Showing results by author "Anna Belfrage" in All Categories

When reluctant time traveler Alex ended up at the feet of Matthew Graham in 1658, her life changed dramatically. It changed again when the Graham family moved to the American Colonies to escape religious persecution. Maryland offered them an opportunity to make a new life, but with a new land came new enemies. Also, despite all the years in Maryland, Matthew Graham still longs for home, so when an opportunity arises to return to Scotland, he takes it, never mind that it tears Alex in half to leave what she considers to be her home—and her large family—to accompany him.

On a muggy August day in 2001, Alexandra Lind was unexpectedly thrown backwards in time, landing in the year of Our Lord 1658. Catapulted into an unfamiliar and frightening new existence, Alex could do nothing but adapt. After all, while time-traveling in itself is a most rare occurrence, time-traveling with a return ticket is even rarer. Fortunately for Alex, she lands at the feet of Matthew Graham. No woman could ask for a better guide or protector in this strange new world of hers.

When reluctant time traveler Alex ended up at the feet of Matthew Graham in 1658, her life changed dramatically. Now, eight years later, Alex has to handle yet another major change—becoming a settler in the American colony of Maryland. The Graham family has no choice: Matthew cannot remain in Scotland, not with his religious convictions. Their hope is that Maryland will offer them the opportunity to start anew, no matter the heartbreak of leaving their homeland. But some things cannot be left behind.

It is 1715 and for Duncan Melville, something fundamental is missing from his life. Despite a flourishing legal practice and several close friends, he is lonely, even more so after the recent death of his father. He needs a wife—a companion through life, someone to hold and be held by. What he wasn’t expecting was to be torn away from everything he knew and find said woman in 2016.

In their rural home in the Colony of Maryland, Matthew and Alex Graham are still recovering from the awful events of the previous years when Luke Graham, Matthew's estranged brother, asks them for a favor. Alex has no problems whatsoever ignoring Luke's sad plea for help. In her opinion, Matthew's brother is an evil excuse of a man who deserves whatever nasty stuff fate throws at him. Except, as Matthew points out, Luke is begging them to save his son—his misled Charlie, one of the Monmouth rebels—and can Charlie Graham be held responsible for his father's ill deeds?

England in the early 1320s is a restless place. Edward II’s barons are disgruntled by his preference for Hugh Despenser, and in 1321 Roger Mortimer rebels against his king. With Baron Mortimer rides Adam de Guirande, Mortimer’s most loyal man. But when Edward II strikes back, things look uncomfortably dark for Adam who finds himself a prisoner—and abandoned by everyone but his wife.

A well-researched historical setting provides the background against which the personal challenges and tragedies of the Graham Saga are set. In this book, we return to a Maryland presently torn apart by religious conflict - the hitherto so tolerant approach to various faiths is a thing of the past now that the staunchly Protestant William and Mary sit on the throne, and when Catholic friends of the Grahams end up in danger, Matthew and Alex must ride to the rescue.

It's 1672, and Matthew Graham and his family have left Scotland. Having taken the drastic decision to leave their homeland due to religious conflicts, Alexandra and Matthew hope for a simpler, if harsher, life in the wilds of the Colony of Maryland. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out as you want them to, and the past has a nasty tendency to resurface at the most inappropriate moments. Both Matthew and Alex are forced to cope with the unexpected reappearance of people they had never thought to meet again.

For Matthew Graham, being given the gift of his former Scottish manor is a dream come true. For his wife, Alex, this gift will force her to undertake a perilous sea journey, leaving most of their extensive family in the Colony of Maryland. Alex is torn apart by this, but staying behind while her husband travels to Scotland is no option. Scotland in 1688 is a divided country, torn between the papist Stuart King and the foreign Protestant William of Orange. Popular opinion is with Dutch William, and Matthew's reluctance to openly support him does not endear him to his former friends.

Adam de Guirande owes his lord, Roger Mortimer, much more than loyalty: he owes Lord Roger for his life and all his worldly goods; he owes him for his beautiful wife. So when Lord Roger rises in rebellion against the king, Adam has no choice but to ride with him - no matter the ultimate cost. England in 1321 is a confusing place. Edward II has been forced by his barons to exile his favorite, Hugh Despenser. The barons - led by the powerful Thomas of Lancaster, Roger Mortimer, and Humphrey de Bohun - have reasons to believe they have finally tamed the king.

