Aysling Smythe

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About Aysling Smythe

AYSLING SMYTHE is a retired "professional student" with a background in journalism, teaching, and research. Born and educated in sunny Southern California, she is now nestled among the green hills of Tennessee writing, gardening, flower-arranging, and collecting photos of the natural beauty that surrounds her. She feels very strongly there is a time and season for all things, and that tomorrow truly brings a whole new set of chances.

She holds a BA in both English and History, and an MA in Education. As a newspaper journalist, she has written hundreds of articles ranging from hard news to human interest stories. In 1996, she received special recognition by the Alpine Union School District for "Outstanding Public Service in Educational News Reporting." Her poetry has been published in three anthologies, and she has authored informational pieces on education and curriculum development. She taught history, English, and writing in writer's workshops for several years.

She is currently developing and self-publishing the Timekept Series. E-book installments will appear four times a year as the seasons change.

For additional updates and other facts of interest, visit her website at https://timekeptseries.com

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BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE 1: Book 1: Casey's Story---Holiday Gift (Timekept Series I: Recompense) Jan 25, 2015

by Aysling Smythe

( 1 )

$0.99

BEST STORY AWARD 2017 NOMINEE
NY Literary Magazine

Casey's Story begins in Holiday Gift. . .

The FIRST installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE

BOOK 1: Casey’s Story. . .
HOLIDAY GIFT

PRAISE for TIMEKEPT SERIES I. . .

This is too easy a read—it flows well. This is the type of book I would read on the bus or train and to and from work. Before bed would be another option—in all cases a chapter could be done at a time and you would not feel like you left off in a bad spot on a page or plot wise.—B.R., Retiree

I love the story line! This is a beautiful and encompassing novel. For romance enthusiasts the heat and the heart throbbing suspense of intimate love with a mysterious man who is one’s own husband comes as a surprise. One of the big messages in this novel is that we should try to look at our situation in life with a new and fresh perspective—I cannot wait to read the next novel!
—D.Y.W., Instructor

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA---PRESENT DAY: Casey O'Sullivan Sterling thought that she had put her painful past to rest, but when she comes home early from her athletic training club on All Hallows Eve and opens the door to her bedroom, she finds her husband, Steven, in the clinches with her best friend, Anita.

Betrayed by love for the last time, she walks out, leaving "everything, and nothing" behind. Casey vows never again to trust anyone---if she can't trust her father, mother, husband, and best friend, who can she trust?

Eager to begin a new life, she decides to outrace a coming storm, but loses control of the wheel and plunges over a cliff. Her car is struck by lightning on its way down to the raging sea, and she is catapulted almost two hundred years into the past. . .

SCHUYLKILL RIVER VALLEY, 1824: Casey is "reborn" in the body of Elizabeth Wyckham Gregory, who has just died in childbirth. To her intense dismay, she learns that as Elizabeth, she is married to a successful merchantman, Randal Gregory; that she has two children, Essie and Michael; and that she is embroiled in an affair with Gregory's best friend and business partner, Philip Mallory---while Gregory is finding his own comfort in the arms of a gypsy woman, Maeve.

With increasing horror, Casey discovers through terrifying experience that she begins to fade into nothingness when she becomes too emotionally overwrought. How can she ever hope to survive in her altered reality without ceasing to exist?

EXCERPT:A thick silence filled the chamber where she lay prostrate before the armoire, too wrung out to attempt the arduous trek back to the bed. The fire had gone out long ago, leaving her to face her future in the dim light cast by the bedside lamp—and that, too, appeared to be fading. . .

Then, from out of the darkness flowed the deep notes of a rich baritone voice, and two powerful arms caught her up, cuddling her to a broad, satin-covered chest.

“Blazes, Elizabeth, what the devil are you doing?” The strong, masculine way of him, and the bold freshwater scent that swirled about him, surged through her, stunning her like a physical blow.

He held her so close that even in the dim twilight of the room, she could see the dark stubble that shadowed the clean, straight lines of his chin and smudged the base of his sharply defined under lip.

