Title: ECHOES OF LOVE
Author: N. Christine Samuelson
Genre: Contemporary Romance with a supernatural theme
Book Blurb:
What if the mysteries of your life began before you were born, and reach into your future? With echoes reverberating from lifetimes ago controlling their present lives and directing their futures, Carson and Cody are haunted by their pasts. What makes their lives worth living? How do they move forward after losses so devastating they believe they'll never love again? Carson, an artist from Santa Fe moves to Montana to begin a new life. But an unexpected encounter brings her into conflict with Cody, an architect and ranch manager from Wyoming. The immediate power and beauty of their connection is as spectacular as the landscapes they walk through, but just as fated, unpredictable and complex. Their seemingly unresolvable conflicts span geography and time, from the tangible beauty of the American West through an elusive journey echoing over hundreds of years and two continents. Even with best intentions, nothing is guaranteed except one thing, and only they can discover it.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
In the dead of winter, the earth and sky blended into one white, desolate scene, yet Carson saw a purity in it, a raw beauty. She thought the place wore death well even though she’d gone there in search of life; the life she was meant to live.
Each footstep she took onto the rickety wooden dock made it creak like old bones. Beyond the frozen lake, a towering mountain range clawed at the sky as if trying to escape. Neither had any chance of fleeing—the mountains stuck to the land, and Carson to the consequences of her choices.
Time seemed suspended there, the space so quiet Carson almost heard echoes, muted and far-off, like grieving voices of the past seeking a future. Breathing deep, she hoped to absorb the air’s ancient wisdom of the cycles of life, death and rebirth to start her life anew, just as this land would be reborn in spring. She shouted questions into the crackling silence but heard only the echoes of her own voice as it might’ve sounded lifetimes ago. They hinted of past mistakes, errors in judgment, weaknesses and misunderstandings, loss and regrets. They held her spirit in a death-grip so unrelenting that she knew in this place she could slip from the world as if she’d never existed at all.
The sensation of fading from life jolted Carson out of waking. Shocked and wondering what the lucid dream or fear or break in her psyche meant, she had an alarming thought: The experience could’ve been a warning. Or worse, it might be a foretelling of my future. The eerie thing was she had an appointment later that day—a meeting not of her choosing—with someone who might literally see into her future.
****
Love relationships had always been the biggest thorn in Cody’s side, a barb in his life. Every time he rubbed against love, the thorn festered, riling him and upsetting his world. His first inclination had always been to remove the thorn, but that was too painful because he’d have to recall the reasons it got there to begin with, then resolve them. Easier to leave it in, even though it was a constant reminder of how love had ravaged his life. The solution was simple—he’d never rub up on love again.
But in his sleep one night, Cody’s heart moved in a way he didn’t recognize. He dreamed of a woman he’d never met. Inside a mist, he stood across from her but couldn’t see her face, yet he loved her like he’d known her forever. He reached out for her, but she vanished. Moving closer and reaching again, she disappeared. He wanted desperately to bring her into his arms, yet with every attempt she’d slip right through his hands, evaporating at his touch.
Frustration led to anger, and he wondered what kind of cruel Fate or God would give him a woman to love, would remove that thorn in his side to make him capable of love again, only to take her from his grasp. In the silence before waking, he heard: ‘No one took her, and she’s not beyond your grasp. You let her go.’ Waking now, he challenged the message and spoke into the stormy morning. “How can I let go of something I don’t have? I loved her but when I reached for her, she slipped from the world as if she never existed at all.”
Cody asked whatever the source of this dream, “Why torture me with a retelling of the same old story?” He got out from under the warm covers, walked to the door and opened it to watch the sunrise. A blast of cold, biting air hit him and cleansed his mind of all thoughts except one: What if the dream wasn’t a retelling? What if it was a foretelling? Nothing much in his work scared him, but nothing scared him more than that thought.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPJ68K6
Apple Books (itunes): https://books.apple.com/us/book/echoes-of-love/id1443546855
Barnes/Noble (Nook): www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1129748289
Books-A-Million (Print only): https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Echoes-Love/N-Christine-Samuelson/9781543950649?id=7489532086395
If you could dress up as anything or anyone this Halloween, what or who would it be and why?
I would dress, respectfully, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg – in honor and remembrance of her unequaled brilliance, courage, strength, character, accomplishments; and in thanks for her contributions to women, society and to all humankind with her work and integrity.
Explain why your featured book is a treat to read:
This story sweeps through a hundred years’ and other times of living which illuminate bonds of love and loss so strong they still echo into the lives of the two main characters in present day.
A man and woman are fatefully, intensely attracted to each other for reasons they can’t explain. They move through a complex love/hate/fear relationship loaded with mysterious events, emotions, secrets and a murder from the past thwarting their ability to forgive themselves, love and move forward in life.
Their life journey is helped by mystical events, spirits crossed over, a locally famous psychic/tarot reader, spiritual events and learning, and salt-of-the-earth, no-nonsense friends and family.
This book will keep you turning the pages wondering what’s really going on with them, and how they’ll ever get over the seemingly unsurmountable challenges they face.
Exquisite settings through the seasons near lakes and mountains in western Wyoming and Montana add to the drama and power of the story.
Praise for Echoes of Love:
“Absolutely AMAZING! I don’t think I have ever got so worked up about a book before.”- Booksprout review
“Another Amazing Book. Once again, this author has written a stunningly vivid and captivating book, stories intertwined with past, present and future. I love her use of dialogue and descriptors.” – Amazon review
“…an amazing book! The chemistry between the characters is off the hook! The storyline is amazing! I love it, I just love it!” – Amazon review
“A book that touches on … unfinished business, incomplete love and unfulfilled vows. Beautifully written and delivered; the imagery is very vivid.” – Amazon international reviewer
Giveaway:
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Open internationally
Runs October 1 – 31
Drawing will be held on November 1.
Author Biography:
Christine Samuelson has been a lifelong writer in various professional and personal capacities, but now she writes the kinds of stories she loves—about life and love’s challenges, tragedies and victories. Her themes deal with the bonds of love that transform lives and transcend time. Her characters and plotlines are grounded in reality but have a touch of mysticism and mystery. Writing is the way she shares the tragic, the magic, the joys and triumphs of everyday life.
Christine lives in coastal South Carolina where the people, land and sea are constant sources of inspiration. She hopes readers of her books will be inspired to look at life and love through a different lens, and realize that no matter your circumstances, we all share similar stories in our lives and our hearts.
Social Media Links:
Website: www.NChristineSamuelson.com
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/nchristinesamuelsonauthor/
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/N.-Christine-Samuelson/e/B07B8VT9BB
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ncsamuelson
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nchristine7711/