The Space In Between
by Jen Minkman
Blurb:
When Moira helps out her sister and brother in a Wiccan ritual on Halloween, the last thing she expects is to be swept away to a mystical wilderness. Sitting within the stones of the ancient circle of Penmaenmawr, Wales, she's convinced it's an illusion. But the dark-haired, handsome man with amnesia that Moira meets during her trance cannot be blinked away like a dream.
Hayko, the mysterious stranger, won’t let go. After returning home from her stone circle adventure, Moira is beckoned back night after night to the outlandish dreamland by an invisible force. But the hardest part isn't having to fight the terrifying creatures of these nightmares--it's realizing she’s falling for a guy without a past who isn’t real.
What if you really can fall in love with the man of your dreams?
Excerpt:
Moira opened her eyes, but the darkness wouldn’t subside. She was standing in an obscure, pitch-black landscape, the only source of light a small strip of light at the horizon. Had it suddenly turned evening – or morning?
Dai and Tabby were next to her, looking around them with mouths agape.
“Uhm... where are we?” Moira inquired anxiously. Her voice sounded weird – like she was stuffed inside a box of cotton wool that dampened all sound.
“I haven’t got the faintest clue,” Tabitha admitted truthfully . She took a step forward and kneeled down. “Not on the moors, that’s for sure. This is sand.”
Were they in the middle of a desert?
“You think this is the Summerland?” Dai asked, flummoxed . “I’m not too stoked about the levels of sunlight, to be honest.”
Moira giggled nervously. “Isn’t this just a dream, though?”
“A dream all three of us are having at the same time?” Tabby shot back a bit crabbily.
“Well, how should I know? Maybe you two aren’t even here and I’m making this all up.”
Out of the blue, Dai pinched her in the arm. “Ouch,” Moira grunted. “What are you doing that for?”
“Oh, just checking if it’s really you.” Moira landed a vindictive punch on Dai’s shoulder, making him groan. “It’s really me,” she replied.
My Review:
I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Moira studies art and art history part time at Bangor University while working part time at a hotel. Moira loves going to college and getting credits for something she really loves doing. She likes to spend as much time as possible with her mom, dad, her brother Dai and sister Tabby. Dai and Tabby are twins and they go to the same University as Moira. She also likes to spend a lot of time with her best friend and Dai's girlfriend Holly.
Sometimes Moira has a hard time keeping up with her studies and working. She has ADHD and takes Ritalin. Sometimes she can't focus on her art without taking her pills. Holly is a very good for Moira and helps her out a lot when they are at school or wherever they may be. Dai and Tabby is the best brother and sister a person could have. Moira loves spending time with all three of them because they understand her and know how to help her when she gets frustrated with life.
Moira has a boyfriend whom she loves and who loves her very much or at least that is what he says. I am not so sure that he really loved her or cared about her. I guess he did love her in his own way. Patrick was very controlling and always telling her what to do; he treated her like she was his child instead of his girlfriend. He thought he knew what was best for her and what she wanted. He was always trying to change her into the person he wanted her to be, the person that he was in love with. Moira's heart was so big that all she wanted was to please everyone else. She cared about others so much and wanted to make them happy that she lost track of what made her happy. I guess it she became easier for her to do what Patrick told her to do than argue with him and end up hurting him or making him mad.
Tabby asks Dai and Moira if they would help her with a ritual on Halloween night. Tabby wanted to see if she could open up a portal so that she could talk to her grandparents one more time. After Tabby made the circle and cast her spell strange things started happening and the next thing they knew they were in a different place than they were before. At first they were not sure where they were or if it was real or not they thought they were all having the same dream. But they finally realized that the spell had worked and they were in the space in between worlds. While they were in this world they met this guy Hayko who couldn't remember who he was or where he was from. From then on when they went to sleep they would end up in the same dream together dreaming about Hayko.
Hayko helped Moira figure out who she was and what she wanted in life. He also gave her the courage she needed to stand up for what she wanted in life. He taught her how to be independent and to stand on her two feet. Moira didn't understand at first why she was dreaming about Hayko but after visiting and talking with him a few times she finally realized why she was there. Moira started to fall in love with the man of her dreams literally and the more time she spent with him the more she came to care about him.
Moira, Tabby and Dai had wonderful parents who loved them very much and taught their children to love and care for each other. They let them be who they were and trusted them enough to let them make their own choices in life. I love how Moira and her siblings cared for and would take up for the other one. They always had each other's back, they would stand up for each other and always helped each other with whatever it was they needed help with. I loved how they all got along and never argued with each other even if they didn't believe in the same things or the same way. If the world had just a smidge of what Moira, Tabby, Dai, Holly and Hayko had then ever one would be better off and a whole lot richer.
The Space In Between is not the first book I have read by Jen Minkman and it definitely won't be the last either. I have loved every book by her that I have read. Jen knows how to write a story and draw you into their world making you lose all track of time and where you are. If you have not read any of her work yet then go check her out. Trust me if you don't you just might end up regretting it because she is a wonderful writer who knows how to tell a story.
About The Author:
Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.
In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.
'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chick lit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).
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