Her supercharged senses registered a hint of tobacco and oak, the pungency of leather, and the musky scent of him beneath the freshwater, and she could feel the virile power pulsing through his muscles as he carried her to the big four-poster bed.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

BY LOVE BETRAYED: RETRIBUTION 1: Book 1: Anita's Story---Dream Quest (Timekept Series II) Jun 20, 2015

by Aysling Smythe

$0.99

"EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES"
---so the saying goes---
But can the biggest mistake of Anita's life ever be remedied and made right?

Anita's Story begins in Dream Quest. . .

The FIRST installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES II
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RETRIBUTION

BOOK 1: Anita’s Story. . .
Dream Quest

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA---PRESENT DAY: Anita Caroline Wyckham has no belief in the paranormal or a predetermined state of being like reincarnation, karmic rebirth, or the transmigration of souls, but it was uncanny how accurate her fortune read from the Tarot cards the year before had been. The reader had warned her then of the catastrophic events that would change her life forever in the year to come.

Much to Anita’s misfortune, her sudden financial collapse drives her to accept an offer of ultimate betrayal from her best friend’s husband that she should have refused. Steven is desperate to have children of his own by any “natural” means possible, but because of her blighted past, his wife Casey wants nothing to do with the idea. When Casey walks in on Anita and Steven on All Hallows Eve while they are fulfilling the terms of their contract in her bed, she leaves without a word, and is killed in an automobile accident a few hours later.

Anita is consumed by guilt and realizes that just retribution is required of her unless she can find some way to make amends; to learn to forgive; and to be forgiven for her betrayal of both Casey, and herself.

SCHUYLKILL RIVER VALLEY, 1824: When Anita is injured in a violent Santa Ana windstorm; she wakes up to find herself trapped in a loveless marriage to a gypsy leader, Nicholae; that she is embroiled in an affair with a married man, Randal Gregory; and that she has become the pawn of her first love, Philip Mallory, who still has the ability to make her do exactly what he wants her to do because of their shared history.

To Anita's horror, she discovers that each night when she goes to sleep, she returns to the past, and that each day when she wakes up, she must continue to provide for herself as a single woman in the modern world.

Anita attempts to escape her circumstances in the past and runs away from her husband’s wagon, only to get caught in an animal trap set by a mysterious woodsman---who when he discovers her, feels obligated for the damage that has been caused to her by his trap, and assumes the responsibility of providing for her---in so doing, Kane Alexander becomes the man of her dreams.

With no future in either of her parallel lives, Anita begins a quest to make amends, to find forgiveness, and to discover how to end her dual existence and become whole again.

But when the final resolution does occur, what will happen to the love of her life? Will he be the one to pay the ultimate price as just retribution for her dual betrayal—or will she choose to sacrifice herself for his sake?

EXCERPT: “Welcome back, Anita. I was hoping I would see you again at least one more time before we arrive at the Inn.” Kane looked up from stirring the bubbling pot hanging over the fire, his dark beard split into a broad smile. “I hate to say this, but I am really hungry. Cold always makes me more hungry than usual.” He pulled a pouch that hung around his neck from beneath his bulky animal skin clothing. Opening the drawstring, he fingered something out and sprinkled it onto the brew.

Anita savored the spicy aroma that wafted across the cleared space to her makeshift bed. "That smells really good," she said aloud, and her stomach noisily agreed.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE 4: Time Shift 2: Casey's Story---Starquake (Timekept Series I: Recompense) Oct 26, 2017

by Aysling Smythe

( 1 )

$0.99

BEST STORY AWARD 2017 NOMINEE
NY Literary Magazine

Casey's Story continues in Starquake. . .

The FOURTH installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE

TIMESHIFT 2: Casey's Story---Starquake
A Recompense Novella

What does an ancient multifaceted diamond crystal steeped in gypsy lore and set high in gold filigree have to do with the principal players in a present day romantic love triangle?

Like a ray of white light piercing through a prism and fracturing into the radiant hues of a rainbow---blood, water, and energy reverse the process---melding and releasing a stream of mind-rending power that drives the awesome forces of RECOMPENSE, RETRIBUTION, RESTITUTION, REDEMPTION, and RESTORATION in the time kept tales of five women caught in the curse of the diamond ring.

