A Time for Everything
Author: Mysti Parker
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: EsKape Press
Book Description:
After losing her husband and only child to the ravages of the Civil War, twenty-five-year-old Portia McAllister is drowning in grief. When she sees an ad for a live-in tutor in another town, she leaves everything behind in hopes of making a fresh start. But as a Confederate widow in a Union household, she is met with resentment from her new charge and her employer, war veteran Beau Stanford.
Despite their differences, she and Beau find common ground and the stirrings of a second chance at love—until his late wife’s cousin, Lydia, arrives with her sights set on him. Burdened with a farm on the brink of bankruptcy, Beau is tempted by Lydia’s hefty dowry, though Portia has captured his heart.
In another time and another place, his choice would be easy. But love seems impossible amid the simmering chaos of Reconstruction that could boil over at any moment into an all-out battle for survival. Will Beau and Portia find their way into each other’s arms, or will they be swept away by raging forces beyond their control?
Excerpt
Brentwood, Tennessee — December 25, 1865
The angels are coming.
Portia lay on the frozen ground between her husband and daughter. Snow fluttered softly toward the earth in delicate flakes, each one melting on her face with a pleasant sting. She wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
The sunrise, hidden by snow-laden clouds, gradually lit the gray sky. With numb fingers, she traced her husband’s name, carved into the stoic slate. Jake McAllister, but let her hand drop to the ground before she touched that wretched date. December 16, 1864 — the day her whole world began to fall apart.
It had been a day as cold as this one when Jake returned. Portia had stood on their porch, holding Abigail, both of them wrapped in shawls and a quilt. Yet the cold had managed to seep inside, wrapping icy fingers around her heart. Her husband lay lifeless in the back of a wagon. His once-rosy face had turned ashen. Blood caked his Confederate jacket. His hands, large and strong, yet once so gentle, were posed across his belly. His fingers were stiff and claw-like, wrapped around a phantom gun. He did not look like Jake. It had to have been a mannequin with a wig the same dusty red shade of his hair.
“That’s not him,” she’d repeated to the men who’d so methodically carried him into the house. Jake would pop out from somewhere, still the jokester he had always been, and she would slap him for playing such a cruel prank. Then she would laugh with him and hold him tight because he had finally returned to her and Abby.
But the longer her eyes absorbed the wretched sight, the more evidence she had discovered. Little freckles and scars she knew so well. The pea-sized patch on his jaw where his beard never grew. The missing end of his middle finger, taken by a vicious dog when they were children.
It wasn’t a joke. Jake was dead.
About the Author
Mysti Parker is a wife, mom, author, and shameless chocoholic. She is the author of the Tallenmere standalone fantasy romance series and The Roche Hotel romantic comedy series. Her short writings have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her award-winning historical romance, A Time for Everything, will be published this summer by EsKape Press.
Despite their differences, she and Beau find common ground and the stirrings of a second chance at love—until his late wife’s cousin, Lydia, arrives with her sights set on him. Burdened with a farm on the brink of bankruptcy, Beau is tempted by Lydia’s hefty dowry, though Portia has captured his heart.
In another time and another place, his choice would be easy. But love seems impossible amid the simmering chaos of Reconstruction that could boil over at any moment into an all-out battle for survival. Will Beau and Portia find their way into each other’s arms, or will they be swept away by raging forces beyond their control?
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Excerpt
Brentwood, Tennessee — December 25, 1865
The angels are coming.
Portia lay on the frozen ground between her husband and daughter. Snow fluttered softly toward the earth in delicate flakes, each one melting on her face with a pleasant sting. She wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
The sunrise, hidden by snow-laden clouds, gradually lit the gray sky. With numb fingers, she traced her husband’s name, carved into the stoic slate. Jake McAllister, but let her hand drop to the ground before she touched that wretched date. December 16, 1864 — the day her whole world began to fall apart.
It had been a day as cold as this one when Jake returned. Portia had stood on their porch, holding Abigail, both of them wrapped in shawls and a quilt. Yet the cold had managed to seep inside, wrapping icy fingers around her heart. Her husband lay lifeless in the back of a wagon. His once-rosy face had turned ashen. Blood caked his Confederate jacket. His hands, large and strong, yet once so gentle, were posed across his belly. His fingers were stiff and claw-like, wrapped around a phantom gun. He did not look like Jake. It had to have been a mannequin with a wig the same dusty red shade of his hair.
