Nancy Thorne's Debut Novel Is a YA Time Travel Romance. Review and #giveaway

Please welcome Nancy Thorne and her debut novel, a YA Time Travel Romance, Victorian Town 

Blurb:

Abby Parker had a life plan: finish her last year of school, go to college, move away from her insane family, and stay best friends with Jessica. 

That was before she broke into the nearby tourist attraction and unwittingly answered a call from a centuries-old spirit who dragged her into the 19th century. 

Now she must solve the Victorian mystery of a missing girl without getting herself killed, or worse, spend a lifetime trapped in the past, leaving behind everyone she loves and altering their lives forever. 

But when she meets gorgeous Benjamin, the future looks a lot like wreckage. . .

I copied this image of an excerpt from Nancy's Website.

Here's the Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39085555-victorian-town?

I am a big fan of time travel and Abby is a delightful character. The author created a wonderful plot device to go through time. I loved the story, the voice, the plot, and the very accurate details of the 1876 Victorian town setting. And I loved the decision Abby made at the end. This feels like a younger YA, but it's no less fun for that. I asked Nancy to be on my blog. And she is giving away 4 paperback copies of the book. If you don't read young adult, think Christmas Gift. The Rafflecopter is at the end of the post.

NANCY, PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF

I was raised in what was then a suburb of Toronto although now is considered part of the city itself. If you had asked me in grade five or six what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have thought to myself at that moment that I already was a writer. However, back then girls didn’t ever wish out loud to be a writer – they wished out loud to be a nurse or perhaps a teacher. What girl would ever say they wanted to be a writer?

My love of words never abated. As the years passed, I heard many people state that they wanted to write a book. No one ever did. So I decided that was me as well - that I would never write a book and should simply disregard this dream of mine. But through the years it was impossible to get the feeling that I WAS an author out of my head. It gnawed at me and presented as a major, annoying itch I couldn’t scratch away, no matter how hard I tried.

When my family and I moved into our home in 1998, there was one spare room, decorated with wallpaper of realistic books lined on realistic shelves. It felt as if the room was telling me to “get in here and do what you are supposed to do!” So I did.


WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER STARTING OUT?

To not give up. To know going in that it takes time to hone your writing skills. Learn from other writers who have the experience you still need, whether by joining a writing group or attending virtual lectures or researching articles on the Internet. If you can, get some feedback from others who aren’t in your family. There are editors who may be starting out who can critique your work for a good price. Be patient, keep writing and know that you will feel less than others at the beginning of your author journey. Still, don’t compare yourself to anyone but who you were last week, or the week before, as you learn. All writers go through these initial struggles.


HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN IMAGINARY FRIEND?

When I was in grade school, I felt comforted by small porcelain animal figures of mine that I took to school with me, one each day, hidden in a pocket. Throughout the school day, I’d comfort the figurine, which was actually comforting myself. I’d tell the cat, rabbit, or dog that it was only a few minutes until recess or lunchtime. I made sure they knew they were cared for.

WHAT IS THE MOST EXCITING MOMENT, SO FAR, IN YOUR WRITING CAREER?
Actually, I now have two most exciting moments. The first was eight years ago, not too long after I’d finally admitted to myself that I was meant to be an author and had taken a night school course in creative writing. I’d just arrived home from a wedding reception and the time was around two in the morning. Still, I decided to check my email in my book-wallpapered writing room before getting ready for bed. I opened the email from the first publisher of the first short story contest I had sent my first short story to. The email stated that I was one of thirteen winners and that my story would be published in an upcoming anthology.
On went the lights in the house! I hopped around! I woke up my two sons! It was thrilling, to say the least.
The second exciting moment came just this month, when my young adult novel Victorian Town won First In Category for the Dante Rossetti Award. The winners were announced virtually. My hands were shaking. When my name was announced, I didn’t hop around, I cried. Happy tears. That's wonderful. Congratulations.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT WIP?
My current work is a young adult novel titled The Somewhere I See You Again. Set over one year, it tells the story of seventeen-year-old Hannah who will resort to anything to save her family from financial ruin, including blackmail. But first, she must overcome a near-death experience and face her own mortality. It’s set for release May, 2021.

DO YOU EVER SUFFER FROM WRITERS BLOCK?
I have to say, not really. I suffer more from procrastination at times. But once I’m in a regular phase of writing every morning (although I write night scenes at night when darkness has set in) I pretty much stick with it and continue on. 

