Blog Tour: SEARCHING FOR MOORE by Julie A. Richman

Synopsis

Attended by reality TV star wannabes and Southern California social climbers, Schooner Moore knows the party his wife is throwing for his forty-third birthday has little to do with him and everything to do with her social standing in Orange County. The evening turns out to hold more surprises than just his wife’s Botoxed friends groping at his privates, when a conversation with his old college roommate, Beau, reveals the biggest surprise of the night.

Beau has had contact on Facebook with Mia Silver. Just hearing her name sends Schooner into a tailspin, as he is now just a Friend Request away from the one who got away when she disappeared without a goodbye, leaving him wondering why she left.

A serial failure at romance, Manhattan boutique ad agency owner, Mia, gets a blindside of her own when a Facebook Friend Request from first love, Schooner, appears in her email. Going with her gut reaction, Mia hits accept, propelling her past to catch up with her in a New York minute, as a forceful Schooner is determined to understand what tore them apart and to explore the possibility of a second chance at love.

From a 1980’s Southern California college campus and a devastating first love to present day New York City, Searching for Moore explores how technology has eradicated the divide between our past and our present, and asks whether you would give up everything to reconnect with The One in a single keystroke?

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Excerpt

Schooner and Mia poured over the tennis schedule, two to three weekends per month he’d be playing in matches and about half of them would require travel, taking him away for a few days.

“I miss you already.” Mia told him, sitting in his lap at her desk. He pulled her face in for a kiss.

“I’m going to really miss this,” he tightened his arms around her waist, “when Caroline gets back and I’ve got to move back into my dorm”.

“Ugh, it’s going to suck,” she pouted, “I like waking up with you.”

He leaned down and bit her pouty lower lip. “Grrrrr. I love waking up with you.”

“I didn’t know I could feel so addicted to someone,” she admitted, a surprised look fleeting past her eyes. “I didn’t know I’d ever want to,” she paused, thinking. “It scares me.  Yet, I don’t want to lose this.”

Schooner pulled her head against his chest and rested his chin on top of her head. “We won’t lose this. I promise.”

She looked up at him, searching his eyes, silently begging him to keep his promise, he thought. And for him, in that moment, the floodgates broke. He took her face in his hands, kissed her eyes, her cheeks, the tip of her nose and then softly her lips. “Baby Girl,” he sighed, “I love you.”

Mia’s eyes widened, registering her surprise.

He was nodding his head, “I love you. I really do. And I’ve never said that to anyone. I don’t want to freak you out, Mia, and I’m sorry if I am, but I could see us together forever. Can’t you?”

Her face broke into a huge smile and fat tears coursed down her cheeks. And she just nodded her head. Schooner took her face in his hands and started out softly kissing her lips, intensifying as she weaved her fingers into his hair, gently pulling. He heard a growl sound rumbling from the base of his throat and picked Mia up as he stood. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he walked to the bed, their kiss never breaking.

He laid her down on her back and got beside her, facing her on his side. He pushed her irreverent mass of dark curls from her face and kissed her softly.

He leaned down next to her ear and whispered, “I want to make you happy.”

Mia put her hand to his face, brushing her thumb across his cheek and smiling into his beautiful clear blue eyes. “You make me very happy.”

Review 4.5 stars

This story is split between the past and the present. In the present, Schooner Moore is a 43 year old man who has lived his life for everyone else. He’s sexy, extremely good-looking and very successful. But he is hiding who he truly feels he is inside. In the past, the only time he felt like himself was with Mia.

In present time, Mia is now 40, cute, outspoken and captivating and has never found a love to rival that which she had with Schooner. In the past, she was able to bring out the Schooner who he felt himself to be inside but didn’t show to anyone. And Schooner showed her want it was to be protected and loved.

Julie Richman’s style of initially introducing Schooner in present time then flipping backward to the past was seamless. She very much captured Schooner’s personality, his thoughts, and his feelings. I loved how she was able to tell the first half of the story from Schooner’s perspective. Oh, I didn’t always love him, though. I wanted to reach into the book and kick him in the balls at one point and say stop letting people live your life for you (that bitch CJ). He did redeem himself at one point and then my heart broke for him, hard.

Then I was thrown into the present again and I was immediately caught up in Mia’s side of the story when the book flipped to her perspective. Julie did a wonderful job of allowing me into Mia’s head and emotions, as she did with Schooner’s. I loved Mia’s strength, her personality, her friends, and her ability to be a kick ass kind of woman when she needed to be.

There are beautiful moments of young love and heartbreaking moments as well. Julie Richman can write some very steamy, sexy moments punctuated by deep, loving moments! This is also a story of how two people who never stopped loving each other finally find themselves back in each others’ lives after more than 20 years and what that can mean for them and those that are already parts of their lives. The writing drew me in and I was definitely caught up in the book.

I will give you fair warning, there is a cliffhanger so about 80% in, I was very committed to knowing how Mia & Schooner’s story might end but knew that I wouldn’t get resolution in this book. I couldn’t stop reading though! I will be anxiously waiting to read the sequel!

*ARC provided by author for honest review

 

About the Author

Author Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas.  A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion.  Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations.  She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust.  Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.

Twitter: @juliearichman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieARichman

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17403368-searching-for-moore

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6949287.Julie_A_Richman

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