Eleven-year-old Drake Bailey is an analytical thinker and the genius of the Timekeeper crew. However, no logic or mathematical acumen can change the color of his skin, or prepare him for this third Timekeeper mission in antebellum Georgia. To survive, Drake must learn to play the role of a plantation slave and when confronted with the brutality, hatred, and racism of the deep south, he’ll have to strategically keep one move ahead of his sadistic captors to ensure his lineage continues.
In a dark world of Voodoo, zombies, and ritualistic sacrifice, the Timekeepers must ensure a royal bloodline survives. Can Drake remove both literal and figurative chains to save both himself and a devout slave girl from a terrible fate? If he can’t summon the necessary courage, humanity could stand to lose one of its greatest leaders.
Excerpt:
Drake read over their Timekeeper mission again. Blood. Deep south. Race. Broken. Soul. Red flags waved through his mind like a category five hurricane. He’d seen one too many movies and documentaries to know 1855 was not a great time in history for people with his skin color. Drake shut the Timekeepers’ log, and shook his head vehemently. “There’s no way in hell I’m gonna go on this mission, Lilith!”
Lilith wrinkled her long, narrow nose. “I understand why you have these fearful feelings, Drake, but I do not choose where you go into the past. Belial is the one who holds that power, and seeks to disrupt history whenever he sees a chance.”
“May I see the Timekeepers’ log, Drake?” the Prof asked.
“Sure, Prof, but I’m still not going,” Drake replied, passing the log over.
“Can he do that?” Ravi asked, glancing at Treena.
“I don’t think so. It’s like signing a contract for a movie. You’re committed to finishing the film or you face the studio lawyers. Case closed, gavel down.”
“Lilith isn’t a judge.” Ravi looked at Lilith. “Right?”
“No, Ravi, I am not your judge, but what Treena said rings true. You were all chosen as Timekeepers for a reason, and are bound by this covenant,” Lilith replied, unclasping her hands. “That is all I can offer you.”
“Fine. I’ll just remove my Babel necklace,” Drake said, digging under his shirt. “Problem solved.”
“Drake, why are you freaking out like this?” Jordan asked, helping Amanda to her feet. “It can’t be as bad as fighting the Nazis in our second mission.”
“Yeah, or being interrogated in the Gestapo Headquarters by Belial’s creepy crony Marcus Crowley,” Ravi added.
“Why don’t you ask Amanda why she puked? It wasn’t because she had warm and fuzzy feelings about this mission,” Drake argued.
Melody wiped Amanda’s chin. “Do you feel well enough to speak?”
“I…I think so.”
Professor Lucas whistled. “Now I see why Amanda was sick to her stomach. Using the words deep south and the date as a clue, this mission puts us in the antebellum era, six years before the American Civil War began. This period was filled with so much hate, racism, turmoil, and political upheaval, I’m willing to bet these emotions went right through her.”
“If Uncle John is right, why would Belial want to change anything back then?” Jordan asked, frowning. “That slithering douche-bag lives for human suffering during those dark times in history.”
“Exactly.” Drake removed his Babel necklace. “So why tempt fate?”
“N-no, Drake, you have to come.” Amanda reached for his hand, and squeezed it. “Trust me, you’re an important part of this mission.”
“Huh? How?”
“It’s hard to explain. I just know you have to be there.”
The book is available at the following links:
AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Timekeepers-Noble-Slave-ebook/dp/B09CZ1CQNX/
AMAZON.CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Last-Timekeepers-Noble-Slave-ebook/dp/B09CZ1CQNX/
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING:
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-last-timekeepers-and-the-noble-slave
BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-timekeepers-and-the-noble-slave-sharon-ledwith/1140033348?ean=9781987976823
APPLE BOOKS: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-last-timekeepers-and-the-noble-slave/id1581757739
About the Author:
Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the award-winning teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her spoiled hubby, and a moody calico cat.
Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her WEBSITE and BLOG. Look up her AMAZON AUTHOR page for a list of current books. Stay connected on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, LINKEDIN, INSTAGRAM, and GOODREADS.
