A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage

I am delighted today to be joining the Coffee Pot Book Club blog tour to tell you about an intriguing historical / time travel romance, A Rip in the Veil, by Anna Belfrage, the first book in The Graham Saga, re-edited and republished in January 2023.

What is the book about?

On a muggy August day in 2002 Alex Lind disappears. On an equally stifling August day in 1658, Matthew Graham finds her on a Scottish moor. Life will never be the same for Alex – or for Matthew.

Alexandra Lind is thrown three centuries backwards in time to land at the feet of escaped convict Matthew Graham.

Matthew doesn’t know what to make of this strange woman who has seemingly fallen from the skies—what is she, a witch?

Alex is convinced the tall, gaunt man is some sort of hermit, an oddball, but she quickly realises the odd one out is she, not he.

Catapulted from a life of modern comfort, Alex grapples with her new existence, further complicated by the dawning realization that someone from her time has followed her here—and not exactly to extend a helping hand.

Potential compensation for this brutal shift in fate comes in the shape of Matthew, a man she should never have met, not when she was born three centuries after him. But Matthew comes with baggage of his own and on occasion his past threatens them both. At times Alex finds it all excessively exciting, longing for the structured life she used to have.

How will she ever get back? And more importantly, does she really want to?

I’ll give you the details of the book and where to buy it in a moment. But, first, let me share an excerpt…

Excerpt

In which Alex tells Matthew who (what?) she is…

With a little sigh, their fire collapsed into a heap of smouldering embers, and for some moments Matthew busied himself with adding some more fuel to it.

“So,” he said once the fire had recovered from its near death experience. “Your turn.”

Alex chewed at her lower lip, wondering how to explain. “I was born in Seville, Spain.” She looked at him and decided to tell him in one fell swoop. “In August, 1976.”

He blinked. “What?”

“You heard me, 1976.” Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have told him quite so abruptly because if his mouth fell any further open, she’d be able to fit not just an apple but a whole melon into it. She could totally sympathise with his reaction. She cleared her throat and fiddled with a loose button on her shirt. He shifted on his seat, and when she peeked at him he was staring at her. She gave him a tentative smile, and to her relief he smiled back—albeit a rather weak smile.

“What day in August?” he said, surprising her. She counted days in her head. Today was the eleventh of August, and in thirteen days she’d be twenty-six. Probably more or less ancient in these times, she shuddered.

“The twenty-fourth, but that’s okay, I don’t expect a cake and gifts.”

He laughed, a soft sound, and moved to sit a bit closer, his eyes intent on her face.

“How did you get here?”

Well, at least he was still sitting beside her, not running away from her in panic—that had to be a good sign, right?

“I have no idea.” She told him of the car and the thunderstorm, of the hole that opened below her. He gawked at her.

“But . . .” he began, closed his mouth and exhaled before trying again. “But, no, you can’t do that! It’s impossible!” He swallowed. “Unless . . . ” he broke off.

“Unless what? You think I’m some sort of witch?”

“Are you?” He averted his eyes, and she could swear he was praying under his breath.

“Of course not! And this is just as unbelievable to me as it is to you, okay?” She hugged her legs. “I keep on hoping it’s some sort of dream, so will you please pinch me hard enough to make me wake up?” He did, and she yelped, glaring at him. “Ow! I already knew I was awake—unfortunately.”

Matthew took a deep breath, took two, his eyes never leaving hers.

“I’m telling you the truth, okay? Who would make something like that up? God’s idea of a joke, right?” She laughed shakily, and to her relief he joined in, before leaning towards her, eyes alight with curiosity.

“Tell me then, what’s it like, there in the future?”

So Alex did, spending the coming half-hour describing a life that made him at times gape and just as often laugh, insisting she had to be pulling his leg.

“No plague?” he asked, impressed.

“No,” she said, “and people don’t tend to die of the measles.”

Matthew threw her a sharp look. “And him? The man by the spring? Is he from your time as well?”

“Obviously,” she muttered. “What will they do to him?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t speak Scots, and his clothes . . . ” He looked at her jeans.

“I should have helped him.” Not that she’d really wanted to, not after his comments regarding Italy.

“How? One lass against a troop of soldiers? And he didn’t seem to care much for you. Had I not been there, I think he would have hurt you—badly.”

“Probably.” Alex suppressed a tremor or two.

“Why?”

“I have no idea.” Which was, after all, the truth.

“But he said, about Italy and—”

“Look; I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” She stared him down, eyes never leaving his until he shrugged and went to find some more wood.

Book Details

A Rip in the Veil is published by Timelight Press and is available as an eBook, and in paperback from many different outlets. It is also available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

To buy A Rip in the Veil

About the Author

Anna Belfrage

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England.

Anna has also published The Wanderer, a fast-paced contemporary romantic suspense trilogy with paranormal and time-slip ingredients.

Her Castilian Heart is the third in her “Castilian” series, a stand-alone sequel to her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the complications of Edward I’s invasion of Wales, His Castilian Hawk is a story of loyalty, integrity—and love. In the second instalment, The Castilian Pomegranate, we travel with the protagonists to the complex political world of medieval Spain. This latest release finds our protagonists back in England—not necessarily any safer than the wilds of Spain!

Anna has also authored The Whirlpools of Time in which she returns to the world of time travel. Join Duncan and the somewhat reluctant time-traveller Erin on their adventures through the Scottish Highlands just as the first Jacobite rebellion is about to explode!

All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.

Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com.

You can follow Anna on social media:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | Book Bub

Follow Anna’s tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club here.