How could she possibly move? Here was her genius, his hair curled with wiry energy, materializing the restless mind under it. “You’re disturbing me, signorina.” He turned away, clearly expecting her to leave.

She remembered that searing gaze in his self-portrait. He stared at her so intensely that she shivered. He lowered the measuring rod, framed the air with his hands, and used his fingers to make rapid computations. How had she come here, and where exactly was she? Now he was so intent on his investigation that he seemed unaware of her and the fact that her pulse was pounding. Lean and strong, he was even more handsome than in his self-portrait. Her living, breathing idol moved to one side to get a better angle. Bernini lifted the instrument and peered up at the nearest column. His finger pointed up at the four twisted bronze columns, where May was astonished to see no bronze canopy on top. “Everyone in Rome knows Cavaliere Bernini. He aimed the rod at the nearest column and sighted up along it. “Ladies are not allowed here while I’m working,” he said stiffly. Maybe he was rehearsing for some sort of pageant. He held a long wooden measuring rod, the kind used by architects centuries ago.

A black jacket was draped over his shoulders.

With his long, dark hair and white sleeves rolled up on muscular forearms, he looked like an art restorer. The young man in black frowned and didn’t apologize. The meeting turns her life in the present upside down and forces her to decide if her adventure in time will ruin her life, or lead to a magical new one. May’s luck accident brings her face to face with the artist hero she’s specialized in, and dreamed about, 17 th century genius sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. The Renaissance Club is the story of May Gold, a young art historian who falls through a fold in time during a tour of Italy. – Publisher: Fiery Seas Publishing THE BOOK – Book Genre: Time Travel with Romantic Elements This one struck my interest immediately, just from content and themes. (See past author interviews at the end of this post!)

Hello and welcome to my blog series dedicated to author interviews for 2018 debut authors! This has been started as a way to support some of my fellow ‘debutantes’ of 2018. Some of the genres may be a little outside while I usually write/talk about here, but each of these I share struck my interest in one way or another.

The Renaissance Club by Rachel Dacus