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The Year That Wasn't Hers
A red door. A ruined castle. A past that wants to keep her.
Academic librarian Cecily Bishop came to Wales for a quiet a historic library, a few weeks of research, and enough distance to recover from the life she left behind.
Then she opens a door in a ruined castle and steps into 1938.
The world she finds is dazzling, dangerous, and already sliding toward war. Aristocrats raise glasses while fascism spreads through drawing rooms and dinner tables. Men with money and influence whisper about power, loyalty, and the future they intend to build. Ceci knows where this road leads.
She also knows no one will believe her.
The real danger begins with Duncan Carlton and Archie Booker.
Duncan is controlled, powerful, and impossible to read, a man trained to bury every dangerous feeling beneath duty and restraint. Archie is all charm, wit, and old wounds, beautiful enough to break hearts and reckless enough to risk his own. The two men are already bound by history, loyalty, and a desire neither of them has dared to name.
Ceci should be a stranger in their world.
Instead, she becomes the woman who sees the danger coming, and the woman they both want too much to let go.
But someone else knows about the door. Someone else is changing the past. And as the future twists into something darker than the history Ceci remembers, every choice becomes a risk: the country she might save, the men she might lose, and the life she may never be able to return to.
Because 1938 was never hers.
Until love made leaving impossible.
The Year That Wasn’t Hers is a time travel romance of dangerous secrets, political betrayal, forbidden desire, and MMF love set against the glittering menace of prewar Great Britain. Perfect for readers who want historical intrigue, fast-burning emotional intensity, charged MM tension, and a romance where the stakes are nothing less than history itself.
Academic librarian Cecily Bishop came to Wales for a quiet a historic library, a few weeks of research, and enough distance to recover from the life she left behind.
Then she opens a door in a ruined castle and steps into 1938.
The world she finds is dazzling, dangerous, and already sliding toward war. Aristocrats raise glasses while fascism spreads through drawing rooms and dinner tables. Men with money and influence whisper about power, loyalty, and the future they intend to build. Ceci knows where this road leads.
She also knows no one will believe her.
The real danger begins with Duncan Carlton and Archie Booker.
Duncan is controlled, powerful, and impossible to read, a man trained to bury every dangerous feeling beneath duty and restraint. Archie is all charm, wit, and old wounds, beautiful enough to break hearts and reckless enough to risk his own. The two men are already bound by history, loyalty, and a desire neither of them has dared to name.
Ceci should be a stranger in their world.
Instead, she becomes the woman who sees the danger coming, and the woman they both want too much to let go.
But someone else knows about the door. Someone else is changing the past. And as the future twists into something darker than the history Ceci remembers, every choice becomes a risk: the country she might save, the men she might lose, and the life she may never be able to return to.
Because 1938 was never hers.
Until love made leaving impossible.
The Year That Wasn’t Hers is a time travel romance of dangerous secrets, political betrayal, forbidden desire, and MMF love set against the glittering menace of prewar Great Britain. Perfect for readers who want historical intrigue, fast-burning emotional intensity, charged MM tension, and a romance where the stakes are nothing less than history itself.
- GenresTime Travel
Paperback
Published June 17, 2026
About the author
Sara Sweeney
1 book6 followersSara Sweeney writes time-travel romance with ruined castles, complicated love stories, historical secrets, and just enough danger to make everyone’s choices worse. An academic librarian by day, she has a soft spot for old buildings, strange archives, Gothic atmosphere, and women who accidentally walk through the wrong door. She lives on a farm in rural Oklahoma.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 27, 2026
Time travel romance
Smart, and funny, and complicated, and sentimental with an ending I didn’t dare hope for. This is one hell of a debut novel.
Smart, and funny, and complicated, and sentimental with an ending I didn’t dare hope for. This is one hell of a debut novel.
August 31, 2026
So conflicted!
The longing and angst and characters were fantastic, spice pay off too.
The writing was lovely. The feelings were superb.
The plot though I ended up skipping loads of - not because I wasn't interested in the premise, like hello who wouldn't be it's an unusual one - but because the characters didn't actually do anything. They just talked and watched and talked and listened and observed until the villain came to the point.
I'd reccomend, but pick up for the relationships not because you're expecting much from the fighting fascism storyline - they mainly just talk about it.
But hello, for a debut book, it's super impressive. Looking forward to seeing what else the author produces I would definitely read.
The longing and angst and characters were fantastic, spice pay off too.
The writing was lovely. The feelings were superb.
The plot though I ended up skipping loads of - not because I wasn't interested in the premise, like hello who wouldn't be it's an unusual one - but because the characters didn't actually do anything. They just talked and watched and talked and listened and observed until the villain came to the point.
I'd reccomend, but pick up for the relationships not because you're expecting much from the fighting fascism storyline - they mainly just talk about it.
But hello, for a debut book, it's super impressive. Looking forward to seeing what else the author produces I would definitely read.
September 3, 2026
Wow! What a story. Not the usual time travel type stories that I've previously read where the woman travels back to the late 19th century and falls in love with a handsome rich man and lives happily ever after. Ceci travels back to 1938. Political unrest. War looming. Her claim of being from the future is easily believed, which is a bit strange. There are two men and she can't choose. The men also love each other but mostly pretend their love doesn't exist. The dialogue between the characters can be vague and not straightforward, but they understand what they are saying. The house is also an intricatical part of the story. The ending is a bit of a tear jerker.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2026
A marvelous debut, full of romance, history, fantasy, mystery.
July 30, 2026
The characters are full of life. The story kept my attention and I want to know how I can get myself a Duncan and Archie.
September 18, 2026
AI wrote this.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews