Sandy M’s review of Roses in Moonlight (dePiaget/MacLeod Series, Book 25) by Lynn Kurland
Time Travel Romance published by Jove 10 Apr 13
The backbone of Lynn Kurland’s romance is, of course, the time travel, the romance, her characters, and her writing style. She’s so very true to her style – you know exactly what you’re going to get when you open one of her books. I’ve found, however, with the last few books in this series, that her characters come out only lukewarm once in a while. But with that in mind, those characters still have a chivalry, loyalty, and honesty about them, no matter the era they originate from. Thus is the case with this story.
Samantha is the child of two fairly successful parents who think of her as their slave rather than a daughter. She’s been under their thumbs all her life, and it’s time to rebel. With the help of her brother, Samantha takes on the job of house sitter for an English couple for the summer. Freedom at last! And, heavens, does that freedom take on a life of its own. Just as Samantha is getting used to her new employer, surroundings and upcoming duties, she’s sent to London to deliver a package. That’s when her feeling of being watched isn’t just a feeling anymore, when she realizes the same man shows up everywhere she goes, even though he’s trying to be someone different each time.
Knowing he’s about to get his man – or woman in this case – Derrick Cameron’s current job is nearly completed. Following Samantha to her end destination to grab both a stolen antique piece of lace and the ones involved in its theft will be a job well done. But once he comes into close contact with Samantha and listens to her explanations, it’s the first time in seven years in working with Lord Robert Cameron in their business, Cameron Antiquities, that he’s been wrong. On top of that, he has to follow her back in time, where she hides the lace, since she doesn’t know she’s time traveled. Thus, a return trip is eventually necessary.
And that’s one of the things that doesn’t work for me this time around as it has in most of the previous stories. Though the second trip to the past is full of surprises and a bit of action, it’s not enough for me. That’s the charm, along with the writing, that makes Lynn Kurland’s books so wonderful to read. I also enjoy when the hero and heroine are from separate time periods, giving some fun conflict along the way. Derrick and Samantha come from different worlds, yes, and they work well together once suspicions are dealt with, but those worlds aren’t nearly as far apart as they could be. I do like Derrick. He’s been in the lists with Jamie MacLeod, so he knows how to handle a sword, as well as travel through time with great success. Samantha is also quite likable. She doesn’t hold back when something needs saying, she’s smart, and she thinks before she runs headlong into most trouble. But they both come just short of comparing to earlier couples in the series.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a good read. It is Lynn Kurland, after all. There’s just a little something missing that keeps it from the same level as her other books.
Grade: B
Summary:
Escaping into the past…
Derrick Cameron, antiquities dealer and adventurer, is furious when the priceless piece of Elizabethan lace he’s been pursuing slips right by him, in the improbable custody of a mousy textile historian! But he will retrieve it, even if it means dragging a very skeptical, albeit adorable, Samantha back in time with him. After all, he is used to living dangerously—in whatever century he finds himself.
Conscientious Samantha Drummond never dreamed the package her British employer gave her would lead her into places an ordinary gal should never go—like Elizabethan England!—or throw her into the company of one extremely attractive, but highly suspect Highlander who not only thinks she’s a thief, but insists on involving her in his mad schemes to retrieve his stolen treasure. can lead you straight into your future…
Trapped first in Elizabethan England, then caught in a web of modern-day intrigues, Samantha and Derrick are forced into an unlikely alliance by peril, never imagining that what they’re forging is a timeless love….
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