He wore blue jeans and a white T-shirt with leather flip-flops. His longish, snow-white hair framed a deeply tanned face and the most startling eyes Keely had ever seen. In fact, they were the first thing she’d noticed after being placed in the cell. The old man’s eyes were blue, but it was a lighter–no, a brighter–shade of blue than she had ever seen. It was as if his eyes had been encased in crystal. There was a clarity to them Keely was unable to define. She had heard of eyes that sparkled, but always considered that specific description a way of referring to excitement reflected in a person’s face. But this old man? His eyes really did sparkle. He had already been in the cell when Keely was locked in during the early morning hours. When the door had shut behind her, the officer quickly departed. Keely simply stood by the door with tears streaming down her face. She had been angry, afraid, and drunk. Now, her head pounded ferociously, but she was beginning to recall those first moments in the cell. The old man had stood when she walked in, Keely remembered. And he had said something. What…

Here’s a chat between award-winning author Rachel Hauck and Fresh Fiction Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser! A dual timeline novel is always so interesting – how the two time periods both juxtapose and complement the other. How did you come up with the connection between these two different women? The connection is always the most difficult and most important part of a dual time novel. Since I can’t always have the connection be a grandmother or an aunt, or some other family member, I imagined two women being connected by a family friendship. The heroines also share a common experience of tragically losing people they love. New York City cop Beck Holiday is having a rough go of it – after a mistake at work she’s suspended and she’s not sure what to do next. Then she finds out she’s inherited a mysterious Victorian house in Florida. Why was it important for Beck to have the experience at this point in her life? Beck is lost and bitter. She can’t remember large portions of her childhood. She’s trying to make a career for herself, trying to be tough, but when her own actions return to her with a demand, she’s forced…