Sky Watcher Series - Book Tour and Giveaway

​ I had been there, waiting, between the shadows, every Samhain for the past eight years--she hadn’t come.

Empty Shadows
Sky Watcher Series Book 4
by Heather Lynn
Genre: Historical Fantasy Time Travel Romance
 

Every year, Charlotte faithfully performs her Samhain ritual, anxiously awaiting her visit with Jessica. But Jessica has not appeared for the past eight years. What could possibly have happened to prevent her from being there?
 
As a stormy night sets in, Charlotte’s friends arrive entangled in a web of theft and murder. When an old adversary resurfaces with plans of their own, the situation becomes more complicated, and secrets begin to unravel.
 
In the aftermath, Charlotte and Ben establish the “Doctor’s House”, offering comfort to the ailing. An obscure summons leads them to a stranger being held in the gaol—his presence in the schoolhouse a mystery, the turpentine and striker in his possession leading to more questions. Who is this man? What secrets does he hold? And what does he seek from Charlotte?


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​I lay my head on my pillow, and I think of her . . .
I can see November’s full moon and watch absentmindedly as the clouds slowly blow across, dulling its glow. The last time I “met” with Jessica was just before Holly was born.
Every year since, I have set up my altar and decorated it with the colours of the season—with pumpkins, apples, or a cob of corn. Each year, I have performed my Samhain ritual with great care, hoping that this time, we’d be together, that this time, that special window would open, and she would be there. But no . . .
I do see her in my sleep sometimes but always in the unreality of a dream. We haven’t had the opportunity to commune, to experience a connection of souls, as we have in the past.
I miss her so much . . .
Something isn’t right, but I have no idea what and no way to find out. Well, that’s not true; I could return to her time, which would be 2028, and see what happened, but I promised Ben I would never attempt time travel again. It’s too dangerous. Nothing is guaranteed, and if I’m honest, I, no we, were both lucky to have made it back the last time. No, I belong here in 1834, and here is where I will stay . . . with my family.
My sleepy thoughts turned to plans for tomorrow--Holly’s birthday. We didn’t do birthday parties, but we did celebrate. Our family and best friends will visit tomorrow afternoon for a meal of Holly’s choice and cake. Holly chose hamburgers with all the fixins—she would eat them every day if she could. I prepared everything today. By now, we had burger-making down to an art, but the birthday cake--it was a bit lopsided.
It had been a tiring day; I didn’t last long after tucking the children into their beds. Robbie, now fifteen years old, still liked a hug and kiss goodnight from his mum and dad, while Sabel was quite adamant that it wasn’t necessary, but she never turned us away. Phillip had reached the ripe old age of twelve and always asked for a kiss on the other cheek; for Jessie. He still spoke of her every single day, unwilling to let her memory fade. The attachment they’d had for one another was something he still felt strongly. Often, he would tell us of dreams he’d had—dreams of her beckoning him to come closer, to share her secrets.
I fell into a strange dream, and Jessica was in it; she was bent forward, walking toward me through some kind of dark tunnel. It reminded me of something you might find at an amusement park, where the tunnel wall was lit with little lights and slowly spinning clockwise, while you tried to walk through to the other side. She was calling my name. “Charlotte, are you there? Can you hear me, Char?” I was waving at her, trying to call out, to let her know I could hear her, but no sound was coming from my mouth. She stopped walking and looked around. “Whoa, it just got cold here,” she said under her breath.
I felt it, too. At the same time, I could almost feel a presence in the cold, thick air, but nothing was visible in the dim light. Jessie’s voice was calling, “Mummy?”
Something brushed past me. I gasped.
Then there was another voice. It was coming from a bedroom down the hall, and it was loud enough to enter my dream. “Jessie! Jessie, be careful!” It was Phillip. I watched Jessica turn toward his voice. “Come in! Come in!” he said, and she smiled.
Rolling onto my back, I awoke feeling goosebumps crawling over my body. Phillip’s voice sounded eerie. Startled by a loud crashing sound directly overhead, Hazel sprung straight up from where she was sleeping on the bed. The house shook for several seconds; at the same time, a bright flash of light filled the upper level.
“I heard it,” Ben said, sitting up.
The bedroom door creaked open. “What was that, Daddy?” Sabel asked, standing in the doorway. “It was really loud.”
“Was it an earthquake?” my sleepy voice asked.
Phillip came to stand beside Sabel with tears running down his cheeks. “I saw Jessie. She was coming to see me and then . . . there was a loud noise and a flash, and she was gone,” he said, wiping his eyes. “She’s gone,” he added in a whisper.
​

Between the Shadows
Sky Watcher Series Book 3 

She didn’t see this coming . . .

