Aloha to Heather Lire and SECOND CHANCE AT FOREVER

The Hawaiian word of the day is 

Mau loa

It is forever.

Heather Lire is my guest today to celebrate her new release, SECOND CHANCE AT FOREVER.

Diamond Head Lighthouse

Aloha Kim, thanks for having me on today…

I have written this blog post at least five different times, all with different subjects and I've deleted each of them. None of them seemed right.

I finally decided that I would write about Ryan and why I love him so much.

Ryan was actually the hardest part to write in this story. I knew everything about Morgan, she was literally an open book to me. Ryan however was a closed book.

It took me almost two years before I knew anything about him, and then once I knew who he was it all made sense to me.

You see Ryan is a cop, and not just any cop he's a member of an elite group of cops. The S.W.A.T. team. Because of this he was very private and it took quite a lot for me to get him to open up about his life, his love of Morgan and his family and his job.

When he first meets Morgan he's been a cop for a couple of years and loves it. Clearly there is something going with him, but once he sees Morgan it's all he can do to stay away from her. Getting her to agree to spend time with him, is all he can and does think about.

This single-mindedness is what I love about him. He sees something he wants and goes after it.

As I got to know Ryan, his backstory, what caused the separation between him and Morgan, and what he'd been doing during their separation the more I fell in love with him.

He's a man who loves deeply, and loves only once. He's also a man who will drop everything for his family.

I could honestly go on and on about Ryan, but I don't want to say much more because then I'm giving away parts of the story.

Instead I'm going to share with you one of my favorite scenes with Ryan:

When Ryan had accepted the invitation for a week of nothing but sailing, drinking and hanging out with friends from college, he'd had no idea he would end up at a house party of a couple who resembled his grandparents and their relationship. 

All he'd wanted was to relax and decompress after a very stressful couple of months on the job, not spend his vacation constantly fending off advances from women, and ignoring pointed questions about his job from the men.

When he'd stumbled across the hammock on his first day there, he'd thought it was a godsend and spent a very enjoyable afternoon lazing in it, thinking of nothing.

When he'd gone back the next day he'd discovered sleeping beauty had commandeered it. She'd been lying there, a mountain of pillows surrounding her. The sun shone through the trees, creating a halo effect around the hammock. Her long legs were stretched out. God, he loved long legs on a woman. His blood hummed like it hadn't in a long time.

With her face turned away from him, he'd used all his training to get closer without her noticing him. Then he accidentally stepped on a twig. He'd silently cursed, hoping she'd been so caught up in her book she wouldn't notice. No such luck, as she lifted her head and her gaze swung toward him.

The piercing glare coming from the most gorgeous set of eyes he'd ever seen had rocked him to his core, drawing him in like a moth to a flame.

Ryan shook his head at that thought, like a moth to a flame. If the guys in his squad had heard him say it out loud he would never live it down, and his brother would be giving him shit about it for the rest of his life if he heard him say it.

At the slight rustling of leaves he turned toward the walkway and sucked in his breath. No matter how many times he'd seen her over the last two days, she still managed to steal his breath away. She had the tall lean lines of an athlete, and a face that kept him coming back to it every time he'd seen her.

She wasn't one of those women who had to be done up at all times. She was quite comfortable going about with only a hint of make-up, and with her hair in a ponytail. For a guy raised with three sisters he'd learned at an early age about the importance of hair and makeup, whether he'd wanted to or not.

He'd never been attracted to simple but, as he watched Morgan approach wearing shorts, which showcased her incredibly long legs, a simple tee shirt with a hoodie tied around her waist and athletic shoes, he admitted to himself, on her it was perfect.

He took the picnic basket she carried and extended his arm to her. "What do you have here?"

"I thought a picnic on the beach would be good." She took his arm as they moved to where he'd parked his Jeep.

"Sounds like a plan. How do you feel about driving up the coast and exploring some of the small towns?" Ryan stowed the picnic basket in the back and helped Morgan into the Jeep.

Morgan paused with a surprised look on her face. "That's something I would love to do, but it isn't what I expected you to suggest."

The look on her face was one of pure innocence, belaying the sarcasm in her voice. As she looked at him he couldn't resist and leaned forward, brushing her lips with his. A spark of electricity shot through him, making him want to sink into her and take more. He held himself back, however, instinctively knowing if he did more she would be out of the Jeep and buried back in her books.

He stepped back and looked at her, a bemused look on her face, like she couldn't believe what just happened. Good, he thought to himself. It was only fair if she confused him, he should confuse her in return.

Lighthouse on Kauai

Mahalo, Heather, for joining us today!   From Heather's website, heatherlire.com,

Heather Lire has been telling stories for as long as she has been talking, at least according to her mother. After years spent in academia Heather was encouraged to share the stories she was writing and sending to her sister with the rest of the world.

When she isn't writing - which is never - she can be found attending whatever sport her sons are playing at that time, accompanying her husband on his photo shoots and playing online.
Second Chance at Forever is her debut novel. 

You can find Heather on the Internet:

www.heatherlire.com
www.facebook.com/heatherlire
www.twitter.com/heatherlire
www.pinterest.com/heatherlire
www.goodreads.com/heatherlire 

Second Chance at Forever is available in Digital Only:

When Morgan Sanderson left her grandparent’s anniversary party, she had no idea how much the previous week would impact her life. Four years later she's living a content life, teaching literature and being the best mom she can be, even if she knows something is missing. That thing being the one person she can’t forgive and yet can’t get over.

The week Ryan Cartwright spent with Morgan was the best week of his life until tragedy struck, one that changed his life completely. Four years later he discovers he’s has three year old twins with Morgan the one woman he’s never been able to forget and let go. Can he forgive her from keeping the knowledge of his son’s from him.

As they uncover the truth behind their separation, they discover the love they've always felt for each other is still there, but can they ever trust each other again. 

Heather is giving away an ecopy of SECOND CHANCE AT FOREVER.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about characters' backstories - how much is enough to hook you into the story?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 16, 10 pm in Hawaii.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 17.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii  

Lighthouse on Molokai