Five Stars for Love Lost in Time by Cathie Dunn

Love Lost in Time

By Cathie Dunn

A reluctant daughter. A dutiful wife. A mystery of the ages.

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. 

Love Lost in Time by Cathie Dunn is one of the most beautifully poignant story that I have ever read. Set in two vastly different timelines - France during the reign of Charlemagne's and France in the modern era. But the story is connected by two women.  Lady Nanthild and Maddie Winters. 

With the death of Maddie's mother, she thinks she will inherit her estate, but her mother has put a clause in a will, saying that Maddie has to stay in her house if she wants to inherit it. Although resentful, Maddie does as her mother has requested. But when she starts to renovate strange things begin to happen.

Lady Nanthild, or Helida as she likes to be called, is a noblewoman, but she has inherited the gift of healing. If anyone were to learn about this, she would be in deep trouble, so she must keep it a secret. 

Initially, I did wonder how the two timelines would meet as they are very different stories, but with subtle touches to the narrative, I began to understand how this puzzle would fit together. Although I must say, nothing was preparing me for what happened at the end of the novel! 

This is a very emotional story and I did end up ugly-crying by the end of the novel, but it is also one of hope that finally both characters would find peace.

Cathie Dunn is a new author for me, but this will not be the last book of hers that I read. For anyone who loves historical fiction and modern fiction with a paranormal twist, this is the book for you.

This book is avaliable on Amazon in the following formats: Kindle, Paperback and Hardback

Cathie Dunn

Cathie is an Amazon-bestselling author of historical fiction, dual-timeline, mystery, and romance. She loves to infuse her stories with a strong sense of place and time, combined with a dark secret or mystery – and a touch of romance. Often, you can find her deep down the rabbit hole of historical research…

 

In addition, she is also a historical fiction book promoter with The Coffee Pot Book Club, a novel-writing tutor, and a keen reviewer on her blog, Ruins & Reading.

 

After having lived in Scotland for almost two decades, Cathie is now enjoying the sunshine in the south of France with her husband, and her rescued pets, Ellie Dog & Charlie Cat. 

She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Richard III Society, the Alliance of Independent Authors, and the Romantic Novelists’ Association.