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 … 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.
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My Review:
Okay, so this book…it takes place between two men in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. In high school, they were best friends…inseparable. But then something happened when they kissed (the details about what exactly that was are a bit murky throughout most of the book to keep the reader guessing) at the age of 18, and then they haven’t seen one another in the last 30 years. They had plans for the future…together …and that single moment blew it all to pieces…their friendship and anything else that might have been brewing under the surface.
So, when Frank comes home to figure out what to do with his inheritance from his uncle, he’s shocked to find his childhood friend running the front office. And what a front office it is…moldy, cold, damp, falling down around their heads. And I have to say that I loved it.
But I also loved the two guys although I had the hardest time with Tommy at times, just because he NEEDS to talk to Frank…about so much in his life now, but also about what happened then. But they’re both just trying to survive and keep the property alive, so they ignore the elephant in the room between them for forever before they finally have to talk it through.
I do love second chance at love stories and I liked that this one was a bit “later in life” than you normally see in romance. Yippee!
These guys are the same age as me, so when they’re talking about vacation spots like this one, I can perfectly picture it. In fact, I had to go online and see if the place we went every year was still around (note…it is, but wow, it’s expensive now). Also, I remember when I got married, the Poconos were THE place to go for honeymoons…those clear stem glass hot tubs…OH MY…LOL!
Overall, the book was a great read. It was fun to go back in time and see a second chance couple work through it all together. I loved the location of the story and the idea of rehabbing one of those old resorts. It was just a fun, entertaining read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest and voluntary review.
I received an ARC from Kelly and I am so glad I did.
This is a beautifully written romance with two main characters you can’t help but fall in love with. There is a vast range of secondary characters, some a carry over from the first book in the series, ‘Building Forever.’ The plot takes you back to the men when they first met at age 9, the activities that brought them close and the misunderstanding that tore them apart at age 18. Now Frank and Tom are in their 40’s and they reunite when Frank comes back to the lodge his uncle owned and that Tom was managing. Only when they finally open up and discuss the past, reveal the state of their lives now, and share their desires, do they have the ability to forge a bond that stood the test of time.
Kelly is such a wonderful author. She embeds phrases and ideas that stay with you long after you close the book;
‘He’d come home only to find home wasn’t here anymore.’
‘…checked in with the twisted thing in his chest, the organ that was supposed to beat happily when he met The One, the place where he was to store all his most cherished memories. And it was beating.’
‘…he existed in a place he hadn’t visited in forever. A space without conscious thought.’
(Tom spoke about his mom…) ‘…she managed the rent most of the time, and she let me dream.’
‘…a wedding is what you make of it.’
‘You’re already in here.’ Frank pressed his palm to his chest ‘You always were.’
‘But if the rest of it did work, then this could be it for them. A place to rest their forevers.’
What Tom had described was exactly what Frank had been missing…Home. He’d been missing home.’
‘I didn’t know I was supposed to be the knight.’
‘…sex with someone you wanted this much could only ever remake the world.
Pick up this book, settle in, and enjoy a love that shows it’s never too late to win!
I would rate this 4 stars.
Frankie kissed Tom when he was 17 and Tom punched him, ending their friendship. Then, Frank left town and hasn’t been back in 30 years. When his uncle dies, he has to go back to deal with his inheritance. Tom has been working for Frankie’s uncle and has now lost his friend, his home, and his job due to his death. He has given up everything to take care of his mother, who is now in a nursing home. The story has dual POV and their childhood is shared through flashbacks. Frankie is still caught in the sadness of the past. Much of this book is sad, reminiscences often are–of dreams lost, bad decisions made, the things you can’t take back. As Frank and Tom start to relive the good times they shared as boys, rather than dwelling on the incident, you would think it would liven up, but for me it doesn’t.
