Bess McBride

In 2014, Harriet (Harry) Ferguson is engaged, but seriously doubting that she's made the right choice. It's becoming clear that, in any conflict at all between herself and Tom's mother, his mother is going to win. This isn't a loving son; this is a mama's boy. When they pay a visit to his mother in southeastern Arizona, she becomes more convinced than ever that this engagement is a mistake. Partly to have a few hours to herself, she visits the museum at Fort Huachuca, an army post dating to the 1880s. There she sees, in a diorama, a wax figure of a cavalry officer, handsome and strangely compelling to her.

She touches his face, and falls. Falls through time. She loses consciousness, and when she wakes, she's being shaken awake by the handsome cavalry officer from the diorama.

Lt. Daniel Thorn has been a cavalry officer for two years, and his duties include chasing after Apaches who have stolen Army horses. That's what he and his party were doing, when this strange, and strangely dressed, young woman inexplicably appeared in their camp. Now they have to turn around and get the very odd Miss Ferguson back to the fort and safely into the care of the doctor. She can't explain where she's from, or how she got there, and this amnesia clearly needs proper care.

What follows is a charming, and at times complicated, courtship. Among the complications: At first, Harry quite reasonably assumes this is all just a dream. Daniel is engaged to marry Emily Roberts, a mail-order bride he hasn't even met yet. The doctor, who is unmarried and has his sister as his nurse, also finds Harry attractive and charming. And even if Harry were to tell either of them the truth about where she's from and how she got here--once she believes it herself--how can they possibly believe her? What if they decide she needs to be in the 1880s version of a mental hospital?

Livening things up are Daniel and his retrieval party heading out again and getting captured by the Apaches, and Emily Roberts arriving unexpectedly because the aunt she lived with has died and the house is being sold, so she really had nowhere else to go.

Oh, and there's Daniel's blow to the head and subsequent case of amnesia.

It's a lot of fun. And as suspicious as I normally am of time travel romances, in both this one and the previous one, McBride has done well at making what her out-of-time characters are able to do or adapt to reasonable and plausible. Harry, for instance, is useless in an 1880s kitchen, and has to explain it as perhaps the family she "can't remember" is well-off and has servants. I don't mind suspending my disbelief. I really love, though, that once you grant time travel, McBride doesn't strain it to the breaking point, and I can just enjoy Harry, Daniel, and their friends.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the narrator, and am reviewing it voluntarily.… (altro)

Okay I admit it, I am crazy for historical romance books. I will drop everything to read historical romance. I have wondered why and the only reason I come up with is because it was a simpler time. Well this book is not really a historical romance, but it does has the simpler times with a historical gentleman.

I guess readers could say that this book has a twist. The twist is time-travel with a love that has lasted centuries. I know you are porbably wondering what I thought about this book. Well, IT WAS AMAZING! There I said it. I loved the flow with the characters.

One wanting to believe but skeptical, the other believing. One always questioning the other, one always trying to reassure the other. One that keeps saying it is not possible, while the other believes everything is possible.

Yes, this was an amazing book. I sit down to read it and before I knew anything else I was at the end of the book. I got lost between the pages.

Thanks for an amazing read Bess

The bunnies and I give this book 5 carrots.… (altro)

Free-spirited Molly Hamilton was traveling with her sister Sara, visiting old cemeteries in Iowa on a hunt for their ancestors. While Sara dutifully read tombstones during the search, Molly found herself on top of a small hill, and captivated by the wind, held her arms out as if she could fly, when she heard a man’s voice call her name. Shaken, she caught up with Sara, but as the two women headed to their motel for the evening, Molly was determined to return to the cemetery the next morning in hopes of discovering who had called her.

Darius Ferguson was thrilled at finally seeing his Molly again, standing on top of the hill as she had when she was alive. He settled down on the bench under the oak tree to wait to see if she would return; after all, he had been waiting since 1880, so a few more hours hardly mattered to him.

I love time travel. The thought of love strong enough to transcend time and space just fascinates me, and Molly and Darius had one of those wonderful romances, cut too short by Molly’s untimely death. Molly’s courage in completely changing her life, leaving Seattle and settling in Lilium, Iowa, based on her feelings, was fascinating. I appreciated that the house she found and fell in love with was the one Darius had built for her. This was a wonderful book, full of emotion, and I enjoyed it very much.

~ Bitten by Books for AReCafe… (altro)

Reviewed by Robin
ebook provided by Wild Rose Press

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book and will read it again. I love allot of the old classic black and white movies and one of my favorites is ‘The Ghost and Mrs. Muir’. This story by Ms. McBride reminded me of that movie. I know want it to come on AMC or TBS so that I can once again enjoy that ageless classic.

On an adventure to find family history Molly Hamilton and her sister Sara head out for Genealogical research to the Midwest. Molly finds a Victorian Home in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa. Sound familiar. Not sure why but she is drawn to this house and decides to impulse buy. Most of us would impulse by with clothes or another pair of shoes that we don’t need. But not Molly she wants this house.

In comes Darius Ferguson the original owner of the house. Now remember this is a 100 year old house. He shouldn’t be around but yet he is. Baffled how this handsome ghost shows up and Molly knows that she has always loved him.

Darius, an attorney in his previous life, deals with facts. Here he is transported to modern day Iowa and facing Molly who happens to look an awful lot like his dead fiancé. He just doesn’t have an explanation as to how he came from the 1880’s to the present. But there is a reason and he will find out. He thinks that maybe he is stuck in purgatory.

Molly thinks that Darius is simply crazy although she is drawn to him in a very strong way.

It starts in the graveyard, Molly having been there is drawn back and there she runs into Darius.

Having found my soul mate, I am a sucker for the kind of story that takes you on a journey into the depths and magic of what love can really be.

Who wouldn’t want someone that fights their way across time just to be with that special someone that will share their life forever? The type of love that truly stands the tests of time.

Ghost or real who cares?

The way Ms. McBride describes both eras has you feeling as if you actually were there in both times and that you may have done some time traveling yourself. The description of the home made me want to go find that cornfield so that I might be able to buy that home for myself.

A beautiful love story that takes us from one era to another…… (altro)