by: Samreen AhsanPosted on:

Release day: Once Upon a [Hidden] Time

Release day for Stolen series, book 4

Yes! Today is the day for the full release of the anticipated fourth book in the time-travel romance series

By Samreen Ahsan

“One cannot love with the eyes alone.” I heard a man speaking in French, his voice echoing in my paradise. “What crime, then, have my eyes committed, if their glance but follows my desire?” I whipped my head around, finding a man standing a few paces away, flashing me a mysterious smile that he may have borrowed from the pages of one of the poems he just quoted. He looked fit, his black hose and doublet adhering to his physique like a silk pelt. A silver chain embedded with garnets was draped across his chest. I realised he was quoting Chrétien de Troyes’ words, a French poet who had died a few years ago. From his accent, I was unable to figure out if he was an Englishman or a Frenchman, but his French was very fluent. 

I tried to read his mind, but failed to reach his soul. Either there was too much darkness inside him that my powers failed, or there was too much light in him that it turned me blind. But for the first time, my powers were doused.

“What is their fault and what their sin?” His impenetrable aquiline gaze rested on mine. “Ought I to blame them, then?”

We were shielded by the evening light and that despondent silence that brings strangers together, and I felt daring enough to say anything that came to my head, even though it might be for the first and last time. I stood up from the rock I was perched on, chin high, and answered back with Troyes’ words. “Who, then, should be blamed?”

He gave me a kind smile, rounding me, entrapping me in my own paradise. 

“Surely myself, who have them in control,” he answered, continuing Troyes’ words. To my surprise, he knelt down on his knees, his gaze never leaving mine. His grey eyes had the same colour as mine, but with more depth that could drown me. “My eye glances at nothing unless it gives my heart delight.” He pulled out his sword from its sheath. I took a step back, preparing myself for danger, but he laid the sword at my feet, holding on to my stare. 

“Who are you?” I composed myself. 

The Queen of England should not be afraid of a man trying to woo her in the middle of a forest. I usually travelled alone, but for the first time, I realised I should have brought guards with me. 

“An ordinary man with a poetic heart,” he answered, his eyes glittering brightly. 

I tried studying him for a while again, trying harder to read his mind and dive into his soul, but dammit, my powers utterly failed. Should I be afraid of this…nothingness? 

“Rise,” I ordered. 

He obeyed me like a slave, but his look was controlling me, gripping me. 

“A beautiful woman like you should not be wandering around in the forest alone,” he commented. 

I scoffed, folding my arms. He certainly knew not who I was, did he? 

“I need not anyone to guard me,” I said, raising my chin high. “I can take care of myself.”

“What about the matters of the heart?” He dared to take a step closer, close enough to reach out for my hand, holding it firmly in his. “Is there anyone to guard your heart?”

If you haven’t read the first three books of the [Stolen] Series, you can always grab the bundle pack of ebooks from Amazon.

About Once Upon a [Hidden] Time

2015…
All her life, Myra Farrow has been obsessed with medieval castle-and the kings and princes who once inhabited them. When Steve Bernard, a wealthy videogame designer offers her to model for a princess character in his new game, Myra can’t resist his offer to enter the mysterious, colourless, and cursed Hue Castle. But unknown to Myra, her soul is bound to it by blood and sorcery. When she enters the castle’s doors, she awakens dark powers, time travelling through a cursed mirror, torturing her present, and rewriting her future, leaving Steve Bernard with millions of questions.

1415…
Edward Hue, the last of the Hue royal bloodline, has never stood in the sunshine, nor felt the rain, or held a living flower. Cursed from birth to live in darkness and bring death to all he touches, he is at the mercy of his cruel, tyrannical father King Stefan, who will not rest until he shatters Edward’s soul and makes his son into a diabolical copy of himself. Edward’s one hope is the mysterious woman, who walks into his life through a cursed mirror, out of his dreams, and introduces him: love.

Will Myra break Edward’s curse and bring him out of the darkness, or destroy him utterly? Will Steve ever be able to finish his game without Myra? Past and future collide in a tale of love, obsession, betrayal, and the hope for redemption.

For more about Once Upon a [Hidden] Time:

FIrst 3 e-books in [Stolen] series

Samreen Ahsan

3/4 portrait of author Samreen Ahsan

is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning author. She is a traveller and a history buff by heart. However, art and literature are her passions. She loves digging out information about prophecies, divine miracles and paranormal events that are mentioned in history and holy books, that don’t sound possible in today’s modern world.

“My favourite genres for reading are literary fiction and historical fiction, especially WWII stories.”

Since childhood, she had been into reading and writing—and yes, it can’t happen without imagination, which luckily has no boundaries.

For further information, please visit her Bestselling Reads author page, or her website, samreenahsan.com.

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