Endless Skies: A modern day romance with a historical twist… by @JaneCable #Mystery #Romance #FridayReads

Author: Jane Cable

Published: July 2020 by Sapere Books

Category: Contemporary Fiction, Romance with a touch of the Paranormal, Book Review

If you want to move forward, you have to deal with the past…

After yet another disastrous love affair – this time with her married boss – Rachel Ward has been forced to leave her long-term position in Southampton for a temporary role as an Archaeology Lecturer at Lincoln University.

Rachel has sworn off men and is determined to spend her time away clearing her head and sorting her life out.

But when one of her students begins flirting with her, it seems she could be about to make the same mistakes again…

Rachel Ward has a tendency to embark on relationships that end up being something of a disaster. The consequences of her latest romance with a married professor in Southampton results in her banishment to Lincolnshire for a twelve months stint as Visiting Lecturer in Archaeology at Lincoln University. However, it’s not long before her position at the University is in jeopardy due to another unwise choice.

Rachel does her best to settle in to her new life but she dislikes the modern, soulless flat she’s been provided with. The only thing going for it is the view of the canal and towpath. But most of all she misses her gran, with whom she had spent so much time and had so much in common, both sharing a passion for history and beautiful things.

We became close when I was a teenager at boarding school, my mother following my father’s army postings around the world. So it was entirely logical when said mother finally washed her hands of me I would go to live with Gran. And she was amazing; convincing me I hadn’t really messed up my life and chivvying me to apply for a university place through clearing. All right, it wouldn’t be Oxford, but it would be somewhere and I could set about rebuilding my future.

Boredom sets in as Rachel waits for the start of term. Running saves her sanity and brings new friends in the shape of Jem and his little dog, Toast, who likes to join Rachel on her run now and again. They live on a barge moored on the canal with Jem’s lodger, Ben, who will be one of Rachel’s students.

Desperate to get involved again with some actual hands on archaeology, Rachel opts for accepting some freelance work for Jonathan Daubney, a property developer who needs some sites surveying, one of which used to be a local airbase. Through Jonathan, Rachel meets Esther, an elderly lady who lives at Jonathan’s mother’s care home. They become great friends and Rachel learns much about the local history and becomes intrigued by Esther’s fascinating tales of the airbase during WW11.

I enjoyed the story told from Rachel’s perspective, and although it is a romance at heart there’s much more depth to it, and not only with things taking rather a nasty turn for Rachel. I warmed to Rachel gradually as we get an insight and so an understanding of the reasons why her relationships with men are so destructive. Jonathan is also a complex character with his own issues which shaped his personality. I loved Esther and Jem is a great character too. All were well defined and developed as the story progressed. The setting is wonderfully described and meaningful, the wide open spaces and endless skies, tying in to the very poignant prologue.

Endless Skies is a touching story, with Jane Cable’s nod to the paranormal adding an extra layer. And as stated in the blurb, before you can move on the past has to be dealt with, which is especially applicable to the main protagonists.

Lincolnshire Airfield Image by Kevin Watson from Pixabay

About the Author

I write emotional romances with a hint of mystery – often a little ghostly – but all the same my books are a million miles from paranormal.
It was reaching the final of The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition in 2011 which made me take my writing seriously. The Cheesemaker’s House saw the light of day in September 2013 and I was delighted when it received great reviews from book bloggers and, just as importantly, from the people who bought and read it. My second novel, The Faerie Tree, came out in March 2015 and is a suspenseful romance about the tricks memory plays.
In 2017 I signed to Sapere Books for two contemporary romances looking back to World War Two, Another You and Endless Skies. My first dual timeline novel will be published by them in 2021, set in Cornwall in 1815 and 2015.