This Redhead LOVES Books: Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway ~ Matter of Choice ~ R.M. Alexander

Title: Matter of Choice

Author: RM Alexander

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: January 21, 2014

Tour Host: Dreams Come True Promotions

Some promises can’t be kept.

Shannon Winters’ picture perfect marriage is in shambles after a car accident left her husband an amnesiac. The commitment to vows he doesn’t remember making keeps her fighting while covering up the parade of other women and a spectacle of bad behavior. Her career as owner and manager at a successful boutique hotel alongside the Hudson River keeps is her refuge, but, at thirty-seven years old, what she craves is the bond to be repaired.

Even twenty years after high school, Triston Keyes continues to be haunted by the memories of the girl he’d lost, the only woman he’s ever loved. When he meets Shannon during a vacation, he finally has the chance to apologize. It’s the only hope he has if he ever wants to fall in love with anyone else.

Sparks rekindle between them, and Shannon struggles to find a reason to stay true to a broken marriage which is quickly crumbling as she gravitates towards the forgotten love.

Until her husband pleas for her to come back.

But when the depth of betrayal is revealed, Shannon must choose her vows-and her beloved hotel-or to remain true to her heart; while Triston must fight to keep the past from catching up to his future.

Both know nothing is a matter of luck, but a matter of choice …

How far would you be willing to go to uphold 'in sickness and in health'?

**** 4 STARS ****

Marriage is hard. Looking at the divorce rate in the US? It seems as if it's nigh on impossible, but Shannon really, genuinely believes in her vows. She's the kind of woman that deserves respect because she gives it. When I first met her in the book, I instantly connected to her because I know, as a Southern woman, what it's like to feel an obligation to my family that transcends above all my personal desires, wants, needs, anything, everything, because that's what family is all about: it's everything.

Shannon married Greg Winters with this idea in mind for the perfect life; for a while, she even had it. They vacationed in exotic places. They shared laughter and love and life as friends as much as lovers. He helped her find a niche for herself that made her a successful career woman who didn't have to think about money or status and Greg showed her how to handle being a part of a high society life while still maintaining the parts of herself that made her Shannon.

Their life was good at the onset.

All that changed when a drunk driver hit Greg's car, sending him through his windshield and leaving him with retrograde and anterograde amnesia which prevents him from remembering his marriage to Shannon or from learning to love her again as he can't even form new memories of the woman who remains devoted to him all along.

Shannon puts up with so much from Greg. She has to since the hope still lives in her that one day Greg will start to love her again. He could remember some day, right? What happens if he does and she's gone? How could she live with that?

It's miserable, but it's understandable and then enters Triston Keyes who is a real blast from the past. He was her first love. He was the first man to break her heart. He was the reason that she didn't believe in love or trust or men for a long, long time before meeting Greg; he's the guy she never really got over since who forgets their first love?

Triston isn't perfect. He's still a mess. He can't hold onto a relationship. He's staying at Shannon's hotel because he couldn't resist the chance to try to make things right with her since she does deserve something from him even if it's only an apology she doesn't believe is sincere. Come to that, Triston even shows up with a casual girlfriend who he's been trying to make things work with in spite of his awareness that he is a miserable failure on the boyfriend front.

He does SEE Shannon though.

That's important because Shannon has become virtually invisible in the aftermath of Greg's accident.

Seeing him again, having him see her, it brings to light truths about her life as it is now that she can't stop thinking about and it makes her have to choose to stay or go once and for all.

The book kept me entertained throughout. There were aspects of the story where I did have a hard time imagining that someone with Shannon's spunk and perceptiveness wouldn't have gotten the clue sooner. I can overlook them since I can imagine what it would be like to bear up the burden of someone with Greg's condition for as long as she did. She's a fighter, Shannon, and I truly loved her for her humanity in this piece. It was nice to see a really admirable woman being highlighted in such a positive light. ~ Shandra Torbett

**ARC RECEIVED IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW ON BEHALF OF THIS REDHEAD LOVES BOOKS BLOG**

Excerpt One:

She reached toward his hand, her heart shuddering as he flinched away. “Greg, Greg, come on.” She sidled up next to him, pressing his hand, still tight around the bottleneck, gently downward and ignoring his glare. No doubt he resented the intrusion. It didn’t matter. He’d come to the only sanctuary she had, allowing him to ruin it was not an option. “How about you come rest in one of the guest rooms? I have a vacancy. You can watch some TV, maybe get some sleep.” She kept her other hand rested on one of his fading biceps, the fingers feeling alien against a memory of gym-toned masculinity.