After glimpsing Jessica’s grief-stricken face reflected in the window, Charlotte Williams—along with her husband, Ben—is pulled back to the future she left behind to help her friend. What Charlotte and Jessica share connects them irreversibly, their lives now intertwined forever. Confident their bond can transcend time, Charlotte returns “home” to her life in the past.

Following a risky time jump, Charlotte and Ben are reunited with their friends and family in 1819 and she resumes her mission to pass on a dear departed friend’s heirloom ring. As they begin to grow their own family, they face a series of challenges, including a surprising opportunity for Ben. The ensuing adventure leads to an inevitable encounter that tests their marriage absolutely.

The love between Charlotte and her friends spans time and space, helping her to define family and what home is. And yet, illusion and betrayal threaten to obscure her reality. Will she come through this with her family intact? How will Charlotte move forward?


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​ Prologue

What did that bitch do to us? After all we’ve been through, how has it come to this?

I tipped my forehead onto the cold pane of glass, and squeezed my eyes shut tight, feeling a single tear roll down my cheek. I stubbornly wiped it off with the back of my hand, refusing to give it any power. Instead, I opened the window a couple of inches and listened to the sounds of the waves, smashing angrily, relentlessly onto the rocky crag below.
The sounds, though untamed and fierce, relaxed my mind; they allowed me to find the calm and the strength within myself that I was going to need. I watched a tuft of lovage that was growing in the cracks of the rocky cliff, blowing in the wind coming off of the North Sea.
A large, dark purply-grey cloud mass above the water seemed to be headed our way. I could see the blur of rain in the weather front as it made its way toward land. The storm would be here soon.
The door creaked behind me. “We’re back! Look what we brought for you.” I couldn’t help but smile at the little voice that was so close to my heart.
I bent to take the two bunches of wild flowers into my hands. “Oh, aren’t they lovely? You must have walked for miles to find just the right ones!” I smiled. “Thank you! What if you go see if Ronny knows where there might be a vase we could put them in? I’ll join you soon.”
They left the door open behind themselves and I could hear their muted voices bubbling through the hall—sounds that tugged at my heart. The unconditional love of a child is something that can’t be outdone. It can cheer you, even when you are in a deep dark place all alone. Without knowing it, they have the power to help you see the light, to make you see the good, to give you a reason to carry on.
As much as I loved this place, this was not where I wanted to be, not like this. I wanted to be with Ben. I wanted to be standing here looking out this window with his arm around my back.
I wondered what I would take with me as I moved forward from this.
I wondered what would become of us if I couldn’t.
‘Thump!’
Suddenly, there was a loud thud as a large, dark sea bird side-swiped the window.
Instantly, my mind was taken back . . .

Déjà-Vu
Sky Watcher Series Book 2 

Charlotte Harper’s best friend Jessica is shocked to receive a letter detailing Charlotte’s journey back in time to save her possible ancestor Elizabeth. The letter, written in 1819, speaks of the consequences of Charlotte’s actions and asks for Jessica’s help.

Charlotte’s adventure begins with a Wiccan ritual and spell that takes her back to 1818. After arriving at a small town on the shore of Owasco Lake, New York, she settles in, finding work at the general store to earn her keep. While awaiting Elizabeth’s arrival, she forms strong bonds with those around her, finding herself part of a tight-knit circle of friends and deeply in love.

Charlotte knows that walking through one door often closes many others, so when she dreams of warnings from the future she left behind, she wants to understand. Is Jessica reaching out to her? What is she trying to tell her? Knowing that one single choice can change who is your friend, your lover, who lives and who dies, Charlotte must choose her path wisely so as not to make the same mistakes.


