Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Book review: TIME FOR LOVE by Emma Kaye

Title: Time for Love

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Date Published: October 19, 2013 Print / November 25 KDP Exclusive / March 7, 2014 World Wide Release

Genre: Time Travel Romance

Word Count: 92,000

Blurb:

Alexandra Turner will do anything to save her twin sister. Even when she’s transported back in time to Regency England. Rescuing her sister and finding her way back to her own time will take all her concentration. Falling in love is not an option.

With the death of his brother, Nicholas Somerville became the ninth Marquess of Oakleigh and must return to England to take his place in society. Part of his responsibility will be to find a wife. It never occurs to him he might actually discover a woman he could love—until he meets Alex on his voyage home.

Can Alex and Nicholas find a way to bridge the gap of time and circumstance? Can they overcome their fears to realize that true love transcends time? Or will a dark secret from Alex’s past rear up to separate them forever?

Excerpt:
Her gaze drifted to his mouth as he spoke, fascinated by the way the scar pulled slightly at the corner. She felt a strong urge to kiss that corner, to run her tongue along the seam and dip between his lips, along his teeth.

He turned away, and she blinked herself back to reality. She couldn’t believe the thoughts that kept popping into her head when she looked at him.

And she was going to be stuck on a ship with him for almost a month.

Dressed like a boy.

Wonderful.

He set off, and she rushed after him, thankful he couldn’t see the blush heating her cheeks. It was going to be a long month.

She caught up, practically jogging to keep pace with his long strides.

He looked her briefly up and down in an assessing manner that strained Alex’s nerves. “You don’t look like much of a sailor, and you’re too young to have any skill as a carpenter.”

She was surprised he hadn’t already uncovered her disguise. Her instincts warned her he wouldn’t be easy to fool, and she would be smart to keep her distance, even if distance was the last thing she wanted right now. Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if he decided she wasn’t qualified to work on his ship.

“You’re wondering what possessed him to hire me. Perhaps he took pity on me, or maybe I’m better qualified than I look,” she replied haughtily, and immediately wished she could take the last part back. Now he might think she had some sailing skill.

Review by Melissa Snark:

This is going to be what I refer to as a "drive by book review", which basically means that I was sucked into reading a book that I had no plan to review.  As with most of my drive by reviews, this book proved to be a time sink; I have no idea where my missing hours went or how it happened. 

I downloaded the story off Amazon during a free day. The author has been a guest on my blog but she didn't request a review or provide an ARC. I opened the first page to check out the writing and BOOM--spent the next several hours ignoring my own story due to compulsive page turning to find out what would happen next.

The Cover: OMG, LOOOOVE IT!

The Story: I note with amusement that this is a paranormal time travel romance. When you're married to a physics & math guy, time travel stories are the equivalent of a pint of dark chocolate gelato hidden in the freezer. I know it's wrong, but I don't care.

I found Emma Kaye's writing style to have overall good flow with occasional rough patches where I felt there was some telling going on. The cast of characters is complex and interesting, but dialogue had an overall modern feel to it. The plot held my attention throughout. I felt the author did a pretty good job of addressing the social inequities facing women in the past without getting preachy about it.

I liked the heroine, Alex, who is a competent modern woman with some believable confidence issues. Poor Alex finds herself in some hilarious situations as a modern woman confronted with historical social conventions. Her hero, Nicholas, is a ship's captain and English nobility from another era. He's a bit of a male chauvinist but in adorable and forgivable ways. 

I loved the interaction between the hero and heroine but I do have one complaint. Heat levels never exceeded more than a few steamy kisses. Damn it, that cover promised me ripped bodices and heaving bosoms! I really wanted more in the way of chicka-chicka-boom-boom.

The Happily Ever After ending left me with the same happy, endorphins-firing buzz as the aforementioned pint of chocolate gelato, but with a lot fewer calories. Recommended for anyone looking for a guilty pleasure.



Available for purchase:





Author Bio:

Emma Kaye is married to her high school sweetheart and has two beautiful kids that she spends an insane amount of time driving around central New Jersey. Before ballet classes and wrestling entered her life, she decided to try writing one of those romances she loved to read and discovered a new passion. She has been writing ever since. Add in a playful puppy and an extremely patient cat and she's living her own happily ever after while making her characters work hard to reach theirs.

Author Links:



Twitter: @emmakayewrites

Email: emmakayewrites@hotmail.com

6 comments:

  1. I love the idea of a time travel romance. Might pick this up! Thanks Ladies.

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    1. Kim,
      I believe it's still free today on the Kindle. That's a deal you can't beat.

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  2. i downloaded this - thanks for the advance "can't stop reading" warning. Enjoyed your review -

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ashantay. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. :-)

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  3. This sounds delightful! I love to read historical and Regency romance when I'm in the midst of writing suspense. Sounds like it's my cup of tea. ; )

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  4. I so enjoy time travel mixed with romance. The cover is a winner also. Best of Success!
    The Ocean Between – Romance for the True Romantic

    ReplyDelete