I love alternate history novels, don't you?
I'm adding to my To Be Read list
Sandy Bruney's paranormal fantasy romance, A Question of Boundaries
By 1895, the United States is in
the 80th year of the isolation imposed by King Thomas I and upheld
by his successors. But, some are chafing under the shortages and restrictions,
and when inventor Dr. Featherstone declares he has found a way to override all
borders, there are those who applaud the discovery and those who fear it.
When Dr. Featherstone fails to
return home for an important scientific gathering, his daughter Caroline
enlists the help of the Member of Parliament from Charlotte, Nathan Llewellen.
As the two search for the kidnappers, Caroline is plunged into a world where
travel to other realities is possible in the blink of an eye, and people can
assume the forms.
Excerpt
Not wasting
time in thought, Caroline gathered her skirts in her fists and ran. There was
an alley not five feet from her and she slipped between the two buildings and
scurried down it, ignoring the filth underfoot. She heard angry cries behind
her and ducked into a side alley between two of the buildings. These, she could
see now, were in a state of disrepair that suggested they had been abandoned
years ago. Windows were broken and left gaping, doors hung aslant from their
hinges. She paused a moment to catch her breath before continuing down the
smaller alley, in reality a path not wide enough for two people to pass each other. The dank smell made her gag
and she covered her nose with one hand, the other still holding her hem out of
the mud. She held back a scream as a rat ran over her shoe and into a hole in
the crumbling brickwork.
The pathway
ended without warning and she was in a side street. There were no street lights
and the shadows cast by the buildings shifted and eddied as though the bricks
and stones were alive. There were no people, either, for this was a section of
the city not many visited unless they were hiding from someone or something.
She wondered if she was meant to be a prisoner in one of the derelict
buildings. No one would think to look for her there.
Hearing voices
again, she knew she had not escaped. She cast a frantic glance around her and
saw an opening: another alley. Not quite sanctuary, but close enough. She ran
as fast as her shaking legs would carry her, coming to a halt by an iron gate.
She attempted to open it, but the rough metal gouged her fingers, drawing blood.
Whirling, she looked back. It would be a matter of seconds before her pursuers
guessed where she had gone. She was trapped unless the alley was so dark they could
not see her and would go on by.
A hand closed
around her mouth as someone grasped her arm. “Hush. Be still.”
For a moment
her mind reeled in denial. How had they come up behind her so quickly? Then she
caught a tantalizing, familiar scent: a faint masculine odor mixed with the
clean smell of pine-scented soap.
Nathan.
Seeing she
recognized him, Nathan removed his hand. He didn’t have to tell her to be
quiet. The light at the end of the alleyway was blocked by the silhouettes of
two men.
She raised her
brows in inquiry. Had they been seen? Her unspoken question was answered as the
men began to walk forward.
“Got to be in
here. Nowhere else she could go,” she heard in the broad accent of the man who
had first tried to kidnap her in the lobby of the Capitol building. She held up
four fingers to tell Nathan how many were searching for them.
Leaning his
head down so his lips touched her ear, he whispered, “Caroline, do you trust
me?”
She nodded, not
daring answer aloud. Their pursuers were halfway to them and would spot them in
seconds.
Nathan took her
hand in his. “Hold tight,” he said.
And then
everything disappeared.
Buy Links:
A Question of Boundaries will be followed by A Question of Loyalty in 2015, also from Astrea Press. Find out more about her books at Amazon’s Author Page.
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