Spotlight & Giveaway: Forever Bound by Jessica Dall

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jessica Dall to HJ!

Hi Jessica and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Forever Bound!

 
So happy to be here!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Outlander meets Miss Marple: a fun time-slip romance built around a mystery set in an old Irish castle.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

I cursed under my breath as, once again, the road narrowed. I was supposedly only ten minutes from Kelkerry Castle, but the twisty road was giving me some serious doubts. It was bad enough that I was driving on the wrong side of the road. Now, with a fieldstone wall on one side and branches nearly scraping my car door on the other, I was about three millimeters away from ending up the star of some “Stupid Americans abroad” column.

There has got to be a better route.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• My original inspiration for this book came from a trip to Ireland I took in 2018 where I had the good luck to get to stay at a few different castle hotels.
• Kelkerry Castle takes a lot of inspiration from Lough Eske Castle in Co. Donegal.
• I waffled on the heroine’s name for a while but finally settled on Bridget, not only because it has an Irish origin, but because originally it was considered sacred and not actually used in pre-17th century Ireland. With her half-understanding of her own Irish heritage, it felt extra fitting.
• I had a number of Irish (and British) beta readers who helped me get the Irish characters’ voices down and helped tell me what slang was actually used and what just showed up in silly internet lists. They also helped point out that Tylenol is “paracetamol” in Ireland, not “acetaminophen.” Who knew? (Not me, obviously).
• A random (tiny) pet peeve I have about many time-slip novels is when the main character just happens to be an expert about the time they unwittingly end up in. That is largely why I wanted Bridget to be near history-illiterate. It was also fun to branch out, since I’m a history nerd, myself.

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

I think a large part of their initial attraction is that they challenge each other. They’re not the type of person either is used to being around. That new dynamic helps bring out new sides to them both.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Opposites attract, and are explosive.
 

The First Kiss…

is unintentional.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

About halfway through the book, our protagonists go out to to an old burial mound, surrounded by standing stones, trying to hunt down visions that will explain more of the past story they are living out. I’ve always loved how that segments flows:

The light swung skyward for a moment. “We’d best hurry and do whatever we’re going to if you don’t want to get soaked through.”

“We’re waiting on you, then. We agreed I wasn’t going to touch anything.” I returned to studying the triple spirals. The pattern was mesmerizing. I wrapped my arms around me to try to fight the pinprick sensation. It only made things worse. Like my hands were moving in the wrong direction. I could already smell a hint of ion in the air, mixing in with the grassy damp. There was something to see here. And it either very much wanted, or very much didn’t want us to see it. I could only hope it was the former.

Liam remained as still as one of the stones for a long beat before he moved to the one closest to him.

I waited, but nothing happened. “Did you touch it?”

“I told you it doesn’t always happen.”

You can’t seriously think it won’t happen. I couldn’t possibly be the only one feeling the energy in the air. “Try another one.”

The light in his hand bobbed as he moved down the line, stopping in front of one stone then the next.

“How long do you want me to do this?” he called as he started to round the mound, his light just visible around the curve from where I stood.

“How many stones are there?” I returned. I could almost feel his grumbling in the distance, but he continued making his way around.

His light blinked out of view. And I was seemingly alone in the darkness. My heartbeat rose to my throat, every nerve in my body alert. The trees continued to rustle in the distance. The sound somehow amplified in the stillness between the stones. To my over-charged mind, it sounded like laughter.

Christ… I blew out a calming breath and threw my arms down to my sides. I flexed my fingers to try to dispel some of the energy. Even if it was just a trick of the wind and the shape of the dip, I could see why generations would believe there was something mystical living in that mound. And if there were fairies, well, I supposed I just had to hope they weren’t pissed off by us dropping by tonight.

Last thing you want is an angry fairy, I remembered Liam’s words the first time we had talked about the visions. Now, I sort of wished I’d asked him “why?”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

Early on, there is the “how does this all work” talk that is also paired with some early head butting. I think it would be hard to progress the movie without getting both that information and that early character work!

