Lure of Time by Vera Bell with excerpt and giveaway

April 24, 2024
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Into the Lure of Time
Vera Bell
(Always and Forever, #2)
Publication date: April 23rd 2024
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense, Time-Travel

In this gripping sequel to the award-winning novel, Through the Veneer of Time, echoes of Siena’s past life lure her into a shocking indiscretion that threatens to destroy her marriage. She alone can undo the damage, but this chilling revelation is only the beginning of her battle.

1564, ULSTER, IRELAND. After Aedan’s diplomatic visit to Queen Elizabeth’s court results in his compulsory divorce and arranged marriage, Neave’s violent unraveling drives her into another man’s arms. But in seeking revenge, Neave falls into a perfect trap set by Aedan’s enemy. By the time she learns the truth, it’s too late to undo the damage to Aedan, herself, and the hard-won peace in Ulster. When despair makes her reckless, the price will be a lifetime of infamy, confinement, and isolation from what Neave treasures most—Aedan and her son.

2011, WASHINGTON D.C./DALLAS, TX. It seems like a reasonable plan—Siena finishing her final mural in D.C. while Ryan starts his new job in Dallas. But when Siena meets Ryan’s new FBI partner, an inexplicable fit of jealousy sends her on a downward spiral. To make matters worse, the present mirrors the past when her visions take a startling turn. Consumed by insecurities, Siena takes a drastic step, which proves a catastrophic lapse in judgment. When her self-fulfilling prophecy unfolds in a devastating inversion of the past, Siena’s actions could cost her the two people she most fears to lose—Ryan and their baby.

Will Siena and Ryan beat their disastrous odds, or is their marriage foredoomed?

If you love time travel romance with dark undertones, as well as elements of domestic suspense, psychosexual thriller, and a touch of magic, don’t miss the second installment of the Always and Forever trilogy!

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EXCERPT:

Everything—the floor, the walls, the air—fell away. Only this parchment in my hand remained.

Chimeric. Foretold.

Somewhere deep down, I knew I stood very still, calm, and mute, my eyes fixed on Aedan’s precise English hand. But I also hovered above, crumbling into bleeding bits. Watching my life’s blood drain out of me and wash the world in crimson, drop by drop by drop—

Kian said something, his voice familiar, ordinary. It cannot be. I shifted my gaze to the broken seal. An English forgery to foment strife. A cruel trickery to break our spirit. But there was yet a paragraph unread—

As I shall be returning soon after you take delivery of this dispatch, I trust that as my loyal subject, you will abide my expressed demand in the proper and expeditious fashion commensurate with the sensitivity of this matter. As well, it is my uttermost wish that you will, hitherto, regard me solely as your rightful ruler, and as such, would not seek my audience in any unseemly or unsuitable manner. Furthermore, shall you find yourself in my presence, I rely on your good sense and proper decorum to act toward me with such deference and regard as befits my rank.

Earl II of Tyrone, Lord Aedan O’Neal

This 5^th Day of January, 1565

The hall swayed. The parchment slipped from my fingers. His handwriting. His name. His signature. What forgery?

Kian steadied me with his hands on my shoulders, eyes frozen with horror.

He bent to take the parchment, pinching it between his thumb and index finger like it was something vile to touch. Like it would sully anyone mad enough to lay a hand on it.

“Is…is h-he…dead?”

The dais stood wrapped in saffron and gold, awaiting the O’Neal’s return.

I came back to myself. My eyes burned with salt. My throat chafed with sand. My heart burst into icy, piercing shards. How determined he was to go to London, how callous to slam our chamber door.

Author Bio:

Imagine doing Past Life Regression (PLR) for the first time and emerging with a crazy book idea! That was exactly how I came to write my award-wining debut, “Through the Veneer of Time,” Book One of the time-travel romance trilogy, “Always and Forever.” But while my PLR session was a vivid, impassioned encounter, bursting with colors, sounds, smells, textures, and a bizarrely visceral knowledge, it was incomplete. Yet despite trying to go back, I never could. So I wrote the continuation in my head until it became so extensive and detailed, I had to put it on paper.

Besides being a writer, I’m a wife to my high-school sweetheart, a mother to two teenagers and one fur baby, a former commercial artist and boutique owner, and a member of the Historical Novel Society and Romance Writers of America. My favorite place to write is on my porch, overlooking a pond lined with river birches and magnolias. The topics I never tire of are bygone eras, our universal human condition, and love that transcends time and space.

Want to be in the know? Join my mailing list at VeraBellAuthor dot com and follow me on Facebook @ReadingBells and on Instagram @VeraBellAuthor.

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