Sunday Smooch With Jacquie Underdown.....

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Jacquie Underdown ___ but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Gretchen.....


Can you please contact Anna Campbell on anna (at)  annacampbell (dot) info to receive your copy of What A Duke Dares .........


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Beyond Coincidence by Jacquie Underdown ........

Mixing romance, history, and a touch of the unexplained in a new novel from Jacquie Underdown about love that needs to cross oceans and time before finding a place to come true.

In 2008, 250 Australian and British soldiers are uncovered in a mass grave in Fromelles, France, lost since the Great War. One soldier, bearing wounds of war so deep it scarred his soul, cannot be laid to rest just yet.

When Lucy bumps into the achingly sad soldier during a trip to France, she doesn’t, at first glance, realise what he is – a ghost who desperately needs her help. Lucy can’t turn away from someone who needs her, even someone non-corporeal, and they travel back together to Australia in search of answers and, hopefully, some peace.


This chance meeting and unexplainable relationship sets into motion a chain-reaction of delicate coincidences that affect the intertwined lives of family, friends, and lovers in unexpected, beautiful ways.


Scene set-up

[Lucy and Nate have had an emotional morning looking through sentimental memorabilia. They have taken a coffee break in the kitchen and Nate is confiding in Lucy about being the only surviving member in his family. But they get a little side-tracked.]

Smooch  -

           ‘I’m going to have at least three kids,’ Nate said. ‘Three’s a good number. I hated being an only child. I don’t want any child of mine to have to be alone in life, like I am now.’ His voice grew softer, words slower. ‘That was the hardest thing to come to grips with once Mum died — knowing that I’m the only one in the world. I’ve never felt such isolation and loneliness. It crippled me.’

            Lucy tried to imagine that — not having any of her family around, not one single person. Knowing there was no one who knew her, with all her faults, and still loved her unequivocally. She felt so hollow and, at the same time, petrified of ever experiencing such intense aloneness.

            A tingling heat started in her heart and spread across her chest. She slowly lifted to her feet and stood by Nate’s side. Her face drifted closer to his; she could feel his warm breath on her skin. Placing a hand against his cheek, she felt his rough stubble beneath her fingers. Affinity pulsed between them like a magnet. Desire tugged her closer until her chest and stomach pushed against his side and her lips pressed gently against his warm, soft lips. Just one kiss, but it lingered.

            Only inches from his mouth, his taste and warmth still loitering on her lips, she whispered, ‘You’re a good man, Nate Ormon. And you’re not alone in this world.’ Lucy shook her head, snapped her body back. ‘Oh, God, sorry,’ she said, a beautiful blush tinting her cheeks and neck.

            Nate smiled as she babbled explanations, but he ignored every utterance.

            ‘I honestly didn’t mind.’ He stroked her cheek down to her chin, lifted her face upwards to his, his mouth edging closer. Before another rambled word could pass from her lips, he kissed her. She stopped thinking, explaining, and opened her mouth, allowing his warm tongue and taste to slide across hers.

            She almost purred as his bold hands found her thighs, waist, delicious sensation rippling up her spine. Lucy gripped the silky hair at the back of his head, cupped his face with the other, morning stubble against her fingers. Lucy melded into his broad, hard body, sparks arcing between them.

            They transcended time for what felt like only a moment until Nate unlocked his lips, his body, from hers and gazed steadfastly at Lucy.

            ‘God, I’ve wanted to kiss you since you fell down the stairs and into my arms. I’m not going to apologise for that,’ he said.

To go into the draw to win a an E-copy of Beautiful Illusion and The Paler Shade of Autumn ...... leave a comment to this question.....

What celebrity (past or living) would you most like to kiss?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Elsa Winkler will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver