Official Description:

After returning from Italy, Bella’s not sure if she can still love Edward. The next morning, she awakens in an unimaginable time and place: Houston, 1862. When she encounters a member of the Cullen family as a human, how far will she follow her heart? B/J

Word Count: 100.024

Coming into my third year of reading fan fiction I am always appreciative of a writer who can surprise me while still retaining much of the original canon. Nauticalmass has done just that with her Jasper/Bella fic Leaves of Grass. She has combined elements of my favorite genres: romance, historical and paranormal/fantasy. Anyone who knows of my current addiction to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series would not be surprised that I would find this fic right up my alley.

She develops this romance sensitively and doesn’t use the demonizing of Edward to make the romance between Bella and Jasper ‘okay’. In this story Bella’s character evolves in a way that she never got to in the original series. She matures and becomes a young woman who questions her choices. She is no longer the starry-eyed teenager.

“You’re right. That’s not the issue. This isn’t about who’s a vampire and who’s a human; there’s another imbalance. I realize that you’ve been around a lot longer than I have. You’ve seen things and learned things that I can only imagine. However, when it comes to being in a relationship, we’re both starting from the same place. But, you refuse to let us be equals. I don’t know if that refusal comes from your age, your ability to read minds, or from some innate, stubborn superiority complex.”

I stopped pacing and finally looked at him, but I couldn’t tell anything from his expression. “There has to be an even give and take in a relationship. I know you can’t hear my thoughts, and that’s hard for you, but I can’t hear yours either. Instead of letting me see how you feel or telling me, you shut yourself off. You even try to protect me from your feelings.”

“Is it so wrong to want to protect you? To want your life to be better?” he asked, standing up and coming toward me but stopping a few feet away.

The story begins in New Moon immediately following the return from Volterra. From this point on the plot takes a very interesting twist backwards in time where Bella meets a member of the Cullen family when they are both human.

As I sat up in a huff, I looked around the room. I was still sitting on a sofa, but instead of black leather, it was covered in green velvet and surrounded by an assortment of small, carved wooden tables covered in oil lamps, stacks of books, and a chess set. Was this Jasper’s study? Looking at all of the rustic antiques around the room, it clearly wasn’t decorated by Esme.

The walls had warm, dark paneling, and there were thick lace curtains on the windows. They let in daylight but were too thick to see through from where I was sitting. I was surprised to see an upright piano across the room; I didn’t realize any of the Cullens other than Edward played. I could smell the faint traces of a wood fire burning somewhere and was confused. I didn’t remember a wood-burning fireplace anywhere in the house.

I was examining the rug on the floor when I noticed what I was wearing: a blue and white gingham full skirt with a matching bodice.

“You have got to be kidding me. Alice, what in the hell am I wearing?” I angrily whispered, knowing if she was anywhere in the house she would hear me.

Just as I was about to stand up and figure out where I was, a woman I didn’t recognize—a human woman!—swept into the room, her skirt swishing the floor.

“Rise and shine, my dear,” she sang at me, smiling.

Was I still dreaming?

“Who are you, and why are we both dressed like we’ve stepped out of Little Women?”

Needless to say Bella is a little disconcerted and thinks she is having a very vivid, very crazy dream. As she moves through the ‘dream’, she tries hard to overcome her confusion with her ironic inner voice.

They all looked to be in their early twenties to mid-thirties and were wearing the same type of full-skirted ensembles as Millie and I. They murmured their hellos and picked up what looked to be knitting. I honestly hoped that no one expected me to knit, as that wasn’t a hobby Renée ever tried to force on me. I looked expectantly at Millie.

“I know you’ll be needing to knit at some point; I cannot fathom how you escaped learning how to do it before now. However, for today, I hope you don’t mind helping with a dull task: combing more wool,” she said, pointing to a pair of baskets on the floor next to the table. One was heaped with what I assumed was wool with a pair of combs on top, and the other was empty.

“Like this, dear.” Millie showed me, sensing my confusion.

Only I would have dreams where I would be faced with something like combing wool. How did I come up with this?

As the ‘dream’ continues, Bella is busy observing and trying to figure out where in her subconscious she dug up this scenario.

