Title: Shimmers of Stardust
Author: Ryan Jo Summers
Genre: Christian Romance, Time travel romance
Book Blurb:
Logan Riley, Civil War hero turned outlaw, was hanged in 1869. He survived, watching time progress for over a century. Anthropologist Dr. McKenzie Lynne is hired to find him. Once she discovers him and learns the real plans the scientists have in mind to study him, she bolts, taking their living treasure with her.
Pursued by obsessed physicists and the military, Kenzie and Logan race across the vast desert and mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, struggling to stay one step ahead of their hunters. But Logan has spent four years in the Civil War and five years running as an outlaw. He knows how to stay alive, survive on nothing, when to run and when to hole up. He may not understand much about this new world, but he knows how to outfox hunters and that Kenzie is one Thoroughbred of a woman and he vows to keep her safe.
Kenzie is not so sure she buys into this time travel stuff but there is no denying the physicists and military are anxious to get Logan back. There is also no denying his disarming smile and relaxed, easy charm. He could charm the hide off a buffalo. If they get caught, it’s a lifetime of imprisonment and tests for him and probably worse for her. But staying free means forever on the run, hunted and homeless. Her career would be over and she would never see her family again.
Running and hiding, hunted like criminals, they also find attraction and love blooming like desert flowers. Her Christian faith gnaws at him far better than the hangman’s noose had, convicting him of his past crimes. As their love grows, can Logan keep them continually safe? And can Kenzie’s Christian faith turn this bad boy’s heart around?
As their pursuers close in, their love will face the harshest test of all–Christian morals against nineteenth century outlaw justice.
Excerpt:
The physicists, two older women, slammed to a halt and stared at Logan. They looked at each other, smiled widely and turned to Aiden briefly. Watching their hungry looks going back to Logan, McKenzie felt a ripple of concern slide over her.
“Well done, Doctor,” Margot Franks praised McKenzie, her gaze never leaving Logan.
“Mr. Riley, how nice to see you,” Evelyn Jones purred, adjusting her thick dark glasses, and pushing her wildly frizzy, gray hair out of the way.
Logan set his empty cup down and stood with legs spread and hands at his hips. Blasted, but he wished for a gun right now. Not that he would shoot women, odd as these two seemed to be, but he figured that soldier behind them would be one to tangle with. Except he wasn't wearing a pistol either.
“How do you know who he is?” McKenzie asked, noticing the increased tension filling the small room. It was starting to choke her, making it hard to breathe.
“Doctor Lynne, you have saved us all considerable time and expense,” Franks said. “Wherever did you find it?”
“It? You mean him?” she pointed a finger at Logan, every nerve in her body going into high alert. Her heart beat faster, thumping loudly. Could they tell? “How do you know him?” Her eyes sought Aiden. He may be her boss, but he owed her some sort of explanation. Right now, it looked like the two physicist doctors were about to start drooling on themselves. “What does he have to do with anything?” she asked Aiden.
Aiden met her eyes, then looked away, not answering. Fear lodged in McKenzie's brain, stopping all rational thought. Like lightning, she saw one answer. Grabbing up her bag in one hand, she reached for Logan’s hand with the other.
“Run!” she screamed, pulling him for the door.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
This book starts as a contemporary romance, it’s clean and fresh. Then there is the western flavoring, as an outlaw cowboy from 1869 is transported to 2014. We stir in some suspense, danger, thrills, and the blending of two people, from two different worlds and times, in a race for their lives.
To top it off, we add subtle Christian elements like ribbons swirling throughout. The heroine, archeologist McKenzie, is a Christian with a conscience, who tries to do what’s right. Riley is our rugged hero, an outlaw, who lives mostly concerned about his own needs.
Apart from that, “Shimmers of Stardust” was my sophomore novel, and has remained a steady seller for the last ten years. There is a universal appeal that continues to draw readers.
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Author Biography:
Ryan Jo Summers comes from a family of wordsmiths. She wrote her first book, with illustrations, at age ten. Over the years, she illustrated less and wrote more. Her preferred niche is contemporary romance, blended with sub genres of time travel, Christian, suspense, paranormal, or any mix of those. She also writes non-fiction. She lives in the beautiful region of Western North Carolina in a century-old cottage, with a menagerie of rescued pets and entirely too many houseplants.
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