TEST
A Love Beyond Forever is rather a mixed bag. At times it made for good reading, but when the romance turned into “the awakening of a young witch,” I wondered where the entertainment had gone.
Kristy Sinclair, an up-and-coming, modern, young career woman, is thrown back through time with the aid of a witch’s “scrying” mirror, which she felt mysteriously compelled to purchase at a New Age store. With the aid of the mirror, the moon, and a suitably dark and ominous-feeling evening, she travels to Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan England and right into the inn room of Jared Ramsey, deposed Earl of Ravenswyck and, of late, a smuggler. One of the inn’s employees sees the mirror before Kristy has a chance to hide it and she is immediately suspected of being a witch. An alarm is sounded throughout the countryside for her capture. The mysteriously beautiful but strangely attired woman who appears in his room intrigues Jared and he knows Kristy is now in serious danger and appoints himself her savior. They depart the inn through prerequisite secret passageways and a romance is born.
Jared and Kristy had an oft-times winsome and appealing relationship with some good sexual tension. Jared was particularly effective as a man struggling between loving a woman of the future and being grounded in the realities of his time. More than once, he found himself wondering about Kristy, with her “scrying” mirror and purse full of 20th century goodies. He could be a bit petty at times but his heart was in the right place. Kristy was a bit of a whiner but when Jared was captured in a round up of smugglers, she steadfastly pursued his freedom. Kristy, until she traveled back through time, was actually a very powerful witch totally unaware of her own powers.
Cromwellian England is a distinctly interesting setting for a romance novel. It was a fascinating period in England’s turbulant history, and the witch paranoia and witch-hunts are often forgotten amidst the political turmoil of the time. However, it is at the point where the time travel and the witchcraft overlap that Jared and Kristy’s story starts to get murky. It seemed, however unintentional, that a story about Kristy and Jared evolved into a story about Kristy and her previously unknown witchcraft abilities and other evil witches, such as the persistent Gwyneth Trefoil, who were trying to catch a ride on her broomstick.
When the local witches with evil designs on Kristy’s power try, amidst red-tinted fog with swirling sparks, to lure her into their coven, the story seemed to go astray. Another possibly good read hurt by a secondary sub-plot! What doesn’t help the book either is the sloppy copy editing. Every so often, words were obviously missing from the text of the story. While not the fault of the author, this was a problem nonetheless.
There are those who will probably like this book, but it was missing something as far as I was concerned especially in its treatment of the relationship between Jared and Kristy. It went back and forth between being good and so-so, often within the same page. Jared and Kristy had a good thing going, but too many witches spoiled the brew.
Grade: C
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 01/05/16
Publication Date: 1999
Related Reviews
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.