Languedoc, France, 2018
Historian Madeleine Winters would rather research her next project than rehash the strained relationship she had with her late mother. However, to claim her inheritance, she reluctantly agrees to stay the one year required in her late mother’s French home and begins renovations. But when she’s haunted by a female voice inside the house and tremors emanating from beneath her kitchen floorboards, she’s shocked to discover ancient human bones.
The Mediterranean coast, AD 777
Seventeen-year-old Nanthild is wise enough to know her place. Hiding her Pagan wisdom and dutifully accepting her political marriage, she’s surprised when she falls for her Christian husband, the Count of Carcassonne. But she struggles to keep her forbidden religious beliefs and her healing skills secret while her spouse goes off to fight in a terrible, bloody war.
As Maddie settles into her rustic village life, she becomes obsessed with unraveling the mysterious history buried in her new home. And when Nanthild is caught in the snare of an envious man, she’s terrified she’ll never embrace her beloved again.
Can two women torn apart by centuries help each other finally find peace?
Love Lost in Time is a vivid standalone historical fiction novel for fans of epoch-spanning enigmas. If you like dark mysteries, romantic connections, and hints of the paranormal, then you’ll adore Cathie Dunn’s tale of redemption and self-discovery.
Triggers: Implied attack on a female character. Some minor fighting scenes.
Publisher: Ocelot Press
Print Length: 274 Pages
Genre: Duel Time-Line / Historical Mystery / Romance
Review
I went into Love Lost in Time expecting a thoughtful time-slip romance. What I didn’t expect was to be chuckling one minute, slightly unsettled the next, and then fully invested before I’d realised the book had quietly tightened its grip. It wastes no time showing you that this story isn’t going to behave itself.
At first, there’s a gentle, almost cosy charm to it — village life, renovation woes, dry humour, and the sort of everyday absurdities that make you smile in recognition. But that comfort is very deliberately lulling. Beneath the surface, things feel…off. The house creaks with memory, the past won’t stay politely in books, and what starts as curiosity soon edges into something far more unnerving.
The balance between lighter moments and darker undertones is handled brilliantly. Small, funny interactions give way to tension that sneaks up on you rather than announcing itself. By the time bones appear where kitchen tiles should be, the shift feels inevitable rather than shocking — and suddenly the story has teeth.
The historical storyline deepens this effect. What begins as duty-bound formality slowly reveals emotional pressure, unspoken fear, and a relationship that has to grow in a world where choices carry real consequences. There’s warmth and humour here too, but it’s tempered by the knowledge that safety is never guaranteed.
What makes the book work so well is that nothing feels wasted. The humour softens you up, the atmosphere tightens around you, and before you know it you’re fully caught between centuries, wondering how much worse things are about to get. By the time the story settles into its darker rhythm, that early sense of ease lingers just enough to make everything that follows more unsettling. You will need tissues when reading this book - be warned!
Love Lost in Time starts with charm, slides into tension, and ends with your nerves gently buzzing — the kind of story that makes you smile first, then look twice at the floor beneath your feet.
Five Stars
https://books2read.com/u/mq7DM9
https://mybook.to/LoveLostTime
This book is available on #KindleUnlimited
%20copy%202.png)
A heartfelt thank you for your wonderful review and for sharing your thoughts with your readers. We truly appreciate your support.
ReplyDeleteThank you ever so much for your wonderful review of Love Lost in Time. I have tears in my eyes! I'm really chuffed you enjoyed it so much. Thank you for taking the time to read and review my little novel. It is much appreciated. Cathie xx
ReplyDelete