Robert FitzStephan and his wife, Noor, have been temporarily exiled. Officially, they are to travel to the courts of Aragon and Castile as emissaries of Queen Eleanor of England. Unofficially, the queen demands two things: that they abandon Lionel, their foster son, in foreign lands and that they bring back a precious jewel—the Castilian Pomegranate. Noor would rather chop off a foot than leave Lionel in a foreign land—especially as he’s been entrusted to her by his dead father, the last true prince of Wales. And as to the jewel, stealing it would mean immediate execution.

Adam de Guirande has barely survived the aftermath of Roger Mortimer's rebellion in 1321. When Mortimer manages to escape the Tower and flee to France, anyone who has ever served Mortimer becomes a potential traitor - at least in the eyes of King Edward II and his royal chancellor, Hugh Despenser. Adam must conduct a careful balancing act to keep himself and his family alive. Fortunately, he has two formidable allies: Queen Isabella and his wife, Kit.

After years of hard work, Matthew and Alex Graham have created a thriving home in the Colony of Maryland. About time, in Alex's opinion, after far too many adventures she is really looking forward to some well-deserved peace and quiet. A futile hope, as it turns out. Things start to heat up when Jacob, the third Graham son, absconds from his apprenticeship to see the world - especially as Jacob leaves behind a girl whom he has wed in a most irregular fashion. Then there's the infected matter of the fellow time traveler Alex feels obliged to help - no matter the risk.

Robert’s half brother, Eustace de Lamont, has not mellowed during his absence. He is more ruthless than ever, and this time he targets Robert’s and Noor’s foster son, Lionel. Lionel is serving King Edward as a page when Eustace appears at court. Not only does Lionel become the horrified witness to Eustace’s violent streak, Eustace also starts voicing his suspicions about Lionel’s parentage. The truth about Lionel’s heritage is explosive—should King Edward find out, all would be lost for Robert and Noor.

Life in the Colony of Maryland is no sinecure - as Alex and Matthew Graham well know. But nothing in their previous life has prepared them for the mayhem that is about to be unleashed upon them. Being labeled a witch is not a good thing in 1684, so it is no wonder Alex Graham is aghast at having such insinuations thrown at her. Even worse, it's Matthew's brother-in-law, Simon Melville, who points finger at her.

Robert FitzStephan has served Edward Longshanks loyally since the age of twelve. Now he is riding with his king to once and for all bring Wales under English control. Eleanor d’Outremer—Noor to family—lost her Castilian mother as a child and is left entirely alone when her father and brother are killed. When ordered to wed the unknown Robert FitzStephan, she has no choice but to comply. Two strangers in a marriage bed is not easy. Things are further complicated by Noor’s blood-ties to the Welsh princes and by covetous Edith who has warmed Robert’s bed for years.

Matthew Graham committed the mistake of his life when he cut off his brother’s nose—however much he deserved it. In revenge, Luke Graham has Matthew abducted and transported to the Colony of Virginia, there to be sold as indentured labor—a death sentence more or less. Matthew arrives in Virginia in May of 1661, and any hope he had of finding someone willing to listen to his tale of unlawful abduction is quickly extinguished. If anything Matthew’s insistence that he is an innocent man leads to him being singled out for the heaviest tasks.

Ask Helle Madsen what she thinks about reincarnation and she’ll laugh in your face. Besides, Helle has other stuff to handle, what with her new, exciting job in London and her drop-dead but seriously sinister boss, Sam Woolf. And then one day Jason Morris walks into her life, and despite never having clapped eyes on him before, she recognizes him immediately. Very weird. Even more weird is the fact that Sam and Jason clearly hate each other's guts.

At times a common bloodline is something of a curse—or so Robert FitzStephan discovers when he realizes his half-brother, Eustace de Lamont, wants to kill him. A murderous and greedy brother isn’t Robert’s only challenge. He and his wife, Noor, also have to handle their infected relationship with a mightily displeased Queen Eleanor—all because of their mysterious little foundling whom they refuse to abandon or allow the queen to lock away.

Safely returned from an involuntary stay in Virginia, Matthew Graham finds the Scottish Lowlands torn asunder by religious strife. His Restored Majesty, Charles II, requires all his subjects to swear fealty to him and the Church of England, riding roughshod over any opposition. In Ayrshire, people close ranks around their evicted Presbyterian ministers. But disobedience comes at a high price, and Alex becomes increasingly nervous as to what her Matthew is risking by his support of the clandestine ministers—foremost amongst them the charismatic Sandy Peden.