I would love to hear from readers! You can find me at:
https://www.nancythorne.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NancyThorneAuthor
https://twitter.com/nthornewrites
https://www.instagram.com/nancythorneauthor/

Thank you for being here, Nancy. I look forward to your next book.

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Nancy Lee Badger and her Time Travel Romance, Heaven Sent Highlander.

Please welcome Nancy Lee Badger and her book, Heaven Sent Highlander. I am so thankful she has this week’s post.

Thanks for having me back on your blog to talk about my 27^th book. Heaven Sent Highlander

Tag Line

A Scottish Highlander falls in battle only to awaken beside bronze statues at a present-day museum. Befriended by a beautiful Fae creature and her allies, he must defeat a demon or die.

I am a multi-published and award-winning author working in Raleigh, North Carolina. This new release, which was also just released in paperback, is a paranormal romance set in North Carolina. The book is filled with sights, sounds, a fabulous art museum, horses, sword fights, and a demon bent on capturing the Fae who murdered him.

A love of art, especially the bronze sculptures by the French master, Auguste Rodin, helped spark the idea that brought this story to life. Well, only after my two sisters told me about the new addition the NC Museum of Art had opened and, since it was only about 5 miles from my home, I found myself spending countless hours making notes, taking photos, and working on the series. All three are full-length books, with the first called Heaven-sent Warrior. This book, Heaven-sent Highlander, is the second book in my Warriors in Bronze series released by Soul Mate Publishing. It will be followed early next year by Heaven-sent Flame.

Book Blurb

At an American museum, surrounded by Auguste Rodin’s bronze statues, a Scottish Fae beauty is at a crossroads. Now that Gwendolyn’s friends are engaged, and the demon they fought vanquished, should she return home? After committing a terrible act, she could not explain to her cousin why she had appeared on his doorstep. 

Alexander awoke in darkness inside a bronze statue, remembering how the green of Scotland’s Culloden field had turned red with blood that day in 1746. Had he died before awakening nude and sightless in front of strangers in present-day Raleigh, North Carolina? The mystery of how was overshadowed by why. Told that another warrior awoke when a demon threatened to take over the world, had a second demon escaped Hell? When the demon appears and demands Gwen join him, Alex must use all his new skills, weapons, and Heaven-sent powers to keep her and the world safe. 

Excerpt

Eager to find the demon, vanquish it, then spend some quality time with Gwen, Alex jumped up and over the counter and headed for the glass doors. He assumed Gwen would follow him, and prayed Sam stayed elsewhere.

Beyond the museum’s glass doors, what waited was a huge white beast with a mouthful of teeth and a throaty growl.

“We should go outside, but wait for me,” Alex heard Gwen call to him, as she made her way out the office door. She joined him by the entrance, but he swept an arm out to keep her back, making her stop in her tracks. He stood perfectly still with his back to her, his feet apart, and his staff at the ready.

“Did you just growl?” she whispered.

He did not move, nor did he answer her. A thin plate of clear fragile-looking glass stood between them and a huge snarling beast of a dog. “I believe yer beastie has decided to join us,” he whispered.

She suddenly shoved past him. “Where is the demon-fighting Hellhound?”

“He acts like he wants to eat me.”

“Don’t be silly, Alex. I was worried about him. If anything happens to that dog, Kenzie will have my head!”

The image of a headless Gwendolyn turned his stomach. As he watched, the beast spun and leaped high in the air, turned, and ran off. “We should wait inside where it is safe.”

“Go ahead and wait, but Ivor is on to something.” Gwen pushed open the huge doors and chased the beast as it headed toward the wooded area. When they disappeared among the trees, Alex willed his feet to move, and he ran.

Find all Buy Links HERE

Author Bio

Nancy Lee Badger grew up in Huntington on New York’s Long Island, where school field trips to lofty museums were the norm. After attending Plymouth State, in New Hampshire, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education and met and married her college sweetheart. They raised two handsome sons in Rumney, New Hampshire, where Nancy volunteered as an EMT and firefighter while working full-time. When the children had left the nest, and shoveling snow became a chore, she retired from her satisfying job as a 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Dispatcher and moved with her husband to North Carolina, where she writes full-time.

Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers. She loves to travel and attend Scottish Highland Games and is never far from her laptop. She finds story ideas in the most unusual places. Connect with her here:

Website     Twitter    Facebook   Amazon Author Page     Blog

BookBub     Goodreads

 Thank you, beloveds, for reading. You rock. I will be back next week with a gratitude post and a #giveaway,

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Time Travel At Its Most Charming Caroline Mather's Time Series #giveaway.