Although these tales are interconnected by the initial event, and by the interactive episodes that release the power of the ring within the historical periods when the stories take place, each installment is also a stand-alone, complete in itself, with sufficient detail to give the background necessary to enjoy the action in the current read.

RECOMPENSE, the first miniseries in the mega series TIMEKEPT: BY LOVE BETRAYED, is the story of Casey---the innocent, who is betrayed in the present day by her husband, Steven and her best friend, Anita. Casey is hurled back almost 200 years into the past to the 19th century by the power of the stone---to the year 1824---after a fatal automobile accident.

There, in her new life, Casey finds that she is "reborn" in the body of Elizabeth Wyckham Gregory, who has just died in childbirth. To her intense dismay, she learns that as Elizabeth, she is married to Randal Gregory, a wealthy and successful merchantman; that she has a ready-made family with two children, seven-year-old Essie, and baby Michael; and that she is embroiled in an affair with Gregory's former best friend and current business partner, Philip Mallory---while Gregory takes his own comfort in the arms of a gypsy woman, Maeve.

With mounting horror, Casey realizes through harrowing experience that she fades into nothingness when her emotions begin to spiral out of control. How can she ever hope to survive in her altered reality without ceasing to exist?

EXCERPT: Mallory's expression changed and he said in a low and reflective voice, "Perhaps, as the Iroquois say, you are an Ateteshents, attempting to complete a dream journey for your own purposes, or to be more exact, even though harder to believe, perhaps you are a lost soul that has come home to roost in Elizabeth's body---that would explain the miraculous rebirth."

His crystal blue eyes caught and held hers with the weight of an iron bar. "But you can be certain that I will find out who you are, and where you have come from, and---I will discover what your true purpose is." He gave her a formal court bow, put his finger to his forehead, and left her to herself in the cottage.

She stood in the center of the room, stunned, and the ring exploded, driving her into the nether reaches of nowhere; blasted out of the present and into inky blackness; lost in nothingness; dropping from the cliff and the blinding lightning flash that blew her to bits, scattering her atoms into eternity; then coming together again in the future through the distant past; permeating her essence with the palpitating colors of creation---first blinding black, then flashing emerald and blazing scarlet, cooling into blue, deepening and capturing her life-force, holding her captive---burying her beneath the raging kaleidoscopic waves, drowning, dissolving. . .

Casey's Story continues. . .

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE 3: Book 2: Casey's Story---Summer Heat. . . (Timekept Series I: Recompense) Jun 12, 2017

by Aysling Smythe

$0.99

BEST STORY AWARD 2017 NOMINEE NY Literary Magazine

Casey's Story continues in Summer Heat. . .The THIRD installment of TIMEKEPT SERIES I---BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE BOOK 2: Casey's Story. . .Summer Heat

PRAISE FOR TIMEKEPT SERIES I. . .I really enjoyed reading this book. What makes this story so gripping, engaging, and fascinating, is that it is not just another novel about reincarnation. In this case the main character knows she has been reincarnated (in the past). Casey, as Elizabeth, undergoes a transformation of many levels, and connects with the previous Elizabeth as she comes to terms with her new identity. Fantastic job! --- L.W.M., Adjunct

RECOMPENSE, the first miniseries in the mega series TIMEKEPT: BY LOVE BETRAYED, is the story of Casey---the innocent, who is betrayed in the present day by her husband, Steven, and her best friend, Anita. Casey is hurled back almost 200 years into the past to the 19th century by the power of the stone---to the year 1824---after a fatal automobile accident.There, in her new life, Casey finds that she is "reborn" in the body of Elizabeth Wyckham Gregory, who has just died in childbirth. To her intense dismay, she learns that as Elizabeth, she is married to Randal Gregory, a wealthy and successful merchantman; that she has a ready-made family with two children, seven-year-old Essie, and baby Michael; and that she is embroiled in an affair with Gregory's former best friend and current business partner, Philip Mallory---while Gregory takes his own comfort in the arms of a gypsy woman, Maeve.With mounting horror, Casey realizes through harrowing experience that she fades into nothingness when her emotions begin to spiral out of control. How can she ever hope to survive in her altered reality without ceasing to exist?

