You can follow the rules or you can follow your heart…
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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Review
One’s ability to let something go regardless of how big or small the situation is says a lot about the strength and character of that person. Whether it be letting go of regrets, guilt, or hurt feelings, life is a lot freer if someone is not burdened with those dark feelings. But being able to let go is a lot easier said than done because even if it makes sense logically, the mind is a complex part of the human body and when emotions are involved, people tend to allow those feelings to consume them.
This principle holds true for the main characters of J.A. Redmerski’s newest release The Moment of Letting Go, and while Luke is the handsome and carefree guy who wants to help Sienna not to overthink and fight her fears while she’s in the lush and beautiful island of Hawaii, Luke himself needs those reminders as well because his ability to move on after a significant loss is something that is definitely holding him back from living his life to the fullest.
On paper, Luke and Sienna couldn’t be more different. Luke is a risk taker who finds a sense of freedom participating in extreme sports and releasing himself from the confines of the business world. Sienna overthinks everything and lives to work because she is defined by her success at her job and not much else.
Luke and Sienna take one another outside their comfort zones: Luke’s walls start to break down as Sienna becomes someone important to him; someone who makes him feel more than he wants to because the fear of letting her in and her not accepting him is not something he wants to endure. Sienna starts to question everything about her life and if she has the confidence to let her old life go and move on to something that would satisfy her completely.
There’s a great message in Luke and Sienna’s story about finding a way for people to unburden themselves and live life to the fullest. But in order to do something so grand, there’s definitely going to be conflict and tension, especially for two people who don’t know each other well and live completely different lives.
I’m a huge fan of J.A. Redmerski’s writing; her ability to write in multiple genres illustrates her diversity as an author. Her New Adult stories carry significant themes in them about life and how it should be lived regardless individual situations. The Moment of Letting Go is thought provoking and uplifting because it proves that life is about so much more than work and money and in order to live instead of merely to exist, people need to experience EVERYTHING life has to offer before it’s too late.
A complimentary copy was provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.
4 poison apples
Excerpt
“Damn, my back is killing me,” I say, grimacing and reaching behind me for my muscles again. “Sleeping on this sofa is brutal.”
Sienna’s face falls under a little veil of guilt and pity.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says. “Is it bad?”
No.
“Yeah, it’s pretty bad.” I groan deeply for added affect. “I should’ve crashed in Seth’s room—would have if I’d known he wasn’t coming home last night.” Truthfully, I’m not sure of that; Seth might be in his room and I just slept so well through the night that I didn’t hear him when he came in, like I usually do.
“Now I feel bad,” she says and stands up from the coffee table, her long, lightly tanned legs stretching for miles underneath the thin fabric of her cotton shorts— damn,
she is sexy; the things I want to do to her right now. “I’m not really hungry anyway, so don’t worry about breakfast. I was just messing with you.”
“Nah, don’t feel bad.” I wave it away like it’s nothing, while at the same time still kneading my back with the other hand. “I’m going to make you something . . . but you could help me out by walking on my back.”
“Huh?” Her face scrunches into a cute, confused expression. “You want me to walk on your back?”
“Well, yeah,” I say with a nod, suddenly realizing myself how just the thought of her touching me—with her feet, her hands, her lips; I don’t even care which—makes my heart ache and my palms sweaty. “It’ll work out the kinks.”
She smiles ridiculously and shakes her head—I fight the urge to reach out and pull her down on my lap; the image of her bare thighs around my waist, my hands hugging the curvature of her ass…breathe Luke…just breathe.
“I’m not walking on your back,” she sort of laughs the words out.
“Why not?” I tilt my head to one side.
“Well I think I’m a little too heavy to be walking on your back,” she says as if I should already know this. “And because it’s weird?” It was more a statement than a question, but something else she thinks I should already know, apparently.
God, she’s so fucking cute.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those girls who wears a size zero and thinks she’s fat.”
“No! I’m not one of those,” she defends. “I just don’t want to hurt you!”
I laugh without restraint.
“OK, well you’re not going to hurt me, I can promise you that.” I get up from the couch—with pretend difficulty—and step around Sienna and the coffee table and then lay on my bare chest on the floor. “Come on. It’ll really help me out a lot.” One side of my face is pressed against the rug as I look up at her at an angle. She stands over me with her flimsy arms crossed—I grow even harder beneath my shorts.
“No, Luke,” she laughs, “I’m not going to do it.”
“Yeah you are,” I say casually and wave my hand at her as if there’s nothing to it. “The only way you can hurt me is if you jump up and down really, really hard. Now get on.”
“No.”
“Please?”
She shakes her head repeatedly, her smile growing.
I break out the big guns.
“It’s the least you can do for me letting you stay here for free and have my bed.” I grin subtly, which I imagine looks strange with my cheek smashed against the floor.
“No!” She laughs out loud. “I’ll sleep on the couch from now on if that’s the case.”
With me? I want to say—and almost do—but restrain myself.
“No you won’t,” I tell her sharply. “What kind of guy would I be if I made you sleep on the couch while I was all sprawled out on the comfy bed? Now step on and start walkin’.”
“You’re crazy.”
Absolutely, one hundred percent, no-going-back crazy for you—I admit it.
About the Author
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