I asked Caroline to do a blog post afterI read The Time Table last year,  She wanted to wait till book two was out. And today I’ve got her. And I have a giveaway at the end of the post.

.

My review of The Time Table

I love time travel (and write time travel), and this sounded like an interesting read. The Time Table exceeded my expectations. A series of short tales with one connection. A pool table fashioned in the 1600’s from a standing stone that occasionally creates time pockets. Caroline Mather deftly weaves four charming stories together, leaving room for more. I’m following her because I really want to read the sequel. Surely there will be a sequel? Five stars.

Please welcome Caroline Mather

Susan asked me about “time travel gone wild.” 

            The initial unifying image was the Table itself. There isn’t a single story line, or a single era. A former work colleague was a competitive pool player: a random comment made me wonder what might happen if you fell towards, or onto, a pool table, and went through.     

            As the stories progressed, there came the standing stone.  How do you travel back in time before billiard tables came to be, some time in the 1600s?  Except that we have a character in The Time Table who both went forward in time and emerged from a stone circle. I don’t know if slate is a good material for standing stones:  geologically, slate is like petrified mud.  However, it’s a good material for a billiard table slab. 

            As the series evolves, we have several moments when characters travel, or communicate, other than through the Table/stone circle.   There are other fantasy series which use more than one means of travel:  two classic examples would be J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.  The challenge with world building is simply to keep your world coherent.

            The third volume will have a longer range in time than the first two: after that, we’ll see.

Publishing first

            I met Debby Gilbert of Soul Mate at the New Jersey RWA conference in the fall of 2016.  I had just finished The Time Table, and I knew it was a bit quirky.  It is time-travel romance, but it’s a novella-length group of interlinked short stories, and it’s right on the edge of sci-fi/fantasy.  And…a billiard table? I’d pitched the book once or twice and gotten really strange looks.  Debby just looked a little thoughtful and said, “Send it to me.”  No promises, of course.  I don’t think we talked for more than a few minutes.

            When she emailed me a few weeks later to green-light it, I was both thrilled and stunned.  I’ve had non-fiction work published (mostly articles in reference books, different name, nothing to do with time travel), and a little self-published fiction (three parts of The Time Table first appeared under a pseudonym), but this series is now the first fiction with a serious publisher.

Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser”?  

            It’s a combination.  I don’t have everything plotted in detail:  if a character’s action surprises me and the plot takes a different turn, I’ll go with it.  It does mean that there are some questions left unanswered until a later installment.  There’s an unanswered question in the first section of The Time Line.  However, several sections of this volume are answering questions set up in The Time Table.  That said – if a story arc carries over more than one book, the author does have some responsibility to make sure that the pieces will fit together.

            One of the things I love about the Time Table series is that I get to read up not only on British history but also on contemporary theories of physics, time travel, precognition, and so on – and then to throw it all aside if necessary. Even if the details aren’t in the stories, the world I’m building really is founded on what may or may not be possible.  A good example would be the restoration of the Table in The Time Line: my partner and I spent an afternoon touring a truly amazing facility where billiard tables are made and restored – and then I had to work around those practicalities because the Time Table has a vortex! 

Current WIP is part 3 of the series:  Time Pieces, due out late in 2019.  There are some challenges in that volume:  one character is seriously annoyed because he’s in love with a someone who keeps going into the past and spending time with his forebears.  (Teaser: that plot line is first introduced in The Time Line.)   Several characters also travel without going through the Table – that also occurs in The Time Line – but, given where/when they’re each traveling in Time Pieces, it may be a bit more difficult to get them back again.

Advice for new writers just starting out:

            Just. Do. It.  The story only you can tell may or may not be one that propels you to the best-seller lists the first time out, but it’s your story.  Read a lot, write a lot, and just keep showing up.  If you wait for inspiration before you sit down at the keyboard, it may not come. The Muse needs to know where to find you, and you need to keep honing your skills while you’re waiting. 

            That said – there are times when you’ll find your inspiration somewhere else, and some of it may simply be in your memory or some unrelated comment.  Celebrate those memories and discoveries:  the sources of creativity are endless and enlivening.

My favorite pastime other than writing is one I can’t do at the moment: I love the experience of flying a small plane, even in the bumpy air of summertime over the northern New Jersey hills. I became interested in learning to fly because of a non-fiction project I was working on some time ago. I managed to log about fifteen hours, although I never soloed because life kept getting in the way. Even if I never get back there, I’ll always have that flight time.