On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Sunder of Time
(The Mason Timeline #1)By Kristin McTiernan Time Travel/Alternate History Paperback & ebook, 380 Pages May 12, 2015
Isabella Jaramillo is accustomed to getting what she wants.
Living a comfortable life as the daughter of the world’s sole time travel magnate, Isabella has never suffered the irritation of being told no.
Only now she has gone too far and her soon-to-be ex-husband tells her no in the most vengeful way possible—by sabotaging her trip to the past, sending her to a distant land where the locals do not speak her language and are far from impressed by her haughty demeanor.
Now a slave, Isabella makes some surprising allies and discovers the truth behind her father’s rise to power and the terrible price the entire world paid for it. Somehow, she must break free and find a way home, not only to save herself, but to restore history to its rightful direction.
(Affiliate links included.)Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Bookshop
Other Books in the Series
Fissure of Worlds(The Mason Timeline #2)By Kristin McTiernanTime Travel/Alternate HistoryPaperback & ebook, 323 PagesOctober 9, 2017
Knowledge isn’t power. It’s dangerous.
At first, she thought they’d do the right thing. A new timeline created by a misbehaving time traveler, a whole society crushed under theocratic oppression. Surely, the council would see reason. Surely, they’d help her fix the timeline.
They didn’t.
Now jailed and under the constant, unblinking eye of her own personal guard, Shannan must fight not only for her freedom, but for her own sanity.
Her one ally is Paul Canaan, a member of the Council but not truly one of them. Living a life of secrets and lies, Paul works in the shadows to free Shannan, and himself, from the artificially created timeline oppressing them both.
Together, Shannan and Paul will have to escape their watchers—before they, and the world, are trapped in a history that should never have been.
(Affiliate link included.)Goodreads | Amazon
Excerpt:
Etienne imagined his father-in-law had been listening to the call, muffling his laughter as Isabella just unilaterally ended their marriage. She never did anything without Daddy’s leave. So Etienne had played nice, put on the happy face. Of course he was all right with the annulment. He was fine with his whole life being over.
Now he would be the laughingstock of Miami society, his fate to become a cautionary tale for other silly Spanish girls who even thought of slumming with an Anglo. The annulment would be featured on society pages all over the country, probably in Mexico and Cuba as well. Meanwhile, the grieving widow Esperanza Macias would get a promotion, a feature in the Miami Crier, and the standard condolence allowance from the Senate. Her husband had died in service to the Republic, so her life was going to improve dramatically. Etienne’s, on the other hand, was circling the drain.
The idea struck him suddenly. Martin Macias had been declared Lost without much investigation. Everyone, including him, had simply accepted the disappearance of three people—husbands and fathers all—as simply “one of those things.” No one had been hauled in for questioning; certainly no one was going to be punished.
A giddy excitement washing over him, Etienne looked around the living room once more, searching for the keys to his launch station. Spying them, he finally left the armchair and grabbed the errant keys off the floor. He headed out the door, his lips stretched into a satisfied smile.
About the Author
Kristin McTiernan was born the daughter of a career military man and spent her childhood bouncing from one country to another. Her love of writing surfaced early, and upon discovering the double threat of comic books and Star Trek in middle school, Kristin spent the majority of her spare time creating new worlds and interesting people to populate them. Following in her parents’ footsteps, Kristin enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 and, upon her discharge three years later, settled into a life pursuing her love of words. She achieved her bachelor’s degree in English from Emporia State University in her home state of Kansas and works as an editor to support her writing addiction. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and dog.
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Tour Giveaway
One winner will win a Kindle gifted copy (gifted directly through Amazon) of Kristin McTiernan’s supernatural mystery trilogy: Black Magic Omnibus: Books 1 – 3 of the Siren Song Series (US only)
Ends February 24, 2021
We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the stops
you can see snippets, as well as the link to each full post, below:
Launch – Author Interview
I hope they’ll feel as if they walked beside Shawn and Niall for a time, and all the rest in the story, that the inhabitants of the Blue Bells world have become people they knew and cared about. And many readers seem to very much feel that way. I hope they’ll carry with them the beautiful story of a man who recognizes his flaws and makes a decision to turn himself around. I hope they’ll remember the humorous moments and the poignant moments and smile long after the book is closed.
