Author Dayna Leigh Cheser Introduces her Adult Historical Romance ‘Janelle’s Time,’ Book One of the ‘TIME Series,’
the story of the Grayson family in 1830s New Hampshire
“If you love the magic of romance and the romance of magic, this is a book for you.”
Kenneth Ween, author of ‘Tales from the Dew Drop Inne,’ ‘Memoirs from the Asylum,’ & ‘Widow’s Walk’
‘Janelle’s Time’ tells the story of the great love between a New Hampshire farmer’s daughter and Richard Grayson, the younger son of an English Duke.
From after her father’s untimely death in a lumbering accident to the difficult birth of twin daughters, Janelle unwittingly makes it difficult for Richard to keep her safe. She has a knack for getting into difficult situations.
Unaware of Janelle’s maternal-line powers, the couple is surprised to find themselves in 14th century England, where they meet Richard’s ancestors – and discover a startling fact about his aristocratic family. Richard, devastated by the discovery, bids adieu to Janelle, telling her she deserves better. Their relationship appears to be over until Janelle takes matters into her own hands.
In the year between their meeting in the cemetery where Janelle was visiting her father’s grave and their wedding the following summer, the couple grew to love each other very much, discovering how good they were together one cold, snowy, and glorious night in February.
The couple was sure the wedding would be the new beginning they need – the end of the stream of strange problems that plagued their relationship. But, it seems, the problems were only just beginning. How much can their new relationship withstand?
Logan Conor, the Scots Duke of Muileach, crashes Richard and Janelle’s wedding, bent on revenge. A brawl between Richard and Logan years before, resulting in the death of a woman, is why Logan crossed the Atlantic, searching for Richard. What happened next surprised everyone.
On their wedding trip to England, a madman attempts to kidnap Janelle – twice – threatening to kill Richard and his oldest brother, Sinjin, in the process. Then, one night, outside an inn near London, Richard clashes with robbers. Later, patrons of the inn find him, unconscious, thinking he’s dead, and sound the alarm.
As he recovers, battling amnesia. Richard unknowingly betrays Janelle who strands him in England. Months later, Richard finally arrives home, but fate separates them again. Sent into exile, he misses the birth of his son. Will they ever make a life together?
When he returns, it’s to a less-than-enthusiastic reception, but he wins Janelle over in time. Soon, Janelle is struggling to give birth to twins. The attending doctor is no help at all, so Richard’s father takes matters into his own hands.
In England for a visit, Agnes, a distant MacKendall cousin, has a vision of the infant Moria, seeing her many years in the future as a young woman, far from home in a very dangerous place. As no further details are forthcoming, Richard and Janelle worry endlessly about their little girl.
Filled with unexpected twists and turns, their love story spans two continents, and hundreds of years. But, can their love survive their very different backgrounds and the endless obstacles life throws at them? What does the future hold for this young family?
Blurb - Moria’s Time, Book 2 of the TIME Series, by Dayna Leigh Cheser
Janelle Grayson is distraught over a troubling vision. Old Agnes MacKendall has seen her infant daughter, Moria, as a young woman, years in the future, traveling afar to a perilous place, fraught with danger.
Janelle and her husband, Richard, are both concerned about the vision. They decide to do all they can to prepare their precious little girl for what likely lies ahead for her. It’s a future charged with risk the likes of which, for the unprepared and ordinary person, could spell certain doom.
So begins Moria’s Time—Book 2 of the TIME Series.
At six-years old, Moria starts to learn about her heritage. Like her mother, Moria is a MacKendall. The women of this Scots clan have unusual powers including, among many other skills, natural medicine—which Janelle soon discovers is Moria’s special and strongest gift. Richard agrees with Janelle that she should train Moria, focusing on, and nurturing, her rare strengths in preparing for her future. By the time she’s a teen, Moria is a talented natural healer.
At fourteen, Moria meets Elizabeth Blackwell who befriends and mentors Moria, guiding her through the long and arduous journey to her goal of becoming a doctor.
Later, while visiting family in England, Moria meets Florence Nightingale—who will figure significantly in her life in the future. The family also meets Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Later, Miss Nightingale summons Moria to London, where she works at a charity hospital and meets Dr. Simon Hensley.
