writing just didn’t flow for me. The dialogue seemed forced at times and the chemistry between the two main characters was lacking.

This one gets 3⭐️‘s from me.

I’d probably give this book 2.5 stars. It was an ok book. The cover was cute and it was a quick read. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style but it seemed to get better about halfway through for some reason. I liked John but I really just didn’t vibe with the main character, Mia. She felt very two-dimensional. I wasn’t expecting her to be 23 when I first read the description. And she rambled a lot and really just seemed ditzy. I also didn’t understand how Hawaii was on her bucket list and then she didn’t go out and really see Hawaii. She tried to surf and went to the beach, and ate papaya and poke. If you like “fade to black” romance this may be for you.

3.5 Stars

This was such an easy fun romcom. I really enjoyed Mia and John's relationship and thought that they had great chemistry and banter.

I didn't mind this book - it was light and fluffy. The pace was good for the first 65-70%, but felt the last 30% was truly just dragging on and creating conflict for no reason. I also found the author narrated a bit too much. This book also deals with veteran PTSD and like other books with this, I find that they go to therapy for a chapter or two and are instantly healed and suddenly capable of being in a relationship. But overall, decent summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Megan Reinking for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Ohana Cottage coming out June 2, 2022.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
I find Mia very relatable and her journey (inner and physical one) is beatiful and well written.
I really want to visit Haiwai now myself (not happening anytime soon meeh). And I really enjoyed getting to know Mia and John.
Before going into more detail, I think its important to state, that I would read another Megan Reinking books. It was a lolvey read and it defintitley wasn't wasted time.

I found the first few chapters a bit odd and slow, they were somehow very detailed at places not necessary. It felt later the author had found her groove and it was a more smooth read. Also the storyline in itself is not anything we haven't read before, meaning struggeling ex army guy, good looking, broody, tall and lovely falls for a bubbly, intelligent, funny woman and opens up to her and changes his life.
But strangers to lovers is always lovely.
I also enjoyed the end (without giving too many spoilers). I liked that it was realistic but still a happy ending.

Overall it was a lovely read but I would have wished for a bit more originality.

This was such a cute, quick read!! Mia breaks up with her on-again, off-again boyfriend and decides to finally take that trip to Hawaii she’s always wanted. There she meets John, the owner of the Airbnb she’s renting. John appears to be closed off and grumpy but as we profess through the story, we really get to see his layers. He has recently returned form a tour with in Iraq and is having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. Mia really helps to bring him out of his shell and they develop a genuine connection. While I do think we could have gotten more depth from this story, overall it was a light hearted, fluffy romance. It has me instantly looking on Airbnb wanting to book my own vacation to Hawaii! This will be a great vacation or beach read.

Thank you NetGalley, Victoria Editing and Megan Reinking for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review! This review will be published on Goodreads along with NetGalley on April 25, 2022.

“The Ohana Cottage” is a cute summer read! It follows Mia and John and includes fake dating, dual pov, and grumpy sunshine! I rated this book 3/5 stars because, while I liked the plot and it was a nice vacation romance, I didn’t feel connected to the characters. They had some cute banter in the beginning, but it felt like they got together too quick and once they were actually together a lot of that fun banter faded. My biggest complaint with this book was that the author gave way too much description of the main character’s every action; she mentioned every little detail about what she was doing and it made it all feel a little wordy. I felt like I was reading so much narration and not enough plot. I wish it had a little spice to it, but overall not a bad read! It was a quick read that had its cute moments and dealt with serious issues, like PTSD, which I really liked.

This book was provided by Netgally and Megan Reinking for an honest review. All of the thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a sweet closed door romance. As someone who has no experience with PTSD and how it presents I can't speak about that aspect of the book but overall I liked it.
Mia and John are fully fleshed out characters both together and separately. There is a somewhat of a insta love feel to it and definitely some codependency on both their sides in how they interact with each other.
The ending did however feel a little rushed and jarring and I don't think it is very realistic that two months of therapy was enough to get him to be oh I'm just good enough for you to maybe be with me again. But then again like I said I have no actual experience in therapy and treatment for PTSD.
Overall 2 star read. It was good but it just didn't hook me in.