And…when you’re not in the air or at the computer? 

            I’m hanging out in northern New Jersey, in an old apartment building on a busy main street, with far too many books, a great coffee maker, and a traveling Hero.  If you move back to your childhood town, be prepared for the possibility that it, too, has changed:  as the late, great Stephen Hawking said, “We are all time travelers, traveling together into the future.” 

Where can we find you?

            The Time Table series is published by Soul Mate Publishing and is available on Amazon Kindle.  The Facebook page “Writer Caroline Mather” is under construction: if you get over there and it’s still got pots of paint on the floor and sheets over the furniture, please be patient!  

The Time Table blurb and excerpt:

Jeremy Finch loses billiard balls. One stormy night, his billiard table disgorges a person known to the house’s future owner.  What?

Tony Finch disappears while playing billiards in the 1850s. He reappears in the early 21^st century through an ancient stone circle. What?

Is it the billiard table? The standing stones?  Are the Finches just prone to time-travel, or is this about true love? These intertwined stories explore the future-and-past of The Time Table

Excerpt:

The clock struck midnight as Jeremy Finch lined up his shot and sighted carefully along the billiard cue. Outside, a chill spring rain lashed against the windows.

            He choked back an exclamation.

            A young man’s crumpled figure in a pale shirt and dark trousers materialized on the billiard table as if he had come out of the felt. Without disturbing the balls scattered across the surface, he rolled over and tumbled onto the floor then crouched on his knees. Sheet-white and dazed, he met Jeremy’s eyes across the shadowed room.

The Time Line blurb and excerpt:

Returning to her own time via the Finches’ billiard-table, Cara McCrae came up short. She must find another way to travel the last five years. Now she finds herself in the middle of a casino floor, faced with a possessive man, and possessing experience that makes her a “conductor.”

Why did the “time table” fail? Can it be restored? What of the man who made that final “jump” with Cara? These intertwined stories follow the future-and-past of the next generation from the Time Table.

Excerpt:

            Dane laughed. “Cara, when we met in Halkin Street – before we jumped – you said that you had dreamed me. Did it happen often?”

            Cara shook her head. “Not often. Yet I knew there was someone out there, someone challenging and vibrant, and that I would not be a plaything.” She ran one finger over the patterned stone countertop.

            “Correct. You’re not.” Dane watched her, his voice quiet and grave.

            “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome.” Dane drained his coffee cup. “What is it that interests you?”

            Cara blinked again.

            “Since you refuse to be kept, or a trophy,” Dane prodded. “Yet traveling time distances – years, centuries – does not faze you.”

            “I didn’t do it on purpose,” Cara demurred, “and clearly I wasn’t dressed for it.”

            Dane’s eyes danced with mischief. “Please tell me that you were not out comparison shopping.” At her incredulous look, he added, “Well–Edgar, Gareth, me—”

            Cara blushed. “I wasn’t shopping.’

 Caroline, thank you so much for this post.

My review of The Time Line

I continue to be charmed by Caroline Mather’s writing, BUT you really need to read the Time Table first. Part of the story is a continuation of characters introduced in the first book. Some of the characters are new. And the door to the sequel is wide open. When I finish a Time Table book, I feel as if I had a cup of Earl Grey and a cucumber sandwich served with the very best butter. Read The Time Table and then sample part two, The Time Line.Caroline Mather: The Time Table series

            The Time Table (vol. 1, May 2017)

            The Time Line   (vol. 2, Feb. 2019)

            Time Pieces       (vol. 3, late 2019)

Caroline is giving away two copies each of the ARC's for The Time Table and The Time Line. The ARCs are PDFs which can be read on any reader. I suggested this because I would love to see her have more reviews of these delightful books. Both books are novella-length. If you are interested and would be willing to review one or both, please enter below.

 Happy reading.

           

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Interview with Nancy Lee Badger #giveaway Scottish Prize Package

Meet multi-published, multi-genre author Nancy Lee Badger. She's giving away

autographed copies of her paranormal romance, Shimmer: The Beginning as well as a Sweet Scottish Prize Package here: http://nancyleebadger.blogspot.com/p/contests.html

Her latest contemporary romance is With Every Kiss  http://amzn.to/2DTiy0T which is about an artist bored with the city life and a Manhattan lawyer itching to escape his father’s control. They meet again at a rustic New Hampshire campground. A coincidence?  

