Book Title: Now is Our Time
Author: Jo Kessel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 2014
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
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....
It
was 9 p.m. and the soft light was slowly starting to fade. Claire’s shoulders
shivered as the temperature dropped and she slipped on the crop black cardigan
she’d brought with. There was an empty bench outside the wrought-iron gates
which guarded Kensington Palace, the same gates which mourners had flocked to,
to decorate with flowers and wreaths and messages of condolence after Princess
Diana had died. As they sat down Jonah still didn’t free her hand. They stared
straight ahead at the gates for a few seconds and then Jonah broke the silence,
turning to her.
“I
tried contacting you after you left you know,” he said quietly. “I never wanted
you to go.”
Tears
began welling in Claire’s eyes and one dared to tumble over the edge and
dribble towards her nose. Jonah wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. She
nodded, but didn’t dare to speak. After she’d left, she’d changed her phone
number, her e-mail address and even her home address. She’d not wanted to be
found. She’d thought she was doing the right thing for everybody.
“What
was your wife like?” Claire whispered.
She
cursed herself for letting that question pop out her mouth. She didn’t want to
know that he’d shacked up with some tall, leggy supermodel. Lord knows, there’d
been enough of them around, clamouring to take him off her.
“She
was a mistake,” he said, tracing his finger down from Claire’s wet eye and
along her cheek towards the back of her neck. It was a gesture so sensitive and
tender that she felt her head tilt towards his hand and her eyes close. She’d
never in her wildest dreams imagined being with Jonah, ever again. This was
almost too much, too soon, too hard to take in. Her life had felt dull for
years and, to an extent, she’d been responsible for letting that happen. She
hadn’t believed she’d deserved better. Not after what she did. And now, from
nowhere it had sped into fast forward.
“But
she gave you Martha,” Claire reminded him.
“Yes,
and for that I am truly grateful.”
Jonah
leaned forward and cupped his other hand around Claire’s face. It was safer to
close her eyes and not to try to read his expression, or guess his thoughts.
“Open
your eyes,” he commanded.
With
difficulty she obeyed and found herself staring into his deep, grey pools. What
she thought she could read in them unsettled her. It felt like nothing had
changed in the intervening years, even though she knew so much had. A lump
caught at the back of her throat and she could feel her lower lip trembling.
Part of her wanted to run away, scared of being exposed to what was sure to be
emotional turmoil. But another part of her was frozen to the spot. He had her
face clasped in both his hands and once again she found her eyelids closing as
he caressed her cheeks.
“I
have to admit something,” he said.
She
nodded, eyes still tightly sealed. Here it comes, she thought. He’d given her
the good stuff and was now about to deliver bad news, to tell her he was in a
new relationship or something. She didn’t want to see him as he said it.
“You
know I think you’re beautiful,” he continued. “But, I have to admit, I prefer
you without make-up.”
Her
eyes snapped open as she giggled.
“I
don’t normally wear make-up. This was put on me this morning for some silly
screen test Georgia put me up to.”
He
raised a questioning eyebrow.
“It
was nothing,” she brushed it off.
She
wanted to close her eyes again, but his gaze held her magnetically. She wasn’t
sure if her thirty-seven year old heart could keep up the cracking pace it was
now thumping at and she knew she must look ridiculous. Her lower lip was
quivering uncontrollably and her porcelain make-up was no doubt now a streaky
mess. Idiot, why hadn’t she removed it before coming? She couldn’t stop herself
from looking down at his mouth, his luscious, thick, sensual lips. No-one’s
lips had ever matched up to his, either before or after. It was as if he could
read her mind.
“I’m
going to kiss you,” he said.
She
clamped her eyes back shut and nodded.
“I
can’t watch,” she whispered.
She
waited for so long that she considered telling him to hurry up, but then she
felt his teeth gently take her lower lip in its grip, as if trying to stop the
tremor. When she’d calmed down, he released it, pulled away for a second and
she could feel the smile on his lips as he crushed his mouth deliciously into
hers.
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.
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