God. How I could both want to punch and tear the clothes off of someone with such equal passion, I had no idea. Those damn visions, I assumed. Yes, he was hot, but I was much too old to be dealing with a guy who was still living out his Rebel Without a Cause phase.

I took a deep breath to keep my cool and caught his gaze trying to drop toward my chest before he wrenched it back up. At least it’s not just me. My standard of a thick sweater and jeans wasn’t the sexiest of outfits, but I shifted again to be able to strike a more flattering pose. The way he jerked his eyes away from me entirely to stare toward the hall made me feel a little better.

“So,” I said, “are you planning to spend the rest of the morning insulting me, or do you want to talk about something that might actually be useful in trying to stop these things?”

His cleared his throat awkwardly but gave a slightly less contemptuous shrug. “You can’t get rid of them once they start. Believe me. I’ve tried.”

“I haven’t.”

“You want to beat your head against a wall trying, grand. But you’re best off clearing out.”

Readers should read this book …

if they love romance, history, and mystery–or just want to pretend they’re moving to Ireland to buy their own castle!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I have a couple of other stories set in Ireland that I have in various stages of completion–one just straight historical romance, the others closer in feel to Forever Bound. My next book readers will see out, though, is “A Dangerous Beauty,” a historical fiction piece set in colonial Maryland. That has been out for a bit as a Kindle Vella story, but it will be available in paperback come Valentine’s Day!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard

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Excerpt from Forever Bound:

As I crossed through another line of trees, a stone tower came into view. I gasped. I’d seen more than my share of these single-tower castles on my drive to Kelkerry, but standing so close to one was something else. If Kelkerry made me feel small by scale, the weight of the tower’s history made me feel an entirely different kind of insignificant.

How did no one tell me about this?

Well, I supposed Cormac had mentioned there being an old Norman keep. He hadn’t said it was still standing, though—or at least the bulk of it was. And I certainly would have remembered seeing ruins in the real estate listing.

Did people just forget this was here?

The top of the tower was jagged, suggesting the roof had crumbled at some point, and lower than the tallest of the trees around it. And the forest behind me was thick enough to hide it from the shoreline. I definitely hadn’t seen it any of the times I’d stared off at the north side of the lake. Perhaps I was the first person who had even seen it in decades. Centuries, maybe. I didn’t exactly remember when the Normans would have been around, but it was certainly a long time before the people who’d made my Kelkerry were ever born.

Curiosity and the pleasure of finding something ancient and forgotten overtook the weird sensations. A few goosebumps weren’t going to stop me from getting a closer look. I stepped over a mess of knotted tree roots and approached the ruins. Leaving out the missing top, three of the walls seemed intact, the interlocking gray stones stretching up at least three stories. The fourth, the one closest to the lake, was primarily rubble. A cascade of stones sat in the middle of a gaping U that showed off masonry at least four feet thick. Something meant to withstand the harshest attacks whatever-century weaponry could throw at it. Narrow arrow slits were scattered up each of the other walls, but I didn’t see a door of any kind. Maybe that had been why that fourth wall had collapsed. Like there had been a wooden drawbridge that had rotted away or something. Unless the original owners had climbed inside Rapunzel-style every day.

The stones that had fallen from the tower were mossy and slick, and the mottled lighting from the trees played tricks with the shadows. Crevices appeared smooth and smooth stones pockmarked as I maneuvered past the crumbled wall to look inside. A large hearth remained on the far side with other smaller fireplaces scattered at uneven intervals up the rest of the tower where floors must have once been. Though weather had taken a toll, it all was in better shape than I would have expected for something possibly a thousand years old. The goosebumps came back with a new intensity, an excited buzzing pulsing through me.

I took another step forward. A loud bark behind me made me jump. I spun just in time to see a beautiful Irish setter running up to me, its tail wagging.

So maybe “the first in centuries” had been a bit grand an aspiration. With its silky red fur freshly brushed and stomach full, the setter looked far from a stray.

“Hello, there,” I said, crouching to the dog’s level as it stopped inches from my legs. “Where did you come from? Are there some sheep nearby you’re letting become roadkill?”

