Shaloha Gems - Hardcover

by Terry Chodosh (Author)

Abe Goldstein's life is speeding downhill faster than a Coney Island roller coaster.

His Manhattan diamond company is on life support. Crime is so bad that muggers are mugging other muggers. And his overbearing mother has gone behind his back and posted his profile on a Jewish dating site. Now, Abe's phone is blowing up with messages from women who want to marry him.

At the advice of his accountant, Abe flees to Honolulu and cuts a deal with an Okinawan family to buy their diamond ring business. The owner's beautiful daughter Kiyoko stays on as a consultant, and Abe finds himself falling hard for her. But there's trouble in paradise. Abe's meddlesome mother hires an unscrupulous matchmaker to break the pair up and find a nice Jewish girl for him instead. To make matters worse, a rival diamond firm connected to Japanese organized crime is bent on destroying Abe's fledgling business, Shaloha Gems.

As Abe navigates the twists and turns of his unconventional island life, everything he values is in jeopardy. He may be willing to damage his relationship with his mother to preserve his romantic relationship. But will he crumble under the pressure if he loses his reputation and his budding diamond empire too? Or will a discovery that leads back to the darkest days of World War II open an unexpected door to a brighter future?