My Review for "Bumpy Landings" Blog Tour by Donald Carey

I have always wanted to journey to the Hawaiian islands. I would love to explore the beauty and mysteries that are there for the taking. Some day I will physically go there. For now, I can visit Hawaii by simply reading Bumpy Landings by Donald Carey.

When Jordan MacDonald goes behind his mother's back to get his pilot's license, he soon finds out that a life full of dishonesty attracts more turbulence than he's ever faced in the air. Set against the majestic backdrop of the Hawaiian islands, this heartwarming story of romance and self-discovery will take you to new heights with each turn of the page.

Bumpy Landings is a romance that is told from the male point of view. You do not see this very often. I really liked this aspect of the book. We meet the main character Jordan as he is struggling with many issues in his life. He has an overbearing mother who controls almost every part of his life, a "friend" who has bullied him for the past ten years and a girl he is falling in love with who is not returning his feelings.

Jordan really wants to become a pilot but his mother says "NO" while he is living under her roof. She tells him who he should date and what job he should work. I really was becoming quite fed up with his mother Beth. Well done Don for writing such an annoying character. Any character that can bring out that kind of emotion in a reader spells success for you.

Along the way Jordan moves out, secretly takes flying lessons and becomes involved with two different young women. Without giving too much away let me say this, Jordan during the course of the book, goes from a beaten down 21 year old "boy" to a 21 year old man who stands up for himself. I really wanted to cheer for Jordan as I lived with him through the changes that he made. He does have many "Bumpy" happenings along the way to get to that point, but who doesn't in real life?

This is Don's first published book. There was much in the book that he drew from in his own life. He worked in a flower shop, he was good friends with the women who worked there, he has lived in Hawaii and he does know how to make pani popo. For those of you that don't know what pani popo is you need to read the book. I have never tried it, but it sounds so good. I found these recipes for those of you that would like to try and make these.

Pani Popo (Samoan Sweet Bread)...Advanced Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minsTotal Time: 1 1/4 hrServings: 10

About This Recipe

"Pani popo is a Samoan sweet roll that has coconut (and if you like, pineapple) on the bottom. It is very popular throughout the islands, as many islands make different variations of the dish. Keeping your hands moist, will help with kneading the dough."

Ingredients

5 3/4-6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 ounce yeast

2 1/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup sugar, plus

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon shortening or 1 tablespoon margarine or 1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 (8 ounce) cans coconut

Directions

Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour and yeast.

In a saucepan heat and stir milk;.

sugar, shortening, margarine, or butter; and salt til warm and.

shortening almost melts.

Add to flour mixture.

Beat with an electric.

mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

Using a spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can to make a moderately.

stiff dough that is smooth and easy to pull - 6-8 minutes.

Shape in a ball and put in a.

greased bowl.

Turn it on both sides to grease the whole ball of dough.

Cover and let rise in the oven on the top rack and below it in a pan put some hot water. (The steam from the hot water will help it to rise) about 45 minutes.

Punch dough down.

Roll 18 balls and cover for 10 minutes while you make the following milk mixture.

Mix 2 cans of coconut milk with 1 cup of sugar. (Add more sugar if.

you like it sweeter.).

In 2 13x9x2 pans, pour in half of the milk.

mixture in each pan, put in 9 bread rolls on top (or you can make the.

rolls smaller to make more rolls).

Bake at 375 degrees in the oven.

for 20 minutes or until bread tests done.

Easy Pani Popo, Samoan Coconut Bread

Prep Time: 1 hrTotal Time: 1 1/2 hrsServes: 18, Yield: 18 Rolls

About This Recipe

"I found this recipe off of the Rhodes website. I just love this bread, but don't want to go through the tedious task of making it from scratch. This is a faster way to enjoy this island favorite."

Ingredients

18 frozen dinner rolls

1 (13 1/2 ounce) cans coconut milk

water

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Line the 18 rolls (3 across and 6 down), and set aside to let rise according to package directions.

In a saucepan, add the coconut milk, fill the can with water and add to saucepan, add the sugar. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water until all the clumps are gone, set aside. Bring the coconut sauce to a boil add the cornstarch mixture. Simmer for about 3 minutes (sauce will thicken a little), then remove sauce from heat.

Bake rolls. After 10 minutes take rolls out of oven and pour the coconut sauce over the rolls till 1/2 to 3/4 of each bun is covered in sauce. Place the rolls back in the oven and continue baking the rolls with the sauce until the tops of the rolls are golden brown.

Remove pan and allow a few minutes to cool. Serve warm.

Left over sauce can be used to smother rolls when served individually or just make a second pan of Pani Popo.

Overall I want to say I like Bumpy Landings. It was a good, fast read that has a great emotional storyline. If you would like to learn more about Don you can go to his site here.

Thank you Don for letting me be part of your blog tour and introducing me to pani popo. Now excuse me please, as I now am feeling the urge to go make some pani popo for myself.

BIO:

When he was eleven years old, Don Carey moved with his family to the Hawaiian town of La’ie, where his father taught at BYU-Hawaii. Don is a graduate of Kahuku High School where, when he wasn’t in the band room, he could be found in the library with his nose in a book.

Don was awarded the David O. McKay scholarship to attend BYU-Hawaii, where he met his lovely wife, Kara. During college, he scratched his creative itch by participating in a number of musical organizations, including the Polynesian Cultural Center Brass Band, and added a music minor to his degree in Computer Science.

Once the responsibilities of work and family took over his life, Don found the creative itch was better handled through writing fiction, and has enjoyed working to develop this talent.

Don currently lives in a small town outside Fort Worth, Texas with his wife and two daughters. His day job involves writing computer programs, which is almost the same as writing fiction, but with a lot more semicolons.

I want to thank Cedar Fort for my review copy of Bumpy Landings. In no way did this influence my review of the book.