TEST
One of the first romances and the first time travel I ever read was Jude Deveraux’s A Knight in Shining Armor. This book made a lasting impression on me, in a good way. Since then I have come to realize that as a sub-genre, the time travel is a difficult one. Believable romances are hard enough without putting the forces of time and destiny to work. Unfortunately for this reviewer, Heaven’s Hero fell far short of it’s mark.
Nick Escavido is an ex-cop who decided to play hero and turn in some dirty cops. This cost him his job but it also seemed to cost him a bit of his soul as well. He seems to be a man in need of a miracle. His brother Ernie may have the answer. Ernie’s friend, Honoria, is now living in Renaissance Italy even though Ernie and Nick live in present day New York. Ernie believes that something is going on with Honoria, and in truth it is – her daughter is sick with Typhoid fever. With the aid of a magic mirror and an angel, Ernie and Nick go back in time. Nick goes along to keep an eye on his brother, but Ernie goes back to bring Honoria medicine.
Isabella Catherine Giovanni is tough as nails – and she has the chain mail to prove it. With all of her older brothers dead, it has fallen to her to keep her home from the Machiavellian hands of Luccio Landucci (I’m sorry but his name makes me think of every mafia movie I’ve ever seen). Isabella has reconciled herself to a life of virginity, knowing that the marriage bed isn’t for her. This is fine since she believes she is the Joan of Arc of our time. Isabella reminds the reader of this until I wanted to shout Okay, I get it! Nick and Ernie drop in just in time to save Isabella from Luccio’s clutches. Isabella, while drawn to Nick, is extremely distrustful of the brothers and remains so even after Honoria and her husband Dom vouch for them.
After a fight for Isabella’s home and a court appearance, she is given the option of going into the future with Nick. She takes it but Nick believes it’s only because Luccio beat it into the future as well. Both of them have feelings for each other but all I really saw was lust. For me, that’s not a good enough reason to leave the state, let alone the century.
When they get to present day, Isabella seems to take to English and shopping and the bathtub with astonishing ease. You get the feeling she thinks things are strange but she seems a little too accepting of her situation. There are the usual misunderstandings but the plot follows a pretty predictable and boring trail to the finale. By the end of it, I didn’t really care what happened. I was feeling confused and let down not only by the romance but also by the time travel aspect.
The mirror – or mirrors – used to send them back or forward in time is confusing. Is it the mirror itself or an angel sent from God that does the time travel deed? Because all the characters are Catholic and make a great show or proving it, the assumption is that they believe their traveling through time was destined by God. Perhaps this was all explained in Dom and Honoria’s story, Heaven’s Rogue. I’m not really sure, and even if it was, both books should be able to stand alone. I also never warmed up to Isabella and only to Nick in an offhanded way. More could have been done with his character, particularly in fleshing out his history as a cop.
Isabella was too stoic and obstinate for my liking. She knows absolutely nothing about the 20th Century, but blithely assumes she can track Luccio down. The connection or spark readers look for between hero and heroine was lacking – even the love scenes fell flat. The best parts of the book? I rather liked Ernie and it was kind of cool to see Leonardo Da Vinci pop up as a secondary character but all in all, I think I’d rather read Deveraux’s KISA.
Grade: D
Book Type: Renaissance Romance|Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 04/07/00
Publication Date: 2000
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.