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 Prologue
She tucked her purse under her arm and stepped out of the car, ready to make a run for it. The rain was pouring down as she dashed toward the front door. As she turned the key in the lock, she heard a horn beep twice and looked over her shoulder to see a white delivery van pulling into the driveway.
The driver jumped out and walked briskly up the driveway. “Good afternoon. Package for Miss Jessica Miller?” he said, stepping under the overhang.
“Thank you,” she answered as a plastic envelope was placed into her hand. Curious, she stepped inside the house, setting her bag on the kitchen table and tossing her jacket over the back of a chair. Jessica stood at the counter, envelope in hand, and flicked on the kettle; a nice cup of tea would take the chill out of her. She tore open the top of the plastic envelope and then the plain cardboard envelope within it. What she pulled out next was a manila envelope, labelled with her name and address. This contained yet another envelope. What the? She blew a loose bit of hair off her face.
This last envelope was slightly yellowed with faded but still legible handwriting. On the front in pale black ink was her name, Jessica Miller, and the address of this house, Charlotte’s house, followed by the line, Please deliver after April 1st, 2012. Turning the envelope over she saw a red wax seal and a somewhat faded black stamp, that read “Bank of New York.”
She wondered what this could be. It certainly looked old. As far as Jessica knew, she had no business with anyone in New York. She set the envelope on the table and returned to making her tea. Her impulse was to call Charlotte and tell her about this. Had Charlotte been there, she probably would have waited for her to open and read it, but she wasn’t. It was now the second week of May; Charlotte had been gone for seven weeks. It had been a long seven weeks without her best friend to talk to, to laugh with. Jessica missed her so much.
While her tea steeped, she ran upstairs to change out of her office scrubs and into some sweats, slinging her hair up into a ponytail. Now she was ready.
Tea in one hand, envelope in the other, Jessica went to the family room and sat by the window in her favourite chair. Gingerly, she lifted the wax seal and carefully pulled out and unfolded a delicate letter.

February 1819
Dear Jessica,
You do not know me, so please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ben Williams. I know of you because when your friend Charlotte left you, she came to live with us, and she told us about her dearest and oldest friend. This letter will surely seem strange, but please read on and I will do my best to explain.
Charlotte came to us last March, a stranger to our town and our time. She left you without telling you where she was going or why, for fear that you would think her “crazy.” We will try to help you understand the where, the why, and the result.
There was a side to Charlotte that she shared with no one, not even you. She told us that one of her courses in school was called The History of Witchcraft. Her curiosity led her to delve deeper into the subject and she found herself interested in Wicca. Her interest led her to practice certain rituals and celebrate certain days of the year, as she found her own beliefs to be very much represented in Wicca.
During this time, she learned of a woman she thought might be an ancestor. Her name was Elizabeth Gray Bruce. She was charged with murder by witchcraft and hunted as she tried to escape the country, eventually being found in our town in February of 1819. She was hanged one month later. Our Charlotte, thinking this woman an ancestor and obviously not guilty, decided to use her knowledge and belief in Wicca and try to come to our town, to our time, with the hope of saving Elizabeth.

Feeling a chill run down her spine, Jessica set the letter on the table beside her and stood, hand to forehead. Charlotte, is all this true? She paced once around the room, stopping to look out the front window and watch the rain fall as her mind tried to understand this information. With a deep breath, she returned to the chair, picking up the letter once again.

Your best friend, Charlotte Gray Harper, left you in March 2012 and came to us on the same date at Owasco Lake, New York, in March 1818. When you receive this letter, Charlotte will have been gone from here a matter of weeks; but at the time that this note is written, we will have known her for just over ten months. I understand that this will come as a shock to you; it did to us as well.

Jessica sat for a few moments before realizing she’d zoned out. What the hell? She went back in time? Back in time?! What the hell made her think that would even be possible?

I say “us” and “we” because, though this letter is written in my hand, four friends are helping me compose these words, friends who have grown to love Charlotte. It is our hope that by telling you what happened here, you can try to help us from there. Again, I know that this will sound odd, but please bear with me and I will do my best to explain. 
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A Shadow in Time
Sky Watcher Series Book 1 

Charlotte Harper’s life isn’t going as she expected. She had to change her course of studies, her ex-boyfriend has hooked up with her best friend, and she misses her mother desperately since her passing.

Searching for meaning and direction, she pours herself into her family history, researching her roots. When she learns of a possible ancestor named Elizabeth from the early nineteenth century, who was hung for the crime of witchcraft, she is determined to try to save her fate. Charlotte explores the strength of her Wiccan beliefs and the powers within her stones, preparing a spell to transport herself back in time nearly two centuries.

She arrives at a small, sleepy town on the shore of Owasco Lake, New York. Intending to stay just long enough to save her ancestor, she creates a cover story and attempts to fit in, but after waiting for weeks with no word of Elizabeth, she immerses herself in the community. She works in the General Store to earn her keep and uses her knowledge of herbs and medicine to help those in need. She soon forms strong bonds with those around her, finding herself drawn into the simple and fulfilling life of a bygone era, and even falls in love—more deeply than she ever thought possible.

As the deadline of the execution nears, visions of the future begin to plague her and those around her. Can she truly save Elizabeth and undo what happened almost two centuries ago? With two lives on the line, she knows she must face the consequences of meddling with time, even if it costs her everything.


