TEST
This was a book that I fully expected to and wanted to enjoy, but as the story progressed, more and more reasons not to like it cropped up.
Jackson Alexander Kilchurn IV is outrageously wealthy in the year 2005. After a night at haunted Seakirk Castle, he heads for Artane Castle in his lovingly restored ’67 Jag. The model isn’t specified (is it the S-type 420 sedan or the uber-sexy XK-E sportscar?), but that detail, including other more important details, was left out. He reaches Artane, but in 1227 rather than 2005.
The incomparably beautiful and fabulously wealthy Amanda de Piaget of Artane has been rejecting suitors for years. She wants someone who will marry her for herself, not for her money. Of course, the successful suitor himself must be wealthy and titled – wealth alone isn’t sufficient – or her father won’t approve.
It takes Jake a while to figure out he’s traveled back in time, but he has no trouble at all adjusting to 1227. He’s always liked camping out and trekking through the jungles in search of precious stones for his business of designing ultra-expensive “baubles.” (The reference to the stones was what drew me to this story, but there’s almost nothing about them on its pages. Indeed, the book is short on a lot of details.) So he settles in to learning Anglo-Norman French and adding swordplay to his self-defense skills.
Dreams of Stardust is part of Kurland’s continuing saga of the time-traveling de Piaget family. I could have got around all the secondary and tertiary characters from past and future books and even the bizarre, contrived, and totally unrelated to anything else in the book ending, had I ever felt solidly into Jake and Amanda’s story.
But this is really Jake’s adventure. He spends most of his time learning the sword-fighting skills of a thirteenth century knight…so he can acquire Amanda. Eventually he makes plans to return to 2005 to retrieve enough wealth to buy land and a title and thus have the right to marry her. Beyond that, he never spares a thought for what the reaction to his disappearance in 2005 may have been, even though his life there was not without its complications.
The attraction between Jake and Amanda is instantaneous and taken for granted and not based on much of anything. Fate? Magic? I’d prefer good old lust, but even that was missing in this two (or maybe three at the most) chaste kisses read. Sexual tension? Romance? Affection? Common interests? Liking each other? Learning to know and love each other? Sadly, the answer for this reader was “None of the above.”
While Jake learns swordplay, Amanda dresses in her brothers’ clothes and “investigates” (we’re never really told what she investigates) and mopes a lot, she practices her own sword fighting skills and cries a lot, she walks on the parapet and cries a lot, she runs laps around the lists and cries a lot, she plans a lot of escapes and cries a lot. Unfortunately, the one thing she doesn’t do a lot of is interact with Jake.
There is absolutely nothing about Amanda to suggest that she was born and raised in the thirteenth century. She doesn’t even much question the restrictions that would normally have been placed on a woman in her social position – she simply ignores them, and no one in her family seems to care very much either, like her brothers who indulge her with teaching her swordplay. Yet while Amanda could easily be one of the most annoying lead characters I’ve ever encountered, I also found her frustrations understandable and wished the author had explored her personality more in the book. In many ways, I saw her as a tragic figure, and I found it very difficult to believe marriage to Jake would satisfy her. He found himself perfectly at home in 1227; I wondered if perhaps Amanda would have been happier in 2005.
Another disappointing aspect of this book for me – though perhaps not for other readers – was the commonplaceness of the time travel itself. A portal here, a portal there, a fairy ring somewhere else. Kind of like a paranormal subway system that anyone could ride on. I wanted the time travel to be special, truly magical, with a sense of wonderment. It came across, in this book at least, as just, well, convenient.
Those readers who have read other installments in the de Piaget saga may find Dreams of Stardust a worthy addition, as it details the story of a character – Amanda – introduced previously in the series. As a stand-alone volume, however, it did not provide an engaging romance read, because this was less about Amanda and Jake and their relationship and more about Jake alone. This wasn’t a bad book, just a very disappointing one.
Grade: D+
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 07/06/05
Publication Date: 2005
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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.