Living Canvas by Karla Brandenburg

A chance meeting on a train...or was it?
A painting that holds visions...of love or insanity?
A necklace...is it the secret to her future or the answer to a missing girl two decades past?
Heart sore Audrey MacDougall, a PR event planner, meets the tall and handsome Greg Ellison, a freelance photographer, on a train from Manchester, England to Inverness, Scotland.  Both are from suburbia Chicago, Illinois traveling on business, but the similarity does not end there.  He approaches her with a familiarity that seems to have transcended time, and she feels it too.  But even her exceptional intuition will not explain the mysterious landscape painting that arrived upon her arrival home.  When she touches it she is enters the three dimensional world of the painting, and Greg is waiting for her, wanting her as much as she has wanted him.  In real life, when he does see her, the feelings are strong and heated followed by unexplained periods of absence. With the interference of her over-exuberant best friend and neighbor, Cynda, some signals are crossed that deter the progress of their romance.

 While on her trip her new boss, the pompous Braden Templeton, does a hostile takeover of Jefferson Jones and she is in constant turmoil waiting for her pink slip.  Meanwhile, he is showing interest in the necklace she wears, and so is Cynda's fiancee' Evan, who breaks into her home in search of it.  Templeton is also very interested in the B&B Audrey and Greg are purchasing. He has her followed.  Cold case detective Forbes is watching Audrey and the necklace also. He is waiting for Templeton to make a mistake that will implicate him in the 20 year old case of a missing girl.

I read this well written book in one sitting on a Saturday morning.  Our author presents us with a well constructed quilt that puts together pieces you would not expect, but present a beautiful piece of work.  Intrigue, time travel, mystery and romance and some dreams fulfilled for a cast of delightful characters. I am so pleased to be introduced to Karla Brandenburg.