Moria becomes one of the first 38 nurses bound for Scutari, Turkey with Miss Nightingale. Dr. Hensley, in love with Moria, follows her, much to her chagrin, but she’s skittish—about men, relationships, anything and anyone that might distract her from the challenge of being a woman daring to want a career in the male-dominated field of medicine—and, so … she rebuffs him.
At home for a visit, Moria is overjoyed to reconnect with her twin sister, Adelle, and meets her beau, Walter. He and Adelle convince Moria that Dr. Hensley isn’t the enemy. He may well be the one to protect her from the men she fears. Back in Turkey, Moria and Dr. Hensley work things out.
Simon and Moria return to London after the war. At Devonwood, the Grayson family estate, Moria’s Grandmother convinces Moria can marry Simon and not endanger her future. Simon proposes; Moria accepts. The twins plan a double wedding.
After the wedding, Simon and Moria visit medical schools for interviews. Moria is turned away from school after school, simply because she’s woman. Finally, a school in Pennsylvania accepts Moria who graduates at the top of her class.
What does the future hold for Moria and Simon who, with their charity hospital and wartime experience, may not be happy in private practice tending to runny noses and strained muscles? Will they be able to work out their differences? What happens to bring them together again?
BIO:
Dayna Leigh Cheser – Biography
My mother, a non-fiction author, two brothers—one as a newspaper editor, the other, a copywriter—and a sister, a church newsletter editor, prove that clearly, writing ‘runs in my family’. Much of what I’ve written over the years was never published – much of it never shared with anyone.
My father, a school teacher/reading specialist, started teaching me to read after story-time one night when I was four years old. I’d stopped him mid-story to ask how he was able to say the same thing every time he read that story to me. My lessons started that night, beginning a life-long love affair with books—and for that, I am grateful.
The short stories I wrote in junior high school entertained my peers – and the occasional teacher who intercepted them in their travels. At the high school level, one English class assignment was to write an autobiography. In the teacher-specified chapter entitled ‘Future Plans’, being a published writer topped the list. I can’t remember not wanting to write.
After a college professor told me I ‘couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag,’ I stopped writing for years. It was not until the late 1970s, when I wrote an article for the now-defunct World Radio News (San Diego, CA), that my writing gene was reactivated. The article was about our amateur radio club providing communications for a March of Dimes Walk-a-thon. Seven of the twenty pictures my husband submitted with my article were used.
In early 2002, between jobs and wanting to write seriously, I obtained a third-shift position as a gated-community security officer and used the ‘free time’ to write what became Janelle’s Time. When the draft was complete, it went on the shelf. At that time, the industry was shifting from the Post Office to the internet – a very confusing time! In 2009, when I started my Twitter page, @Writers_Cafe, the WIP came off the shelf. What I’ve learned from my (now) 19,000 followers is prodigious – I feel like I’ve earned a degree! By August 2011, it was ready—at last—for submission.
@RileyCarney, a Colorado teen, and prolific YA fantasy author, who heads her own non-profit literacy project moved me to write an article about her. Never officially published, countless people have seen the article, thanks to Twitter retweets and some carefully chosen email inboxes.
On New Year’s Day, 2010, my shiny new blog, A Place for Writers, went ‘live.’ It evolved into a combination chronicle of my writing journey and helpful posts on publishing industry topics.
In the fall of 2011, I added ‘DIY Interviews’ to my blog (see the ‘DIY Interviews’ tab of my website for details on doing an interview). Not a primary task in the overall scheme of things, over fifty authors have submitted interviews to date.
Janelle’s Time is book one of my ‘TIME Series’ and was published in July of 2012. Book two, Moria’s Time, was my winning NaNoWriMo project for 2011. It’s now complete and will be released in mid-August of 2013. There are three more books in the series: Adelle’s Time (my winning 2012 NaNo project), Logan’s Time, and Clarissa’s Time (my 2013 NaNo project for 2013).
In September of 2012, I switched from my blog A Place for Writers, and went to a full website: www.DaynaLCheser.com. With thirty pages, my new blog, ‘Posts by Dayna,’ is there now, along with ‘DIY Interviews,’ and extensive information about the ‘TIME Series.’
My husband, Pete, and I have been married for forty-five years—no children—and have lived in Southwest Florida for over twenty years, originally hailing from New England.
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