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deannasworld's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this collection of stories. They have been great for when I was short of time but wanted something quick and complete to read, and they were also perfect for times when I was waiting on an appointment or for the train.
The stories were all well written and well edited, although for some of the stories, the eBook formatting was a little off and some words ran into each other - not too much of a problem as I was able to figure out the words. As to the stories themselves, I enjoyed all of them, perhaps some more than others.
They were also great introductions to authors that I had not read previously and there are a few that I might go check out from having read their work here.
I can't review each story individually since it has taken me well over a year, perhaps even two to get through the entire collection, so the earlier stories have faded from my memory, but lots of Highlangers and hunky Scots - they seem to lend themselves to time travel stories well. I'm definitely planning on reading other "mammoth books" by Trish Telep.
The stories were all well written and well edited, although for some of the stories, the eBook formatting was a little off and some words ran into each other - not too much of a problem as I was able to figure out the words. As to the stories themselves, I enjoyed all of them, perhaps some more than others.
They were also great introductions to authors that I had not read previously and there are a few that I might go check out from having read their work here.
I can't review each story individually since it has taken me well over a year, perhaps even two to get through the entire collection, so the earlier stories have faded from my memory, but lots of Highlangers and hunky Scots - they seem to lend themselves to time travel stories well. I'm definitely planning on reading other "mammoth books" by Trish Telep.
hazelnutmuse's review
1.0
There were a few good stories in this anthology that would have brought my rating up if the rest hadn't been so awful. I know "romance" was in the title and should have warned me, but too many of the stories relied heavily on characters thinking "I know I just met you, but I'm soooo attracted to you, I think I love you" (which is just lazy writing - how about some characters with actual chemistry?!?). A lot of the stories started with a good time travel story, but as soon as the characters hooked up and declared their love, the story was over. I think I was looking for time travel stories with a dash of love story ... and less cross-century hooking up. If you're interested, get it from the library, read "The Key to Happiness", "Lost & Found", "St James Way", "Last Thorsday Next", & "The Walled Garden" and skip the rest.
prationality's review
3.0
For the record I've read 8 of the authors listed above previously. In the introduction by Telep she mentions how time travel romance flourished in the 90's and early new millennium, but how paranormal romance has sort of shoved it away. I tried to remember the last *new* time travel romance I had read and I believe it would be Gwyn Cready's Tumbling Through Time, which I only liked so-so. I know that Brenda Joyce had several with her Time Guardians series--which was also a so-so series in my opinion. If you count e-books, then Emma Lai's 'Mates of the Guardians' stories are also time travel (the Guardians protect time and such), both of which I enjoyed quite a bit.
So if you're like me you're wondering why I would buy a book about Time Travel Romance (when I should have bought the Vampire Romance anthology, or the second Paranormal Romance anthology) and the truth is that I want to like Time Travel Romances. I was unfortunately tainted by all the ones in the 90's however and grew very cautious of the concept.
Did I enjoy this anthology? At times. I was disappointed more often then not, and felt that some of the endings to the stories were too 'And you can guess what happens next' for my tastes. I'm shallow, I like my romances to end with something along the lines of 'happily ever after' if they're not going to end with 'and they all died'. Give me syrupy sweet or give me bitterly dark.
That said I did enjoy some of them--Gwyn Cready's "The Key to Happiness" was refreshing. In it a man comes back to stop the woman he loves from making a choice that will ultimately kill her spirit. She'll have everything she wants for years, but then one moment in time happens and her world crumbles around her feet. He offers her a choice--take the road you know will lead to success or take the road that may lead to lasting happiness. This was the perfect short story; it tied up loose ends, had development and tension, and didn't end as if it should have had three chapters more to it.
Conversely Sandy Blair's "MacDuff's Secret" is also an interesting read, but I think I would have preferred if it had been longer. Novel length perhaps. A young teacher in Scotland travels back with five of her charges to a Glen that is almost too good to be true. But for a woman who has always done what is expected of her, will she take the chance to have something for herself finally?
Sara MacKenzie's "Stepping Back" was a fun read, though the ending left me unsatisfied. A young woman with no past begins to dig up the history of young woman who had disappeared a century earlier.
Hands down the story I enjoyed the most was A.J. Menden's "Future Date" about a a dating site that measures who you're compatible with across time itself. It was quirky, it was a cute and it was witty--much like her Elite Hands of Justice books are.
For the vast majority of the other stories however they didn't hold my interest very long. Some started out interestingly enough, but soon got tiresome or annoying (Michelle Maddox's "The Eleventh Hour") and some just were boring period (Maureen McGowan's "Lost and Found").
Am I glad I read it? Yes, because these aren't the same sort of tawdry bits of fluff from the days of yore in Time Travel Romance Writing so they did give me hope. I just wish that more of the stories had held my interest.
So if you're like me you're wondering why I would buy a book about Time Travel Romance (when I should have bought the Vampire Romance anthology, or the second Paranormal Romance anthology) and the truth is that I want to like Time Travel Romances. I was unfortunately tainted by all the ones in the 90's however and grew very cautious of the concept.
Did I enjoy this anthology? At times. I was disappointed more often then not, and felt that some of the endings to the stories were too 'And you can guess what happens next' for my tastes. I'm shallow, I like my romances to end with something along the lines of 'happily ever after' if they're not going to end with 'and they all died'. Give me syrupy sweet or give me bitterly dark.
That said I did enjoy some of them--Gwyn Cready's "The Key to Happiness" was refreshing. In it a man comes back to stop the woman he loves from making a choice that will ultimately kill her spirit. She'll have everything she wants for years, but then one moment in time happens and her world crumbles around her feet. He offers her a choice--take the road you know will lead to success or take the road that may lead to lasting happiness. This was the perfect short story; it tied up loose ends, had development and tension, and didn't end as if it should have had three chapters more to it.
Conversely Sandy Blair's "MacDuff's Secret" is also an interesting read, but I think I would have preferred if it had been longer. Novel length perhaps. A young teacher in Scotland travels back with five of her charges to a Glen that is almost too good to be true. But for a woman who has always done what is expected of her, will she take the chance to have something for herself finally?
Sara MacKenzie's "Stepping Back" was a fun read, though the ending left me unsatisfied. A young woman with no past begins to dig up the history of young woman who had disappeared a century earlier.
Hands down the story I enjoyed the most was A.J. Menden's "Future Date" about a a dating site that measures who you're compatible with across time itself. It was quirky, it was a cute and it was witty--much like her Elite Hands of Justice books are.
For the vast majority of the other stories however they didn't hold my interest very long. Some started out interestingly enough, but soon got tiresome or annoying (Michelle Maddox's "The Eleventh Hour") and some just were boring period (Maureen McGowan's "Lost and Found").
Am I glad I read it? Yes, because these aren't the same sort of tawdry bits of fluff from the days of yore in Time Travel Romance Writing so they did give me hope. I just wish that more of the stories had held my interest.
wyvernfriend's review
3.0
Ho-hum collection of time travel stories. My favourite was probably Last Thorsday night by Holly Lisle (an author I like anyway). Often when I read a collection like this there are one or two new authors who intrigue me and make me want to read more by them, nope, every author I liked the story by was an author I already read. I suppose it's not helped by the fact that I really am not that interested in time travel as a trope and was wondering if it was just some of the books I have read about it, and no, it just leaves me cold.
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