With four bestselling novels in print, Carrie McClelland loves writing historical romance. She is currently creating a novel with the setting of 1708 Scotland, and the ruined Slains Castle draws Carrie's interest. She feels compelled to rent a small cottage in Crude's Bay from the Keith family, close to the castle located near the sea. Carrie's characters normally come alive through her dreams as she creates her stories. This time, bits of dialogue and voices enter her mind accompanied with flashes of déjà vu. Creating her story around the sea only re-enforces her father's belief that Carrie has the sea in her blood.

Graham Keith, college professor and son of her landlord, along with his dog Angus, soon become involved in Carrie's exploration into the fictional characters now paralleling her own ancestors. Typing what she dreams is in reality the actual memory of her ancestor. Following the life of her predecessor Sophia Paterson, Carrie soon discovers her fiction becoming fact and true occurrences are proven through her research. Graham is an unexpected bonus for Carrie while searching her heritage.

This story began rather slowly, but soon turned to intrigue mingled with an interesting twist, turning the story from fiction to truth and unveiling incidents that Carrie alone knows as the true story. This author has brought forth excitement and mystery filled with a tale of love and loyalty, as well as the ultimate betrayal. Once into the story, I thoroughly enjoyed the fascinating subject of déjà vu and ancestral memory.

Book Summary

History has all but forgotten the spring of 1708, when an invasion fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors, and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory...making her the only living person who can know the truth of what did happen all those years ago - a tale of love and loyalty...and ultimate betrayal.