The Gift of Rio (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780997672220)

In 1972, a stranger revealed a prophecy to a young woman named Mei in Osaka, Japan. The mysterious old woman told Mei that she would have a daughter one day who would be a gift to the world.

A few years later, Mei found herself trapped in a loveless marriage and pregnant after being brutally raped by her husband. Obtaining false documents to assume a new identity, Mei clears out the family bank accounts and escapes to Hilo, Hawaii to start a new life.

Mei gives birth to a healthy baby girl, Rio, who grows up with a stepdad and a little brother, both of whom she adores. She is a gifted athlete on the University of Hawaii swim team with an unmatched level of endurance. But, something is missing in her life. So, one day, she informs her mother that she is leaving for Japan to search for the father she has never known.

Mei, who now goes by the name of Toki, sits Rio down and tells her everything from the prophecy to the rape and her escape to Hawaii. Rio feels terrible for what her mother endured but is undeterred in her determination to find her father, even if it means facing rejection.

As her journey begins, something transforms in Rio. She starts to develop abilities that give her supernatural control over water. Upon arriving in Japan, she meets a Christian missionary named Luke who offers to help her find her father. As their relationship blossoms so do Rio's abilities. Determined to find the missing piece of her past, she finds far more than she ever dreamed possible as she fulfills the prophecy given to her mother by evolving into a living miracle.

The Gift of Rio is suspenseful, funny and heartwarming. While this is the second release in the Gift of the Elements series, it is chronologically book one.