Friday, September 20, 2013

Relinquishing Liberty by Maureen Mayer

Book Info-
Title-Relinquishing Liberty
Series-Second Chances Book #1
By-Maureen Mayer
Genre-New Adult
Expected Publication Date- August 26th, 2013

Blurb-
On the outside, Liberty Davis appeared to have it all…a loving family, a tight knit circle of friends, and a bright future ahead of her. Everything was perfect. That is until her brother tragically took his own life, turning her whole world upside down.

Left to pick up the pieces of her broken family, Liberty is faced with focusing all of her attention on helping her parents cope with the loss of their son, while putting her own life on the back burner. But what no one seems to realize is that she is just as broken inside.

Now, four years later, twenty year old Liberty is taking back the reins of her life. She leaves behind everything she’s ever known, hoping to make a fresh start…one where she isn’t faced with the constant reminder that her brother is nothing more than faded memory. What she didn’t expect to find along the way was Shayne.

Tall, dark and tattooed, Shayne Thompson has developed quite a reputation for being a player. Despite everyone’s negative perception, Liberty still finds herself drawn to him. When she learns that Shayne knows all too well what it feels like to lose someone you love, she finds that they have a lot more in common than just a physical attraction.

When Liberty discovers a secret from Shayne’s past that threatens to tear them apart, she begins to question everything she’s ever felt for him. Will Liberty choose to follow her heart or will she give up the one person who finally made her feel whole again?

**This story contains language and sexual scenes, some of which may be unsuitable for younger readers.**

Links-
Createspace (paperback):https://www.createspace.com/4393520

Excerpt:

I had never bought a pregnancy test before. Fuck, I had never even had sex! Being in that aisle of the store made me feel so uncomfortable. I looked at all of the different options. One of the results showed two pink lines, one had a blue plus sign, another had a smiley face and the most obvious one straight out said “pregnant”. I had no clue which one to get!

“Fuck it. I’ll just buy all of them.”

I exited the aisle, clutching the little boxes to my chest, and ran straight into the one person I did not want to see me making this purchase. The pregnancy tests flew out of my hands and scattered across the floor at his feet.

“Shayne!” I gasped in surprise.

“Sorry I didn’t see you there, sweetheart. We seem to be making a habit of crashing into each other.” He lifted my chin with his index finger, drawing my gaze away from floor. His beautiful smile beamed down at me with such fervor, it made my knees weak. Why did he have to be so damn irresistible?

“What do ya got there?” He reached down to pick up the mess we had made, but as he read the labels of the boxes the smile on his face faded, and his expression grew very serious.

“Oh…uh…those aren’t mine. I mean they are, but…shit. They’re mine, but they’re not for me. They’re for a friend.” I snatched them out of his hands and started to head towards the register at a brisk pace. The sooner I got out of here the better.

He held his hands up in front of him. “Hey, it’s none of my business. Hope everything turns out okay.” With that, he simply turned and began to walk away.

I couldn’t leave with him thinking there was a possibility that I was pregnant. Shit. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to do this.

“Wait, Shayne!” He stopped mid-step, but didn’t turn around. I ran to catch up to him and explain, but I wasn’t sure what to say. So, I took a deep breath and just blurted it out.

“I’m a virgin!” Well. There it was. Out in the open. I’m sure every customer and employee in the store heard me since I practically shouted it. Wonderful. I was now completely and utterly humiliated.

I turned, not wanting him to see the embarrassment that was so obviously displayed on my face. I could feel the heat spread across my cheeks, and I knew without a doubt that my face was now beet red. I mentally cursed my mother for passing on her trait for blushing so easily. I couldn’t even look at the cashier as I paid for my purchase. I grabbed my bag and practically ran out to the parking lot, ignoring the footsteps that trailed behind me.

Before I could place my key in the door, two arms caged me in against my car. I screamed and spun around with my back pressed against the door. Shayne stood up straight, giving me some room to breathe.

          “Liberty, I believed you when you said they weren’t for you. Even if they were, that doesn’t change my opinion of you.” I could see in eyes that he was being genuine.

“And about the other thing…you don’t need to be embarrassed about that. I think it’s very admirable that you’ve been able to save yourself. Nowadays, people are so ready to just lose it to anyone.” I really didn’t want to have this conversation with him. I placed my hand on his firm chest to give me some room to open my car door, but before I could push him away, he pulled me in close and wrapped his arms around me. Instinctively, I pressed my face to his neck and breathed in deep. He smelled of cologne and the sea; it was intoxicating. His lips pressed up against my temple before releasing me.

          “Are we still on for this weekend?” I smiled up at him and nodded. I was afraid to speak after what I just revealed to him. Heaven forbid I reveal any more embarrassing little tidbits of info to him!

          “Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. See you Saturday, sweetheart.”

          I fell back against the car, unable to hold myself up any longer. How does he do that? No one has ever made me literally weak at the knees. Only Shayne.

Can you provide us with a short history/bio on each of the main characters?

Liberty Davis: People say your life can change in an instant...that is exactly what happened to sixteen-year-old Liberty, the day she found her brother’s lifeless body. Growing up in Buffalo, Liberty had a pretty normal childhood: a loving family, a tight knit circle of friends and a bright future ahead of her. The day her brother took his own life, Liberty’s family was thrown through the wringer, but unfortunately her parents never recovered. Liberty was forced to put her life on the back burner, including dropping out of college, while she took up the role of the parent. Four years later, Liberty made the rash decision that she’d had enough and that for once she had to put herself first. With no destination in mind, Liberty left home to make a fresh start and found herself settling in Savannah, Georgia, where the people she befriended helped her break down the walls she had built up after her brother’s suicide.

Shayne Thompson: Shayne didn’t have the greatest life growing up. Losing his mother at a young age was a devastating blow and led him to lash out on those around him. By the age of 10, every cop in town knew his name. He was a reckless kid with a chip on his shoulder and constantly getting into trouble. As he got older, he began to use sex as a means to cope and built up quite a reputation for sleeping around with every girl in town. To add to his growing list of problems, he lost his best friend, Wade, to suicide after he returned home from Afghanistan. Shayne was determined to rid himself of his man-whore reputation, and while his friends went off to college, Shayne remained in Savannah working for his dad on his deep-sea fishing charter boat. He devoted all of his time to work and his family...that is, until the day Liberty fell into his life.

Brett Harrington: Brett is your typical southern gentleman. Not a single girl can avoid his charming ways...not even Liberty Davis. After an accidental run in with Liberty, Brett found himself captivated by this beautiful auburn-haired Yankee. Brett fell for her hard and fast, and when she showed up at the restaurant where he bartends, he thought it was too good to be true. Unfortunately she sees him as more of an over-protective brother than a love interest, and ends up gravitating towards the town bad boy. Brett and Shayne had a falling out in high school, and since then, there has been bad blood between them. Brett wants what is best for Liberty, but not if it means losing her altogether.

Maddie Harrington: Blonde, bubbly and boisterous, Maddie is an in your face kind of girl. She says whatever is on her mind without any reservations, and her sense of humor is as colorful as her crazy personality. When Liberty arrived in Savannah, Maddie was instantly drawn to her and they quickly became close friends. Maddie’s trust in Liberty allowed her to divulge a secret from her past, one where she was faced with making one of the hardest decisions of her life all on her own. Only Brett and Liberty know her Maddie’s secret...but there’s always more than one side to every story.

Can you share your idea of the perfect soundtrack to ‘Relinquishing Liberty’ with us?

I tried to put these songs in order of when I’d hear them play while reading the book:

Soundtrack link: Click here to listen


My Review: 5 stars
I thought this was a great book from the beginning. I liked that you could just fall into the writing and give yourself over to the story unfolding. Maureen's writing is fabulous. Her characters are sexy, sweet, funny, mouthy, fiesty, and can be jerks, just like real people. I think that's what makes this book so relatable. The people are just like everyone else. To me the point of this book was that you have to get the whole story, calm down a little and really listen to what people are trying to tell you. If you don't, you can miss out on so much - and that's a fact.

I've got to say that from the first page, I thought Brett was a sweetheart. Perfect, sweet, down to earth guy. But I'm like Liberty, and that just doesn't cut it for me. I like the bad boy with the tattoos; Shayne. The guy with the troubled past, that haunts him relentlessly. I'm also a firm believer in love at first sight. It happens, and when it does, you shouldn't push it away. Liberty is a lucky girl in that she found people who were willing to help her out and get on her feet. She's doubly lucky that she also found love. Not only the love and friendship of other people, but the man who could possibly be the love of her life. There's no doubt that they love each other, but Shayne's past keeps coming back to bite them both. Thier love will be tested time and again, Liberty just has to keep believing in the love, and leave the past behind. Sometimes it's easier said than done. 


About the Author-

Maureen Mayer was born, raised and currently resides in Buffalo, NY with her loving and supportive family and boyfriend of 8+ years. She’s always had a love for the outdoors, and when the city isn’t buried under snow, she can be found hiking, fishing, camping or lying on the beach. She’s a sucker for off-color humor, but holds a sweet spot for sick and twisted horror films.

Thanks to authors like J. K. Rawling, Stephanie Meyer and E. L. James, Maureen has rediscovered her love for reading. When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up in bed with her kindle, diving into a steamy romance novel. She is currently working on her first new adult novel and hopes to self-publish it late this summer.

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