“…I enjoyed every bit of plot that I read and could take the storyline seriously. . . . I would recommend this to lovers of fantasy novels, and now-complete series with complex storylines, characters, and worldbuilding.”
Clive moved in silence beside him for a time, flashing his light around the cells that opened on their right, and down another passage.
“That one comes to a dead end,” Shawn said. “I’ll take a look. Stay here. Be ready for anything.”
He followed the passage, quickly, his mind on Niall. His brother would be searching too, neither of them knowing if Simon had crossed or not. He hoped Niall would be okay—not ambushed by Simon. He hoped he wouldn’t be ambushed himself, nor Clive, nor the chief. He doubted they could take on a medieval knight with years of brutal warfare under his belt.
Yes, Let’s Go Back to the Old Couple
Inverness, Present
“So you want to tell me where you were for a year?” his mother asked. “I’ve given you plenty of space, but I’ve waited long enough and I think you owe me some answers.”
Shawn stared into the fire. “An old couple in the west of Scotland?”
Carol snorted. “One of many stories you’ve told. if it were true, you’d have said so from the start.”
He took another long drink, letting the tea thaw out his insides. “What has Amy told you?”
Carol shook her head. “Nothing I can make sense of. A ring from Robert the Bruce. You turned up in the tower of Glenmirril. None of it makes sense.”
Shawn set the tea mug down, rose, and lifted the linen shirt made by Christina, revealing the scar.
Simon Arrives at Claverock
Claverock Castle, Northumbria, December 1317
Simon stared up with pride at the great stone walls of Claverock, at his banners snapping on its towers. His steward had kept the place up. It was all worth it, he thought. He drew breath. This was his moment! “Open the gates!” he bellowed up at his towers. “Your Lord of Claverock is home!”
Men looked down from the walls above the gatehouse. One pointed and shouted. Two ran, and soon the portcullis creaked, lifting. His steward raced through, falling to one knee, as he cried, “My Lord! My Lord, is it really you? We thought you dead, my Lord!”
Niall and Company Meet Christina Coming Home
Scottish Highlands, December 1317
They were two days into the ride, when a scout came racing back to them, spurring his garron. “Lochmaben ahead!” he shouted joyfully. “Milady Christina rides with them!”
Cheers rose from the men of Glenmirril. Relief washed through Niall. Their ruse with James Angus had not entirely silenced the whispers, though Margaret had been stalwart in looking down her nose at those who did so, reprimanding them and silencing them. He was grateful the rumors had not diminished the love of the people of Glenmirril for Christina.
Niall Meets Joan
Creagsmalan, Southwest Scotland, January 1318
Niall waited in the hills outside Creagsmalan as Conal, Lachlan, and Owen rode in. He and Hugh sat on a pair of boulders, watching sunrise spill light over the water beyond the town.
“Are ye sure she’ll believe it?” Hugh’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed. “Surely she knows the Bruce will not return his lands until he swears fealty.”
“Hope,” Niall said. “She wishes to believe it. Moreover, Bruce is known for mercy. She will count on that, for she does not wish to leave Scotland.”
Angus Warns Shawn
“Sit down. We need to talk.” Angus’s voice snapped Shawn’s attention back to the hospital room. Angus sat in a wheelchair by the hospital window, wearing jeans and a heavy fisherman’s sweater, a book in his hand. He laid it down on his lap.
“You’re up!” Shawn stopped in the doorway, feigning energy. In truth, he’d had multiple late nights, on top of a heavy load of arranging for the album Ben wanted out yesterday. He wanted nothing more than to be in bed, asleep. But when he collapsed in bed, he turned and rolled restlessly through the dark hours with nightmares—if he slept at all.
“Shut the door.”
“It is full of action, danger and romance, plus more…”
“I found the novel to have an interesting premise with realistic characters and development. I like that the story was told from the past, future, and present. Overall, it was an interesting book…”
Simon Meets Eamonn Again
“Good to go home to your young bride, eh?” The man gave a wink as he waved for a stable boy.