This summer, Nancy will release Heaven-Sent Warrior, a paranormal romance that takes place in present-Day North Carolina. It will be published by Soul Mate Publishing.

Nancy, tell us a little bit about yourself?

After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in New Hampshire, I moved to North Carolina where I write full-time. Due to a Scottish heritage, I and my family volunteer at the New Hampshire Highland Games each fall. I'm a member of Romance Writers of America, Fantasy Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers. I am also is currently President of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers.

As romance writers we write a lot of first kisses. If it isn’t too nosy when was the first time you kissed your true love?

I met my true love a LONG time ago at college in New Hampshire. I was nineteen and pretty cute! He looked like General Custer with his long mustache and even longer blond hair. He drove a ’65 Mustang and was a great kisser! We have been married for decades and raised two wonderful boys.

When and why did you decide to self-publish?

I was a voracious reader, and one day thought ‘I can do better’ and started scribbling between calls at my job at NH 9-1-1. However, I did not turn this hobby into something serious until my son returned from a tour of Iraq. Then, you couldn’t stop me!

Give us the moment when you got a call from an independent publisher who wanted to publish your novel.

In October 2009, I did not receive a call…it was an email, and about 10 months after I submitted my story. I was shocked! The story was Secret Love Match, which I recently re-released as With Every Heartbeat.

Do you have a favorite genre to write in?

I love the freedom of the paranormal and fantasy genres. My dragon-shifter books are popular, and Shimmer: The Beginning matches a plain old dragon with an unusual faerie-shifter. Their offspring become my dragon-shifting brothers in my Clan of Dragons series.

What is your favorite pastime, other than writing? 

I am a voracious reader. Over one-hundred books a year, according to Goodreads.com because reading calms me. I also use it as a reward for getting my writing done, during the day.

I'm a fellow bookaholic. Right now I'm reading Lynn Kurland who also writes time travelling scottish romance. 

Any advice for new writers just starting out?
Get the words on the page! Write…do not edit. No spellchecking, no worries about chapter breaks, and leave research until later. You need to get the beginning, middle, and end written before you need to worry about those things. You cannot submit a book to an agent or editor until you have a finished product to sell. Self-publishing is also another route. It saved me, when my two publishers closed their doors.

Tell us about your Sweet Scottish Valentine giveaway. 

My giveaway includes my latest paranormal romance. Shimmer: The Beginning is a prequel novella that explains a little about the dragon-shifting brothers in my books Spark, Smoke, and Smolder.

A long time ago, off the coast of Scotland’s Isle of Skye, something incredible began. Among lush green forests, flower-filled meadows, and black jagged mountains, stagnant pools of algae and muck rush to the sea. Robina, daughter of the fairy king, threw wish dust to create a cool, clear, sweet-smelling fairy pool. When a huge black winged creature fell from the sky, she feared her very life was in danger. She never thought she would lose her heart.

And finally, where can we find you?
Connect with me here: Blog Website Twitter Facebook Goodreads
Or drop me a line at nancy@nancyleebadger.com
Thank you for being here, Nancy. Dear readers, if you love paranormal, fairiesand dragons, click over and enter Nancy's Sweet Scottish Giveaway here: http://nancyleebadger.blogspot.com/p/contests.html

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Time and Forever is September 2017 Book of the Month

Time and Forever is September 2017 Book of the Month at TBRpile.
 I am thrilled. If you haven't read it, I am giving away a copy to a commenter who leaves an email address. Next week I have author Sophie Darling on my blog/ Happy reading and a happy week to all of you.

Title: Time and Forever Author: Susan James  Length: Novella  Genres: Time Travel, Romantic Comedy    TBR Reviewer: Amy    Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read!    Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot!

When Lorena finds The Castle, which specializes in Virtual Reality adventures to any time era, she and her friend jump at the chance to play. When they walk through the open door to 1969's London, it's apparent they've walked into more than just a game...

This is such an amazing story. The best time-travel story I’ve ever read! Time traveling back to 1969 under the pretense of a virtual reality experience provides these two women in their sixties another chance at love. Sherry returns at a time to take a chance she didn't take with Jeremy on the tube. They shared one kiss together and that has been her biggest regret.

Lorena, goes back with Sherry to London, however she returns home. While home she decides to spend time with her deceased husband Dave in California. They both take chances that, they didn't the first time around and really enjoy life to the fullest. What they didn't realize is that this virtual reality game is no game at all. I can't explain the twist because it'll give too much of the plot away but it is fabulous! I thought the idea and story is fresh, new and exciting. Both Sherry and Lorena have amazing stories. I must say I am shocked at how everything turns out. I’m glad that they are able to step back in time and go after what is important to them!