Greg snatched his arm from reach, defiance hardening the charcoal in his eyes, his voice a snarl. “I don’t want to sleep. I want to party.” He grinned, pushing against her weaker hold to raise the bottle as he surveyed the room. His voice bellowed once again. “Where’s a pretty date wanting some great entertainment? I’ve got it right here.” He gestured towards his groin, bellowing laughter.

The words and gesture cut hard against her. With eyes closed, she found her center and whispered words more damaging to her sanity than his feral actions. “The entertainment will begin later. First, you should lie down. You’ll want to be at your best for the party tonight, won’t you?”

Excerpt Two:

He snorted and chuckled. “You’ll call security on me? Like anyone in security scares me? That Stevens rent-a-cop-he’s a joke. I said, Get out of my way!”

The hands which had spent the better part of ten years caressing her skin and holding her with happiness and sorrow shot out and grabbed her shoulders, his grip hard against her skin. She yelped and then screamed as he pulled her up off her feet, glaring with angry eyes, then threw her against the wall. Unable to gain her balance in time, she shrunk to the floor in a crumbled heap, staring at her husband as he turned away without a second look and strode in to the banquet room. Tears spilled down her cheeks as his booming voice blasted through the air, and then terror struck as Rick looked up, then past Greg to meet her with first startled then enraged eyes.

Her voice didn’t find its way out of her mouth in time to stop Rick from barreling towards Greg, arms wide and ready to tackle. Shrieks and gasps ricocheted out of the banquet room and pounced off the walls, pummeling Shannon like bees as Greg glowered at the teenager. A single hook landed hard and precise against the boy’s temple, sending him sprawling to the ground. Senators and chair people rushed to his side, and others wrapping their arms tight against Greg’s drunken rage, encasing him with immobilizing restraint.

Excerpt Three:

She smiled as she rested her fingers in his palm. “This is beginning to dangerously resemble a date.” With the word in the hanging in the air, her mind relaxed. It was said, and now could be refuted, adjusted as needed.

She stepped out of the car, then backed into it when Triston didn’t step back to give her room. “We have rules, sir.”

“Yes, we do. And my favorite rule is to treat you like the lady you are.”

She shook her head, and waited until he allowed her enough berth and generously dropping her hand to keep up appearances. As they drew nearer to the front door, she looked over to his grinning face. He looked like a school boy escorting the class beauty. They were neither, and his expression made her laugh. “What am I going to do with you?”

His lips tilted into a lopsided smile. “There are so many wonderful ways I could answer that, but, you know, we have these rules, and …”

Excerpt Four:

“I think you’re underestimating my commitment here.”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“Am I?” He leaned forward, his knuckle cupping her chin as he edged it upwards and softly pressing his lips against her mouth. Her every fiber wanted to fight him, to push him away, but their skin pressed together felt too good, and she melted into him.

Slowly, they parted, her voice hoarse as she spoke. “We shouldn’t …” She couldn’t bear to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see the expectations and hope she imagined to be shimmering in his gaze, or reveal the shame and uncertainty she knew was in hers.

He pressed a finger against her lips, leaning forward to whisper in her ear, his breath intoxicatingly warm. “Don’t say ‘we shouldn’t’ anything. Open your eyes sweetheart, look at me.” He paused, and she could feel him back away. Setting her jaw firm, her lids eased open, staring into his gaze a mere inches away. “It was one kiss Shy. That’s all. And I won’t go further than that until you’re ready. But to make it clear, I love you. It might seem impossible, it’s been years and we haven’t spent much time together since I came to the Grande. But I realized this afternoon, when I took a jog down that path we walked… I loved you in high school. Honestly, truly loved you. I screwed it up. But the love never really went away.”

RM Alexander is an author of Contemporary and Paranormal Romance. Her current novel, "Matter of Choice" is releasing in January 2014.

She has been writing since she was 10 years old. Many times, she stopped writing for months or even years at a time, but always came back to it until, in 2009, an idea came to her she couldn't put down. Over the next two years, she wrote and revised "Shadows", which will becoming available in spring/summer of 2014.

Another novel, "Matter of Choice", found its way to paper in 2010 during the revision process for "Shadows". And as "Shadows" was making its rounds to literary agencies, "Matter of Choice" was finished and slated for release in January of 2014.

With characters who look for love in wrong places and are victims of the worse kind of betrayals while fighting for what they want and believe in, RM's novels promise a good read with unexpected twists and turns.

When she's not writing, RM is spending time with her husband and two small children in Michigan. She loves to travel, especially to Walt Disney World, and can often be found on Twitter or Facebook chatting with other authors and fans.