Soulmates Through Time book 2

The second book in the Women of Strength Time travel trilogy is currently with a copy editor. I hope to have it back around the 2nd week of September and then after going through her suggestions, it will be posted on Kindle and Amazon. Very exciting.

In the meantime, I am finishing writing the third and final book in the trilogy, Treasure So Rare.

First book is Once Upon a Remembrance, Isabeau and Hawk and Pierce's story.
Second Book Soulmates Through Time, Elise and Darien's story.
Third book Treasure so Rare, Rufus' nee Erik's story.

Once Upon a Remembrance

First book in the time travel trilogy is Once Upon a Remembrance. I'm very excited to be putting this trilogy out there. It was written back in the 1980's and I have totally revamped the Women of Strength Series. It was never published, but will be coming to an ebook device, computer, phone, etc., near you. I will be posting it on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords and also my website at www.GraceBrannigan.com for sale. I also sell my ebooks on etsy.com.

Time travels are the books I really, really enjoy. My first series were 4 books, contemporary romance, the Women of Character series, stand alone books about strong women and the cowboys who love them. This series is out and complete!

Now, the time travels are not your run of the mill read. There's twists and turns, adventure, strange time periods, moving from one time line to another, name changes. In other words, lots of fun to read!!

First book is Once Upon a Remembrance, Isabeau Remington, Hawk and Pierce Morgan. No, not a ménage a ̀trois. I don't write that, that's another author.

Isabeau gets bounced to 1894 and meets some interesting characters. Turns out someone is trying to kill Hawk Morgan, and she's the one who's pulled into that time to help him out. Hawk is a sea captain and plantation owner. Isabeau has a few secrets and a few tricks up her sleeve. You see, her family has time traveled before. And....

....that leads us into Soulmates Through Time. This story is set in the present time and 1822 and 1846. This story is about Elise Remington, Isabeau's 39 year old mother. She's a hot romance writer, but all she ever really wanted was Darien Remington, the man she's always loved. Elise was sent to the 21st century and Darien's been back in time. They've been separated 24 years. That's a long time for true love to hold up. Imagine Darien's surprise and anger when Elise shows up back in 1846! She's lived not a day without thinking of Darien, while he's done everything possible to erase her from his memory.

There's many paranormal elements that I hope my readers will thoroughly enjoy, not the least of which is Mandine the gypsy. And now....

Treasure So Rare is the third and last in the time travel trilogy. This is Erik Remington's story, a handsome pirate with a silver tongue. In 1849, Erik's ship gets sucked into a vortex and pulls him into the middle ages. Forced to assume another identity, Erik comes face to face with the sea witch who's haunted him for three years, and she thinks he's the marauder who attacked her many years before. How can trust ever  survive when built on lies and deception?

Soulmates Through Time Small excerpt

Soulmates Through Time, Small excerpt, Grace Brannigan copyright 2012
"My dear that is probably the first true word you have spoken since your arrival. It is all a lie." He walked to the door, his head and shoulders stiffly set.
 "Darien," Elise was unable to stem the heartbreak which cracked her voice, "please say you will wait to marry." He moved further away from her. "You know you cannot."
 "Lawyers can make all kinds of things go away." Darien flung the door open and strode angrily through it, out the hallway and up the stairs to the second level.
 Taking the stairs two at a time, he heard the echoing reverberations as the door hit the wall. At the top landing he paused, the pain and anger which he had kept inside all these years so unbearable he felt like weeping, something he hadn't done since he was a boy.
 Straightening his shoulders, he entered his suite of rooms, carelessly closing the door with his heel. He reached for the decanter, tilting the glass so the light filtered through the sparkling liquid, turning it a deep, rich reddish brown, exactly the color of her hair . . ..
 With a low growl, Darien flung it away from him, sinking down into a chair, unmindful of the glass shattering, whiskey running down the wall like rivulets of blood.

On Writing and Soulmates Through Time - time travel

Just read a good book, Stephen King's On Writing. I really liked learning about how he writes. He's obviously a seat of the pants writer, just as I am. I always felt kind of out of it when in writer's groups they'd talk about how everything is plotted down to the last second. I know that works for some people but my brain and creative sensors just rebel at that idea.

Well, I've written for years, just go in and write and the story comes out. It kind of reflects my life and personality, lol, I don't like restrictions or rules in general.  Either it's a product of me working for myself or working for myself it's become a by-product.

