"One of the best Time-Travel Romances"
It takes a special sort of Romance writer to do Time-
Travel. Today's readers are a tough crowd and are eager to
pick apart problems within a book. Time-Travel is so tough,
because no matter how well you do it, you have to engage
the reader into the story so completely, that they are
willing to stop with the questions, suspend belief and
follow you into the world the writer has created. Time-
Travel is so luring, so many plays on the today vs. then,
the characters out of element, that it's nearly
irresistible to toy with. But only the best should sally
forth, because it's likely one of the hardest categories in
romance to gain any solid respect. When a writer reaches
that level of their craft then they are a force. And Tess
Mallory should sit up there with the top names when
mentioned for Time-Travel. She draws on the endless fascination of Crop Circles for
this tale. They hit the news back in the early 1990's and
the intrigue is just as strong today. Despite that, they
are not new. Crop Circles have been written about for
centuries in nonfiction, documented. So Mallory was smart
to tap into that phenomena. And boy does she! With - what
struck me as it came out - as the best Time-Travel I have
ever read. I recently picked it up again to reread. Her
current Highland Magic was just out and I wanted to compare
styles, to see if CIRCLES IN TIME held up and was as good
as I remember. It was. Kendra O'Brien is an investigative reporter living in USA.
She is pulled from the assignment she is currently on by
her editor. Since her editor is also her uncle, she has
little choice but to do as her Uncle Mac orders. Mac fears
Kendra is thrill-seeking, repeatedly putting herself into
danger, maybe with an eye to "if death finds her, so be
it". He is scared by this and is determined to put a stop
to it. When she steps into a hostage situation, Mac is
convinced her pushing the envelop to get the story is
really a silent death-wish. There is solid reason for this.
Kendra's husband and child died in a car accident. So uncle
Mac sends Kendra on a "safe" assignment to England to
investigate a rash of Crop Circles. Kendra thinks this is
an insult to her talent, but when facing the ultimate of
Crop Circles or unemployment, a nice jaunt over the Pond to
check out what the fuss is about seems the only
alternative. Instead, she finds herself transported through time to the
12th-Century Britain. Once there she finds the man she was
destined to love: Navarre de Galliard. Sigh! One great
hero, Navarre is a little rough on the edges, but he is a
true knight in shining armour. I won't dare reveal any more to prevent spoiling this
beautiful, wonderful story. Navarre is pure dark hero magic
and he faces the dastardly Garick, Sheriff of Nottingham.
You meet Robin Hood and his merry men. Mallory conjured
Merry Ole England and history, woven it into a tapestry of
a red-hot romance. Straight historical romance readers will
admire Mallory's strength in this department; lovers of
Time-Travel will enjoy this fresh voice and solid vision of
a very talented writer. I read this when it came out. It impressed me then. I read
it again just before Highland Magic's release and was
impressed all over again! Very highly recommended. Posted September 24, 2005
Reviewed by Deborah Macgillivray
Posted November 21, 2006
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