Searching For Moore (Book #1) 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?

Review by Jenny & Gitte

Jenny:   Well, Gitte I was checking through my notes and thinking back on this book about friends to lovers and second chances….oh there was so much I loved! Really loved.  It was emotional, beautiful, sad, funny and the ending made me gasp, what a cliffhanger! Getting to know Schooner, Mia and CJ all the way through their college years and watching them mature, going through their ups and downs, following them and experiencing their ups and downs was such a wonderful journey and I was enjoying this book so much, not to mention how much I loved this authors writing style. 

Then…..about 70% or so in something happened…….. There was a section of the book that lost me completely and I really hate that this happened because I was originally so engrossed in this story and really relating to these characters.  What happened was this. The author introduced a real life celebrity element into the story which caused me to detach from the story and made me feel like I was reading a gossip mag for a while there.  Taking me out of fantasy and putting me into reality caused me to feel like I was no longer a part of Mia and Schooner’s world. The world this author had so beautifully created was snatched from me and I so wish all the Hollywood interacting hadn’t have happened because this was a heading towards a 4.5 star read for me up until that point.  Once I disconnected I found it really hard to get drawn back into their world and this saddened me.  What about you?

Gitte:  I was loving the story of Schooner, Mia and CJ. I have to say though that the name Schooner just made me cringe. I think Mia’s friend said it best:

“Schooner?” Seth mouthed. “Schooner?” and muttered “Are you talking to a boat?” – Seth

I thought this was a really different read, you meet them as young adults and you get their beginnings. It had emotion, tragedy and young love. It was a heartbreaking journey. Then we meet them as adults and see the impact that tragedy has had upon their lives. I was mesmerized by the great writing and the story as this Author challenged an issue that is very personal to me.

However, and I agree completely with you here Jenny, then the story of these remarkable characters was cheapened and quite frankly turned into something banal for me.  It turned into a who’s who and the real world invaded my fictional one through what could have been a snippet out of a celebrity gossip magazine. I was gutted, I really was.  The story lost me and I actually had to put it down for a while. What was a 4.5 star read for me too, suddenly was no longer so, as I personally do not subscribe to the whole Hollywood adoration and gossip world. It doesn’t interest me.  I do not like it in my fiction. So yeah, really disappointed, however this is my personal opinion and I’m sure I am in the minority.

Jenny:  It is a shame because I instantly connected with Schooner and Mia. How could I not.  Schooner was the good looking, completely lovable, all American boy who graced the covers of magazines everywhere. Known for his good looks, killer smile, boyish charm and warmth, he went through life living up to other people’s expectations. Throughout college Schooner lived by the rules expected of him, not by the rules he expected of himself and this thought process followed him through to his mature years where he was trapped in a society he loathed and into an unhappy marriage.  Living a façade to please everyone else.

He originally meets Mia while at College and finds a kindred spirit in this lovable girl.  I loved Mia and her beautiful soul, her free spirit and devil may care attitude. I loved her as much as Schooner loved her.  This girl allows him to express himself without mockery and judgement and allows him to smile…really smile for the first time. She is infectious and beautiful, the total opposite of his girlfriend CJ.  Hmmm CJ, oh how I loathed this “perfect” homecoming queen who was anything but…she was ice cold, poised, vindictive but to those around her she is seen as the perfect companion for Schooner.  CJ is very much one person on the outside and quite the other on this inside.  They are seen as the beautiful couple, and wow  CJ made sure she snagged him!

Schooner! Well, I just adored this man.  He had so many facets and was full of personality…… he could be a pretty naughty boy – he was kind, gentle, loving, selfless yet on the other hand could be forceful, possessive and quite alpha….yes I loved the night and day of this man and how he continually tried to make everyone else happy at the expense of his own happiness.

Gitte: I completely connected with Schooner and Mia, they were really well written characters. Young Schooner was lush, no other word for him. His charm was a killer as was his smile. The expectations of others weighed heavy on his shoulders as he followed the path that was laid before him, realising it was not the one for him, wanting to change it but wanting to please everyone too. Pegged by society indeed; he was fighting for change and when given the opportunity he went for it no matter what costs. This opportunity arose when met Mia.

Mia was just gorgeous but she was also the kind of crazy, funny girl that called a spade a spade no matter what the consequences. This girl was indeed a free spirit Jenny.  She is the only one who sees Schooner for who he really is, she sees his true smile. Mia was the complete opposite of the kind of girl Schooner was meant to be with, well according to society and CJ. I hated CJ with a passion, she was a bitch; she was the Barbie to Schooner’s Ken if public opinion was to be adhered to.

Sometimes fate is a bitch until karma kicks in…..

The mature Schooner was proper alpha, naughty and cheeky yet still had his heart of absolute pure gold. This man had my heart melting into a puddle on the floor one minute and beating out of my chest the next with his dirty talk and his passion.

Jenny: I loved everything about sharing the college years with Schooner and Mia. It really allowed you to connect with them before they reconnected in later life and for the author to have us believe in and love Mia, even though she is “the other woman” was pure genius on the authors part and we have to give her kudo’s for that because we really did love this girl.

Mia and Schooner stole the show, stole my heart and I loved that we saw so many sides to the mature Schooner, some were quite the revelation 😉

As you can see I really was loving this story.  I was invested and I was involved. There were tragedies and scenes that broke my heart. Unexpected events I didn’t see coming and the story flowed along so well, I couldn’t help but be swept along in the magic of Mia and Schooner.

Then….ruh roh….the Hollywood celebrity happened and it lost me and I was completely gutted the story went down this path.  Mia and Schooner stopped being characters and for me,I was thrown out of their world and brought into real life. When I give myself over to a book I like to be totally consumed and immersed in the story and its characters.  I want to close off everything and everyone around me and be part of “their world“. Once elements of the “outside” world are brought into a story as heavily as they were in this one, where the characters are actually interacting with the outside world,  I am no longer in that place and I become disconnected and that’s exactly what happened with this book.  It absolutely saddened me because this story had me in such a great place and then it was dashed. This is definitely a personal feeling and one that will probably not be an issue for many readers, but for me it was.  I do look forward to book two and following Mia and Schooner’s story because we were definitely left with a cliffhanger!  I’m interested to know Gitte, was the “Hollywood thing” issue for you and did this impact your enjoyment of the rest of the story?

Gitte: This Author’s brilliant writing had me siding with the other woman which was both surprising and a testament to the writing and Mia’s character. The fact that we experienced them from the beginning left such a mark that it let us connect to their characters, believe in them, sympathise with them and love them so many years later.

Yes, absolutely Jenny, this was an issue for me, as I said I loved this story until the Hollywood-gate turned it into something else. It probably won’t bother the majority, but it did me and is the reason for why I just didn’t enjoy it as much. I wish those scenes had been cut out and instead gone straight to the ending which was an intense and emotional cliff-hanger.  I will say though that on the majority this was one beautiful and heart breaking story with so much depth and passion.

 Jenny: 3.5Stars
Gitte: 3.5 Stars

You can purchase Searching for Moore here 
Searching For Moore (Needing Moore Series)