Virtual Blog Tour ~ Renewing Forever (This Time Forever Series Book Two) by Kelly Jensen (Guest Post+Giveaway)

 Virtual Blog Tour ~ Renewing Forever (This Time Forever Series Book Two) by Kelly Jensen (Review + Giveaway)

Renewing Forever is the second of a series of standalone novels focused on older characters who think love has passed them by. Frank and Tom's story is a true second chance romance, reuniting childhood friends and first loves separated by an argument and thirty years of misunderstanding. I hope you enjoy reading about their renewed friendship and their plans for forever.

About Renewing Forever

A neglected resort, a lost chance at love, and one last chance to renew forever.

Frankie and Tommy once dreamed of traveling the world together. But when seventeen-year-old Frank kissed Tom, their plans ended with a punch to the jaw and Frank leaving town without looking back. Thirty years later, Frank’s successful career as a journalist is interrupted by his uncle’s death and the question of his inheritance—the family resort where his childhood dreams were built. When he returns to the Pocono Mountains, however, he finds a dilapidated lodge and Tommy, the boy he never forgot.

Tom’s been keeping the resort together with spit and glue while caring for Frank’s uncle, Robert—a man he considered father, mentor, and friend—and his aged mother, who he refuses to leave behind. Now Robert is gone, taking Tom’s job with him. And Frank is on the doorstep, wanting to know why Tom is still there and why the old lodge is falling apart.

But before they can rebuild the resort, they’ll have to rebuild their friendship. Only then can they renew the forever they planned all those years ago.

Now available from Riptide Publishing!

Who is Thomas Benjamin?

One of my greatest faults is my pride. I haven’t kept count of the opportunities I’ve lost or sabotaged because I was too proud to accept advice, help, or something I didn’t feel I’d earned on my own. Now I look back and think about how ridiculously naïve and stubborn I was. Still am.

The last time I wrote a character too full of pride was in Block and Strike. Max pretty accurately resembled me at twenty-one: shy, unworldly, and stupidly attached to my own way of doing things. Luckily, Max meets Jake, who not only shows him it’s okay to ask for help, but teaches him how to look after himself so that Max can feel more self-sufficient.

Before Max, there was Felix in the Chaos Station series. Too much pride mixed with PTSD is not a healthy combination.  

But I’m here to talk about Renewing Forever, the second book in my This Time Forever series, and a man who has managed to take too much pride to a totally new level—even for me. Tom has been rejecting the help of others for nearly forty years. In fact, it’s such a habit, that he almost doesn’t know how to help himself anymore. As a result, his life has become incredibly narrow in focus. He’s missing opportunities and connections, and without help, he’ll end up in a very dark and lonely place.

Of course I don’t want that for any of my characters, so Tom is going to get the help he needs. But he’s going to have to learn to ask for it, and there is no one better to teach him that lesson than the person he has loved forever: Franklin Tern.

Ironically, though Tom is failing at helping himself, he is always on hand to do whatever needs to be done for others. He’s been caring for his alcoholic mother since he was a kid—and not just out of a sense of duty. He loves his mom in a way that’s difficult to comprehend. Probably in the way only Tom can love.

Tom has always been there for Robert Tern as well. Robert is like a father to Tom, and when his health starts to fail, Tom takes on more and more duties around the family resort, even tossing out ideas to revitalize the place. Meanwhile, he’s also working as a school photographer, wedding photographer, and freelance landscape photographer. And he also gives lectures to kids about how drug use affects families.

He’s a really good guy, but he can be snarky and broody. (Honestly, given what he’s been through, he deserves to let out a little ill-humor now and then.) But he’s the kind of guy whose friends will stand by him, because they know Tom will always be there for them. No question.

All seriousness aside, there is a sunnier aspect to Tom. He loves the outdoors, and not just through the lens of a camera. He hikes to maintain the trails around the family resort, and also throughout Pennsylvania. He’s pretty handy, having been the manager of the resort for so long. There are very few things he can’t fix. He has an obscure sense of humor—and it’s a little dark at times. And—this is a really fun one—he really likes photographing weddings. It’s not the favorite job of many photographers I know, but Tom enjoys it. He loves capturing special moments for every happy couple and being a part of their day… which only proves that he really is Frank’s perfect match.

These two are a love story that’s been waiting to happen for thirty-some years, and writing them through these final few trials and toward their happy ever after was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as an author. <3

Check out my Pinterest board for reference photos for both Frank and Tom, and for the setting of Renewing Forever.

About the This Time Forever Series

Small towns and second chances.

Simon, Frank, and Brian think love has passed them by. Each is facing down his fiftieth birthday—Simon in a few years, Frank next year, and Brian soon enough. Each has loved and lost. But for these men, everything old really is new again, and it’s only when they return to their roots that they’ll find their second chances and the happily ever after they’ve been waiting their whole lives for.

This time it’s forever.

This series includes:

1. Building Forever — releasing October 15, available now!
2. Renewing Forever — releasing November 12, available for preorder!
3. Chasing Forever — releasing December 10, available soon!
   

About Kelly Jensen

If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories about the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.

Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas, and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, cowritten with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.

Connect with Kelly:

• Website: kellyjensenwrites.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kellyjensenwrites/
• Twitter: twitter.com/kmkjensen
• Tumblr: kmkjensen.tumblr.com/
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/kmkjensen/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kellyjensenwrites/

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Renewing Forever one lucky person will win a $25 Riptide Publishing gift card and a swag pack of stickers, art cards, and bookmarks! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 17, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!