Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Review: Touched by Time

One of the last gasps in an apparently disappearing subgenre- a traditional Regency, albeit one with a paranormal twist. Written by Leane Shawler and published by Zebra in 2005. I may have to look up Ms. Shawler's backlist, I really enjoyed this one.

Jane Leighton, normally a London jewelry store owner, has arrived at a B&B in present day Bath hoping to escape a tangled love affair gone drastically awry. Ramsay Chadwick, wealthy businessman & magistrate in 1812, is engaged to a beautiful young woman- who happens to be desperately infatuated with Ramsay's best friend.

Jane is given the B&B master suite as her room. That night she sees an apparition of Ramsay in her room- likewise Ramsay sees Jane as a ghost in his room. This happens several nights successsively until Ramsay touches her & suddenly Jane is live in the flesh in 1812. Jane manages to keep her cool better than Ramsay does when abruptly confronted with such a shock.

As the nights pass, Jane makes repeated trips back to Ramsay's time causing consternation & gossip among the Bath social elite. Will Ramsay resolve his engagement to a woman who doesn't actually love him? Will Jane be able to help him before his wedding day? Will Jane's ex lover let her go? How can Jane & Ramsay spend their lives together if they can only be together at night?

I enjoyed this little Regency romp with a ghostly gothic twist. It managed to meet all of the usual requirements of traditional Regencies yet add a twist that kept me happily involved.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just ordered this book today. It won't be sent until March 7th, when all the other pre-orders are scheduled to ship. But I'm looking forward to it.

THANKS!

Jen (who now has to box up even more of her TBR pile to make her office look less cluttered for potential buyers)

lost said...

Ooh, that book sounds interesting. I'm getting a copy. Thanks for the heads up.

Anonymous said...

Glad you liked it! I have a website, but I've only one other Zebra Regency, "Dangerous To Know". TbT was a blast to write. I had a lot of fun with it!