"Riveting, Sweet, and Hilarious!"
Love Spell's Wink and a Kiss series is back on track with
book number #3 AN ORIGINAL SIN, this is a 5 for me. I
love when both the hero and heroine time travel ,whether
it be together to the past as in Sandra Hill's DESPARADO,
or Terri Brisbin's A LOVE THROUGH TIME; or one traveling
back in time to bring their true love home to the future,
as in Lynn Kurland's A DANCE THROUGH TIME. This one was
even better. Both travel to our time, the year 2000, he
from 300 years in the past, she from 300 years in the
future. Both are fish out of water, for very different
reasons. What happens when a cosmic trouble maker gets bored? No
new major calamities to create? Plagues, acts of nature,
wars, locusts - He's been there -- done that. How about
something more subtle? He doesn't usually mess with
humans. They're so unpredictable. But what if ... Okay, so
he's decided to take the most incompatible couple of all
time, force them to fall in love, then cause them
eternal agony by tearing them apart and sending them back
home. This could be fun. Ah, but he doesn't count on the
power of love, OR the POWERS THAT BE. Leith Campell of the year 1700, is the ultimate lover of
women, a Scotsman who's witnessed the terrible massacre
at Glencoe, and a sworn enemy of all MacDonalds. Suddenly
he finds himself naked in a strange bed with Four two N
(Fortune), who has never even seen a real man. Fortune is from the year 2300, where a virus has rendered
men extinct. Cloning had rendered mankind homogenous and
apparently they didn't learn anything the Irish potato
famine *G*. It had been her vocation to create synthetic
men, made to order for purposes of pleasure. She prefers
calm and restfulness, in her emotions and her surroundings
(she thinks Leith's a barbarian). Oh yes -- and her
ancestors are MacDonalds. Yikes! As if it isn't weird enough that they've both awakened
someplace other than where they went to sleep, there's a
strange cat who's adopted them and just won't leave them
alone. Both being strangers to this time period, they
decide to stick together. Fortune believes that fate has
provided her the perfect man, and that her mission is to
take him back to the future for the salvation of the human
race. She is attracted to him, but as he has this higher
calling, she can not have him. He thinks he's been sent
here to teach Fortune the joys of love, as payment for his
many sins. He is appalled that she would take him into
slavery. Since they have no money, Fortune would have to hock her
Grandmother's Celtic cross for cash. Coincidentally *wink*
they meet a cabbie who owes Leith's late, look alike
ancestor a debt of honor. For that reason he decides to
help them. Blade (the cabbie) hooks them up with said
ancestor's widow. Professor Campbell had been digging to discern the true
events of the Glencoe massacre prior to his death. His
widow believes Leith and Fortune's story and she puts Leith
to work, telling his story. This solves their cash dilemma
for the time being. But that's the least of their problems!
There's the motorcycle thug who doesn't appreciate a new
warrior on his turf, Leith's confusion over modern
conveniences, Fortune's confusion about her feelings for
him, and his aversion to MacDonalds, to overcome. He
even refuses to eat at their "bloody restaurant"! Working together, they become more and more attracted
to one another. Fortune soon becomes doubtful of her duty,
but Leith still has a deep need go home and make things
right with his brother. (Uncomfortable with the killing at
Glencoe, he had freed one of the MacDonalds, who later
wounded his brother. His brother had branded him a traitor
to the clan and hadn't spoken to him since.) Yet he
realizes that he would have no life at all without
Fortune, even if it means becoming a love slave in the year
2300. Ah but let's not forget our cosmic trouble maker. When a
quest for their missing cat lands them back in the motel
where they met, they realize that they've run out of time.
Will fate rip them apart as planned, or will something
intervene on their behalf? What does the inscription on
Fortune's cross mean, oh and by the way who is that
mysterious Elvis loving ice cream man that keeps following
them around? Those are just some of the mysteries to be
solved in this wonderful debut novel. The story is
riveting, sweet and hilarious. I highly recommend it, this
review just can't do it justice. Note: If you want to get a feel Leith's time and
experiences, I recommend Lady of the Glen: A Novel of 17th
Century Scotland and the Massacre of Glencoe by Jennifer
Roberson (1692 massacre of the Highland MacDonald clan -- a
slaughter that took place during the campaign by King
William III of England to subdue the fierce chiefs of
Scotland). Copyright 1999
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted August 22, 2001
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