B's Monday Review: Through the Veneer of Time by Vera Bell

Always and Forever, Book 1

By: Vera Bell

Narrated by: Frankie Porter, Andrew Dickson

Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins

Release date: 09-28-23

Publisher: Timebound Publishing L.L.C.

Romantic suspense/historical

Trigger Warning.

Rape, violence, abuse.

Sienna has always had this fear of even the word rape, and when she starts seeing her past life all the pieces comes together. But in the present her husband is under pressure to find a serial rapist who brutally kills his victims.

The present was tense, you knew something big was coming, and then things turn dark.

Her past life is brutal too. She was a noblewoman in Ulster in the 1500s. She married a king. The English was there. It was not a good time. I did wonder though about the portray of her husband. Everyone warned her of him and he was so kind to her and loved her through everything. The trigger warning come into effect here and it gets so dark, really too dark. It was hard listening to.

In the present, well, some things are unforgivable. I was not a fan of her husband here. All he did was work, was over smexed, and then something happened. Not cool.

It took me a while to listen to this. It was good, but also very dark. Many from the past has been born again, and the baddie is as bad as ever.

The narration was good. Different voices for different times. I have no idea if the Irish ones were correct, but to me they sounded really good to me. She made it intense. There is also a male narrator that was just as good. It worked well with them together

Ulster, Ireland, 1559. When a young noblewoman Neave McConway weds the newly elected king of Tyrone, Aedan O'Neal, the couple’s rare union of love and passion becomes the talk of the region. But Aedan’s bold rule and fierce defiance of the English crown threatens his powerful enemies, and they’ll stop at nothing to crush his growing influence. After Aedan rides off to fight against the English occupiers, Neave suffers a shocking attack that will forever alter both their lives—as well as the lives they have not yet lived.

Washington, DC, 2009. While mural artist Siena Forte battles a creative block, her FBI husband, Ryan Casey, struggles with a serial-killer case. When research leads Siena to the practice of past life regression, she stumbles upon irresistible inspiration. But after her art exposes her to a vicious ancient adversary, she discovers the true reason for her past life visions. They're a harbinger of her centuries-old revenge vow, and the serial killer can't be stopped until she fulfills it. But there is another person from the past with unfinished business—her husband.

Will Siena and Ryan settle their long-overdue score, or will the past repeat itself in a chilling parallel?