Tag: time travel romance

ARC Book Review: A Time Traveler’s Masquerade (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance) by Sian Ann Bessey

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 296 pages
Author: Sian Ann Bessey
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: April 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Romance blossoms when Isla Crawford steps into McQuivey’s Costume Shop in London and is swept back in time to 1605, where she and Lord Bancroft attempt to thwart Guy Fawkes’s Gunpowder Plot.

One moment, Isla Crawford is inside McQuivey’s Costume Shop trying on a Jacobean-style gown for the parliamentary Autumn Ball, and the next, she is standing in an unfamiliar garden, barefoot, coatless, and at the mercy of a fierce storm. Confused, she seeks refuge in a Tudor manor, where she discovers that she has inexplicably traveled back to 1605, mere weeks before the culmination of Guy Fawkes’s infamous Gunpowder Plot.

Simon Hartworth, Lord Bancroft, finds his orderly seventeenth-century life disrupted when a mysterious woman appears on his sister’s doorstep during a storm. Intrigued by the stranger’s quirks and bewildering speech, he feels compelled to protect her and heed her warnings about a fatal plot against Parliament. As Simon is drawn into Isla’s dangerous scheme to stop the evildoers, he can’t help but also feel drawn to her.

With seemingly no way to get back home, Isla uses her twenty-first-century knowledge of the past to try to thwart Guy Fawkes and his coconspirators without altering the course of history forever. She and Simon must race to unravel the threads of the treasonous plot even as they wonder how their hearts will navigate their deepening connection and the seemingly insurmountable four centuries that separate their lives.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for the gifted ARC.

A GOOD READ.

I liked this one! It’s a quick and easy read with a lot of historical aspects. Flying back to the early 1600’s, Isla is taken in by Simon and his family. I loved the soft and supportive nature of Simon’s family and the trust they had in Isla and hopefully stopping a villainous plot.

There were some POV moments from Guy Fawkes and that did take me out of the story a bit. I didn’t think it was necessary to the plot line to get perspective so those parts stuck out to me most.

I enjoyed the soft romance between Isla and Simon. They were an easy pair to love. I adored all of the interactions they had together and watching them grow to care for one another. There’s some good suspense and I liked how the time travel aspects worked out in this book (aka it stayed mostly in one time period for the book which is my personal preference vs. going back and forth).

Overall audience notes:

  • Time travel romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: weapons violence

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Prom Night in Purgatory (Purgatory #2) by Amy Harmon

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Paranormal Romance
Length: 264 pages
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 12th, 2012
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Where does before end and after begin?

Johnny Kinross is a boy from the 1950s, a boy trapped in time, and Maggie is the girl who loves him. By some miracle and against all odds, Johnny and Maggie are given a second chance at life and love. But Johnny is freed from Purgatory only to find himself in a totally different time and place, in a world full of strangers. One unsolved mystery becomes another, and Johnny and Maggie must unravel the past to have any chance at a future. ‘Prom Night in Purgatory’ is the sequel to the love story that is unlike any other, where time is shifting and everything can change, and Maggie must fight for Johnny all over again.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN ONE BOOK.

As a MAJOR Amy Harmon fan I’m a bit bummed this one didn’t work for me like I wanted it too. My biggest issue was just that it felt like it should have been one book. Much of this plot was dragged out.

I did like the romance between Johnny and Maggie. I loved how they found their way together and the ups and downs of worlds colliding. There’s a lot of complexity with side characters too. And I didn’t love the ambiguity of the ending.

I don’t really have much else to say??

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Paranormal Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical abuse, attempted sexual assault, gun violence, murder, loss of life

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Fates Illuminated (Call of the Norns #1) by Aimee Vance

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Aimee Vance
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 26th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The dawn of Shelbie’s 31st birthday found her melancholy, adrift in a world where she felt bound to be always a side character, never the star of her own story.

All of that changed when she spontaneously booked a trip to Sweden with an itinerary full of hiking and horseback riding – two things that weren’t exactly in her comfort zone.

She expected to see the Northern Lights, nurse sore muscles, and, heaven forbid, pee in the woods. Those things she had time to prepare for, even if none of her preparations went as she had planned.

What she didn’t expect, though, was for her Fate to be tied to a much larger story, one that had unfolded long ago, and would immerse her in a world of people and things she’d only ever read about in novels.

BUT, VIKINGS?

When you think of a Viking book, what comes to mind? I’d say something with intensity, action and passion. I got maybe some passion here and I am missing out on the rest.

There was no conflict? Shelbie shows up at a different time, and every single person she meets is nice. Everyone is ready to help and she frolics around making birthday cakes and watching friendly competitions.

I DID love most of the side characters though. And would love to see more of them. A unique group of people who all were bringing something for the story. Even it wasn’t wholly moving the plot forward.

Romance wise, it’s a bit instant. I wanted more lead-up. Domari and Shelbie did grow on me but I think I’m supposed to feel more invested at this point. The ending left a lot for me to consider and enough so that I do want to give book two a chance. I’m curious how it’s going to go, hopefully well, and I’ll probably be back with another review soon.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open; low-med explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: small physical altercations

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Echoes of Time (Surviving Time #3) by Calia Read

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 321 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 25th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For Etienne and me, our love has always left a trace. 
It reigns over kingdoms, and rules over time. 
With Etienne now in the present day, the echoes of time grow louder. 
We must face the answers we seek to set things right.
However, we must be incredibly careful. One false move and everything we love will be destroyed.
And this time, could be the end of our surviving trace.
 
Echoes of Time is the epic finale in The Surviving Time Series.

ONE BOOK TOO LONG.

I think this would have been a great duology, but as a trilogy the plot was stretched too thin and this book didn’t have enough substance.

Most of the focus was just on the couple sleeping together? And I already skip over that, and when it really doesn’t feel apart of the plot it gets boring. I LOVE Etienne and Serene. They are fantastic together. I wanted more of them actually working with the overall story. There was another [spoiler redacted] sub-plot I was fine with, yet, once again, it took over too much of the story.

I liked that there were chapters from Nathalie’s perspective. She’s an underrated character and I would love to check out her story too (separate novel!). It also gave another side to the story so that things at least kept moving in some direction.

It was a fast listen, and it did have a good (and wild) ending. It was all satisfying by the last page.

Overall audience notes:

  • Time Travel Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door; high explicit
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: a loved one with a traumatic brain injury, physical altercations, murder, weapons violence

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph