Release Day Launch: Unforeseen Heartbeat (Second Chances #2) by Maureen Mayer

Unforeseen Heartbeat (Second Chances #2)
by Maureen Mayer
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Release Date: February 24, 2014

Synopsis:

Used… Broken… Confused…

It only took one drunken mistake four years ago for Maddie Harrington to learn that when you fully give yourself over to a man, you should never expect anything in return. Since that night, her views on love have become distorted, believing men would only want her for the pleasure her body could bring them. She in turn finds herself hooking up with random guys, but never keeps them around long enough to see if there could possibly be something more.

That is…until Hunter Bryant enters the picture.

When the handsome pre-med student shows up in the right place at the right time, captivating her with his stormy gaze, she immediately pushes him away, thinking he’s no different than any other guy. The deeper Hunter delves into her life, trying to break through her iron-clad walls, the more she begins to question whether she is truly capable of opening her heart up to another man. 

Maddie soon finds herself forced to make a difficult decision, one that will forever change both of their lives. Will she shut Hunter out of her life for good or will she finally open up her heart and allow herself the life she never dreamed she deserved?

**Please note: Unforeseen Heartbeat can be read as a standalone, however it is highly recommended that you read book one in the series, Relinquishing Liberty.**

Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) by Maureen Mayer

- EXCERPT -

"My hands landed on the warm, soft skin at the swell of her hips where her shirt had ridden up. I didn’t know if I was afraid to move or if I just wasn’t ready to let her go, but we both remained frozen in place until she stumbled a bit, causing my hands to slide higher up along her ribs. When she finally caught her balance, my hands were just at the edge of her sports bra, and I could feel the weight of her breasts as they grazed against my thumbs. This was dangerous territory. I could feel myself quickly becoming aroused by the scorching heat of her delicate skin, and I knew Shayne Jr. was about to make an unwelcomed appearance. I had to think of something else and fast! Cold showers, kittens, little baby Jesus, grandma naked…yup that did it!"

Unforeseen Heartbeat

by Maureen Mayer

I yawned as I stretched my arms up over my head, and the blanket slipped away from my still naked body. My dress from the night before was lying scattered on the floor next to my bra and panties, and I smiled at the thought of how quickly Jeremy had peeled them off of me the moment we returned from the club. I grabbed a clean oversized SSU shirt from the laundry basket and slipped it on before heading to the kitchen to make some coffee.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes as my feet slapped across the cold kitchen floor, I smacked right into the fridge door. Jesus, what the…

And that’s when I saw it. All six-foot-four of Robbie’s boyfriend, Lance, was standing there naked as a jaybird…and at full attention. It was one of those moments where I knew I should look away; divert my attention to anything but the rigid appendage pointing directly at me like an English Setter. He slowly brought the carton of orange juice up to his mouth, but not before I saw a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. And then I saw it move…

“Eww, eww, eww!” I squeezed my eyes shut and continued yelling until Robbie came running out his room. I opened my eyes just enough to see that he was rocking his birthday suit just as proudly as Lance. Oh, for Pete’s sake…

“Not you, too!” I turned around so I wasn’t tempted to look.

“What’s wrong, baby girl? What’s with all the shouting?” Robbie walked over to Lance, snaking the carton of juice out of his hands to take a swig for himself.

“Will y’all put some damn clothes on!? Since when do we walk around the apartment with everything hanging out and flapping in the breeze?”

Robbie chuckled, somehow managing not to sputter juice everywhere. “Hmm, I don’t remember reading anything about required attire in your little roommate agreement.”

I spun around and rolled my eyes at him before turning my attention back up to the ceiling. “Seriously? I didn’t think it was necessary to include that, since we’re civilized human beings and all. Or at least I thought we were.”

“Sorry about that, Maddie. I didn’t think you’d catch me out here. I’ll make sure to at least put boxers on next time.” Lance winked and pulled me into an awkward side hug that almost resulted in it touching my leg.

“Hey, you know this is my apartment, too. I should be able to walk around with my Johnson sprung free if I want to. You’re more than welcome to join me. It’s no secret that I’m not offended by the female anatomy.”

“That’s because you’re gay, dipshit! My lady bits don’t get you all hot and bothered. Me, on the other hand…it’s just…ughh! It’s just weird, okay!”

“Baby girl, are you trying to tell me that my sexy ass gives you lady boners?” I could hear Lance chuckling at Robbie’s comment, and I turned to glare at him. At least he had his boxers on now.

“Both of you, please, just keep some clothes on when you’re outside of the bedroom. Seriously, what if I had company over?” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling extremely awkward the longer our conversation went on. It was becoming more difficult to keep eye contact with Robbie, considering the current state he was in.

“Is Jeremy still here?” Robbie wasn’t exactly his biggest fan, and I could hear it in his tone.

“No. He left hours ago. Don’t try to change the subject. Just promise me you’ll keep your…member…covered from now on. Okay?”

Robbie smiled and grabbed a dishtowel, covering himself as he crossed the kitchen in my direction. My body stiffened in response to his close proximity, but he leaned in just close enough to press a kiss against my forehead. “I promise, baby girl. It won’t happen again.”

He took off toward his bedroom with Lance in tow. They were sickeningly sweet together, but I really was happy that they had each other. When Robbie first moved in, I was a little apprehensive about living with a guy. Just one look at him and I knew it would be impossible to avoid falling into bed with him. He was six-foot-two-inches of delicious eye candy: jet black hair, ice-blue eyes and a killer smile. When he told me he was gay, I was both relieved and disappointed. Why was it the hot ones were always gay? I swore it was like the universe was plotting against me every time I came across a decent, good-looking guy.

Maureen Mayer was born, raised and currently resides in Buffalo, NY with her loving and supportive family and boyfriend of 9+ 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. When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up in bed with her kindle, diving into a steamy romance novel and falling in love with the latest book boyfriend.

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Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Heartbeat
by Elizabeth Scott
304 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: January 28th 2014
Rate: Loved it

Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

Brace yourselves, Book Addicts, to cry and smile like never before with a book.

In the story we meet Emma, the main character, who's mother is brain dead but is kept alive to maintain the baby she was carrying when she collapsed alive. Before that she was a happy teenage girl, studious and falling in love with intelligent and petulant boys. Now she doesn't care anymore about the things that once were important and she is definitely full of anger. She's furious with her stepdad for keeping her dead mom half-alive, she's furious with the unborn baby for the risks her mother put herself on to have him or her in order to make Emma's stepfather happy and she's furious with the unfair world.

As you can imagine, Ms. Scott brought a difficult subject to this story. A moral one. Would you keep your mother alive even if she's brain dead, gone forever, to save an unborn baby? Is it wrong for Emma to hate the baby even if it's not his/her fault? Is it wrong to blame her stepdad for her mother's dead? And, is it wrong to feel that much anger?

Emma's mother was, what we could call, old to have carefree pregnancy. She was in her mid-forties so this means that the baby could have difficulties. Plus Emma's mom had health problems and the doctors told her it would be too risky. 

I understood Emma's attitude towards the world and specially towards Dan, her stepfather. He never asked what she wanted, what she thought her mother would like to do. He just made his decision right away. Plus she's an amazing main character. She's someone you can relate yourself and put yourself in her skin. It's really easy to understand her situation and you are unable to judge her.

Caleb is also what I like to call a lost soul. Her sister died when he was watching her and his parents blame him for what happened. And he also blames himself. He did a serious of bad choices and end up building that anger that Emma's so familiar with now.

It's really nice to read how two people surrounded by grief, guilt, anger and a world that seems to not understand them, find themselves and in the process they find love after death. Ms. Scott beautifully wrote the process of understanding each other and finding a friendship thanks to their own grief and anger. After that, they started to need each other. And then they find each other and fall in love. So, yes, Elizabeth Scott created a romantic story in the most hopeless situation: suffering the death of a loved one and loose your path in life.

I truly recommend this book and hope that you give Emma's story a chance, because I know you're going to love it. But first, make sure you have tissues with you! 

Heartbeat

by Elizabeth Scott

- Excerpt from Chapter 3 -

“Hey,” Olivia says, and I know it’s her because I would know her voice anywhere. We’ve been friends since fifth grade, and we’ve been through period trauma, boy crap, bad hair, her parents and their ways. And now Dan and his baby.

“Hey,” I say. I wipe my eyes and look at her. “How’s the car?”

Olivia makes a face at me but also wraps an arm around my shoulders, steering me toward our lockers. Her parents gave her a fully loaded convertible when she got her license, one with a built-in music player, phone, navigation system—you name it, the car had it. Could do it, and all at the touch of a button.

Olivia sold the car—through the one newspaper left in the area, which is basically just ads—and bought a used car. It’s so old all it has is a CD player and a radio. We bought CDs at yard sales for a while, but all we could get was old music, which we both hate, and the radio is just people telling you that what they think is what you should think, so we mostly just drive around in silence.

It used to bother me sometimes but now I like it. The inside of my head is so full now that silence is…I don’t know. There’s just something about knowing Olivia is there, and that we don’t have to talk. That she gets it. Gets me and what’s going on.

Her parents were unhappy about the car, though. Really unhappy, actually, but then there was a big crisis with one of their server farms at work and by the time they surfaced for air they hadn’t slept in four days. And when they said, “Olivia, that car was a gift,” she said, “Yes, it was. A gift, meaning something freely given, for the recipient to use as she wanted to, right?”

As we hit her locker, we pass Anthony, and he says, “Ladies,” bowing in my direction. A real bow too, like it’s the nineteenth century or something.

“Ass,” Olivia says.

“A donkey is actually not as stupid as people believe. However, you are entitled to your own beliefs about asses. And me.” He looks at me. “Hello, Emma.”

I sigh. “Hi, Anthony.”

“If you ever want to talk about your grades, do know that I’m here.”

I can’t believe I ever thought the way he talked was interesting. It’s just stupid, like he’s too good to speak like a normal person. “I know, Anthony.”

“I really would like to be of assistance to you. I believe in helping everyone. I’m talking to Zara Johns later. I think she feels threatened by the fact that I’ve been asked to help her organize the next school blood drive.” Translation: he’s butted in, and Zara’s furious.

“Either that or she just doesn’t like you. Emma, let’s go,” Olivia says, slamming her locker shut, and we head for mine.

“You okay?” she says, and I nod. Anthony doesn’t bother me at all anymore, just like Mom said would happen. I look at him and feel nothing. Well, some annoyance, but then, who wouldn’t after listening to him talk?

Of course, I didn’t always think that he was annoying. I open my locker, deciding not to go down the Anthony road, and hear the guy next to me say, “No way! I mean, everyone knows what’ll happen to Caleb if he steals another car.”

Olivia and I glance at each other. If Anthony is the ass end of the smart part of the school, Caleb Harrison is the ass end of the stupid part. He’s a total druggie and three years ago, when we were freshmen, he came to school so high he couldn’t even talk. I heard that stopped last year, but then, as soon as school got out, his parents sent him off to some “tough love camp,” which is rich-people code for boot-camp rehab.

He came back seemingly off drugs but newly into stealing cars. He started by grabbing them at the mall and parking them in a different spot, but then he stole a teacher’s car.

And then he graduated to a school bus. It was empty at the time, but still, I heard that got him a couple of weeks in juvie, or would have except for his parents, who intervened. I guess now he’s taken yet another step forward and by lunchtime, I know what Caleb stole.

His father’s brand-new, limited-edition Porsche. And he didn’t just steal it. He drove it into the lake over by the park, drove right off the highway and into the water. The police found him sitting on the lake’s edge, watching the car sink. They were able to pull it out, but water apparently isn’t good for the inside of a Porsche.

“You think he’ll go to jail this time?” Olivia asks as we sit picking at our lunches. I love that we have lunch together this semester, but it’s the first lunch block, and it’s hard to face food—especially cafeteria food—at 10:20 in the morning.

“I guess it depends on his parents,” I say. “Last time they talked to the judge or whatever. They’ll probably just ship him off again. He must hate them, though.”

“Yeah. To sit by the lake and watch the car sink like that—”

“Exactly.”

“Even when my parents are sucking their lives away with all their computer crap, I’d never do anything like mess with their stuff,” she says. “How can you hate someone who raised you, who loves you so—” She breaks off.

“Dan didn’t raise me,” I say tightly. “And he doesn’t love me. Or Mom.”

Olivia nods and I think about hate. I understand what can make someone do what Caleb did, although I don’t think a bored, rich druggie really gets hate. Not real hate.

ELIZABETH SCOTT grew up in a town so small it didn’t even have a post office, though it did boast an impressive cattle population. She’s sold hardware and panty hose and had a memorable three-day stint in the dot-com industry, where she learned that she really didn’t want a career burning CDs. She lives just outside Washington, D.C., with her husband, and firmly believes you can never own too many books.

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