The author does an amazing job writing this story with such an interesting take on time-travel and virtual reality, making this a five star read!

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Maybe This Time Happy Birthday#Giveaway

July 12 is my book birthday. Maybe This Time is now available on Amazon.

To celebrate I’m giving away seventeen 3.99 Amazon Gift cards. Why 3.99, you ask? Because that is what it would cost you to buy the book. Naturally I will be thrilled if you rush right out and click that Amazon buy button. But I also feel I want to give back to my readers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
In Maybe This Time I decided to follow a secondary character in Time and Forever, Jeremy’s sister, Jennifer. I knew from the epilogue who Jen was in the present. I thought it might be fun to figure out how she got there.

Now I am one of those writers who starts with a glimmer of an idea and assumes the story will flow from that point. I knew Jennifer had three husbands because she remarks in the epilogue of Time and Forever, “Third time lucky.”

That sounded good to me. I know that in real life happily- ever-after doesn’t have to start in your twenties. And it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time around. I love second chances.

Katharine Ross had four failed marriages before she met and married Sam Elliot at age 44. They are still beautifully in love today in their seventies.

My character, Jen had two failed marriages and had stopped looking for love.

I started the story with Jen’s forty-ninth birthday, a turning point for many women. I assumed she would be meeting her third husband—the happy-ever-after one.

But my characters kidnapped my story. I had no idea that Jen’s third marriage would be to her first husband and that they would take me on a ride through time to places I never dreamed of revisiting. When I realized one of those places was to the morning of 9/11, I almost stopped writing. I didn’t think I would ever want to revisit that memory.

But I couldn’t say no to the story. The characters in Maybe This Time spoke to my heart and I had to follow. Believe me, I was delighted when I made it through to the happily- ever-after.

I hope you will say yes and sample my story. Here’s the blurb and an excerpt.

Maybe This Time
A Second Chance Romance

Their Happily-Ever-After is over before it begins unless they can change time.

London 2001

Forty-nine-year-actress Jennifer Knight would rather eat worms than face her first husband. But when her niece Kat accidentally time travels them to 1988, she needs his help.

Computer guru, Lance Davies is more comfortable with machines than people. He never knew how to handle his beloved, mercurial Jen. But now her future self is here in front of him and he wants another chance.
Jen’s torn. Her traitorous body insists that home is in Lance’s arms, but her heart has trust issues

Can two people whose timelines are thirteen years apart find a future where they can be together?

Excerpt

Jen looked into the face of the man she’d adored since she was nine, and actively avoided for the last twenty years. Lance looked almost the same as the day they’d parted. A few more lines framed his hazel eyes, now sea-dark with concern. His brown hair showed no trace of gray. It was still too long, with the same stupid lock falling over his forehead. She automatically reached to brush it back. Stopped herself. Her throat was so dry. Where was a cough drop when you needed one? “You’ve aged well.” Jen’s knees buckled.

Lance kicked out a chair and sat, pulling her into his lap. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we can fix it.”

His warm, strong hands sent shock waves shivering through her body. She shook her head mutely.

Lance’s voice sharpened. “Is it Jeremy? Kathryn? Has something happened to them?”

“Uncle Lance!” Kathryn stopped in the living room archway, eyes child-solemn. “Why are you hugging Aunty Jen?”

Jen slipped out of Lance’s arms and landed on the floor. Could this get any worse?

“Aunty Jen says you are a stupid head with a big brain and no feelings.”

Jen rose with all the dignity she could muster. “You shouldn’t repeat things grownups say, Kitty-Kat. It’s not polite.” She reached for the packet Mrs. Flannery left behind, willing her hands not to tremble. “Here are the papers, you came for. Nice to see you. Goodbye.”

Lance glanced from Kathryn to Jen. “Where’s Jeremy? I know he and Kitty-Kat went to Sussex. Why is she back without him, and what are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t get home, Uncle Lance. So we came here.” Kathryn scuffed her foot, now shod in a plastic Jelly shoe, against the wood floor. “I thought Jen would like the machine, but I don’t like being young again. My brain is too small. I want to go home.”

Lance’s hand tightened on the papers he held. “Kathryn,” he said carefully. “How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen and I want to go home.”