I was trying to do what Millie showed me with the wool, but I kept sneaking looks around the bright kitchen filled with pots, baskets, and herbs hanging from every available piece of wall space. I wasn’t paying much attention to what the women were saying until one of them said my name.

“Bella, when Millie has spoken of you, it has been with so much kindness, but we have yet to hear your full story. How is it you came to Houston?” Lottie asked. All three women put down their knitting and looked at me questioningly.

Oh, no. This was the part of the dream when I would look down and see I was in my underwear.

“I . . . um . . .” I swallowed.

She participates in this crazy ‘dream’ world with customary practicality. She lets Millie show her around, eventually heading to a family event when something so unexpected happens.

Turning back the way we came, I saw the back entrance to the kitchen was blocked by a line of people waiting their turns at the refreshment table, so I decided to go through the front of the house. Once I squeezed my way to the porch, it appeared as if the number of people gathered had doubled since we first walked through. I looked around for the easiest path to get to the kitchen, and just as I started to move forward, I tripped.

I slammed into the back of a man standing in front of me. As he turned to steady me, I gasped, finally positive all of this was a dream.

“Jasper?

Eventually Bella stops trying to ‘wake up’ from her dream and realizes that she has actually gone back in time. Here is where Bella’s canon characteristic of being so accepting of paranormal phenomena becomes useful. Instead of freaking out, she goes with the flow, trying to absorb whatever message or lesson she is supposed to gain from her experience.

But this isn’t just a time travel/paranormal story, it is essentially a romance. Nauticalmass has created a believable (well as much as the fantastical elements can be believable – LOL) scenario for this to develop. It is both sweet and hot and I was captivated by it.

There is a slow and realistic build to their relationship and some sensational UST.

As we slowly started moving to Emily’s music, I had to stop myself from actually counting out loud. After I managed our box a few times, Jasper gently led me to the side. Soon, we were rotating around the room, and I was amazed I hadn’t stumbled or stepped on his feet once.

“You’re doing it,” Jasper whispered, smiling from ear to ear.

I really was. I, Bella Swan, was dancing. Dancing well. I couldn’t believe it.
“I am. I really am!” I exclaimed as we spun around laughing.

“Yes, you are. You’re dancing. You’re . . . beautiful,” Jasper said, squeezing my waist as the song ended.
We stopped moving, but Jasper didn’t drop his hands or my gaze. Then his eyes slowly traveled from my eyes to my lips.

Bella falls slowly and inevitably under Jasper’s spell. Against the backdrop of Civil War Texas and the fear and pressure that war-time brings, she gives in and remembers Alice’s words to her about opening her heart to possibilities.

He remained quiet and still, but I couldn’t stop saying his name after each kiss. “Jasper, Jasper,” I sighed as I rubbed my nose down the side of his. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I pushed you away. I love you. I love—”

Then it was Jasper’s turn to cut me off as his mouth crashed against mine. It was not a timid kiss or one filled with hesitation. He wasn’t asking my permission, and he didn’t have to; everything I was belonged to him. I could feel every bit of longing and passion coming from him as he drew me closer against him. The kiss was slow and delicious and made me forget there was even a time when I could have imagined not being in love with him.

As sweet as this love story is, there is a reckoning to come and a return to present day Forks with all of the resulting complications. Nauticalmass is able to make sense of all this without the reader wallowing in angst for anyone.

It was real, not a dream. I didn’t make it up; I didn’t make him up.

“You remember,” I whispered in amazement, looking into Jasper’s eyes. I thought I was going to cry. I had never been as grateful for anything as I was in this moment.

“Yes,” he sighed, tightening his grip on my waist slightly. He looked incredulous and as shaken as a vampire could appear. “It’s remarkable. I’ve never been able to remember much about my human life at all—for so long I even avoided thinking about it. Now, it’s as if a veil has suddenly lifted. My memories of you are as strong as any that I made as a vampire.”

Nauticalmass has done an absolutely stellar job weaving historical fact into this story. The historical, cultural, social and literary references add a rich layer to this story. It moves from present to past and back, from vampire to human and back in a way that pulls the reader in and keeps you turning the pages wondering how this will play out. I urge readers to give this great story a try, yes, even you E/B shippers. Best of all is that it is complete.

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