Book excerpt: Romancing Waikiki contains twenty-one intriguing original love stories of people falling in love on Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. The romances evoked by the most famous beach in the Pacific go back to 1901, when the elegant Moana Hotel was opened to welcome visitors and has continued to be a presence on the beach. This selection of love stories, written in Waikiki coffeehouses, spans the period from the Second World War to the present and covers all ages, from a coming-of-age teen romance to senior citizens who discover love has no expiration date. While the stories are fictional, they have threads in the sand of Waikiki Beach and beyond. Matters of the heart can be found in the footprints in the sand, a letter fluttering across the beach, remnants of a sandcastle, an army nurse waiting, and a homeless woman blowing out a candle. The author lives in Waikiki and has spent more than two decades in Hawaii, the source of his inspiration for these love stories that stir feelings of joy and tears.