Happenstance

The publication of "Happenstance," the second book in Andrea Faye Christians' award-winning "Time Binder Series," solidifies the series as a hybrid paranormal romance-a "paramance," with a foundation in both history and fantasy. The narrator of "Suspension," Carla Thompson-who is suspended between the here and now and the afterlife-reprises her role as a predestined Dream Walker, someone whose job it is to help souls who still have some work to do transition from life to death.In "Happenstance," the reluctant heroine is once again compelled to resume her mission as a Dream Walker. And the stakes are higher, as in the survival of civilization on earth, which is threatened by a super race: the power hungry Illumine. Characters from the first book populate Happenstance-the portal's gatekeeper, Isambard Brunel (the real-life engineer of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, which was where Carla first learned of her fate in Suspension), and Ernest Hemingway, his witty sidekick. Carla's love interest, David, plays a major role as well, in both causing mayhem and in rescuing those in need.Summoned before Brunel, the gate keeper of the portal, Carla is tasked with a mission to right a wrong that has unimaginable consequences should she fail. In pursuit of the truth, Carla ricochets through time, initially finding herself in 17th century England, followed by medieval Germany, before being transported almost two hundred years into the future. En route, she encounters a variety of characters, including those who are good and honest along with others who epitomize evil. As she faces each new challenge, Carla slowly gains a deeper understanding of her Dream Walker role and what it is that destiny has in store for her. As Carla travels both back in time and forward in an attempt to correct problems on the time continuum and rejoin her beloved David, we meet other historical and fictional characters, including an evil priest in the Middle Ages during the Crusades and a 17th-century architect who unwittingly holds the key to the only way out of a plane of existence that will be destroyed. Will Carla manage to figure out the impossible conundrum she faces as she navigates whole new worlds? And will she ever see her soul mate again? Only time will tell the tale.