Every Serengeti Sunrise by Rula Sinara

💚💚💚💚💚 – 5 stars

Every Serengeti Sunrise is Book 4 in the From Kenya, With Love series, and it has become my new favorite.

There’s still trouble in Kenya with poachers and native villagers killing elephants and leaving orphaned calves behind. The Busara Elephant Research and Rescue Camp provides care to these orphaned, injured young elephants. In book one, we met one of the camp’s operators, Anna Bekker, and her daughter, Pippa, who was four at the time. Pippa is all grown up now, and so is Haki, the son of the co-operator of Busara. Pippa and Haki’s relationship seems to have progressed to the next level. The two were always very close since they grew up together at the camp, along with Pippa’s cousin, Maddie, who often visited Busara and who is now a junior lawyer in Philadelphia, PA. Tension arises when Maddie is assigned to the Native Watch Global (NWG) case to defend the native Masai villagers in Kenya, while Haki and Pippa are allies of the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS), wildlife conservationists. Busara and its advocates are aware of the plight of the Masai farmers who have suffered crop damage and destruction from hungry wildlife, but they don’t believe killing the animals in retaliation is the solution to the problem. The villagers may even be contributing to the illegal ivory trade by selling the elephants’ tusks to poachers in compensation for their losses.

Haki has initiated a proposal that would impose stiffer fines on Masai farmers that kill elephants. Maddie is working with her law firm’s office in Nairobi to block the proposal. Haki is frustrated. What happened to the Maddie whose eyes widened with excitement at the wild animals roaming this land? To make matters worse, Haki and Maddie, despite being on opposing sides, can’t seem to keep their intense feelings for one another at bay. But what about Haki’s devotion to Pippa? What’s a guy to do?

This story pulled at my heartstrings. I loved so much about it—the rich descriptions of the Kenyan landscape with its sweeping views and wildlife all create an atmospheric quality that stimulates the imagination. The strong family dynamic that exists is endearing. I cried from both sad moments and happy ones. The intense ending had me an emotional mess, but in a good way. It was exciting and heartwarming. I can’t wait to see what happens in book 5.

I highly recommend this book. You will get the greatest enjoyment from it by starting with book 1, The Promise of Rain. You’re sure to love that one too. One of my absolute favorite Heartwarming books.

Thank you, Rula Sinara, for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review which I have given.