EXCERPT: I must tell him the truth about myself some time, perhaps I can start building a bridge to that inevitable revelation right now, Casey thought as new hope surged through her.

Gregory walked past her chair in two long strides and stood before the hearth, his back to her, his gaze apparently centered on the flames. "Herschel's investigations into the movement of heavenly bodies confirm the theory of proper motion, and that the solar system is moving through space. His observations also indicate that the movement is occurring in a specified direction." He turned and smiled at her, seeming to enjoy her intense concentration on his words. "Herschel has also hypothesized that dimmer objects in the sky are farther away and that looking at them is like looking at times past."

She caught her breath, but was unable to contain her excitement. "Speculatively speaking, Randal, what if Herschel's hypotheses are correct? Those conclusions could open up tremendous new possibilities for investigative research that might establish the ages of the heavenly bodies based upon the light that we see as well as how to measure the distance between stationary objects by how dim their light emissions are."

Gregory's eyes sharpened and his brows creased over the bridge of his nose. "Why would you suggest that Elizabeth? How would your speculation apply to Herschel's theory, and may I ask where you have been able to obtain this knowledge and insight? Perhaps from some current publication that I have yet to study?"Casey fought to ease his too intense focus on her words and asked in awe, "Randal, have you ever thought about the possibility of time travel? The subject fascinates me, and in my dreams, I often find myself living in ancient places---like Rome, or Greece."

Gregory chuckled. "Time travel, Elizabeth? And what else have you dreamed of?" He stepped nearer to her chair, bent over the arm, and kissed her hard on her mouth.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

(Intro Set) BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE 1 & 2: Casey's Story---Book 1: Holiday Gift & Time Shift 1: Eclipse (Timekept Series I: Recompense) Aug 31, 2015

by Aysling Smythe

$0.99

BEST STORY AWARD 2017 NOMINEE
NY Literary Magazine

TWO books---ONE Introductory Set

TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE

Casey's Story begins. . .

BOOK 1: Holiday Gift
TIME SHIFT 1: Eclipse

PRAISE FOR the FIRST installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED:RECOMPENSE

BOOK 1: Casey’s Story---Holiday Gift

This is too easy a read. It flows well. This is the type of book I would read on the bus or train and to and from work. Before bed would be another option---in all cases a chapter could be done at a time and you would not feel like you left off in a bad spot on a page or plot wise. ---B.R., Retiree

PRAISE FOR the SECOND installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE

TIME SHIFT 1: Casey's Story---Eclipse
A Recompense Novella

I love the story line! This is a beautiful and encompassing holiday novel. For romance enthusiasts the heat and the heart throbbing suspense of intimate love with a mysterious man who is one’s own husband comes as a surprise. One of the big messages in this novel is that we should try to look at our situation in life with a new and fresh perspective---I cannot wait to read the next novel! ---D.Y.W., Adjunct

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA---PRESENT DAY: Casey O'Sullivan Sterling thought she had put her painful past to rest, but when she comes home early from her athletic training club on All Hallows Eve, and opens the door to her bedroom, she finds her husband, Steven, in the clinches with her best friend, Anita.

Betrayed by love for the last time, she walks out, leaving "everything, and nothing" behind, and vows never again to trust anyone. If she can't trust her father, mother, husband, or best friend, who can she trust?

Eager to begin a new life, she decides to outrace a coming storm, but while driving, she loses control of the wheel and plunges over a seaside cliff. Her car is struck by lightning on its way down to the crashing waves and she is catapulted almost two hundred years into the past . . .

SCHUYLKILL RIVER VALLEY, 1824: Casey is "reborn" in the body of Elizabeth Wyckham Gregory, who has just died in childbirth.

To her intense dismay, Casey learns that as Elizabeth, she is married to a successful merchantman, Randal Gregory; that she has two children, Essie and Michael; and that she is embroiled in an affair with Gregory's best friend and business partner, Philip Mallory---while Gregory is finding his own comfort in the arms of a gypsy woman, Maeve.

