FULL BOOK TITLE: Hawaiian Flames

AUTHOR NAME: Sheri Lynne

PUBLISHER NAME: Dorrance Publishing Co.

LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Flames-SheriLynne/dp/B0BLG119V2/

Sheri Lynne’s Hawaiian Flames wastes little time plunging readers into danger. The novel opens in flood-ravaged Afghanistan, where Captain Peyton TreVaine leads a desperate rescue mission through rising waters and collapsing buildings. The sequence immediately establishes both the novel’s cinematic style and Peyton’s deeply ingrained sense of duty. Here, “impossible odds” are not abstract concepts—they are the daily reality of soldiers and rescuers struggling to save lives amid chaos. The rescue mission also introduces one of the novel’s strongest emotional anchors: Peyton’s military dog, Justice. When Justice dives into floodwaters to save a drowning child, the moment carries genuine weight. “He means more to me than life itself,” Peyton later says of the dog, and Lynne convincingly builds much of the character’s emotional world around that bond.

Returning home to Hawaii after years of military service, Peyton finds himself caught between trauma, longing, and the possibility of a new life. Lynne handles his transition from war zone to civilian life with sincerity and warmth. His reunion with his brothers at the Hawaiian Lanai restaurant provides some of the novel’s most heartfelt scenes.

Throughout the story, family serves as a sanctuary against violence and corruption. Peyton’s arrival feels less like a simple homecoming and more like a resurrection:

“I am home for good!”

Lynne clearly enjoys writing relationships—siblings teasing one another, couples flirting, coworkers exchanging glances across crowded rooms— and that warmth gives the novel much of its charm. The restaurant itself becomes a central emotional setting where food, friendship, and romance counterbalance the darker criminal underworld operating beneath Honolulu’s tropical beauty.

The novel shifts gears effectively once the organized crime storyline takes hold. Loan sharking, drug trafficking, undercover operations, and contract killings begin intersecting with Peyton’s personal life in increasingly dangerous ways. Marco Manchez, the businessman-crime boss at the center of the conspiracy, may not be an especially layered villain, but he radiates enough menace to sustain the tension. Lynne understands the appeal of classic romantic-thriller structure and keeps the story moving at a brisk pace.

Much of the suspense derives from undercover officer Stacy Rayland, operating under the alias Helen Gray. Stacy’s dual identity—as glamorous detective by night and deliberately invisible office worker by day—is one of the novel’s most entertaining elements. Lynne plays cleverly with perception and attraction, especially during the near-misses between Stacy and Peyton before either fully understands who the other truly is.

The romance between the two is written with old-school sincerity. Lynne embraces directness, giving the book an earnest tone. Her characters fall hard and speak openly about love and sacrifice. At times, the dialogue can feel overly explanatory, but the emotional intentions always remain clear.

Lynne also succeeds in portraying Hawaii as more than postcard scenery. Beneath the beaches and restaurants lies a network of crime, corruption, trauma, and hidden identities. Yet the islands never lose their romantic allure. The contrast between paradise and danger gives the novel much of its appeal.

Fans of Catherine Coulter, Nora Roberts’ romantic thrillers, and military romance fiction will find familiar pleasures here.

A heartfelt romantic thriller filled with military camaraderie, undercover intrigue, family loyalty, and island danger, Hawaiian Flames delivers exactly what it promises: action, suspense, romance, and emotional escape beneath the beauty of Hawaii’s shores.

Author Bio: Sheri Lynne, 2025 International Impact Book Award Winner for her third book in her Hawaiian trilogy, Hawaiian Embers, is also a small business owner, serving southern Michigan for over thirty years.

Lynne, a devoted mother of her special needs son, Bryan, is very passionate in helping him through nutrition and various treatments to free him from pain and to live a more independent life. Lynne started her writing career during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, when she found herself wondering what she was going to do with her life when she retired, when suddenly her late husband’s dream of owning a Hawaiian restaurant came into her mind and her first novel, Hawaiian Dreams, was born. Her desire to write romance suspense thrillers continued and Lynne has written four novels thus far and looking forward to writing more novels in the future.

Lynne’s fourth book, a historical romance suspense novel, Two Hearts, One Quest for Freedom, was a finalist in the American Writing Awards competition. Lynne has been involved with Compassion International, where they aid children in third world countries, supplying them with food, education, medical assistance, and teaching them the love of Christ. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter Wendy, her husband Joe, and her darling little granddaughter, Madilynne. You can learn more about Lynne’s works at www.swlynnebooks.com.