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"A wonderful Scottish timetravel"

Brian Skelley has been working in the United Kingdom for the past year as part of an exchange program with the US Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expert. When a training exercise literally blows up, he awakens to find himself in the year 1301, where he is taken to what should have been the ruins of Kilbeinn Castle. Except instead he finds a village and a very enchanting miss.

Caira doesn't have time to deal with the deranged man that two of her clansmen bring back for her to heal. With the death of her husband and father she has a castle to run and the English to keep away. However, the man whose odd clothing identifies him as a storyteller does bring some joy back to her people with his fanciful stories.

While adamantly denying he is both English or a member of William Wallaces' men, Brian decides the best thing for him to do would be to try and recreate the explosion that blasted him into the past. Getting involved with Caira isn't something he should do, but when he learns her secrets and her fears, he can't help but get involved.

A BLAST TO THE PAST is different with our hero going back in time rather than the heroine. So as a reader we get to experience a unique time travel all together. Brian is a man of strength and honor thrust into a situation he isn't really prepared for as a supposed storyteller. I really think its funny to think about how our movies today are just fanciful tales and the idea of retelling them to a group of people who live in a time of knights in shining armor is funny. The two clansmen Malcom and Callum are a hoot as they bicker their way through the story over whether Brian is a member of Wallace's renegades.

Caira is a woman desperately in need of a miracle if she is going to keep her clan and home safe. Getting used to the dialect took me a while and I found myself reading it out loud; but the brogue is consistent throughout the story and was easy enough to pick up. Ms Farmer has written a wonderful novel that combines time travel and Scottish history that shouldn't be missed! While her previous two novels were light and fun, with A BLAST TO THE PAST she has proven her ability to weave an enchanting tale.

Reviewed by Cynthia Eckert
Posted March 31, 2004

The bomb went off, and US Navy explosives technician Brian Skelley figured he'd been blown to Kingdom Come. Instead, he'd been blown to fourteenth-century Scotland--and into the arms of the most beautiful woman ever. But was she worth getting involved, trying to stop the historic cruelty of the English? Could he give up his career and stay in another time? Was it wrong to introduce these people to explosives?

Caira Mackenzie hadn't time for marriage; she'd been too busy protecting herself and her people at Castle Kilbeinn. But when the dangerous stranger dropped into her life, he ignited something inside her. Brian was a type of warrior she'd never seen, and his strength was unquestioned--but could she trust him with the secrets of her clan and heart?

One thing was sure: The whole adventure would end with a bang.