Bamboo & Lace

Bamboo & Lace, by Lori Wick, is about a young woman named Lily Walsh.  Lily has grown up in the Asian nation of Kashien (a fictional place) with her missionary father and brother.  Her father, as a sign of respect to people of Kashien, has raised Lily to behave like the Kashien women.  She must show obedience to her father at all times.  He is a strict disciplinarian and enforces rules such as never looking him in the eye in public.

When Lily goes to visit her brother, Jeff, at his new home in Hawaii, she is completely out of her element.  She has never seen many things that are common in America and is unaccustomed to being shown respect.  Just as she is becoming more comfortable, her brother is sent away on a business trip and Lily has to spend the rest of her trip with Jeff's best friend Gabe and his family.

The rest of the story focuses on the developing relationship between Lily and Gabe.  There are several instances where they must completely trust God to take care of the situation they are facing.  The romance between them is a very sweet story with a happy ending.

This book was a very quick read and I thought it was a great book if you're in the mood for a romance novel.  (I would also consider it to be clean and appropriately written.)  Although I did sometimes feel that Lily's character was a bit too good to be true, it was a fun book and kept my interest.

Rating:  I would give this book a 4 out of 5.