“That’s not him,” she’d repeated to the men who’d so methodically carried him into the house. Jake would pop out from somewhere, still the jokester he had always been, and she would slap him for playing such a cruel prank. Then she would laugh with him and hold him tight because he had finally returned to her and Abby.
But the longer her eyes absorbed the wretched sight, the more evidence she had discovered. Little freckles and scars she knew so well. The pea-sized patch on his jaw where his beard never grew. The missing end of his middle finger, taken by a vicious dog when they were children.
It wasn’t a joke. Jake was dead.
Mysti Parker is a wife, mom, author, and shameless chocoholic. She is the author of the Tallenmere standalone fantasy romance series and The Roche Hotel romantic comedy series. Her short writings have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her award-winning historical romance, A Time for Everything, will be published this summer by EsKape Press.
Other writing pursuits include serving as a class mentor in Writers Village University's seven week online course, F2K. She has published two children's books (Quentin's Problem & Fuzzy Buzzy's Treasure) as Misty Baker.
When she's not writing fiction,Mysti reviews books for SQ Magazine, an online specfic publication. She resides in Buckner, KY with her husband and three children.
Author Links:
***GIVEAWAY***
$10 Amazon / B&N Gift Card.
Book Blast Organised by:
What are you working on now? What is your next project?
ReplyDeleteWould you believe that I'm not actually writing anything at the moment? Working, yet, writing no :) I just finished the 4th book in my standalone Tallenmere fantasy romance series. It will be out in late Oct/early November. It's promising to be one dark, twisted, hot story starring a super-sexy tyger shifter named Lysander and his mind-bending love, Mirabelle, who's returned 10 years after she left him at the altar...
DeleteSoon as my little vacation's over, I'll be outlining my next historical romance (this one will be set in KY), and another contemporary novella with my co-author MJ Post. I'll also have to write Season Three of my romantic comedy series, The Roche Hotel.
So, little break now, and jumping into lots more work very soon! Thanks for stopping in!
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHi!! Thanks so much to Alecia for hosting this stop on my blog tour.
ReplyDeleteReaders, since I write many subgenres of romance, I'd love to know: What is your favorite romance subgenre, and why? Also, what "heat" ratings in terms of sexual content, violence, & profanity do you prefer to read? I'm kind of an all over the place reader myself. I just love a good story.
We are actually on vacation (yeah, right LOL) this week, so I'll stop in again tonight. Cya! ~Mysti
I'm really in to dystopian/apocalyptic romance, with high Heat ratings of sex and violence.
DeleteHi Julia! Thanks for stopping in. For some reason, all I can think of in those genres are the YA ones like Hunger Games and Divergent. What are some more adult ones you'd recommend?
Deletethis looks a great read to snuggle up with!
ReplyDeleteHi Patanne, thanks for stopping in, and I hope you'll snuggle up with this one soon :) I must warn you that a few readers have forgone sleep and fixing dinner to finish this one. I think my evil plan is working. Bwahahahaha!
DeleteOhh, that excerpt!!! I want to know more!!!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt. The cover is lovely!
ReplyDeleteAhh, what an emotional excerpt. I like when characters are given fresh starts. I often wonder what I would do differently if I could hit the restart button!
ReplyDeleteJulia, Rita, and Patricia-thanks for reading and commenting! Portia definitely needs a fresh start, especially after what happens next in this scene... :)
DeleteAhh, what an emotional excerpt. I like when characters are given fresh starts. I often wonder what I would do differently if I could hit the restart button!
ReplyDeleteAhh, what an emotional excerpt. I like when characters are given fresh starts. I often wonder what I would do differently if I could hit the restart button!
ReplyDeleteI'm not fond of lots of profanity, am fine with heat as long as there is a story to go with it, and science fiction romance and romantic suspense are my favorite sub-genres but I am fond of most of the others as well! Thanks for the giveaway and good luck on the tour!
ReplyDeleteHi E.L.F. -thanks for stopping in! One of my favorite authors as a young girl was Victoria Holt, who wrote romantic suspense that kept me busy all summer and on my school bus. I was that girl with her head down, reading a book whatever chance she got.
DeleteA beautiful cover and a moving excerpt. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU for stopping in!
DeleteI love Historical the best.
ReplyDelete