Now is our Time by Jo Kessel Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Now is our Time by Jo Kessel

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date:  September 12, 2014

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions (http://bookenthusiastpromotions.com)

Synopsis:

A story of second chance love set between London and San Diego.

Thirteen years ago Jonah Kennedy was one of America’s top tennis players, whose six-foot-three bad-boy California looks won him hordes of female admirers.

Thirteen years ago Claire Jackson, a fiery, aspiring artist from London, was the woman who stole his heart.

But the two held a secret which tore them apart and sent Claire running back to England.

They tried to move on. Claire married, had a child and became a successful TV personality. Jonah married, had a child and settled for life on the road.

Thirteen years later and both divorced, their paths cross again. Their attraction is even deeper - they feel destined to be together. Claire’s jealous ex, however, has other plans.

Can Claire and Jonah hold on to their second chance at love or will their past secret haunt them for ever? After all, thirteen is only lucky for some....

                                           

Excerpt: 

Jonah approached Claire with sexy, mischievous intent in his eye, snatching her mobile phone from her hand and turning it off. As a quid pro quo, she was about to snatch the towel from his body but was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Room service,” a man called. Jonah let the man enter and the waiter wheeled in a trolley loaded with an ice-filled champagne bucket, two crystal flutes and two glass bowls filled with strawberries. “Just leave the trolley outside when you’ve finished with it,” the waiter said before closing their door behind him.

 

Jonah wasted no time in picking up the champagne and tearing the gold seal off the top of the bottle. Claire quietly watched every movement of his arms at work as he untwisted the wire and pulled at the cork. The honey colour of him, the chiselled contours of him, the height of him, the breadth of him, always made her long for him, to touch him, to feel him. She waited for the cork to pop and for the two glasses to be filled and then she padded towards him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and pulling gently at the towel until it unravelled and fell to the floor. She kissed his back as her hands explored his chest, travelling lower until she found the huge size of him and held its pulsing hardness in her clasp.

 

“I love this bit of you,” she said, still kissing his back and then sliding her hands slowly round to his tight buttocks, “and this bit of you.”

 

Jonah whipped around, the sharpness of his movement causing his temporary turban to join his other towel in a heap on the floor. He placed his hands on Claire’s long dress, lifting it in one swift movement until she compliantly raised her arms so he could remove it entirely.

 

“As usual,” he kissed her neck as he unclasped and took off her bra, “you’re overdressed.”

 

He pushed her playfully backwards until she fell on the bed.

 

“Take your panties off,” he commanded as he picked up the champagne bottle. She did as she was told and as she lay naked she watched him pour champagne over the strawberries in the bowl. She couldn’t believe how far she’d come. A fortnight ago she’d been utterly embarrassed by her body and now she felt so free and easy within her skin. He’d done a wonderful job of making every single tiny inch of her feel beautiful. Jonah poured so much champagne onto the strawberries that it was almost sloshing out of the bowl as he climbed onto the bed lying on his side like a Roman and balancing the bowl of strawberries and champagne on her stomach.

 

“That’s going to spill everywhere,” Claire objected.

 

“Only if you don’t stay still,” Jonah laughed.

 

“If you could choose between Kate Middleton and me, who would you pick?” she asked, trying to ignore the strawberry Jonah was teasing her with and most definitely trying to ignore his hand moving across to her breast and the urge she had to pull him on top of her and feel his hardness between her legs. He dipped the strawberry back in the bowl again, leaving a trail of champagne dropping onto her stomach as he brought it back to her lips and finally allowed her to eat it. He carelessly served himself a strawberry, spilling yet more champagne onto Claire’s stomach.

 

“You ask a lot of stupid questions,” he replied, feeding Claire another strawberry. “I’ve only got room for one Duchess in my life and that, my love, is you. And by the way, this is your punishment for your stupid question.”

 

Jonah started tickling Claire’s stomach gently with two hands. At first she was able to stay still, but then it became too much and her giggles made the bowl topple a generous helping of champagne onto her, trickling in all directions. She squealed for him to stop and he finally removed the bowl and set it on the bedside table. He then set to licking Claire’s skin clean, his hands never losing contact with her breasts as his mouth lapped at the champagne trailing down towards her belly button and beyond. As his mouth found her mound which was moist from desire and champagne, he slipped a finger inside of her. Claire moaned loudly.

 

“Duchess,” Jonah whispered, “By the time I’ve finished with you, our neighbours are going to be bashing on the walls to get you to turn down the volume.”

Buy Links:

Amazon US:  http://amzn.to/1pbEce3 

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.to/1tBVftp 

Add the book to Goodreads ➜ http://bit.ly/1BeHBB4 

       

Now Is Our Time is about true love and second chances. It was a really sweet story about two past lovers that fell apart and years later their paths cross again. Both are divorced with a child and have grown so much from their pasts. When they meet again though, it's as if they were never separated. 

I loved watching their love bloom and all the steps they take to make it work this time. Claire starts off seeming weak and unsure but throughout the story she grows so much and becomes more confident and sure of herself. She has to learn to let go of the past in order to build a future. Claire's ex-husband throws a wrench in her life when he decides he wants more. Towards the middle of the book you start seeing his POV and although he's intentions seem reasonable at first, he becomes selfish and heads down a path that causes more friction and distance between him and his daughter. 

Overall the story was good. There were times when I didn't have a hard time putting it down when I felt like it dragged a bit, but then it starts picking back up. The writing was done well and the story line was good also. I think this would make a great romance read, especially one that you could read with friends and discuss, book club or not ;-)

Rating: 4 stars

Cheers

                                         

Meet the Author:

Jo qualified as a lawyer before moving into journalism, working for the BBC and reporting and presenting for ITV on holiday, consumer and current affairs programs. She writes for several national UK newspapers including the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Express and was the anonymous author of the Independent's hit column: Diary of a Primary School Mum. Now is our Time is her third novel.

Social Links:

http://www.jokessel.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/kesseljo 

https://twitter.com/jo_kessel 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7173167.Jo_Kessel 

Giveaway:

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