my favourite time-travel romance books
(that you probably haven't heard of before)
Welcome back, bookworms :)
The Wedding Witch Dicussion: Ch. 7-13
Ok, Carys is a bit dramatic and believes Declan is haunting her wedding. Bowen uses several swear words to describe the feeling of watching Carys run out of the room crying. And Tamsyn chases Carys into the pouring rain, wearing next to nothing.
It’s safe to say we have a cast of characters here.
“But he had never been in love. Never once until here, in this moment, standing in a freezing garden looking at a woman—a human—with wet hair streaming down her back, her skin pale and pebbled with gooseflesh. Someone who had come here to steal a jewel worth a life-changing amount of money, but who, when the woman wearing that jewel had vanished into a cold, harsh night, could only worry that that woman wasn’t wearing a coat.”
37% in, and we’ve got a (internal) declaration of love.
I have mixed feelings about it.
This is a short holiday, witchy romance book... In other words, we’re here for a good time, not a long time. The two of them had good chemistry from the start, and it might have been a little insta-lovey for me, but I looked past it since they put work boundaries up. On top of this book being under 300 pages, having a declaration relatively early is not a deal breaker.
On the other hand, I kind of wish it had waited until the 50% mark. Obviously, he has feelings, but we didn’t need a full love declaration that early. His calling her “the love of his life.” was also a bit of a jumpscare.
“Tamsyn went to stand, but her knees were still a little wobbly. Luckily Bowen was right there, a firm hand under her elbow as she staggered in her high heels, her stomach sinking.
Something was . . . wrong.
Bad wrong.
Magically wrong.”
The two realize that the ground is dry and Carys is nowhere to be found. Then they meet much younger versions of people they know from their own lives, and they officially conclude that they have time travelled.
Ok, so I love a time-travel romance. I went through a phase a few years ago (probably closer to 6) where I devoured any and every time travel romance I could get my hands on. The downside to this? 99% of time travel romances have a shirtless man on the cover. Why publishers decide to do that is way beyond me.
That being said, I did read a few good ones back in the day:
Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren
I am actually so tempted to re-read this one now because it was SO GOOD (apparently rated it five stars and a ‘favourite’ in 2017)
Cascade by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Torrent by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Hemlock by N.J. Layouni
A Slip in Time by Kathleen Kirkwood
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and Anthea Bell
Okay, I will say that I didn’t love this one, but I wholeheartedly believe that books are subjective because the reviews/ratings for it are really good.
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
More modern time travel (only 7 years in the past)
The Do-Over by Lynn Painter
Groundhog Day vibes, but I LOVED this one
“Hey, mate, no interest in your girl on account of my heart being very taken by this woman at my side, and also because your girl is my grandmother, hope you understand!”
Then we find out they are in 1957 at Bowen's grandparents' wedding—a wedding that his grandmother, Elspeth, had just called off. The internal dialogue between these characters had me grinning ear to ear—I love them. Bowen is in the romance stream of consciousness, Tamsyn references every time-travel movie, and Carys and Declan are MIA.
Enter the one-bed trope. Sue me, but I am a lover of a one-bed trope. Sure, they all basically sound the same these days and are predictable from a mile away, but I eat them up every time.
Bowen had me cackling the entire time and all his inner turmoil about sleeping in the same bed, while Tamsyn “appeared” to be perfectly fine to sleep next to each other.
“If I had to break my rule about sleeping with clients, I’m glad it was with you,”
Now, at 52%, we get Bowen's official declaration of love. THIS I am more okay with. The one-bed trope often does this since they are in close quarters, and one thing leads to another… hello spice…
Happy reading xx
- morgann
Have you read What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon? Time travel and 💘. Really luscious read.