Footsteps crunched down the path, and I looked up once again to see an unfortunately familiar face.

Liam O’Flannagain didn’t appear any more pleased to see me. “What are you doing here?”

So not only not the first person in centuries, but I had to share the honor with Mr. Congeniality himself. I raised my eyebrows. “I could ask you the same thing. I’m not the one trespassing.”

His stormy expression turned darker, though I wouldn’t have thought that possible a few seconds ago. He snapped his fingers at his side as the setter began happily licking my chin. “Tom. Here.”

The dog turned his head, looking nearly disappointed, but obeyed.

“His name is Tom?” I straightened.

“Is that a problem?”

Don’t think I’m the one with the problem here. “No, it’s cute.” I glanced at Tom panting at Liam’s side, his doggy mouth pulled into what looked like his own Shansally grin. Good for you, not taking after your owner. I met Liam’s eyes again. “So what are you doing here?”

His jaw twitched. “My da wanted to know how overgrown this side of the lough was, in case you wanted to clear a path. I thought I’d take Tom for a walk at the same time.”

Something about his tone made the words sound like a lie, but the answer was reasonable enough. It didn’t seem worth it to press him. “I don’t think I’ll be doing much on this side of the lake. Especially with all this here.” I twisted to get another look at the tower. “I didn’t know there were ruins on the property. Tourists are going to love it.”

I would have to find some way to stop people from wrecking things further, trying to smuggle a smaller stone home or something, but especially with all the trees growing around them, the ruins were beautiful. Perfect for wedding pictures. With the forest pressed in so tightly, it would be difficult to get an entire wedding party in a clear shot, but having a first look around the old masonry or pictures of the wedding couple cuddling on the mossy ground with the tower in the background… I could hardly think of anything more romantic.

Summer is wedding season. If I can start booking soon—

“You’re planning to monetize?” Liam didn’t even attempt to hide the disgust in his tone.

I didn’t attempt to hide the annoyance in mine. “That’s sort of the point of all this.” I waved my hand in a big circle. “That’s what you’re trying to do too, isn’t it? Make your family’s business profitable?”

With Liam’s attention firmly on me, Tom took the chance to move forward and sniff my jeans.

“Tom,” Liam snapped.

“It’s no problem.” I crouched again to pet the dog’s glossy fur. “You’re a friendly boy, aren’t you?”

“Tom,” Liam repeated, reaching for the dog’s collar.

“Really”—I lifted my hand to fend him off—“it’s not…”

Our hands brushed, and everything went blurry. I blinked, attempting to get my bearings as the ground rolled under me. As much as I tried, the world still spun. The sensations from earlier sharpened and roared into the forefront. The electric buzzing I’d felt across my skin turned so sharp I could smell it in the air. Crackling ozone blotting out the earthiness around me. Then finally, slowly, softly, everything came back into focus. The anxiety began to fade. Trying to calm myself, I moved my other hand on Tom’s fur.

Something was wrong. I looked down. The dog I was petting was no longer Tom. Instead of the smooth, red coat, I was touching fuzzy white. The closest thing to Tom were the small splotches of red on the dog’s ears and rump. And though it was still panting happily, it looked more like some sort of spaniel than a setter.

What in the ever-loving…? I tried to jerk back, but my hand wouldn’t obey. Panic began to build as my limb continued to simply ruffle the dog’s fur. But that wasn’t right either. My heart wasn’t pounding. My chest wasn’t tight. My mind was racing, but the rest of my body was going about its business like this—whatever this was—was completely normal.

Footsteps ran toward me, and my head finally lifted. A younger boy wearing what looked like a burlap sack over leather leggings ran up to me. “Beg your pardon, m’lady. Lord Kelkerry asked to get the hounds ready ’fore the chieftains get here. That one slipped by me.”

