She had prepared herself for a long, lonely summer in a creepy old house by the bay. She had not prepared herself for discovering the letters of a sheltered Edwardian girl. She certainly never expected to meet her . . . Dragged from New York to Texas by her newly-divorced father, Scarlet Beldon braces for a lonely summer in a Victorian house that allows only the faintest of WiFi signals. A stack of letters dated 1910 introduces her to the house’s former occupant, Clara Castle, who lives with a strict and paranoid father. When a music box connects the girls’ worlds, their friendship turns into a mad scramble to unlock the secrets of Clara’s future and alter history itself.
I believe hope is the strongest thread that unites us from where we are in life to where our created potential can be. While fulfilling dreams and reaching goals requires additional traits, the starting point is always a spark of hope that you can actually do it. Hope gives people the courage to pick up a pen, move across the country, start a new career, or even survive captivity, war, and the everyday stresses of life. Creating that spark of hope is what I love to do.
My books cross genres and themes: like life, their stories weave threads of the best and worst of moments, triumphs, and traumas. My fiction is deeply character-driven, centered around the inner worlds of the characters as they face outer challenges, confront their own flaws, and make sense of their worlds. In my books, you will find the innocence of first love, the trauma of war and family abuse, the struggle to break free of molds and expectations, and the complexity of family relationships. Not every character will get a fairytale ending, but read on, Friend. I believe that every story, whether my fiction or your life, can emerge from the darkest of places end in hope.
Perhaps time is a conscious thing that goes out of its way to give us one memory that embodies all of the best of life.
In 1910, Clara Castle prepares for a long summer that mirrors every other dull day spent under her overbearing and overprotective father's thumb. Until her grandfather brings home a present - a real live boy torn between loyalty to his Irish roots and the promise of wealth if he consents to the adoption that will shift the Castle inheritance to him.
In 2012, man-hating Scarlet Beldon is forced to leave her big city life in New York and move to a po-dunk shrimping town when her dad decides he's done with his three-year relationship, leaving Scarlet's stepmother and stepsister behind. Her frustration turns to intrigue as the two worlds collide, and they find themselves on a mission to save Clara's future.
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I believe I have read every iteration of this book that has ever existed prior to publishing - and every time I have read it, I have been drawn in so totally that it felt like reading it for the first time. Not only is the plot twisty and riveting, but the characters have a depth that makes them feel like genuine friends (or worst enemies - looking at you, Edmund). I genuinely can't recommend this book with enough enthusiasm!
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...it is just as helpless as we are to halt the inevitable.