Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!
Today we have a smooch from COURTING HIS FAVORITE NURSE by Lynne Marshall, but first ...
the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- kaisquared!
Congratulations, kaisquared! Can you please contact Rachel Bailey at
rachel (at) rachelbailey (dot) com
and she'll send you a copy of What Happens In Charleston.
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from COURTING HIS FAVORITE NURSE by Lynne Marshall
Anne Grady knew better than anyone that love was complicated. When she’d left her hometown, she thought she was leaving her past heartbreak behind for good, as well. But practically the moment she returned to care for her injured parents, she stumbled headlong into their confidant—her first love, Jack Lightfoot.
Jack had been unable to deny his feelings for Annie when he was a teenager dating her best friend, and he certainly couldn’t muffle the spark twisting between them now—even if memories of the past kept threatening to push them apart. This time Jack wasn’t going to let history repeat itself—he was going to show Annie that the two of them were meant to be much more than best friends!
- This kiss is a pivotal scene in the book, and takes place in the lovely hot air balloon displayed on the book cover, and shortly after Jack has shared a long forgotten picture with Anne. Let’s just say, the kiss has been a long time coming.
Jack angled his head and skimmed her lips. She ignored that hitch in her throat and nuzzled into them. As if he’d been waiting for some subtle signal and had finally detected it, he planted firmer on her mouth. The connection started a warm sensation curling over her neck and shoulders. His lips were soft and he moistened hers with his tongue. His hands anchored her neck and the soft seductive kiss transformed into something hotter.
He kissed like a man starving for contact. Her eager response left no question that she longed for closeness, too. Her mouth opened and he filled her, teasing her tongue with his. Heat flamed her cheeks and breasts as she kneaded his back, pulling him closer. Every remaining barrier broke down. Over and over, making up for missed chances and years, they kissed.
I saw you first, Jack. You were supposed to be mine.
He exhaled, broke free, leaned his forehead to hers and whispered, “It’s been a long time coming.”
She sighed, secretly thrilled he’d missed kissing her. “It was definitely worth the wait.”
“I don’t know about the wait, but it was pretty damn spectacular on my end,” he said, grinning.
She made a breathy laugh, still floating from his kiss.
He smiled against her cheek, ran his nose along her hairline releasing another squadron of tingles marching across her shoulders and deep inside her center. He seemed ready to kiss her again, and she definitely wanted him to, but he stiffened.
“Whoa!” he said, releasing her and jumping toward the hot air balloon burner.
They’d drifted dangerously close to the strawberry crops below.
Today, Lynne's giving away a signed copy of one of her previous titles - it's a duo with Sarah Morgan so double the reading pleasure! THE CHRISTMAS BABY BUMP by Lynne Marshall and DR ZINETTI'S SNOWKISSED BRIDE by Sarah Morgan.
All you have to do to be in the running is answer this question for Lynne - Is there one memorable kiss you'll never forget? Care to share?
Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Beauty And The Scarred Hero by Emily May will be posted!
First kisses are the best, because when they're good -- they are truly earth shattering! I can't wait to read this book, Lynne! The balloon ride kiss is sooo romantic...
ReplyDeleteOoh what a kiss it was, it really was...
ReplyDeleteLoved it, Lynne.
I don't remember my exact first kiss, but I do remember my first French kiss. I was so disgusted I went home and told my mother. She laughed so hard at my description she almost wet her pants. Then she sat me down for yet another talk. : )
Lynne, what a lovely, lovely kiss! I have a few treasured first kisses, but my favorite kiss of all wasn't a first kiss - it was the first time the hubby and I kissed as husband and wife, in front of a church crowded with friends and family. Probably the best, as well as most public, kiss I've ever had in my life. It still brings a smile when I think about it!
ReplyDeleteHi Kaitlin!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by and reading the Sunday Smooch. Funny how first kisses with the right person can be earth shattering, and kisses with the wrong person, well, unmemorable.
Robena!
ReplyDeleteToo funny about the French Kiss. In the wrong hands, er, should I say mouth, it can go terribly wrong. Slobber control is of the essense.
LOL
Ah, Christing, you're making me have chills. What a beautiful memory. Yup, the first kiss as man and wife is one special kiss.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Lynne,
ReplyDeleteLove that excerpt! What a great first kiss. I'll never forget my first kiss. Let's just say Robena and I should swap stories! (I, too, was disgusted. LOL.) Congrats on the release!
Hi Dee J!
