Clarissa Kae
Once Upon a Life by Clarissa Kae
Every night Isla Belle Thorne is haunted by the same recurring vision of ill-fated love: an immortal man, Rhett Rhyn, holds his dead bride, only to find her decades later, very much alive but stripped of the memory of their love. Despite being the love of all her lives, Rhett and the woman tango with her birth and death for over four centuries.
When Isla’s home is destroyed by fire, the man from her visions appears. Rhett shares an unnerving secret – the dreams are real, and so is her fate of continual rebirth.
Isla and Rhett race to solve the mystery of her eternal reincarnation before destiny can stake its claim, again.
ONCE UPON A LIFE is a 100,000 word women’s fiction with historical overtones. Using alternating time periods between past and present, the manuscript mirrors Anne Fortier’s Juliet and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life.
The Book Doctors:
We love the theme of reincarnation. This seems to be a theme that continues to hold readers in its sway. Since you are pitching this as a book that has historical overtones, we need some more word pictures that illustrate the world you’re taking us into. It’s unclear to us from your pitch what your heroine desperately wants that she doesn’t have. For everyone who’s pitching a novel, this is absolutely crucial. We’re also unclear who this other woman is–the dead bride. We’re also a bit unclear about how the plot unfolds. What the action of the book is. The end seems a little clichéd and generic. We don’t understand what “destiny can stake its claim, again.” means exactly. Again, a couple of physical descriptors of our hero and heroine would be great, so we can see them in our head. These details will help us to empathize with and root for them. Great comparable titles!