I'm going through Soulmates Through Time for the last edit. I've changed the story line just a tad because what I had, there were a few spots that weren't working. So now it's been changed and tweaked here and there and I've added some new elements. Once Upon a Remembrance comes in about 85k words, Soulmates Through Time is about 82k and still subject to change.

I'm very excited by the small changes I've made in the story line. I really feel it's giving it a bit more depth and there actually made be another book in it. We shall see.  That would make the series a Quadrilogy. Does that sound weird or what?

Actually, the contemporary romance Women of Character series is a Quadrilogy, but I haven't called it that. Hmmm.

Treasure So Rare excerpt

Treasure So Rare

copyright 2012 Grace Brannigan

Sir William kicked the door in with an enraged bellow, his brown and craggy face contorted out of all recognition. He and his knights had been practicing sword play when the screams had come from across the courtyard. Immediately, he had known it was his daughter Iliana. He and a score of men had raced toward the family's private quarters. As they approached the solar, the screams abruptly ceased and it was that very absence of sound that he feared the most.

            Three mail-clad shoulders pushed in the wide heavy oak door. The stout wood hit the wall behind it. The sound resonated throughout the keep. Had not two sons and a steward held him back, Sir William would have charged forward to kill the drunken bastard standing over his daughter. In that first moment of blind rage, he cared not that that man was of the king's favored circle. All he saw was his Iliana, delicate Iliana, lying crumpled, eyes closed, golden hair splayed along the stone floor where a thread of crimson now puddled.

Sir William knew the man as Weinroof, a handsome scoundrel with a reputation for brawling and drunkenness. It was rumored he was a spoiler of women and children.

Weinroof's long blond mane stood wildly askew and on end, as if someone had tried to rip the hair from his skull. Incongruously, from one immense hand trailed a flimsy, filmy swathe of cloth, the same material that clothed his daughter. As the men at arms entered the room, Weinroof jerked his head back, swollen and bloodshot eyes narrowed upon the intruders. Grunting, the man wrapped the filmy material tightly around his hand in an attempt to stem a flow of blood from his palm.

"This one shows me no favor," he spat, then fell silent, perhaps sobering somewhat upon being faced with the ferocity of the expressions leveled at him. His voice changed, became more of a disgruntled whine. "All others in this damned drafty place she smiles at and tries to please, but not myself. I would have her hand -- I would wed her."

"Damn your filthy soul to hell!" Desren shouted, oldest son of Sir William. He and his twin Aisyn lunged forward to make short work of the bastard.

Sir William cared not what fate befell that one as he rushed forward and knelt beside his daughter. Iliana had not moved since their forcible entrance. For a moment he feared the worst, that the bastard had killed her. She lay broken, a flower crushed beneath a careless heel. Almost weeping, Sir William lifted her slight frame, gently pulled back the long, curling sweep of hair. She lay as still as her mother on the most sorrowful day of his life. And like her mother, Sir William enfolded her close in mail-clad arms and placed a kiss upon her cold, pale brow.

Time Travel Trilogy in 2012

My covers are all completed for the time travel trilogy, Women of Strength series, coming to an ebook near you in 2012. Kindle and Smashwords. Click on the picture for a better view.

Short Excerpt Soulmates Through Time

copyright 2012 Grace Brannigan

You have always been ruled by emotion, Elise. You follow your heart, which is not bad, but not always good."

            Several women walking alongside the road in a group waved to Mandine, their stares openly curious as they rested on Elise.

            "How long have you lived here in this village?" Elise asked.

            Mandine shrugged, stopping the cart beside her cottage. "However long Darien has lived here. I do not count days or years."

            "You came here the same time as Darien?"

            "When he came from the sea and settled here, I too came to this newly established town."

            "You mean you followed him?"

            She nodded, a small cackle escaping her. "In a way. I was here first. I knew you would return one day. I could not follow you, so I came to be with him."

            "Does he know this?"

            "He suspects it, but what can he do?"  She laughed again. "What can he do about it? I am a gypsy."

Women of Strength series time travels

Soulmates through Time is a time travel, yes it is! But it’s not your every day timetravel, if there is such a thing. It’s a time travel with a twist. This is the second book in the Women of Strength series.

Book 1 is Once Upon a Remembrance, Isabeau and Pierce’s story.

Book 2 is Soulmates Through Time, Elise and Darien’s story.

Book 3 is Treasure So Rare, Erik and Iliana’s story. But warning! the names, dates and places are all subject to change in this trilogy.