With increasing horror, Casey discovers through terrifying experience that she begins to fade into nothingness when she becomes too emotionally overwrought. How can she ever hope to survive in her altered reality without ceasing to exist?

EXCERPT: What is happening to me? Her bemused question remained unasked---his darkly smoldering eyes gripped her fascinated stare, refusing to release her.

"Elizabeth?" Softer now, his voice was a soothing caress stroking her perceptions, awakening unsought visions of night embraces and tangled sheets.

Casey shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "I. . .I seem to be a bit confused at the moment." Her throaty whisper---a thin, silken thread---reached out to him, binding them together.

Distracted, her eyes slipped from his to follow the high-bridged aquiline nose that plunged from his thickly arched brows to his exquisitely contoured lips---teasing lips, both alluring and infuriating, strong and virile---just made for kissing.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE 2: Time Shift 1: Casey's Story---Eclipse (Timekept Series I: Recompense) Mar 19, 2015

by Aysling Smythe

$0.99

BEST STORY AWARD 2017 NOMINEE
NY Literary Magazine

Casey's Story continues in Eclipse. . .

The SECOND installment of
TIMEKEPT SERIES I
BY LOVE BETRAYED: RECOMPENSE

TIME SHIFT 1: Casey’s Story---Eclipse
A Recompense Novella

PRAISE for TIMEKEPT SERIES I. . .

I love the story line! This is a beautiful and encompassing novel. For romance enthusiasts the heat and the heart throbbing suspense of intimate love with a mysterious man who is one’s own husband come as a surprise. One of the big messages in this novel is that we should try to look at our situation in life with a new and fresh perspective---I cannot wait to read the next novel! ---D.Y.W., Instructor

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA---PRESENT DAY: Casey O'Sullivan Sterling thought she had put her painful past to rest, but when she comes home early from her athletic training club on All Hallows Eve, and opens the door to her bedroom, she finds her husband, Steven, in the clinches with her best friend, Anita.

Betrayed by love for the last time, she walks out, leaving "everything, and nothing" behind, and vows never again to trust anyone---if she can't trust her father, mother, husband, or best friend, who can she trust?

Eager to begin a new life, she decides to outrace a coming storm, but while driving, she loses control of the steering wheel and plunges over a seaside cliff. Her car is struck by lightning on its way down to the crashing waves and she is catapulted almost two hundred years into the past . . .

SCHUYLKILL RIVER VALLEY, 1824: Casey is "reborn" in the body of Elizabeth Wyckham Gregory, who has just died in childbirth.

To her intense dismay, Casey learns that as Elizabeth, she is married to a successful merchantman, Randal Gregory; that she has two children, Essie and Michael; and that she is embroiled in an affair with Gregory's best friend and business partner, Philip Mallory—while Gregory is finding his own comfort in the arms of a gypsy woman, Maeve.

With increasing horror, Casey discovers through terrifying experience that she begins to fade into nothingness when she becomes too emotionally overwrought. How can she ever hope to survive in her altered reality without ceasing to exist?

EXCERPT: Casey leaned away from the scope so Gregory could see what she had seen. His enthusiasm for the lunar event was infectious, and the broad grin he turned on her was devastating.

Struck speechless by the emotions surging through her, and the physical sensations swamping her senses, she stepped back from the telescope, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and regain some semblance of control.

The earth's shadow began to move across the moon's surface, slowly, inexorably extinguishing the brightness until only a corona remained, enclosing and emphasizing the darkness---like the ring around her finger. . .As they alternated views, the diamond sparkling on her hand caught the moon's rays like a pulsing beacon, guiding them forward---and back---to each other.

She knelt once more and looking through the eyepiece, focused on the wavering glow. A shadow blocked the moon's rays from floating past her, and she glanced up to see him standing above her, his face contorted in an agony of indecision. She eased to her feet, her gaze captured by his lips---moist, and beckoning---shining in the moonlight. Her tongue---without her volition---wet her own lips, and she stood frozen in place, scarcely breathing.

Casting aside his restraints, he caught her up in his arms, and carrying her to the waiting alcove, possessed her mouth, exploring every crevice, every curve with lips and tongue.

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