Lance catapulted out of the chair. “It worked. By all that’s good and beautiful, it worked. I didn’t think he could do it.”

“You knew? You knew what he was working on?”

Lance’s grin changed to the expressionless mask she used to hate so much. “Of course, I knew. I divorced you. Not your brother. I was helping him with the theory. He probably would have told you about it, had you been interested in anyone but yourself and your career.”

Jen resisted the urge to punch him. One of them reverting to childhood was enough. Too bad. Her boxing trainer said she had a fantastic right hook. She kept her tone smooth and even. “I don’t know when we are, but I turned forty-nine yesterday, Lancelot, and you don’t know half as much about me as you think you do. I am very interested in my niece, and she’s standing there listening to every word we say.”

Lance turned to Kathryn. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Your aunty and I won’t fight anymore.” He crooked his little finger at Jen the way they used to do when they were children. “Pax?”

Resisting the temptation to break it, Jen hooked her little finger in his. “Pax,”

Kathryn curved her little finger around theirs. “Pax. Now can we get ice cream?”

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Maybe This Time, a Second Chance Romance is up for Pre-Sale

I am in Portage Michigan, awaiting the birth of my second book, Maybe This Time which is currently up for pre-sale on Amazon.

To encourage the birth process my publisher, Debby Gilbert, creator of Soul Mate Publishing, put up Time and Forever on Amazon as a freebee for July third thru 5th.

Last night I checked before bed and Time and Forever was #1 in Time Travel, #14 in Romantic Comedy and #10 is Whispersync (current audio-book price is 7.49 and the narrator, Stephanie Bentley is fabulous!) What a glorious moment.

In Time and Forever  two sixty-year-old women time travel to 1969 London and Los Angeles

#TimeTravel #Chicklit #2ndChanceRomance, 

The companion book is Maybe This Time 

Blurb:

Their Happily-Ever-After is over before it begins unless they can change time.

London 2001

Forty-nine-year-actress Jennifer Knight would rather eat worms than face her first husband. But when her niece Kat accidentally time travels them to 1988, she needs his help.

Computer guru, Lance Davies is more comfortable with machines than people. He never knew how to handle his beloved, mercurial Jen. But now her future self is here in front of him and he wants another chance.
Jen’s torn. Her traitorous body insists that home is in Lance’s arms, but her heart has trust issues

Can two people whose timelines are thirteen years apart find a future where they can be together?

Here's an excerpt.

Jen ran to the living room to retrieve the papers Mrs. Flannery was talking about. No way was she going to hang around waiting for He Who Must Not Be Named. The last person she ever wanted to see again was . . .

“Hello, Guinevere.”

Jen froze at the sound of that well-loved, well-hated, husky voice. “It’s Jen. And don’t you forget it.” The words sounded far away in her head. “You didn’t knock.”

“I have a key. I’m helping Jeremy with a project he’s working on. He left me some papers. You’re supposed to be swanning it in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in New York. I wouldn’t have stopped by otherwise.”

Jen swayed. Her brain was on overload. Strong hands caught her and turned her around.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Jen looked into the face of the man she’d adored since she was nine, and actively avoided for the last twenty years. Lance looked almost the same as the day they’d parted. A few more lines framed his hazel eyes, now sea-dark with concern. His brown hair showed no trace of gray. It was still too long, with the same stupid lock falling over his forehead. She automatically reached to brush it back. Stopped herself. Her throat was so dry. Where was a cough drop when you needed one? “You’ve aged well.” Jen’s knees buckled.

Lance kicked out a chair and sat, pulling her into his lap. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we can fix it.”

His warm, strong hands sent shock waves shivering through her body. She shook her head mutely.

Lance’s voice sharpened. “Is it Jeremy? Kathryn? Has something happened to them?”

“Uncle Lance!” Kathryn stopped in the living room archway, eyes child-solemn. “Why are you hugging Aunty Jen?”

Jen slipped out of Lance’s arms and landed on the floor. Could this get any worse?

“Aunty Jen says you are a stupid head with a big brain and no feelings.”

Jen rose with all the dignity she could muster. “You shouldn’t repeat things grownups say, Kitty-Kat. It’s not polite.” She reached for the packet Mrs. Flannery left behind, willing her hands not to tremble. “Here are the papers, you came for. Nice to see you. Goodbye.”