If you’re used to time travels that have one way of traveling to a set time, be prepared for something a little different with a romance to solve and enjoy along the way.

Soulmates Through Time Book Cover

Soulmates Through Time is a time travel romance with a twist. The cover will be posted some time this week and it's looking fabulous.

Small Excerpt Soulmates Through Time (time travel)

Soulmates Through Time copyright 2012 Grace Brannigan

Prologue ~ 1807

            The thin boned hand pressed the scented cloth gently across a fevered brow, then continued soothingly along a rounded jaw.

            Aleanna's rich brown hair splayed against stark white pillows in a luxuriant, waving mass, framing once radiantly alive features. The eyes were now dull, stripped of the spirit of life, the complexion pale and waxen.

            "Aleanna, my Aleanna."  The young woman responded to the sorrowful whisper, her head turning on the pillow.

            "My baby?" Aleanna's voice was a mere thread of sound quickly lost in the hush of the room.

            "She is here."  Into her line of vision a small bundle appeared, warmly swaddled in soft blankets.

            Caring hands shaped Aleanna's limp arms into a cradle, and a weight suddenly lay against her breast. A warm, wanted weight.           

            Her child.

            With immense effort, Aleanna looked down at the child in her arms.

            "My darling," she whispered. A pleased smile was upon bloodless lips, then she leaned her weary head back into the pillow.

            She was so tired . . . she wished only to close her eyes. She fought the sensation, for she knew there was something she must do.

            Weakly, she lifted one hand, caught the thin boned hand of the woman who hovered beside the bed.

            "Mandine, you must --"

            The dark garbed figure bent closer to catch the words Aleanna could barely get out.

            "Tell me Aleanna," her caregiver, the woman named Mandine, urged, "tell me of your wishes. Do you wish vengeance?"

            "Protect my daughter."

            "I shall protect her from that one," the figure hissed balefully. "I shall take her away this night."

            "No." Aleanna clutched the thin forearm with surprising strength, her face, if it were possible, growing even more ashen. "You know she must stay here, in these surroundings. I wish it were otherwise, but --" She lay back, utterly exhausted. "I ask that you guide her. Shield her as best you can." 

            The dark garbed figure picked up the infant, held her closely against her breast.

            "You know I will do what is best for your child." Mandine bowed her head, dark eyes burning. "I will protect the wee one as if she were my own."

            "Yes," murmured Aleanna faintly, her eyes flickering for the last time, "I know you will take care of my Elise."

Short excerpt Once Upon a Remembrance time travel

copyright 2012 Grace Brannigan

Hawks Den, Virginia

                                                                 Prologue

In the half light before dawn, Pierce Morgan drove toward Hawk’s Den. He had driven all night to get here, hardly understanding the urgency that gripped him. Pierce stopped his truck and stared at the once majestic plantation house Hawk’s Den. Forlornly, the old home he grew up in sat before him, paint faded and worn. The house was shuttered and still as light began to break, the wrap-around veranda partially concealed by a tangle of brilliant-hued azaleas.

He strode across the stone-lined path to the house, taking the shallow porch steps three at a time. The ornate entry door lay at a drunken angle and he shoved it aside as if it weighed little. Stepping inside, he paused as the stench of stale air bore down upon him.

Arrows of light peered through the closed shutters, but Pierce knew where to find the staircase to the second floor. Quickly, he climbed the stairs, his flashlight beam bouncing across the walls.

On the second floor numerous doors lined a wide, oak-beamed hallway. He walked to the last doorway and entered the chamber. Water-stained wainscoting and pieces of tin ceiling littered the floor. Furniture had been stacked willy-nilly in a corner, once prized oak and cherry pieces, now likewise stained by weather and neglect.

Shoved against the far wall was an enormous oak bed. Pierce walked through strewn feather ticking, then knelt beside a small bedside table. His fingertips tingled as he turned the table upside down. Immediately, he saw the book lodged in the drawer track. Feeling almost lightheaded, he pried it loose and slowly sank down against the wall.

The book’s leather cover was frayed and worn, held together by a gold mesh strap and clasp. Pierce undid the clasp and very carefully opened the journal.

He flipped the pages to the first handwritten entry, the tightness in his chest almost unbearable. "1878, April 2, I fear I shall never live to see land again . . .."

Sweat beaded on his forehead. The journal confirmed that six months lost in time had not been a wild dream. He had loved a woman back in time, 1894, and somehow he had to find her again.

Isabeau.