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!
About that butterfly... a sneak peek at Into the Lure of Time:
I stroked Ronan’s golden hair, settling with him in the chair before the hearth. “Is it the legend of Midir and Étaín you want, a leanbh?”
His steel-blue eyes lit up, bright and eager. The shapeshifting fables were his favorite, and this one was no exception. Although, I never regarded it so much a story of the king and his second wife as a sad tale of the king’s first wife, Fúamnach.
“Once upon a time, an immortal warrior-king, Midir of Tuatha Dé Danann, was wed to a powerful witch-goddess, Fúamnach,” I began. “They lived in love and contentment until it so happened that Midir traveled far from home and met another woman, Étaín.”
“Was she a witch-goddess, too?” Ronan shifted in my lap, impatient for his favorite part.
“She was a mere mortal, a leanbh.” I scoffed. “But younger than Fúamnach, and lovelier, too, so Midir fell in love with her.”
Ronan frowned, his question at the ready. “Did she fall in love with him, too?”
“She did, as you well know.” I bit the inside of my lip, shivering with sudden chill. “What say you I tell you another tale tonight?”
Ronan shook his head, a small groove between his golden brows deepening. “I want this one, mama!”
I pulled him close. “When Midir returned home with Étaín, and Fúamnach saw she’d been replaced, it was as though she received a fatal blow. She sickened with an ill fever, refused all food, and stayed in her chamber for a sennight.”
Despite knowing the ending, Ronan studied my face with anxious eyes. “Did she die of sorrow, mama?”
“She didn’t die, my wee love.” I swallowed. “A spurned woman, she'd set her heart on a terrible revenge. She was powerful, mind? So she turned Étaín into rain. But her spell had failed, for she’d likely grown frail from her heartbreak, and Étaín soon returned to her human form. So Fúamnach cast another spell and turned her rival into a pool of water. That spell, too, had failed, for once again, Étaín turned back into a woman, lovelier than before. Enraged, Fúamnach gathered all her powers to turn Étaín into a fly. Instead, she’d only succeeded in making her into the loveliest fiery butterfly anyone had ever laid eyes on.”
Ronan sighed, hoping against hope. “Did Midir come to his senses and return to Fúamnach to live in love and contentment again?”
Something inside me squeezed with such pain, I gasped. “He didn’t, a leanbh, for being a self-indulgent creature, the king no longer loved his first wife, who gave him all her youth, love, and children, withal. And though Fúamnach sent two great storms to blow Étaín away forever, she’d failed in that, too. So Midir kept the butterfly as his most cherished companion and had Fúamnach put to death.”
Ronan pouted and shook his golden head. “So Midir was left with no wife.”
“After Étaín was reborn as a woman in her next life, he found her and carried her off to the otherworld to be with her forever.”
The little boy hopped off my lap, eyes wide. “Da is a warrior-king. Why doesn’t he keep other wives, mama—?”
Until the next story,
Vera
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