A super quick read, and pretty entertaining, but sadly this one wasn't for me!

I didn't vibe with the 1st person dual POV and didn't love either of the MC's. I hoped they'd have more chemistry, but it felt very insta-lovey.

I also wanted a little more Hawaii? Give me all the spam, Foodland, turtles, rusty bikes - I'd even take some coachroaches lol. I would've loved to see more Hawaiian culture as well.

Overall it felt rushed and I think I had different expectations, but I did appreciate the PTSD rep!

I really liked the rich descriptions of the food and scenery of Hawaii, especially the sunsets! I also really loved the uniqueness of John and Mia’s story, I’ve never read a romance book focused on the relationship of an Airbnb host and their guest before. I enjoyed how Mia brought out the best in John and how he liked teaching her surfing and showing her around the island.
I thought that the ending was nice, but a little bit rushed. I would have liked to see Mia secure in a new job after moving and resigning from her old one. I also thought some of the dialogue could have been more original, but it was still very sweet and left me feeling happy for them.
Overall, a nice read that also deals with some important topics such as PTSD in war veterans. Well-rounded in that sense.

OBSESSED!

The Ohana Cottage follows the story of Mia, fresh from a breakup off to clear her head in Hawaii. What she wasn’t prepared for was the handsome, brooding military vet whose air bnb she was renting.

This story is cute, full of adventure, but doesn’t shy away from addressing the trauma that can have an impact on military vets. As the wife of a marine (no longer active), I can appreciate the way they handled incorporating what John was going through. I devoured this book in one day! Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read it.

Mia needs some space from her on again/off again ex-boyfriend to cement that she’s ready to move on. She books an Airbnb cottage on a property in Hawaii for a month. When her family comes to visit to make sure she’s alright, she pretends she’s already in a relationship with owner of the cottage, John, to get her ex-boyfriend to leave her alone and move on as well. Feelings start to develop as they spend time together but John’s worries over his PTSD from his deployment days threaten to snuff out their relationship before it even gets a chance.

I really enjoyed the character development and the blossoming of Mia and John’s relationship. This is one of the unicorns of modern literature that thankfully doesn’t include any politics and the author knows how to turn up the spice without being vulgar. Before I read this book, I had just said to my husband that we needed some books that were exactly like this!

Thank you for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This is a short and sweet clean romance. It deals with PTSD and realizing that some things are worth the risk. I felt being a 23 year old and being able to go to an air bnb for a month in Hawaii seemed a little unrealistic, maybe if she had been older I would have believed it more. I think this was a fun debut. It was short and sweet and to the point, no fluff added, so you got straight to the story. Lots of side characters that could have potential for a story of their own.

I really enjoyed the storyline of this book and the MFC Mia was really relatable. She's independant and strong and knows what she wants. Her confidence is admirable as she made the first move on out MMC John.

I did find the first few chapters to be a slow burn at first, as we set the scene and understood the characters but after sticking with it and dedicating my time to it I did get sucked into the story and the characters and actually finished it very quickly in one sitting.

Mia, has just moved from Minnesota to Hawaii to escape on vacation from her ex, who she always ends up getting back together with and knew this time it needed to be the end. She rents an AirBnB from our MMC John who inherited the cottage from his aunt and uncle when he returned from serving in the military.

John is a man who keeps himself to himself and is recovering from his time in service - He no longer does things he used to enjoy and finds it tricky to be in social situations. Enter Mia. Our FMC has drawn his eye but he's far too anxious to make the first move. Mia can't keep him off of her mind so when her mom and best friend surprise her with a visit, to prove she's over her ex what else is she to do but say that her and John are dating?

Fake romance will always be one of my favourite tropes and I enjoyed that she tried to 'fix' him but in a healthy way - Mia was there to support John and help him make the right choices for himself - even if he's not fully aware of it at the time.

It's a lovely escapism romance story, with some tension and conflict but all is resolved in the end and our characters live happily ever after.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Megan Reinking for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Ohana Cottage!

I will be posting a review on GoodReads and link it to my feedback today 4/22. I will upload a review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble on June 2nd when the book is released on 6/2. I will also do a video review of it on TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@shainbrit

I can also do one on Facebook. My name on Facebook is Shaina Burris.

