Morna's Legacy Series (Scottish Time Travel Romance)

I love time travel and I love Scottish highland stories. With that being said, I must add that I enjoyed this series from USA Today's Bestselling Author, Bethany Claire. Morna, a witch from the 17^th century went forward in time to provide her family assistance from the future. Morna’s goal is to prevent a tragedy that would have killed her whole clan as well as aiding her male relatives in finding love. My favorites were books 1 and 3.

 

 "Love Beyond Time," Book 1, is Bri’s story. 21^st century Bri trades places with her look-a-like from the 17^th century. There is a struggle on both sides of time. Each trying to return to their own time (external struggle) and the “I don’t want to go, but I don’t want to be selfish” element (internal struggle). There is also the element of danger; no story is complete without a villain.

   

 "Love Beyond Reason," Book 2, wasn’t as exciting, but still good nonetheless. The villain from book 1 left behind a mess for book 2 to clean up. Book 2's villain sprouts out of this mess. It focuses on the 17^th century look-a-like, Blaire. There is more time travel and some twists. Bri’s friend, Mitsy, from the 21^st century is introduced. There is villain on villain betrayal. A clan shows its lack of loyalty and Blaire finally gets her guy. The most interesting part is the villain on villain betrayal and the hiccup in the match making department.

There is also a book 2.5 that tells Adele's, Bri's mom, story. I thought Adele would fall for Blaire’s dad, but the closer husband allows her to be closer to Bri. This is the one book that I did not read. It also had good reviews so don’t make my same mistake I did, check it out.

"Love Beyond Hope," Book 3, is awesome. It tells Mitsy’s story and her journey to the past. I love her character. The villain in this story is unsuspected and the author does a good job at not giving it away too early. It features a brother who is wrongly accused, a hardened heart that is softened and friends who are reunited. In the end, Mitsy’s new brother-in-law uses her trip back to the 21^st century to seek medical assistance which then leads to book 4.

"Love Beyond Measure," Book 4, moves kind of slow. It tells Eoghanan’s, Mitsy’s brother-in-law, story. Just when you thought, “no villain, just character struggles,” the villain appears. I fell in love with little Cooper; he is adorable, intelligent and insightful. By the end of the story, Cooper is Eoghanan’s stepson; their honeymoon spot is awesome (I would like to thank Bethany for that imagery). When everyone finally makes it back to the 17^th century, book 3 villain’s helpmate is waiting and wants revenge. Of course Morna is not having that; she makes a guest appearance in the 17^th century to offer assistance.

 "In Due Time," Book 4.5,  tells Jeffery’s story. Jeffery is Cooper’s dad. Confused yet? As I was reading book 4, I was curious as to how that would play out. I don’t want to give too much away, but Cooper gets to enjoy both his dad and step-dad in the 17^th century. If you want to know the details…read the book. Cooper, as insightful as ever, feels that his dad is lonely and seeks help from Morna. As a result, both Cooper’s aunt and her best friend end up in the 17^th century as well. A short novella to fill in the gaps as we await book 5.

What I didn’t like about this series is the lack of explanation for the 21^st century arrivals. While Bri’s story might fly, that doesn’t explain Adele or the presence of anyone else. By the end of book 4.5, there are 9 people spread between 2 clans who all come from the 21^st century. It’s unrealistic for anyone to believe the story of them being from "far away."

My only other complaint would be the character development of Eoghanan. In book 3, I pictured him as being a smaller, more fragile, studious-like person, although, it states that he is taller than his brother. Book 4 fully develops his character for me. Eoghanan gained body and strength in my imagination; His character developed both physically and emotionally between the two books. I saw the character traits from book 3 merge with the man in book 4; meaning that his character development was lacking in book 3 and more developed in book 4 in my opinion.

Overall, a good series! I would definitely recommend to my time travel and/or romance fans. They may have had unrealistic explanations for their presence in the 17^th century, but they were definitely entertaining.

Pictures copied from: http://www.bethanyclaire.com/love-beyond-time.php

Book descriptions can be found here also.

Tourist Trapped (Suspense)

I really enjoyed this book. It had some slow patches, but not enough to deter you. While it can pass as a stand alone book, it left me hanging. I wanted to know how the main characters relationship would pan out. It left them solving the mystery, but still facing danger.

 As soon as I began to feel a sense of phoniness with the responses they received while investigating, it began to become more realistic. I did however feel that the main character’s actions did not match her age, but hey…you're only as old as you feel. 

I’m not one to carry a grudge, nor have I experienced sibling usurping, so I know my opinion is biased, but I thought she was too old to still be feeling the “I hate my dad cause my parents divorced and that’s not my sister” thing. The author laid the issues on thick though to kind of validate her actions. Even if she felt it underneath, she was too old to be acting so petulant about it. The good thing is that the situation made her realize it wasn’t worth it. 

The author did a good job of betraying the main character, Amanda, as a hard-ass and she made me loyal to Chad. Good job with character development!

Patiently awaiting the next installment. There is an excerpt at the end for it and it is definitely a cliff hanger.

Book Description and Picture copied from: http://www.kjklemme.com/tourist-trapped/

Tourist Trapped: Book One in the Trapped trilogy

Crackerjack divorce attorney Amanda Sloane spends her life defending the soon-to-be-ex-wives of Chicago’s upper crust, but her orderly world begins to crumble when her estranged father persuades her to help search for the half-sister she’s resented for thirty years.

Amanda drags along computer-geek-turned-attorney Chad Cooper, and together they chase across the Yucatan, pursuing an ever-changing string of leads. On their trek through the tropics, the duo encounters treacherous alliances, attacks on their associates, and a deadline for a hefty ransom.

Amanda digs up more than clues when their search collides with the past she believed long buried. Old memories chip away at pretenses, threatening to crush Amanda’s carefully constructed life.

Time is running out. When the bullets start to fly, Amanda and Chad wonder: who will escape Cancun?