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​Prologue

Time is always. It is now, it is then;
it cannot be stopped, and it waits for no one.

I asked myself once again: Charlotte, have you lost your mind? Have you gone completely off the deep end? My saner inner voice was becoming repetitive. In fact, it was getting on my nerves! Not for the first time, I tried to reassure myself that, yes, while even thinking about doing something like this would be considered crazy, attempting it was absurd—yet, here I was. I was on my way to Owasco Lake, New York, on what could prove to be the greatest, and quite possibly last, adventure of my life.
As the bus travelled East on the thruway, my mind was racing. My thoughts turned unexpectedly to the conversation I’d had with Jessica yesterday morning. She’d called about dropping some boxes off at the house. Given that I had some running around to do, I told her I’d leave the side door unlocked for her or Michael. She reminded me of a letter that had come for me, which she’d left on the table by the phone. As I told her I’d be in touch tomorrow, I scanned the table and the floor at its base, but saw nothing.
After speaking to Jessica, I’d gone to see my lawyer to review the handling of my affairs if I hadn’t come back within two years. Chances were, if I hadn’t come back by then, I wasn’t coming back. That’s assuming, of course, that I made it there at all.
I expected to be gone for a year or so, and had suggested that Jessica and Michael live in my house during that time. It was a win-win situation—my house would be lived in and looked after, and they would have somewhere to stay together while they saved for a house of their own.
Upon returning home, I was struck by how empty the house felt. The butterflies in my stomach started fluttering. This is not an ending, I reminded myself. It’s the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime! I went upstairs and released the staircase from the attic, climbing up with the last of my boxes. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked around the large open space. This attic wasn’t a gloomy, confined room; it was properly floored and insulated, with two high, half-circle windows letting in the sunlight. Though it had a low ceiling, I could walk through the middle without having to duck my head. When I was little, it had been my playroom. We’d painted a wall pink, hung a large blackboard, and taken up a little table, chairs, and tea set. I still remembered sitting at the table with my biggest teddy, Super Fluffy, and my bunny, Alice, sharing tea and cookies. When I was a little bigger, I’d come up here with Jessica and we’d shared our secrets. Now the floor space was occupied by a rolling rack hung with off-season clothing, boxes of Christmas decorations, books, and keepsakes. I put the last boxes onto the floor and, after one last look around, closed up the attic. It was now midafternoon and all that remained for me to do was write my letter to Jess.
The weather this March had been remarkably warm, and I was hot! First things first: let’s get out of these sweaty clothes and freshen up. I dropped my clothes to the floor, reached in behind the glass shower door, and turned on the water. I took down my ponytail and brushed out my hair and when the temperature was just right, stepped in. Mm-mm, this, I will miss! Questions rushed through my mind. Would I succeed in making this journey? Could it even be done? I had seen Elizabeth’s name on that list on my computer and made up my mind to try to save her, but would I even be able to find her? Is it possible to change things that have already happened? Would there be consequences? Completely engrossed in my thoughts as I was, it came as a shock when Michael’s face came into view in the open shower door. As I looked at him, confused, he smiled and stepped in, pulling the door closed behind him. “Michael, what the—” He cut me off.
“Charlie, when I realized you were in here, I had to come. I just want to be with you one last time, to say goodbye.” His hand ran up my arm, before his fingers lifted my chin, his touch was familiar.
I put up a valiant fight, I did, but he knew me too well.
When he left some time later, I felt only emptiness. I sat on the edge of the bed, turning to avoid my reflection in the mirror. That door had closed some time ago. I thought back to the evening we’d called it quits. We had both known that breaking up was the right thing to do, that it just wasn’t to be. I’d come up to bed after he’d left and cried until I had no tears left. A soft, unfamiliar voice whispered to me in my dreams that night: “Every ending is a new beginning, Charlotte.” These wise words had stayed with me.
It was about a year later when he and Jess got together, and they were perfect for each other. I hoped that they would have a good life together, I truly did. I felt no jealousy, no hard feelings, though now I did feel a small amount of guilt. I suppose that my fear and uncertainty about what lay ahead of me had caused me to grab hold of the feeling of love and protection he’d offered, fleeting as it was. Without question, it would be easier to move forward when I was no longer in the here and now. Tomorrow would change everything.

Heather Lynn, born in Toronto, Ontario, lives with her family just north of the city. Her education in biology and health sciences has supported an ongoing interest in physiology and the potential of herbal healing. In addition, she has been intrigued by the possibility and impossibility of time travel since childhood. When she's not writing, Heather enjoys family time, working in her garden, and learning more about the 'power' of stones.

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