I am so excited to be taking part in the Release Week Blitz for J.A. Redmerski's The Moment of Letting Go! I was provided with an advance copy of the book and I have to say I was *blown away.* It was even better than I expected and I have no doubt it will be on my Best of 2015 list. Keep reading for my review, an excerpt and a chance to win your own copy of The Moment of Letting Go.
~SYNOPSIS~
Sienna Murphy never does anything without a plan. And so far her plans have been working. Right after college, she got a prestigious job and gained the stability she'd always craved-until work takes her to the sun-drenched shores of Oahu and places her in the path of sexy surfer Luke Everett. For the first time, she lets her heart take control. Drawn to his carefree charm, she makes a spontaneous and very un-Sienna-like decision to drop everything and stay in Hawaii for two more weeks.
Luke lives fast and wild. When he meets Sienna, he's convinced that some no-strings-attached fun is just what she needs. As their nights quickly turn from playful to passionate, Luke can't deny the deep connection he feels. But there's a reason Luke doesn't do long-term. He can't promise Sienna forever, when the enormity of his past has shown him just how fragile the future can be . . .
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~MY REVIEW~
Sienna is an event planner who works hard in order to ensure financial success and stability. It is while overseeing a wedding in Hawaii that Sienna meets Luke, a local surf instructor. Luke is attractive, laid-back, and charms Sienna into delaying her flight in order to spend an afternoon with him. And before she knows it, Sienna has put her life on hold in order to spend two weeks with Luke – living in a way she never has before: carefree, unencumbered, and living every moment as it comes. As Sienna and Luke grow closer they both struggle with the possibility of a future together. Can Sienna just walk away from her successful career in California? Can Luke overcome the ghosts in his past? Love isn’t always enough and happily ever after isn’t always possible.
In Sienna and Luke Redmerski created incredibly well-developed characters that were perfectly flawed and beautifully realistic. I loved watching as they slowly came to know one another. The pace of their relationship felt so unhurried and natural. Sienna questioned the nature of her relationship with Luke as it progressed and made choices that felt completely true to life. It gave the story such an authentic feel and made Sienna a protagonist that was easy to believe in and empathize with. Luke had so much going on under the surface and his background was revealed slowly. He was determined to help Sienna overcome her fears but at the same time his own feelings of grief and guilt kept him from moving forward.
The Moment of Letting Go touches on themes of grief and healing, overcoming fears and limitations, and living an authentic life. But at its heart is the breathtaking story of two people who love fully and are willing to sacrifice for the other. Redmerski has crafted a story that is rich, detailed, inspiring and emotional and it will easily be one of my favorites of 2015. Highly recommended!
EXCERPT from The Moment of Letting Go
Then he gets up and grabs my
hands from the tops of my bare knees, pulling me to my feet.
“We’re going swimming,” he
says. “And we’ll talk more about this later…like on the day your vacation is
over and you’re standing at the gate in the airport about to kiss me goodbye.”
“Wow, you really think highly
of yourself, don’t you?” I can’t keep the laughter from my voice.
“Damn straight!” he says and
pulls me along beside him. “Before these two weeks are over, I can guarantee
you three things.” He holds up three fingers as we continue onward toward the
water. “One”—he holds up one finger—“you’ll never want to go back to San Diego
once Hawaii is done with you.” He holds up two fingers. “Two—that photography
love of yours will start to take the place of everything else in your life. And
three”—he wiggles three fingers and we stop on the beach where the water can
pool around our feet—“you’ll kiss me at least once before you go home.”
I blush hard and it feels
like my eyes are bugging out of my head. “I might peck you on the cheek or
something, but—”
“No,” he says, smiling and
quite serious, “it’ll be a full-on, tongue-dancing kind of kiss.”
I smack him playfully on the
arm—something is fluttering around inside my belly.
“Geez!”
Luke grabs my hand and pulls me out to
the water with him, where we swim and hang out on the cliffs until late in the
afternoon. People come and go throughout the hours, sometimes leaving us with
Alicia, Braedon, and a few of their close friends to have the area to ourselves
for a while before more people show up in intervals.
“Backflip!” someone says just before
Luke jumps into the water for probably the twentieth time.
And every time he does it, it ties my
stomach up in knots. But there’s something about him that I can’t quite figure
out when I watch him leap off the edge of that cliff; it’s not overconfidence
or showing off or recklessness, but something deeper, more profound. Maybe it’s
a sense of freedom, or a natural high that consumes him while he’s in the air,
as if he had been born with a pair of wings that only he can see. But the more
time I spend with him, the more intrigued I become. Sure, he’s gorgeous and
funny and polite and all the kinds of things—so far—that would make my mom love
him to death. But what intrigues and excites me more is how he kind of makes
me want to jump off that stupid cliff regardless of how scared I am of it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries.
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