I am not a fan of second chance romances. I tend to think things didn’t work out for a reason. I am not a fan of nostalgia or glorifying the past. But avoiding dealing with things from your teenage years until you are nearing your fifties is not healthy. While my heart ached for both men for different reasons, I was frustrated with them too. Tom has let fear rule him for so long; after fighting it, he finally gives in and decides to explore what they have. Frankie was hard for me to relate to for some reason. His demisexuality seemed to keep him isolated from deep relationships and even his friends didn’t really know him. There was a little bit of comic relief about 60% in when they tour a neighboring resort. I wish that type of interaction had been included more. The best parts are having them recapture their love of the woods and each other–sharing the dream of remodeling the resort.
While this was interesting and well written, I felt removed emotionally at times. That’s okay, because I like to read books that are about many types of people. How boring would it be if we were all alike? It’s a good reminder that other people’s logic and life experience can be completely different and will affect their decisions and outlook. Charlie, Simon, and Brian from book one show up. Brian seems the next one to be paired off, but as he cheated on Simon over and over for a decade, I am not much enthused by this prospect. It will take a lot to redeem this character in book three, but if any author can do it, Kelly Jensen can.
I’m so enjoying this series so far. I loved the first book and I quite enjoyed this addition as well, although probably not as much as the first. But that’s because I loved Charlie! I think the best word I can think of to describe this series is nice. It’s such a nice comfort read and I love how happy the well-deserved HEAs make me feel!
I really loved getting to know Frank in this book. We saw glimpses of him in book one, and in this book we get to peel back the layers of who he is. I didn’t fall in love with Tom quite as fast, but his character development was so well depicted, from who he is at the beginning to who he became at the end. I will admit that I could totally relate to his financial difficulties. Neither Tom nor Frank had an easy journey through the book, and I spent a lot of the book feeling so sad for them and what happened when they were younger. I did feel like this book dragged in a couple of places, but overall it’s was such a nice read and it does have a very satisfying HEA!
The person I was saddest for, though, was the recently deceased Robert, Frank’s uncle. Seeing him through Tom and Frank’s eyes just made me feel so sad for him and how he’d been forgotten by everyone, just like his house. I think I shed more tears for Robert than for Frank and Tom lol.
Fresh writing, sympathetic and flawed characters, and excellent character development! I highly recommend both books in this series if you’re looking for something smooth with mature heroes!
A very good second chance story with older main characters.
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Building Forever, so perhaps my expectations were a bit too high when I started to read Renewing Forever. This one started out a bit too slow for me and the back and forth in the timeline threw me just a bit at first. It may just have been one of those situations where my head wasn’t in the right place for this particular book – it happens sometimes. Now, having said all that, I am so glad that I kept on reading. BTW, characters from book one make brief appearances in this story but you won’t feel lost if you haven’t read it.
While the story started off a bit slow for me it just kept getting better and better. I loved how this book was about second chances and also that the MCs (main characters) were nearly 50 – older couples deserve love and happiness, too, and I think romance writers/readers sometimes forget that.
Tom and Frank were childhood best friends but came from different economic worlds. Tom was being raised by a single mother who was an addict but loved her son very much. Frank came from a family that was much better off and his uncle owned a resort in the Pocono Mountains. Frank returns to the Poconos after his uncle dies and leaves him the resort.
Frank never knew why Tom punched him when he was getting ready to leave for college and he never understood why Tom never answered any of his letters. The author is a bit cagey about giving us the answers to questions brought up in the blurb and it’s quite a bit in before we learn everything.
The more I read this book the more I didn’t want to put it down. It was almost heartbreaking to learn that such a close friendship as what Frank and Tom had just completely dissolved in one moment of lost temper.
Frank is surprised to learn that Tom has been working at the now broken-down resort. Once they start to get their friendship back on track, they begin making plans for rebuilding the resort. But Tom is hiding a lot of stuff from Frank and when he learns about it, he isn’t happy; it nearly ruins the second chance they’ve been given.
I really loved these characters and I hope there will be more books in this series.
An advanced copy of this book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
This was a great second installment in the This Time Forever series. I really enjoyed following Tom and Frank on their journey to HEA as they reconnect after half a lifetime apart. The story-line flashes back a tells the story from the POV of both characters which shows the conflict and reactions both sides, this really fleshed out the story for me. All in all this was a very enjoyable read.
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book*