I am in intrigued with many of the books I have reviewed this year and this book is probably at the top of my favorites thus far. Many of us readers find the past so interesting to explore. Not only that but to get a glimpse of what might have been. In this story a young girl name Jesse discovers she is adopted and while she lives in Australia, she is not from there at all. So she takes a life changing and astonishing journey to Europe to find out who her birth family is. Her journey takes her to the borders between England and Scotland to a vast castle and ancient land. But by chance really or is it by chance? Fate maybe. She too looks into the past and she is tied to long ago events she discovers in more ways than one…

But let me take you back a little…Before her journey to the borders she is in England and has an accident. The doctor who treats her is a neurologist discovers Jessie has certain abilities through hypnosis …was it caused by her accident? While in the hospital Jessie draws these pictures of a castle-the castle I mentioned above- and the doctor knows this place all too well. He convinces her to go with him to the castle. So off they go to the borders and their adventure is quite extraordinary.

Meanwhile, the owner of the castle, Alicia is doing everything she can to keep the castle-due to financial difficulties- must make tough decisions. But you don’t know for sure what decision she is going to make until later on… Another thing I like about this story is that this castle and land is deeply connected to all the main characters in this story. I really like Alicia and she is probably my favorite character in this book.

The story takes you back and forth between the 14^th century and the 20^th century. It is steeped in deeply buried secrets, loss, fairy tales-more like mystical to me-and so much more. I believe the author does a wonderful job writing about the past and the more modern times. I was truly captivated with the historical events in this story and I love the atmosphere, characters, and intrigue the author writes and I must say there are a few twist to the story that let me guessing a few things until almost right up to the end….and that is rare for me. I admire that greatly in this story and it certainly kept me up late at night reading on to find out more…I didn’t want the story to end.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I am so glad I discovered her. I will definitely be reading more books from this writer and I highly recommend this story. I’ve rated this book four and a half stars!

Stephanie M. Hopkins