I turned my head to look at the tower. What in the holy hell. Instead of mossy stones, I was crouched next to a wooden building that had appeared out of thin air. The trees and brush that had previously encroached on the keep had been replaced by an open dirt space sprinkled with straw, which seemed meant to counteract the muddy spots—a task it was desperately failing at. The entire space even smelled smaller, more lived in, with crushed hay and the odor of nearby animals and bodies, than the fairytale forest I’d just been in. My eyes landed on the stone tower, and my panicking mind went blank for a split second. The position of the old keep hadn’t changed, but it was no longer a ruin. All four walls stood tall, complete, and whitewashed, making it blinding in the bright sunlight. And some part of me—some odd, disjointed part—knew I was looking where Lord Kelkerry had been holed up all morning waiting for… something.

For the chieftains, the thought registered. Whoever the chieftains were in this case.

The approach of voices broke in before I could gather myself. My head snapped back forward, and I straightened, brushing the thick fabric of my own sack-like dress. Wool, it felt like, dyed some weak shade of blue. A pack of men neared the wooden building, and my heart rate finally spiked. Their clothes weren’t so different from the boy next to me, but the rich embroidery and gold fringe on their tunics, some of which were tied up with rope belts, said they were more important. One of the older men, with gray streaking his long dark hair, was even wearing a gold band that looked like it was supposed to be some sort of crown. And for some reason, my entire body considered them threatening.

As if magnetically drawn, my eyes slid to the younger man on the crowned man’s right. I sucked in a breath. Though his wavy hair was longer, reaching his shoulders, and his expression light, even amused, the face was no doubt Liam O’Flannagain’s. As though he felt himself being watched, he glanced in my direction. Our eyes met, and the charge I’d felt out in the trees rushed back tenfold. Strong enough it stopped my breath in my throat. His eyes dropped over me, and a slow smile spread across his face.

Goddamn.

So generically handsome shouldn’t have been the words I’d gone with to describe him. At least when he wasn’t scowling at the world. The man was jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and I got the distinct sense this him knew it. The sun glinted off his smoky-brown eyes, and one corner of his full lips curled up mischievously as he studied me intently. I felt my body blush in response, and somewhere inside, the real me who was having this hallucination agreed with it.

You need to get the hell out of here. I fought to get my body to move as he slowed in his group to end up closer to where I was standing. Pull it together, Bridget. Get out of here, then figure out what’s happening.

I remained standing where I was, skin tingling, as alternate Liam drew closer.

The world snapped. With a dizzying rush, the vision disappeared. I barely caught myself before my knees tried to buckle as I regained control of my own body. Head throbbing, I forced my eyes to focus. Once again, I was in the middle of trees, with the tower an old ruin, and Liam…

My eyes landed on him. Back in his jeans and flannel, this was the Liam I’d first met, though a blanched, alarmed expression had overtaken his normal scowl.

He saw it too.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Set among the rolling green Irish hills, Kelkerry Castle is something out of a dreamy fairy tale. For hotelier Bridget Marshall, however, it’s a dream come true…once she’s sorted out the mold, lead paint, and ancient plumbing. And she’ll prove to everyone in the nearby village of Shansally (pop. 119) that she’s not just another silly, dreamy-eyed American—including her curt (if utterly gorgeous) new neighbor, Liam O’Flannagain.

Only, this breathtaking castle has far more secrets than expensive repairs. While someone—or something—here desperately wants Bridget to give up and walk away, there’s another force tugging Bridget to stay. Because whenever she’s with Liam, the ancient past seems to come to life again, sweeping them along in a story they’re apparently destined to relive.

Now, Liam and Bridget are caught up in a long-ago tale filled with love, danger, and betrayal. The past seems to be working its magic on both of them, pulling them into a love story they’re helpless to resist. And they’ll have to uncover the truth of what happened all those centuries ago before history—and tragedy—repeats itself
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Meet the Author:

Jessica Dall is the author of such novels as Forever Bound and The Stars of Heaven. She has written across an array of genres, though her love of history and romance always seems to find a way into her work. Born and raised in southern California, she now resides in Maryland with her husband and daughter. When not living vicariously through her characters, she enjoys travel, crafting, and helping others with their own writing journeys.
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