ReplyDeletethanks for commenting. I have a funny story about my very first kiss. I was a thespian and got a part in the school musical, and my character was supposed to get kissed in the play. i was sweet sixteen and really had never been kissed, the kid in the other role was not the least bit appealing, and we had to kiss each other. Gosh, it was awful, and we had to do it in rehearsals and for the several nights the play ran. Some things get better over time, but not this kiss. :(
That summer, I had a big crush on a guy and got what I considered my "true" first kiss. It was a combination of exciting and appalling all roled into one. :)
Gorgeous smooch, Lynne! Not sure I'd forget a hot air balloon kiss.
ReplyDeleteSeems that bad kisses can be just as memorable as the good ones. :-)
Hi Michelle - oh yeah, ain't that the truth about bad kisses. LOL
ReplyDeleteThank goodness there are all those wonderful good kisses to help us forget...
Hi Lynne -- it's lovely to have you visit here at LoveCats! I'm with Robena and Dee on first kisses....
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of a romantic balloon ride!!
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteThat's my daughter's name, so I'm partial.
I loved the idea of a romantic balloon ride, too. Jack had the right idea where Anne was concerned, and in this case, it paid off.
Lovely post, Lynne.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Robena, Dee and Emily sadly - kisses (and not just first) that are memorable because of their ickiness!
Oh Jo - I see a club forming. It's a good thing we have a chance at receiving more kisses along the way, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by to comment!
I don't remember the very first kiss, but I remember the one that matters today. Fortunatelty (or not) I was pretty good at it, no slobber - being a single straight guy in San Francisco in the early 80's guaranteed you lots of practice. I was pretty jaded and met soulmate at a ski club party. I'd pulled a muscle running that morning, and dancing was the last thing I felt like, so when I saw someone new sitting alone at a table I asked if she minded if I sat. She was amazing to talk to, and we went on until they closed the joint. When I walked her to her car, after she sat down I squatted down, stretched inside, and kissed her goodbye. briefly, but with everything I had, and she responded, very surprised she told me later. We made a date for the next Friday, and when I shut her door and watched her drive off , I knew - she was the one. Has been for 28 years...
ReplyDeleteTom
A lovely romantic kiss! Sounds a wonderful ride....wonder if we go on a hot air balloon ride-will we get a kiss?
ReplyDeleteA lovely smooch thank you.
ReplyDeleteMy first smooch was not so lovely. It was wet & slobbery & enough to make me go off the whole boyfriend idea. New boyfriend, second smooch was MUCH better. Not quite ready to take up the veil I decided.
Loved the smooch, Lynne! Funny how just a snippet can make you want to read the whole book!
ReplyDeleteThe kiss I remember best is my first with my dh. We'd seen each other a few times and he was taking just too darn long, so *I* kissed *him*!
Fabulous smooch, Lynne! And I love that it's in a hot air balloon.
ReplyDeleteMy first kiss was at a my older sister's party and it was lovely. :)
Very sweet first kiss, Lynne! I can't wait to read this book!
ReplyDeleteA kiss I won't forget...I was getting ready to drive home after a date and we were saying goodbye and he surprised me. It was very sweet. I remember this glowy, tingly sensation afterward that stayed with me all the way home. :)
Lynne -
ReplyDeleteMy first kiss was in 8th grade, and the guy's name was Ronnie. Just a peck on the lips, but I probably still have the folded-up love notes he used to pass me in class, LOL!
Re: the French kissing debate... many years later, a girl I used to babysit for came to me for advice. Her boyfriend had French kissed her & she thought it was gross. I told her to give it a second try, and, well... :)
Live and learn, ha ha,
Leigh
Lynne, I can't wait to read the book. A first kiss is definitely something we all remember. I know I do!
ReplyDeleteHi Tom!
ReplyDeleteI love your story! That's worth scene in a book, isn't it, but life comes up with the best stories of all.
So glad you shared.
Hi Nas!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure a kiss is part of the hot air balloon ride package, LOL. But when the guy is the on operating the balloon, he's arranged the trip and has wanted to kiss that girl forever, and it's just the two of you up there, the odds go way up it just might happen!
Thanks so much for commenting
Hi Marybelle!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you "first" kiss was much better the second time around! :)
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hi Robyn!
ReplyDeleteNow that's taking the first kiss into your own hands, and it probably turned out better for it, too!
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteThanks, and I'm glad your fist kiss was a good one. I was beginning to worry that the majority of us had lousy introductions.