My reviews will not include spoilers to the book that I discuss here.

The story starts off with Mia going on a trip to Hawaii. I love everything about it. I’ve taken a trip to the UK by myself and traveling can be fun and exhausting when you have to do everything yourself. Like Mia, I don’t like to rely on other people, haha.

My grandparents and mom lived in Hawaii for a few years before moving here. It’s always been a dream of mine to go to Hawaii, so this book seemed perfect for me.

Mia experiences a breakup like the beginning of most contemporary romance novels. She wants to get married and settle down, but her longtime friend/boyfriend break up a lot. I love that Mia has an outgoing and friendly personality. She’s lovable and kind to people. She’s a positive person.

She meets John who owns the cottage she’s renting. I like that the story is told from both Mia’s and John’s perspectives. Most books tend to focus on the woman’s perspective, so I like we get more insight into John’s character. John recently discharged from the military and experiences PTSD. He’s closed off about his experiences until he meets Mia and starts to open up more. Several of the men in my family have served in the US military, so I appreciated that aspect of the story. I also appreciated that John is half-Hawaiian. I was definitely interested in the diversity aspect. Polynesians tend to be underrepresented in books.

I loved that the romance was clean, nothing graphic. It’s a sweet romance for people who like those kind of books. There wasn’t a ton of conflict, so it was a fun read. I felt she left kind of abruptly. They talked about moving in together. They didn’t know each other for that long, but whirlwind romances happen in real life. So I was good with them dating, but it was kind of sudden for her to leave early and not really try to communicate. I know he shut her out, but I expected a little more. Then it was 2 months before he went to visit her. It was a little long. I mean, even John apologizes for waiting so long, haha. However, I do really appreciate he sought the help he needed to deal with his issues.

Overall, I loved the story. It was fun and flirty with a side of serious. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sweet contemporary romcoms and destination novels!

I thought the Ohana Cottage was a sweet romance book. I enjoyed seeing Mia finally taking charge of her own life and doing something for herself for a chance. Along with John overcoming PTSD and how Mia is helping him along through difficulties he’s been facing.

I wish Mia had more of a backstory like johns. I did have a hard time finishing it. It was a lot of telling us what they did instead of describing how they did it. But regardless, it was a lovely book

Thanks Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC!

The Ohana Cottage
Written by: Megan Reinking
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

The moment you jump into this book you meet Mia, who is coming off a break up with her on again, off again boyfriend (who’s family is also incredibly close to her own) and is landing in Hawaii for a solo trip to find herself.

John Byrd is a young guy, who’s aunt and uncle left him their house as they moved to California. John is dealing with his own demons, having recently been honourably discharged from the Army, he prefers to live his life in solitude with the exception of the Guest House he rents out on Air BnB to tourists visiting Hawaii.

As fate would have it, Mia stays at John’s guest house and sparks fly from there. This book has it all, a grumpy, brooding man, a happy go lucky blonde who makes him feel special, a fake dating trope and self healing!

I loved this book but wish that there was more depth and detail into the relationships, places and characters but the story was cute and you need to check this out when it’s released on June 2nd!

HOLY COW I LOVED THIS BOOK! i read it in one day because i could not put it down. John is veteran suffering from ptsd and has closed him self off and Mia is outgoing burst of sunshine. They’re story was fun and cute and also deep and emotional. Could not recommend this book enough

Thank you Net Galley for the advance copy of this book for review.

This was a cute love story set in Hawaii. It was a quick read at 190 pages. I finished the book craving a Hawaiian vacation. The author did a good job of describing the island and Mia & John's adventures, however, I felt that the dialogue between them was a little too generic. It seemed like they would make plans and be like "meet me outside in 30 minutes" and she would say "ok!". I also felt like as two 23 year old characters, they were 'playing house' and not really connecting on a deeper level. There is also no *spice* in this book, so it would be appropriate for younger readers (college age and up) however there are 'flashbacks' to military scenes which are not graphic, but may be triggering for some. Overall, this was a a cute and sweet book and now I want to book a trip to Hawaii!