{Launch Day Blitz & Review) The Turning Point by Marie Meyer (@MarieMWrites @ForeverRomance)

It's funny how a piece of paper can change your life-a diploma, a ticket . . . a plain, white envelope 

For as long as I could remember, I was the girl with the plan. Good college, good medical school, good career. I would save lives instead of standing by helplessly, watching while they slipped away. 

That was before my father called for the first time in fifteen years to tell me about the terminal illness stealing his life-an illness that might be stealing mine, too. It was before he gave me the name of a doctor and a plane ticket to Italy. Before I flew across an ocean. Before I realized how brilliantly bright life could be. Before I met Lucas. 

He's everything I've always wanted, and the timing couldn't be worse. I can't do this to him-he deserves so much better. My head tells me I can't afford to fall in love with Lucas, but my heart won't listen. Lucas is fearless about the future, while I'm not even sure I have one. There's only one way to know what's ahead and it's waiting for me at home inside a plain, white envelope.

All I have to do, is open it . . .

​After tragedy teaches her a harsh lesson, Sophia Belmonte spends all of high school mapping out her future instead of having fun. Just when she’s about to put her carefully laid out plans into action, she receives some news that changes everything. 
 
The father that abandoned her so long ago is dying of a genetic disorder –a disorder that she stands a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting.  His graduation present is an all expense paid trip to Italy and a wish that while she’s there; she stops to meet her Grandfather.
 
Now walking in the shadows between life and death, she’s going to throw caution to the wind and live what life she might have left to the fullest.

"Dad drops an atom bomb on my future, I have to postpone med school, and now I’m going to Italy."

Can this summer get any worse?

​Lucas Walsh left San Diego for Italy weeks ago to try to run from a broken heart.  When he accidently runs into Sophia, he finds a girl that makes him see everything in a different light.  She’s beautiful, smart and more alive than anyone he has ever met.
 
Together - they are learning to fall in love during a sun-soaked Italian summer and it’s going to mean more than they could ever know…

​“I’ve had more color in my life these last six weeks than I’ve ever had, Sophia.” His words were biting but not angry.  I knew what he was trying to do; he saw my defenses crumbling and he was prepared to bring them down. “Do I need to spell it out for you?” he asked, gripping my hands so hard between his.
“Crimson: the color of your cheeks when you’re embarrassed or excited. Espresso: the color of your hair in the lemon-yellow Italian sunshine and a drink that makes you stick your tongue out and cringe with disgust.  Almost black: your eyes beneath the white, twinkling stars at night.  Mint green: your chin, after you dribbled mint chocolate chip gelato all over.  Olive: the night you saved that little girl who was choking. Periwinkle: the color that knocked me on my ass.” 

The Turning Point is a poignant and inspirational story about life and love.  Marie’s characters genuinely shine and her story aims right for the heart. It reminds you to celebrate life’s highs with laughter and to take its lows with grace.  And in the end, you’re glad just to have had the experience…

Exclusive Excerpt - 

Lucas slowly trailed his hand down my cheek, over my neck, and across my collarbone—the only exposed skin. But my clothing didn’t deter his southward pursuit. Even through the thin cotton of my shirt, I was hyperaware of his touch. How his fingertips grazed over the swell of my breast, lingering at the peak…teasing.

            With each deliberate, enticing swirl of his thumb, my body came alive. Yet, it wasn’t his gifted hand alone that made my breath come quicker and send shivers down my spine. It was his eyes. Always his eyes.

            To say they were expressive was an understatement, just the tip of the iceberg. His eyes told a story. One of happiness, desire, intrigue, sadness, warmth, love—it all radiated from their bright cerulean cores, the center and focal points that surrounded his pupils. From the day we met, I wanted to swim in that ocean, be swept away by his gaze and get lost beneath the crushing waves of his stare. To be a part of his story.

            I touched his arm, my fingers disappearing under his shirtsleeve. His skin was smooth over the hard, taut muscle of his bicep. I clenched it, feeling him flex as he moved his hand lower on my belly, lifting the hem of my shirt.

The instant he made contact with my skin, I sucked in a breath. “Are my hands cold?” he asked.

I moved my head side to side. “Very much the opposite.” My voice was garbled and shallow. I attempted to clear my throat.

Feeling the branding touch of Lucas’s hand moving up my body, he shifted his weight and sat up, lifting my shirt higher. I subtly raised my shoulders and he pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor.

His eyes slowly roamed my body, landing on every hill and valley. He watched the rise and fall of my chest, not allowing himself to touch until his eyes touched first. Even though this wasn’t the first time he had seen me like this, tonight was different.

The night of his birthday, I’d wanted to give him everything I had. I was ready. I needed that last connection to him. But Lucas still thought he had to prove himself to me. He wanted me to know that every part of me was special to him, not a fleeting moment in bed.

But tonight was different. He was right here with me. There were no more secrets between us. He wasn’t chasing a ghost from his past, and for once, I wasn’t afraid of my shadowed future. I needed this. I wanted him…all of him, everything he was willing to give me. I needed to feel alive while I still had the chance. 
​
Working my hand down to the bend of his elbow, I memorized how my fingertips flowed over his skin and how the hair on his arm bristled at my touch.

About The Author - 

Marie Meyer was a Language Arts teacher for fourteen years. She spends her days in the classroom and her nights writing heartfelt new adult romances that will leave readers clamoring for more. She is a member of RWA and the St. Louis Writers Guild. Marie's short fiction won honorable mentions from the St. Louis Writers Guild in 2010 and 2011. She is a proud mommy and enjoys helping her oldest daughter train for the Special Olympics, making up silly stories with her youngest daughter, and bingeing on weeks of DVR'd television shows with her husband.

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