Laurel Bradley

Of the 4050 books I have in my personal library at this time, I have reviewed very few of them for librarything. I just finished reading "A Wish In Time" and decided that I HAD to type up a review while it's fresh in my mind.

I truly enjoyed this novel. It was the type of book I did not want to put down. The main characters of the book are two husband-wife couples, one in 1718 Scotland, the other in modern day New York. Due to an unfulfilled wish of one wife, she and the other wife are switched in time and place (think "Wife Swap" done over three centuries' time). The story revolves around how the women adjust to their new time and place and how the mixed couples adjust to one another.

Each wife is aware, in growing degrees, to the reality of the switch. As the switched couples learn to live with one another there are some sexually charged scenes, tastefully described (though certainly still for adults rather than being appropriate for children). I do not enjoy explicit details of another person's sex life being spelled out in a book; I avoid such things. This, however, reads true to how a romance could work in real life, without the "gory details".

There is also a repeated use of one swear word (sh*t), also used in a realistic way rather than gratuitously.

This book is a mix of romance, science fiction/time travel, and philosophy. I like books that make me think, and this story raises some interesting questions about how we determine who we are (does a person who loses his or her memory cease to be that person?) I am fully able to suspend reality while reading a fictional story; I find no problem in accepting the unexplained in this story (how did the wives travel through time?) The descriptions of the longings of an infertile couple's tries to conceive echo what I've seen in real-life couples who have been through that struggle. Though I do not know enough about 16th century Scotland to verify that the descriptions of farm life are realistic, they certainly seem to be possible, and are comparable to what others have written about that time and place. [Aside: My ancestry is Swedish through and through, so I am a bit amused at how much I enjoy reading historical novels about Scotland!]

By the end of the book I felt the story was full and complete, albeit short (177 pages). Certainly there could have been a longer version written, with various characters and scenarios developed more -- but I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much, and I don't feel that the story, as is, was lacking. I would certainly welcome the chance to read more about the same characters, either as a prequel or a sequel.

I'd not read anything by Laurel Bradley before this read in 2012 (the copyrights on "A Wish in Time" are 2006 & 2008). I purchased this book for a quarter at a library sale (always a risk, though a cheap one), and am happy to be able to add it to my bookshelves. I will look for more works by Ms Bradley also.… (altro)

Taylor Wilson married Phil because he was handsome and had the same interests as she did, but apparently she didn't know everything about Phil. Something fishy was going on....her house didn't blow up on its own, Phil wouldn't have taken money from the security box without telling her, Phil definitely didn't spell his name with two L's, and Phil definitely wouldn't have left and not gotten in touch.

Taylor had to find Phil and find out why he just disappeared, and she also needed to escape the clutches of the FBI who were protecting her. FBI? Phil Missing? Something certainly wasn't right and it definitely was something sinister. The hints Taylor found and the text message that Phil sent "had" to be clues of Phil's location. Taylor did escape from the FBI and tried to follow the clues to where she thought Phil might be, but she couldn't find him.

As she was running from the FBI, she didn't realize someone else who was very dangerous was looking for her and was known to her husband. The book focused on Taylor's following the clues she believed her husband had left her and on the FBI's solving of murders that all seemed to be connected, but how? There had to be someone on the inside giving the "bad guys" information.

The book was a thriller and was filled with secrets, evil people, people who really were not who they said they were, lies, hatred turned to revenge, many twists and turns, and of course murders.

TRUST NO ONE was fast paced and kept you guessing until the end. There were a few things that were somewhat farfetched, though, such as how Taylor escaped in her van, evaded the FBI, and rode on a snowmobile to Notre Dame. There also is some sensitive subject matter, but on the whole, it has a terrific storyline. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge by STORYTELLER PUBLISHING in exchange for an honest review.… (altro)

I'm a little embarassed to be posting a review on this one, but I read it as part of my local library's "Read Around the Library" program, and I needed something to cover...yes...Romance.

I am not the least bit ashamed to admit that I chose this book - after spending as little time in the Romance section as possible - because it was short, and there wasn't a picture of a naked man on the cover.

and surprisingly enough, I didn't hate it. I didn't love it either, but not knowing much about Romance writers, I found myself reading it more as a "historical fiction" novel than a romance - and as a lover of historical fiction, I thought it was well developed.

Short summary - Magda lives in 18th century Scotland, Maggie lives in 21st century New York City. Is Maggie Magda reincarnated? You decide. But through the brief addition of a witch, Magda and Maggie switch places in an attempt to help Maggie get pregnant.

Yes, pregnant. Guess you can figure out where the romance part comes in. But it was very mild. I blushed once or twice, but the descriptions of their intimacies were very small and sporadic - and entirely secondary to the progress of the story.

Reviewing this as fairly as possible, I think the reason it doesn't rate higher is that a little too much was thrown into this rather small book (under 200 pages) that a lot of it was not given proper development/examination. Time travel (with the addition that time moved faster in one time than the other), witchcraft, procreation, etc. Any dedicated Fantasy fan will find this falls flat - you just have to accept things (i.e., Magda knows how to play Maggie's flute because Maggies BODY remembers how to play the flute even though Magda doesn't know the notes, how a modern flute works or even how to read music). But, it's not a fantasy, it's romance, so just take it for what it is.… (altro)