I think, what matters most, is the right combination of people - first and foremost. then the kiss stands a chance to be a good one. :)
Ah Gina! I love your first kiss with that particular guy. The surprise kisses are always the best.
ReplyDeleteThe tingles ain't half bad either! :)
Hi Leigh!
ReplyDeleteGood advice. That particular kind of kiss may take some getting used to for a first timer!
And 8th grade love notes have got to be the sweetest thing on earth.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hi Patti!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading the Sunday Smooch (USA time) and I hope you enjoy the book when you read it!
lovely kiss - 'a long time coming'... reminds me of a very memorable kiss that... never happened. All the elements were there: warm summer night, the stars scattered in the sky, looking into the eyes, closeness, soft and moist lips, the longing... but we never kissed. I can't remember what happened (?Someone interrupted us, ?we chickened out) For long, long months afterwards I was dreaming the scene all over again, but with the right end.
ReplyDeleteOh, Kate! How heart wrenching.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the beauties of writing romance, we get to write the happy ending. I believe we've all had a near kiss like yours at some point or another, which left us yearning...
Thank you for sharing "the kiss that got away" :)
Lynne, your magic kiss in the balloon is lovely, and the conversation it started is pretty amazing, too, both the heartbreakingly sweet kisses and the bittersweet kisses that did not happen.
ReplyDeleteNancy aka sheandeen
Hi Nancy!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you made it by. I'm glad you've enjoyed out topic of conversation. It has brought some wonderful replies, just as you said.
Hi Lynne, so glad to see you back into medical romances. Yes, I'll never forget my first kiss. Share it? Let's say I kept re-running it in my mind until I got that tiny ring on my finger.LOL
ReplyDeleteLovely first kiss. Oddly, I remember none of mine. On the other hand, I remember the hours my second boyfriend and I spent kissing, just kissing. Amazing, when I look back at that.
ReplyDeleteHi Mona!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the welcome back, but actually Courting His Favorite Nurse isn't a Medical Romance. True the heroine is a registered nurse by profession, but the story centers around the relationship not the medical side of the story, as MedRo does. I call it a contemporary Special Edition romance.
I know what you mean about rerunning that special kiss over and over. !
Hi Maria!
ReplyDeleteI think the world would be a better place is people spent more time "just kissing" until they really got to know each other, you know what I mean?
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I'm getting quite attached to this LoveCats DownUnder blog!
Thanks so much for having me as a guest again, ladies!
I can't remember the name of the boy who kissed me but it was a result of a spin the bottle game. The participants who were supposed to kiss usually left the room but this boy was new in town and had the honor of going first. The spin pointed to me and he leaned across and kissed me. The gang was shocked. It started a new trend in town ~ no more leaving the room to kiss. Great for some but not so great for others.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaelee!
ReplyDeleteAh, the old spin the bottle game. I think that new boy in town had the right idea because otherwise the two kids could leave the room and say "Let's not and say we did" LOL. I think if it had been a memorable kiss, you'd remember that boy's name, right? :)
I had two "first kisses" on the same night (because someone let loose at a party and informed all of the drunk males in the vicinity that I'd never been kissed). I was 17 at the time, and neither of those kisses were expected, nor were they much to write home about!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was at a party my freshman year of college and there was this charming, confident, funny man that I'd been flirting with all night. He had just gotten out of the Marine Corps, was an artist/writer, was intelligent and funny, and knew who Baryshnikov was. *SWOON.* We had broken away from the party and spent over an hour talking in a back room when the girls I had come to the party with knocked on the door, ready to go. We went out to the main party, and everyone of course assumed we'd been making out. The truth was, we had barely touched! But he looked down and me, right there in front of the whole house, and I looked up at him... I realized the night was about to end and I'd be going home, and what if I never saw him again- And the next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. He just upped and kissed me, without warning, in front of everyone, and it was beautiful.
He ended up driving me and my friends back to our dorm, but I stayed in the Jeep after they'd gone back inside. In fact, I stayed up with him until dawn (doing a bit more kissing)! He called me the next day... and the day after that... and the day after that... In fact, we've spoken to each other every single day since we met.
We've been together for almost 14 years now, and married for almost seven of those years.
I LOVE your first kiss story, Laura! Absolutely beautiful. In your case, I'd says the do-over first kiss was definitely the one worth waiting for!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for commenting.
I think I missed this post when it first came out. So you'll never see this comment.
ReplyDeleteBut it was a good one for sure. The post I mean.