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Gate to Nowhere
Emma Franklin inherits a farm in the town of MacKinlay, once called "Nowhere" by the Cherokee. When she steps through a rusty iron gate on her new property, she is transported back 177 years to Nowhere. There she meets and falls in love with the town's eventual namesake, Gavin MacKinlay. She needs to save Gavin from certain death at the hand of his twin brother while solving the mystery of why the townspeople in 2004 hate anything connected to the MacKinlay name. Through her, history is changed, but not without heartache and danger. Although she returns to her life in 2004, she longs to be back with Gavin in 1827.
216 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2008
About the author
Leanna Sain
12 books15 followersAward-winner author Leanna Sain, lives on five acres of the most beautiful property in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, and Blue Heeler, Gus (aka Destructo-dog.)
Her very first novel won Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year in general fiction. Other awards include the NC Society of Historian’s Clark Cox Historical Fiction Award for her “Gate” trilogy, and nominations for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award and the Global Ebook Award. Her latest novel is a finalist in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Selah Award for Suspense and Mystery.
Before she started writing romantic suspense, Leanna got her BA from University of South Carolina. She’s a freelance artist, has homeschooled her kids all the way through high school, can milk a goat in less than three minutes, loves to garden, co-owns a high-end furniture store with her husband, and has traveled to Mexico, England, Germany, Russia (twice), and India. When she’s not writing, or working around her small farm, she’s cooking or sitting in an Adirondack chair by the fire pit with her husband counting stars above the mountains and listening to Eagles music.
If you want to know when Leanna’s next book will come out, or just want to keep in touch, visit her on the web.
Website and blog: http://leannasain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leanna.sain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Leannasbooks
Instagram: https://instagram.com/leannahewittsain
Her very first novel won Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year in general fiction. Other awards include the NC Society of Historian’s Clark Cox Historical Fiction Award for her “Gate” trilogy, and nominations for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award and the Global Ebook Award. Her latest novel is a finalist in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Selah Award for Suspense and Mystery.
Before she started writing romantic suspense, Leanna got her BA from University of South Carolina. She’s a freelance artist, has homeschooled her kids all the way through high school, can milk a goat in less than three minutes, loves to garden, co-owns a high-end furniture store with her husband, and has traveled to Mexico, England, Germany, Russia (twice), and India. When she’s not writing, or working around her small farm, she’s cooking or sitting in an Adirondack chair by the fire pit with her husband counting stars above the mountains and listening to Eagles music.
If you want to know when Leanna’s next book will come out, or just want to keep in touch, visit her on the web.
Website and blog: http://leannasain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leanna.sain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Leannasbooks
Instagram: https://instagram.com/leannahewittsain
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 26, 2018
Excellent book! A page-turner.
September 17, 2025
Even though the bad guy was very easy to figure out from the start it was a very well written and fun to read book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2011
GATE TO NOWHERE written by Leanna Sain
04/08 - Paladin Timeless Books - Paperback, 228 pages
Do the ghosts of the past really ever go away?
Emma Franklin has inherited her grandmother’s house and all the memories and heartache that go with it. She wants to start again and rebuild her life but is this town of Nowhere the right place. Getting set up was easy and clearing out the attic was an adventure from the past with old clothes and mementos of another time and place, one Emma almost thought she belonged in.
The one stumbling block to this new life is the obsession she has with a gate that won’t budge in her backyard. Emma find herself the gate open one sleepless night as she wanders her backyard and seems almost compelled to walk through it. After walking through she then finds herself meeting Gavin MacKinlay the owner of the property in the early 1800’s. The adventure after that is even more amazing than traveling back in time.
History books had not been kind to Gavin but everything that Emma sees, hears and discovers about him are a complete contradiction to what is written. The town seems to love him, the women want to marry him and his land is prospering. What or who happened that ruined all this good work?
Emma meets the woman who wants to marry Gavin despite his lack of interest and she begins to wonder if this woman could have turned everything positive to negative. Yet Emma senses some other force at work behind all these bad deeds and plans to rewrite history so that the real Gavin is revealed and his name restored. But when Emma tells Gavin where she came from will he believe her or just think she was hit on the head and not thinking correctly. Emma has to decide if this is the life she wants with Gavin or to live in the present alone and without him. Going back to the past has many disadvantages but the one draw is love and a future to be built with a man she loves.
This book could be considered in a number of categories but I like to think of it as historical romance. The characters are full of life and Ms. Sain brings them to life on each page. This is not as much about time travel as it is two people finding each other and solving a mystery while perhaps uncovering a mystery or two.
04/08 - Paladin Timeless Books - Paperback, 228 pages
Do the ghosts of the past really ever go away?
Emma Franklin has inherited her grandmother’s house and all the memories and heartache that go with it. She wants to start again and rebuild her life but is this town of Nowhere the right place. Getting set up was easy and clearing out the attic was an adventure from the past with old clothes and mementos of another time and place, one Emma almost thought she belonged in.
The one stumbling block to this new life is the obsession she has with a gate that won’t budge in her backyard. Emma find herself the gate open one sleepless night as she wanders her backyard and seems almost compelled to walk through it. After walking through she then finds herself meeting Gavin MacKinlay the owner of the property in the early 1800’s. The adventure after that is even more amazing than traveling back in time.
History books had not been kind to Gavin but everything that Emma sees, hears and discovers about him are a complete contradiction to what is written. The town seems to love him, the women want to marry him and his land is prospering. What or who happened that ruined all this good work?
Emma meets the woman who wants to marry Gavin despite his lack of interest and she begins to wonder if this woman could have turned everything positive to negative. Yet Emma senses some other force at work behind all these bad deeds and plans to rewrite history so that the real Gavin is revealed and his name restored. But when Emma tells Gavin where she came from will he believe her or just think she was hit on the head and not thinking correctly. Emma has to decide if this is the life she wants with Gavin or to live in the present alone and without him. Going back to the past has many disadvantages but the one draw is love and a future to be built with a man she loves.
This book could be considered in a number of categories but I like to think of it as historical romance. The characters are full of life and Ms. Sain brings them to life on each page. This is not as much about time travel as it is two people finding each other and solving a mystery while perhaps uncovering a mystery or two.
April 4, 2011
Gate to Nowhere by Leanna Sain is a wonderful tale of possibilities. A novel that makes the impossible seem possible.
Leanna Sain masterfully entwines the present with the past and I found the wonderful descriptions of old and new soothing and exciting at the same time.
Her story of Emma with her pain in the now and her renewal in the past is a gratifying tale that I know others will enjoy from a very good author.
This is a story is rooted in the mountains of North Carolina and it shows the beauty and danger that abides there. A young woman that lives her life in pain and apathy discovers truth and lies in the history of her family.
She is able to go back to the time where her knowledge may change the history of her family and that of an entire town. I consider this a must read for anyone who enjoys the story of life and struggles and it is presented in a way that keeps you captured until the end.
Leanna’s tale will hold you, surprise you and make you think of a life that might have been; with a surprising ending. She is an author I will read and follow as her career grows.
Leanna Sain masterfully entwines the present with the past and I found the wonderful descriptions of old and new soothing and exciting at the same time.
Her story of Emma with her pain in the now and her renewal in the past is a gratifying tale that I know others will enjoy from a very good author.
This is a story is rooted in the mountains of North Carolina and it shows the beauty and danger that abides there. A young woman that lives her life in pain and apathy discovers truth and lies in the history of her family.
She is able to go back to the time where her knowledge may change the history of her family and that of an entire town. I consider this a must read for anyone who enjoys the story of life and struggles and it is presented in a way that keeps you captured until the end.
Leanna’s tale will hold you, surprise you and make you think of a life that might have been; with a surprising ending. She is an author I will read and follow as her career grows.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews