Termed, Haunting beautiful, Somewhere the Bells Ring is book three in my ‘Somewhere in Time’ series with a Christmas theme. The common thread in the series is that the story opens in one place, so far an old Virginia home, then transports the reader ‘Somewhere else,’ either back in time in the same house or another place such as the Scottish Highlands in Somewhere My Lass.
But back to Somewhere the Bells Ring. Set in the old Virginia home place where my father grew up, a beautiful plantation home from the early 19th century, the story opens in 1968 during the tumultuous age of hippies, Vietnam, and some of the best darn rock music ever written. That nostalgic era beckoned to me as did an earlier one, 1918 and the end of WWI
I’ve seen the early 20th century family photos and often pondered that bygone age, gracious in many ways apart from the war(s). Having a Marine Corps Captain grandfather who distinguished himself during the thick of the fighting in France during The Great War and then tragically died when my father was only three influenced this story–dedicated to the grandfather I never knew, but grieved all the same.
But the biggest influence was a poignant dream I had years ago about a young woman visiting this house during the holidays and the mysterious gentleman she met. That dream nagged at me every Christmas until I finally wrote the story. If you enjoy a ghostly mystery with Gothic overtones and heart-tugging romance set in vintage America then Somewhere the Bells Ring is for you.
Blurb: Caught with pot in her dorm room, Bailey Randolph is exiled to a relative’s ancestral home in Virginia to straighten herself out. Banishment to Maple Hill is dismal, until a ghost appears requesting her help. Bailey is frightened but intrigued. Then her girlhood crush, Eric Burke, arrives and suddenly Maple Hill isn’t so bad.
To Eric, wounded in Vietnam, his military career shattered, this homecoming feels no less like exile. But when he finds Bailey at Maple Hill, her fairy-like beauty gives him reason to hope–until she tells him about the ghost haunting the house. Then he wonders if her one experiment with pot has made her crazy.
As Bailey and Eric draw closer, he agrees to help her find a long-forgotten Christmas gift the ghost wants. But will the magic of Christmas be enough to make Eric believe–in Bailey and the ghost–before the Christmas bells ring?~
***Somewhere the Bells Ring is available at Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook for.99 through December!
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