Allure of the Crystal Palace will be available in November.
My books are also available at Barnes and Noble. Or scroll down for Amazon.
My heroine, Keely Harper, is trapped back in time, a harrowing experience. A modern woman in mid-Victorian London.
How would you react to such a change?
She is taken in by the kind Lady Sanderlund, but one night, she has a troubling dream. October is the time for spookiness:
Gasping for air, Keely ran through a shadowy alley that twisted and turned and seemed to have no end. Why was she here? She looked down, and she was dressed in her tight skirt again. Had she returned home? It felt too fuzzy to be really back in her modern world. She continued to scramble through the narrow, dark passage, the walls slimy to the touch. She appeared to be going around in circles.
Amanda emerged, holding the hands of her children, Ella and Hughie. “We miss you but understand your need for change.” Her sister gave her a sad smile. Then she moved away around a corner.
“Take me with you!” Keely rushed around after them, but no one was there; her heart sank.
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A man loomed out of the shadows. He wore the frock coat and stovepipe hat of a Victorian. “Why are you here all alone?” he asked.
She backed up several steps. “I’m lost. Can you help me? I want to go home.”
“Oh, I’ll assist you, my dear.” He moved closer. At first, he looked like her ex-husband, Mark. Then he changed into someone grotesque, his face skull-like. “You’re a fine-looking whore.”
She tried to turn around to flee, yet couldn’t. “Don’t come any closer. Why can’t you help me?”
“There’s no help for it. You require a different life.” His gnarled hands reached out for her. His grin was predatory, his teeth rotten.
She raised her knee and struck him in the groin. She did it again, harder, her body shaking, a scream rising in her throat. It felt like striking a pillow. The man laughed as if her efforts meant nothing.
Baron Lambourne came from somewhere, broad-shouldered and handsome. “Be gone; you have no right to cause undue strife!”
Did he speak to the grotesque man or to her? She reached out to—
Keely woke suddenly, sat up in bed and clutched the blanket. She wheezed in her breath. A dream. A bizarre dream. Her subconscious was letting out her fears. Her own sister telling her she understood? Did this mean she was really exiled to the past and might never see her again?
She backed up several steps. “I’m lost. Can you help me? I want to go home.”
“Oh, I’ll assist you, my dear.” He moved closer. At first, he looked like her ex-husband, Mark. Then he changed into someone grotesque, his face skull-like. “You’re a fine-looking whore.”
She tried to turn around to flee, yet couldn’t. “Don’t come any closer. Why can’t you help me?”
“There’s no help for it. You require a different life.” His gnarled hands reached out for her. His grin was predatory, his teeth rotten.
She raised her knee and struck him in the groin. She did it again, harder, her body shaking, a scream rising in her throat. It felt like striking a pillow. The man laughed as if her efforts meant nothing.
Baron Lambourne came from somewhere, broad-shouldered and handsome. “Be gone; you have no right to cause undue strife!”
Did he speak to the grotesque man or to her? She reached out to—
Keely woke suddenly, sat up in bed and clutched the blanket. She wheezed in her breath. A dream. A bizarre dream. Her subconscious was letting out her fears. Her own sister telling her she understood? Did this mean she was really exiled to the past and might never see her again?
Will Keely ever get home or must she make a life in 1851? No more cell phones, cars, or seeing her family. Will she find love with Baron Lambourne, who has obstacles of his own?
Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with one naughty dachshund.
