Title: What Lainey Sees
Author: Laura Tobias
Genre: Time Travel, Romantic Suspense, Native American Romance
Release Date: March 2015
Cover Design: Angie-O Creations
***PLEASE NOTE: What Lainey Sees is in Kindle Select.
And it will be part of a Kindle Countdown
August 26, 27, 28 during this three day promo run.
It means that the book is on sale at Amazon for the three day blast!
August 26 and until 6 pm PST August 27. Then up to $1.99 for the
remainder of August 27 and all of August 28th. It goes back to
its regular price of $3.29 at 8 am PST August 29th.***
Centuries ago, the passion they shared as Native American lovers ended in tragedy. Together again and unaware of their past, can they claim the love that’s rightfully theirs?
Seattle newspaper reporter Lainey Hughes is desperate to find her mother who has disappeared into a doomsday cult sequestered somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. She teams up with Gage Stuart, a jaded cop whose young son is also being held there. As they race up the coast in a kayak searching for their loved ones, Lainey’s visions show her the past . . . the present . . . and the future.
Lives are on the line. Love is within reach. And trust is hard to come by.
What Lainey Sees may help two wounded souls embrace their future . . . but only if they’ll learn from past mistakes.
She interrupted him. “Hold me, Gage. Just hold me. We could have died back there. My God, what would have happened to my mother?”
There were times to think and times not to think. Like now. Gage shut his eyes and held her. For a minute, he pretended Keven was safe. They were safe. That everything was normal. He inhaled Lainey’s scent, the feel of her breasts beneath her jacket. His hand traced the curve of her hip, the swell of her tight, round ass. Sweet Carolina, she felt good.
“Gage?”
“Mmm-hmm?”
She dropped her arms, took his head between her hands and brought his face forward until his lips were within grazing distance of her own. “I . . . want . . . you.” Each word was a puff of heat sliding out from her lips into his.
His body responded in the most elemental way. He wanted her. Bad. He wanted to make this respite from danger last just a little bit longer. But that was his dick talking, and the last time he’d listened, he’d gotten his rocks burned, not off. He inched back and put some space between them. “You’re in shock, Lainey. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
She feathered her lips over his. “I’m saying I want you.”
The backs of his knees quivered.
She brushed her lips over his a second time. “You. Gage Stuart.”
“Now who’s teasing?” he asked thickly.
“I’m not teasing, I’m begging.” This lip brush had a little tongue action.
He trembled. He’d told her she would beg for him.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” She licked his lower lip. “Me to beg?”
His mouth was on fire. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I do, Gage. This time, I do. Make love to me.” Her eyes were a rich, dark chocolate, heavy-lidded with passion. “I need to forget everything for a little while. Celebrate being alive.” Her arms went under his shirt. “No strings. No ulterior motives. Just two people taking comfort from each other.” Her jacket sleeve was slippery cold against his skin, but her fingers were hot as they grazed his belly, his nipples. He shivered.
He was standing in a cold cave with a warm woman crawling all over him. Wanting him. His need was great, his body was primed, the woman was ready and willing. So why couldn’t he pretend it was just about sex?
Because this was different. The why of it didn’t matter. It just was. He needed Lainey Hughes like he needed his next breath.
Maybe even more.
Thanks very much for hosting me and featuring What Lainey Sees on Padme’s Library. I’m happy to be here!
The question is an interesting one. Every writing genre – from romance to suspense to literary to westerns – has its own freedoms and restrictions. Along with writing romance and women’s fiction as Laura Tobias, I also write YA and children’s fiction as Laura Langston. There are freedoms and restrictions in writing for young people too, though not as many as you might think. In my opinion, a good story is a good story and I rarely consider freedoms and restrictions as I focus on character, plot and the story I’m driven to tell.
Having said that, What Lainey Sees posed some unique challenges. It’s not a classic time travel in the sense of the word but more of a past life romance where the main characters experience themselves living in two distinctly different time periods, with both time periods impacting and influencing the other. In the present day, Seattle newspaper reporter Lainey Hughes is desperate to find her mother who has disappeared into a doomsday cult sequestered somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. She teams up with Gage Stuart, a jaded cop whose young son is also being held there. As they race up the coast in a kayak searching for their loved ones, their past life intrudes. Lainey has visions of being a powerful Indian shaman woman called Bright Eyes and she knows, with certainty, that Gage was her lover in that life – a powerful Nootka warrior named Satsokis. Their tempestuous and tragic past hundreds of years earlier influences them today and it also complicates their challenges rescuing their loved ones from a possible death sentence.
One of the freedoms in writing a past life novel is the ability to bring out the motivations, fears and belief systems of the main characters without a lot of backstory. Lainey, for instance, has psychic ability but it’s suppressed. In her past life as Bright Eyes, using her psychic ability led to a tragic outcome. It’s more powerful to illustrate that through active scenes showing the rising tension between Bright Eyes and Satsokis rather than through narrative. It’s more fun for the reader too. And when we flip back to the Lainey/Gage story line, the ancient argument flares again, only it’s playing out in a more contemporary way.
One of the challenges in a dual life story line is that flipping back and forth between the two story lines. I think it’s important for both stories to stand alone – to have a beginning, middle and an end (whether that’s a happy ending or a tragic one). It’s also important that the flow between the present and the past be seamless. I worked hard to ensure the transitions between present day Seattle and the Native American coastal life of the 1700s flowed easily. And I’m quite happy with the way they turned out.
As I mentioned earlier, every novel written poses restrictions and freedoms. The very nature of creating characters and putting them in worlds means how they act and what they say and do must be true to those worlds. That’s true whether it’s a paranormal world, a teen world, a supernatural world, or a past life world. Bright Eyes and Satsokis were devoted lovers in the 1700s but their world as Native Americans living on the coast was a very different milieu than the world Lainey and Gage inhabit in Seattle. Some may see that as a restriction. I don’t see it that way. I see it as a freedom to explore the important themes like love and devotion and being true to oneself regardless of where you are or what timeline you’re living in.
Thanks again for letting me drop in at Padme’s Library. Happy reading!
Laura Tobias
By the time she hit Grade Four, Laura Tobias knew she was going to be a writer. So did the teachers. It was the persistent daydreaming and invisible friends that tipped them off. The question was: how could she daydream for the rest of her life and get paid for it? The answer: Trade the crayons for a computer and write those stories down. Oh, and grow up first. She’s managed the first two. She’s still working on the growing up part.
Laura Tobias lives with her family, including two Shetland sheepdogs, in the Pacific Northwest. When she’s not reading or writing she’s either playing in the garden or spying on people at the grocery store. Laura is an award winning author of 19 books for teens and children written as Laura Langston.
Thanks for hosting me on your blog!
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