A Tryst in Time
A
Tryst in Time by Eugenia Riley is part of the Timeswept series and is one
of the books that is hard to find but well worth the effort and the wait.
Sarah Jennings an artist who is recovering from a complete breakdown following the death of her brother in the Vietnam War. When Sarah learns of an inheritance from a distant relative whom she has never met she decides to escape from her familiar surroundings and seek refuge in Belle Fontaine.
Belle Fontaine in Louisiana is a Civil War plantation house, rumoured to be haunted and feared by the locals. But unlike the local residents Sarah does not fear the house and even after seeing and hearing the "ghosts" she is still drawn to the mansion.
Isolated and alone with her memories and guilt she starts to paint for the first time since her brother's death. The subject of her painting is Belle Fontaine and she finishes this piece quickly. But when she studies the painting later she discovers that she has, without realising, painted a man into the picture. A man she has seen at the house and she is convinced is one of the ghosts.
But the completion of the painting does not stop Sarah from returning to the house and she continues to go there to meditate.
Sitting against the wall of the house deep in meditation Sarah is not prepared to find herself waking up in the year 1871.
When she is mistaken for an artist who is arriving to repair some paintings Sarah takes the opportunity to slip into the role until she can discover a way back to her own time.
Hired by Damien, the ghost of her painting, she sets to work on repairing the paintings made by his brother Vincy before his death in the Civil War.
It is not long before she finds herself falling in love with Damien, who finds in her a kindred spirit. Both have lost brothers to war, and both are tormented by the guilt feel over their deaths.
But Sarah finds that she cannot live a normal life in the past with Damien. For the house which drew her to him also imprisons her, she cannot leave the confines of the house to see the rest of the world as it was in 1871.
Both Sarah and Damien want her to remain at Belle Fontaine, but as her work on Vincy's paintings nears completion the sands of time start to run out and they must both over come their pasts in order to build a future together.
There are some wonderful twists and mysteries in this touching story and I certainly recommend hunting for a copy.
RATING : 
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Also by Eugenia Riley: Tempest in Time, Waltz in Time, Phantom in Time, Embers of Time, Wanted Across Time, Timeswept Bride and Bushwhacked Bride
Read an interview with Eugenia Riley
Links to Online Stores
Eugenia Riley's website.