Simon grinned. It felt odd and light on his face. Smiles, in his experience, had always been a deliberate tensing of muscles. This time, his features moved on their own, without his will, and his heart lifted, too.
“Cat’s got your tongue,” the man laughed. “She must be a fair delight to the eyes!” He slapped his horse on the rump and melted into the crowd, leaving Simon alone and feeling foolish in the midst of the courtyard, as more men poured through the gates.
Amy Sees the Pool
He mentioned it as we entered his foyer. “By the way, I put in a pool.” A pool in the yard, I thought, a small pool or a hot tub on the deck. But this—this is beyond what anyone would conceive from, “by the way, I put in a pool.”
I stand on the terrace where Shawn loved to barbecue. Black velvet sky shows overhead. Starlight shines down—but now it pours through a glass ceiling. I catch my breath as I take it in—on my right, a room like a medieval castle vault; stone walls with Gothic arches at intervals, alternating between windows of leaded glass and stone niches framing….“Sconces,” I breathe. “You put in sconces.”
“They’re electric,” he says defensively. And then, with the child-like joy I loved, the innocent joy that made me believe his public self was the facade: “You like it?”
Beatrice and Simon
Northumbria, England, 1318
Beatrice’s head shot up as the door burst open, yanking back from her husband’s embrace.
“Sir Kenrick….” The guard, Erol, stumbled to his knees, shoved by a man in chain mail.
“Lord Claverock!” Kenrick jumped forward, reaching to help his man up off the floor as he said, “Why did you not send word you were coming? I’d have met you in the hall.”
Beatrice backed up, gripping her shift close as she studied her cousin. She’d not seen him in years, not since he’d been a vile boy, dropping spiders in her hair. The malice in his eyes had not changed.
“The Battle is O’er blends the excitement of a modern thriller, with the immersive details of the best historical fiction. Vosika clearly shows her writing chops here, drawing her story forward with a cast of colorful and relatable characters living through extraordinary circumstances. I’d highly recommend this to fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.”
Escaping the Bishop’s Palace
Linstock, 1318
“Is he dead?” Lachlan whispered, looking at the man on the frosty ground.
Owen shook his head, working at the bolts on the huge doors. “A potion is all. He’ll appear to have fallen asleep at his post.” At the same moment, they heard a shout from the courtyard. Owen eased the door open a crack. They slipped through, onto the dock that ran alongside the castle wall and pulled the door shut behind them.
Lachlan scanned the river, whispering, “Conal!” His breath hung in the air.
The Battle is O’er
By Laura Vosika
Historical Time Travel, Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 470 pages
March 23rd 2018 by Gabriel’s Horn Press
In the gripping conclusion to The Blue Bells Chronicles, just as Shawn is steadily regaining all he feared he had lost forever—his career, his son, and even Amy’s heart—he learns of MacDougall’s vengeance against Niall, for the act Shawn himself committed. He wrestles with a prophecy and an ancient letter that never changes, a letter that details the fate of his own son, if he cannot stop it—and possibly the fate of the world itself, as he learns of Simon Beaumont’s plan to use his knowledge of the future to destroy it.
Shawn’s selfishness once cost him everything. His newfound selflessness may do the same.
About the Author
Tour Giveaway
– l winner will receive a print copy of Blue Bells of Scotland (book one in the series) and a Team Shawn or Team Angus t-shirt (US only)
– 1 winner will receive an ebook of Blue Bells of Scotland (open internationally)
Book Blurb
When 9 year old Alice Carroll disappears during a school shooting she is left wondering if time travel is all it’s cracked up to be.
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Girls & Women
Pages: 310
Release Date: 12 July 16
When Alice Carroll is in grade three she narrowly escapes losing her life in a school shooting. All she remembers is the woman comforting her in the moments before the gunshot, and that one second she was there, the next she wasn’t. It’s bad enough coming to terms with surviving while others, including her favourite teacher, didn’t, let alone dealing with the fact that she might wink out of existence at any time. Alice spends the next few years seeing specialists about her Post Traumatic Stress as a result of VD–Voldemort Day–but it’s not until she has a nightmare about The Day That Shall Not Be Mentioned, disappears from her bed, is found by police, and taken home to meet her four-year-old self that she realizes she’s been time travelling. Alice is unsure if her getting unstuck in time should be considered an ability or a liability, until she disappears right in front of her high school at dismissal time, the busiest time of day. Worried that someone may find out about her problem before long, Alice enlists her best friend (and maybe boyfriend), Pete, to help her try to control her shifting through time with limited success. She’s just about ready to give up when the shooter is caught. Alice resolves to take control of her time travelling in order to go back to That Day, stop the shooting, and figure out the identity of the stranger who’d shielded Alice’s body with her own. Buy
Buy I Was, Am, Will Be Alice at Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and Kobo.
Excerpt from I Was, Am, Will Be Alice
The first time it happens, it happens like this: I’m huddled beside the bench in the grade three cloakroom, head scrunched against my knees, hands clasped behind my head. I hear the shots, three of them, and I swear my heart stops pumping each time. There’s a woman next to me, kneeling, whispering in my ear, telling me it’s going to be okay, but I’m either too frightened or it was too long ago to remember exactly what she says. Her hand grips my shoulder firmly, and there’s a familiar quality to her voice that’s somewhat soothing. The man’s heels clack into the cloakroom and the gun cracks as he readies it for the next shot. The woman stands and I can tell by the air she moves with her that she’s taken a step toward him. Her lips make a wet sound as if she’s parted them, and she draws in a breath as if to speak, and then the gun booms─it’s deafening─and she goes down. I scream and I go away. When I come back the woman is gone. So is the man with the gun. The classroom door opens with a whoosh. My breath catches in my throat and my heart thumps in my chest and I hear shoe clacks again…
“Alice?” a man says when the clacking stops. It’s loud enough to snap me from my trance. “You’re covered in blood! Are you okay?” I blink at him. “I don’t think it’s mine.” The man, Principal Cotton, clucks his tongue and says, “For God’s sake, girl, why are you still here?” I shrug my shoulders. I have no idea. His shoes click away. When they click back he has a woolen blanket in his hands. I feel the warmth of his body as he nears and the wet warmth of his breath at the back of my neck as he drapes the blanket over me. He’s a smoker. I can tell. The blanket’s scratchy, like Daddy’s beard on a weekend morning. It starts to slide off me, but I grab as much of it as I can and pull it close. Mr. Cotton holds his hand out to me. I take it and let him lead me to the office.
It’s weird sitting in the Bad Kid Chairs, and I get A Case of the Nerves waiting for my parents to come. I have to breathe deeply and evenly; the last time I got A Case of the Nerves, I went away, and I don’t want to do that again. Not here. Not now. By the time my parents come for me, Mr. Cotton has let me get washed up. My clothes are sticky in places where the blood is still wet and hard where it’s dried in others. We sit in his office, the four of us around a small, round table. I try to picture us sitting this way in a coffee shop, waiting for the waitress to take our orders. Mom orders a latte, lactose free and with three sugars. Dad orders something slushy. Mr. Cotton looks like a tea man to me. I order something fruity and icy with lots of whipped cream. Mr. Cotton says, “She was curled into a ball when I found her,” spoiling the illusion. “She was just glued to the spot, huddled into a ball and holding her breath.” “Where did the blood come from?” Mom sniffles. I hate it when she cries. “We don’t know. She seems physically unharmed.” Mr. Cotton shuffles the papers on the table in front of him. “I want to give you this.” He hands her a pamphlet. “Grief councillors will be here for the foreseeable future to talk to the children who need it, but seeing as Alice was so close to…well, to the action, Post Traumatic Stress is a likely possibility.” Mom gasps. “Oh God!” Dad reaches for her hand. I sit in my chair taking long, deep breaths, willing myself to grow smaller and smaller until I disappear. “Call this number, Mrs. Carroll. There are councillors there to help you cope, too. Support groups and the like.” Mom reaches for a tissue from the box on the table. She blows her nose, looks at her lap, and continues to weep. “Thank you, Mr. Cotton,” Dad says. He stands up and shakes the principal’s hand. He touches Mom’s shoulder and she stands, too. She nods and forces a smile at Mr. Cotton. “Come, sweetie,” Dad says to me. He takes my hand and pulls me from my chair.
