Title: THE DIARY
Author: SARAH D GORDON
Genre: PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Book Blurb:
When Sophie Harris is drawn back in time through the pages of an old diary, she lives the life of Emma McLeod in 1865 Western Australia. As Sophie moves back and forth between her own time and Emma’s, she finds that Emma is about to lose her family, her love, and her life to one man's greed. While in her own time, Sophie realizes there is a way to change Emma’s fate, unaware that changes she makes in the past will also alter her own future, as well as that of a man she has yet to meet.
Excerpt:
“Hey, we may have struck gold,” Becca said, as Sophie bent to add the details of the now bagged jacket to her list. “I think it’s a diary.”
Sophie looked up, anticipation fluttering in her stomach. Nothing gave a better snapshot of the time than a diary.
“You want the honors?” Becca stepped away from the table, Sophie taking her place. She reached out for the book that sat in the center of the oilskin coat, eager to hold it in her hands, her fingertips tingling as she brushed across the green-marbled cover of the book. She had time only to assume static electricity to be the cause of the strange feeling before her world disappeared.
****
1865
Emma knew the infant was dead, yet still she rocked back and forth, a lullaby hummed quietly behind closed lips as the gray light of dawn gave way to a new day. She’d known the baby wouldn’t live long, but that knowledge didn’t make the sadness of his death any easier, and a tear rolled from her cheek, dropping onto the blanket she’d wrapped the infant in the night before.
“Emma?”
Emma looked up. Her eight-year-old brother stood in the doorway, his outline blurred by her tears. “I’m here, Daniel.”
Daniel made no move toward her. “The baby is quiet now. Is he better? Has his sickness gone?”
Emma looked down at the bundle in her arms and, for a long moment, she couldn’t speak.
“Emma?”
Emma took a breath and beckoned Daniel to her. He came slowly across the room, his dark eyes staring into hers. “Daniel, your brother was very sick, and his little body couldn’t fight anymore. He has gone to Heaven, Daniel. Do you understand?”
Daniel’s eyes didn’t move from Emma’s, and he nodded. “To be with Mama?”
Emma put a hand on the boy’s cheek, comforted by the warmth of his skin. “Yes, Daniel, to be with Mama.”
Daniel looked down at the baby and reached out his own small hand. He traced a finger down his infant brother’s cheek. “He won’t feel sick in Heaven, will he, Em?” he whispered.
Emma shook her head. “No,” she said, fresh tears welling in her eyes, “he won’t be sick anymore.”
For a time neither of them moved, Daniel’s hand frozen on his brother’s cheek, Emma’s rocking halted, and for that moment Emma let herself believe the infant was just asleep. Then the moment passed. “There are things to be done now, Daniel,” she said briskly, knowing only action could keep grief at bay. “We have to make a place for the baby to rest.” Holding the still infant, she pushed herself from the rocking chair and gently laid him in his cradle in front of the fire. She turned to Daniel and took his hand. “I want you to find me a piece of wood for us to scratch his name onto, like the one you did for Mama. Can you do that for me?”
Daniel looked up at her and nodded, his glistening eyes reflecting the firelight. “He never got a name, Emma. Mama didn’t…” Daniel’s words trailed off.
Emma placed her hand on the little boy’s shoulder. “I know, Daniel,” she said softly. “But we will name him. I know Mama talked of calling him Adam. What do you think? We will name him Adam?”
Daniel nodded.
Emma swiped a tear from her cheek. She took Daniel’s hand and they went outside, the rain stopping for the moment as if respecting their sorrow, and for the second time in three days, Emma began to dig a grave, this one tiny, alongside her mother’s. When it was done, she went back into the house and stood over the cradle, looking down at her infant brother. She reached out and cupped his cheek, praying she’d made a mistake and Adam was only asleep. But his cheek was cold, his skin rigid under her hand. Pushing away the grief she knew would paralyze her, Emma scooped up the infant and pulled the blanket across his ashen face. Holding him tightly to her breast, she went back out into the growing daylight and knelt beside the place where he would sleep for eternity, Daniel trailing behind her, a rough wooden cross clutched in his hand.
Emma kissed the baby’s tiny head for a final time and lowered him into the grave. “Sleep in peace, little one,” she said. Daniel, echoing her words, dropped a stem of lavender onto the blanket. Emma began to push the freshly dug earth into the grave, the sight of the dirt covering the small body almost impossible to bear. But she continued until the ground was again level, and together she and Daniel hammered the little cross, Adam’s name scratched onto it, into the ground with a stone.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
What makes your featured book a must-read?
The Diary is a sweet historical romance with a time travel twist. It is a story of love, betrayal and the determination of one woman to save her family even it costs her life.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs July 9 – July 17, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on July 18, 2024.
Author Biography:
Sarah D Gordon fell in love with reading and story writing at the age of six when she first took a book from the library, from then on words and stories became an important part of her life. She not only spends her days creating fictional worlds for both adults and children, but she also passes this love and knowledge on to her students as a tutor for children with learning differences. Sarah previously worked for the police but was happiest at her job in a public library while she finished her degree in Legal Studies. Sarah enjoys teaching and travelling but writing is her first love.
Social Media Links: