Book 59, 2015
Oct. 8th, 2015 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
On my afternoon break at work, I finished reading Everything In Its Time by Dee Davis. It's from Jove's "Time Passages" line. I used to snap those books up as soon as I found them. Now, I couldn't even tell you if Jove still has a "Time Passages" line or not.
:D
The story follows modern-day Katherine St Clair, who experiences one night of passion with a stranger while on holiday in Scotland. In the morning, Katherine feels the entire experience was a dream, but she is missing one earring, and she has some (ahem) marks that could only have been made by a lover. In the fifteenth century, Iain MacKintosh is haunted by the memory of one night spent with a remarkable woman. All he has to remember her by is an earring...
After Katherine returns to the States, she continues to have dreams of her fantasy lover. Finally, years later, the dreams are becoming more vivid, and she is compelled to return to Scotland to solve the mystery of what really happened that night. Accompanying Katherine is her brother Jeff, who is eager for his sister to lay this madness to rest.
Of course, Katherine ends up returning to Iain, but this time, she is determined to stay where she feels she belongs. Iain has returned to Duncreag after years away, due to the death of his father. He is surprised to find Alasdair Davidson and his sister Ailis in residence, but he has no time for them when Katherine finally appears again. The two of them share an idyllic few weeks, but then Katherine is abducted, and Iain has no idea where to look for her.
Meanwhile, back in the future, Katherine's friend Elaine has traveled to Scotland to join her friends, only to learn from Jeff that Katherine has disappeared. The two of them come to the conclusion that Katherine must have traveled back in time. They find a letter that Katherine wrote to Jeff and hid behind a stone in the fireplace at Duncreag. The letter indicates that she shared a great passion for Iain, then was kidnapped, and Iain died while trying to rescue her. Because she was pregnant, Katherine consented to marry Alasdair, and while her life has been loveless and filled with hardships, she wouldn't change a minute, because she loved Iain so dearly. Jeff is unwilling to let things stand, and he manages to go back in time, as well. Once there, he and Iain set out to rescue Katherine, using clues from the letter she'd written.
Katherine is eventually recovered, but not before being mistreated by Alasdair. As a result, she slips into a catatonic state, and Jeff convinces Iain that Katherine needs to return to her own time to heal. Next thing we know, carefree-Katherine is out of the hospital with selective amnesia. She's blocked out the bad memories of Alasdair, but she also blocked out both trips to Scotland, along with her memory of Iain. Since we had to have our HEA, Katherine's memory does return, and she hies herself to Duncreag post-haste, returning once and for all to Iain.
I used to love time-travel romances, and I still find them interesting, but this one annoyed me on too many levels. First of all, we learn that there is a legend in Katherine's family of a woman who mourned her lost love for her entire life. Of course, it was Katherine, which can only mean she was her own ancestor. That's just crazy. Second, when Jeff went back in time and helped Iain rescue Katherine, they changed history, but the author never really touched on it. Third, even though Katherine took a beating from Alasdair, she fought back bravely. Although he brutalized her, he didn't rape her; he was on the verge when Iain arrived, just in the nick of time. To me, it seems excessive that Katherine would have slumped into a catatonic state over that. It's not as if she was being beaten and raped repeatedly for weeks; she was still fighting right up to the point that Alasdair had to shove her away to engage in battle with Iain. And then, how convenient that she forgot everything about the most important person in her life. Really? The author could have nicely ended the book with Katherine's rescue, then left her and Iain to their HEA while Jeff returned to the present-day and forged a life with Elaine.
It was a good story, a compelling tale, and I was ready to give it a solid four out of five, but too many things aggravated me; therefore, it gets three out of five.
♦♦♦
:D
The story follows modern-day Katherine St Clair, who experiences one night of passion with a stranger while on holiday in Scotland. In the morning, Katherine feels the entire experience was a dream, but she is missing one earring, and she has some (ahem) marks that could only have been made by a lover. In the fifteenth century, Iain MacKintosh is haunted by the memory of one night spent with a remarkable woman. All he has to remember her by is an earring...
After Katherine returns to the States, she continues to have dreams of her fantasy lover. Finally, years later, the dreams are becoming more vivid, and she is compelled to return to Scotland to solve the mystery of what really happened that night. Accompanying Katherine is her brother Jeff, who is eager for his sister to lay this madness to rest.
Of course, Katherine ends up returning to Iain, but this time, she is determined to stay where she feels she belongs. Iain has returned to Duncreag after years away, due to the death of his father. He is surprised to find Alasdair Davidson and his sister Ailis in residence, but he has no time for them when Katherine finally appears again. The two of them share an idyllic few weeks, but then Katherine is abducted, and Iain has no idea where to look for her.
Meanwhile, back in the future, Katherine's friend Elaine has traveled to Scotland to join her friends, only to learn from Jeff that Katherine has disappeared. The two of them come to the conclusion that Katherine must have traveled back in time. They find a letter that Katherine wrote to Jeff and hid behind a stone in the fireplace at Duncreag. The letter indicates that she shared a great passion for Iain, then was kidnapped, and Iain died while trying to rescue her. Because she was pregnant, Katherine consented to marry Alasdair, and while her life has been loveless and filled with hardships, she wouldn't change a minute, because she loved Iain so dearly. Jeff is unwilling to let things stand, and he manages to go back in time, as well. Once there, he and Iain set out to rescue Katherine, using clues from the letter she'd written.
Katherine is eventually recovered, but not before being mistreated by Alasdair. As a result, she slips into a catatonic state, and Jeff convinces Iain that Katherine needs to return to her own time to heal. Next thing we know, carefree-Katherine is out of the hospital with selective amnesia. She's blocked out the bad memories of Alasdair, but she also blocked out both trips to Scotland, along with her memory of Iain. Since we had to have our HEA, Katherine's memory does return, and she hies herself to Duncreag post-haste, returning once and for all to Iain.
I used to love time-travel romances, and I still find them interesting, but this one annoyed me on too many levels. First of all, we learn that there is a legend in Katherine's family of a woman who mourned her lost love for her entire life. Of course, it was Katherine, which can only mean she was her own ancestor. That's just crazy. Second, when Jeff went back in time and helped Iain rescue Katherine, they changed history, but the author never really touched on it. Third, even though Katherine took a beating from Alasdair, she fought back bravely. Although he brutalized her, he didn't rape her; he was on the verge when Iain arrived, just in the nick of time. To me, it seems excessive that Katherine would have slumped into a catatonic state over that. It's not as if she was being beaten and raped repeatedly for weeks; she was still fighting right up to the point that Alasdair had to shove her away to engage in battle with Iain. And then, how convenient that she forgot everything about the most important person in her life. Really? The author could have nicely ended the book with Katherine's rescue, then left her and Iain to their HEA while Jeff returned to the present-day and forged a life with Elaine.
It was a good story, a compelling tale, and I was ready to give it a solid four out of five, but too many things aggravated me; therefore, it gets three out of five.
♦♦♦