The drive home would be silent, but for Mom’s sniffles and snorts and gasps. When we get there, she announces, “I’m going to lie down for a bit.” She smiles at me and says, “You can lie with me if you like, Alice,” as an afterthought. I nod. I don’t feel like being comforted by my mother. I feel embarrassed at losing control. Ashamed at being found by Mr. Cotton of all people, just sitting there, crying like a baby. I want to eat chocolate cake till I puke and crawl into a hole somewhere and die. “Ice cream sundaes, kiddo?” Dad asks. I nod and smile in spite of myself and follow him into the kitchen.
About Elise Abram:
Elise Abram is high school teacher of English and Computer Studies, former archaeologist, editor, publisher, award winning author, avid reader of literary and science fiction, and student of the human condition. Everything she does, watches, reads and hears is fodder for her writing. She is passionate about writing and language, cooking, and ABC’s Once Upon A Time. In her spare time she experiments with paleo cookery, knits badly, and writes. She also bakes. Most of the time it doesn’t burn. Her family doesn’t seem to mind.
Social Media Links:
Here’s where you can learn more about Elise and her writing:
Rafflecopter Giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here and now are the perfect place and time to get your copy of Unclaimed Legacy.
Those who have read Time and Again know that Abby Thomas is a college student on a summer service project with 11-year-old Merri. And they know that the summer is not going the way Abby had expected—but in a good way. For one thing, she meets a very nice guy named John Roberts. And for another, she discovers a strange computer program called Beautiful House that lets her fast-forward and rewind life. Not her own, of course, but those of the people who lived in Merri’s old house. And now Beautiful House comes in handy when Abby, John, and Merri agree to help the “Old Dears” next door with their family tree. Except Abby and John learn more about one of the ladies’ ancestors than they ever wanted to know. Convicted in 1871 of murder and arson, Reuben Buchanan is a blight on the family’s reputation. But was he really guilty? Abby and John must get inside the mind of a murderer to find out. And while they’re rummaging around in the Old Dears’ family history, they also find Nathan Buchanan, a heroic relative connected to the Lewis and Clark Expedition—and a legacy waiting to be reclaimed. But the most important discovery they make is that God’s promise to bless a thousand generations is true. “In this sequel to Time and Again Deborah Heal has taken pieces of real life history and woven them [into] a fantastic story geared to keep the reader entertained and on the edge of their seat… I adored every single bit of this. It has the perfect blend of history and action-packed suspense to keep young adults glued to the pages… I think she has mastered a home run here. This one easily rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me…and I hope it will work its way to the top of the best seller lists for young adults.”
The Clue of the Unclaimed Legacy
The blurb above doesn’t say a lot about it, but Unclaimed Legacy features my heroes Lewis and Clark. I’ve always been fascinated by them, partly because I knew the explorers spent the winter of 1803 at Hartford, Illinois, near where I grew up in Woodburn. They chose that site for the camp they called Camp River Dubois, because it was near the mouth of the Missouri River, which they would ascend the next spring. The captains spent the winter laying in supplies and training their men. I decided it would be fun to let Abby “time-surf” back to see Camp River Dubois. . .
Continue reading HERE to get my clues about Unclaimed Legacy.
As the blurb says, sometimes when Abby and John are “time-surfing” they learn more than they want to know about people from the past–like Bertram White a violent husband. Read my companion article about him HERE. Read a free chapter of Unclaimed Legacy HERE) Now, enter the contest to get your Kindle copy of Unclaimed Legacy for 99 cents and a chance to win the complete trilogy in paperback, personally signed by me. Oh, and a mug.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Deborah Heal Author Every Hill and Mountain (Time and Again) Read Now – http://bit.ly/13tVyYJ Twitter – @deborahheal