Lance glanced from Kathryn to Jen. “Where’s Jeremy? I know he and Kitty-Kat went to Sussex. Why is she back without him, and what are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t get home, Uncle Lance. So we came here.” Kathryn scuffed her foot, now shod in a plastic Jelly shoe, against the wood floor. “I thought Jen would like the machine, but I don’t like being young again. My brain is too small. I want to go home.”

Lance’s hand tightened on the papers he held. “Kathryn,” he said carefully. “How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen and I want to go home.”

Lance catapulted out of the chair. “It worked. By all that’s good and beautiful, it worked. I didn’t think he could do it.”

“You knew? You knew what he was working on?”

Lance’s grin changed to the expressionless mask she used to hate so much. “Of course, I knew. I divorced you. Not your brother. I was helping him with the theory. He probably would have told you about it, had you been interested in anyone but yourself and your career.”

Jen resisted the urge to punch him. One of them reverting to childhood was enough. Too bad. Her boxing trainer said she had a fantastic right hook. She kept her tone smooth and even. “I don’t know when we are, but I turned forty-nine yesterday, Lancelot, and you don’t know half as much about me as you think you do. I am very interested in my niece, and she’s standing there listening to every word we say.”

Lance turned to Kathryn. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Your aunty and I won’t fight anymore.” He crooked his little finger at Jen the way they used to do when they were children. “Pax?”

Resisting the temptation to break it, Jen hooked her little finger in his. “Pax,”

Kathryn curved her little finger around theirs. “Pax. Now can we get ice cream?”

Lance drove them to Holby’s 1950’s Diner. Kitty-Kat had declared it her favorite place after Jeremy had taken her to see Back to the Future. They ordered Kathryn a hot fudge sundae and sent her off to play Holby’s vast selection of Arcade games.

Lance wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee he’d ordered. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

Jen wished she didn’t know Lance so well. He was obviously torn between despising her and the attraction which sparked between them every time they were together. Until the last time.

“Kat said she had a birthday present for me and she took me to Jeremy’s lab, which, by the way, Jeremy never invited me to even though I asked what he was working on. I was quite prepared to show an intelligent interest.”

Lance’s expression said it all.

“Look, I know I’m not a genius, but I’m not stupid. I would have tried if either of you could have ever gotten past your incredibly superior attitudes.”

Lance ignored her perfectly justifiable complaint. “Tell me what happened.”

Deep breaths. That was the key. No use losing her temper. She reached for her inner Zen and held onto it during her factual recounting, right up to the moment she and Kat stepped through the door.

 “The street was full of people dressed as though they were going to a costume party. Big hair. Shoulder pads. Men wearing mullets. Possibly the worst haircut ever invented. I turned to make a joke about it to Kat, and child Kathryn was standing next to me.” Jen fought to keep her voice from shaking. “I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know what year it is right now, and I have absolutely no idea how to fix this.”

 “Calm down.” Lance put his hand over hers and for once he didn’t sound superior. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I don’t see how.” Jen sniffled.

He handed her a handkerchief. “Tell me about the cards. What happened to them?”

 “Kathryn’s body shrank, but her clothes didn’t. She pulled up her jeans to look through the pockets, and the card blew into the street under a bus. I tried to get it, but it must have stuck to the bus’s tire.”

Lance’s voice sharpened. “You said there were two cards? What happened to the second one?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she left it in the door when we came through.”

“Here you go, love.” The server wearing a soda jerk’s paper cap set Kathryn’s sundae in front of Jen. Jen automatically dipped her spoon into the fudge sauce.

Lance’s lips curved into a wry smile. “Some things are immutable. I see you love chocolate as much as ever, Guinevere.” He turned to the server. “Bring us another sundae, please.”

“Stop calling me that.” Jen could feel her face growing warm. He shouldn’t have smiled at her. It did funny things to her insides. “Did we really travel back to the 1980s?”

“1988. Thursday, the thirty-first of March, to be precise.”

“By all means. Let us be precise.” Stop looking at him. Concentrate on the chocolate. “April Fool’s Day would have been more appropriate. I wish this were a joke.”

“This year April first is also Good Friday. That’s why Jeremy and Kathryn are in Sussex with your parents. You are in New York.”

Jen shuddered. “This is worse than those horror films you used to drag me to. 1988 of all times. Why would she bring me here?”

“I have no idea. The better question is why would you come?”

“I didn’t know what she was doing!” 
I am in Portage, Michigan for rest of July. Best things about Portage?  I get to play with my beautiful five-year-old granddaughter and with amazing son. Fireflies. And walks in the park just across Lover's Lane. I hope your Fourth is glorious.

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