TEST
My first reaction after reading this book, was to package it back up and return it to the author with a note telling her I can’t, in all fairness, review her book. It isn’t ready for publication yet. However, when I discovered this book is already available and can be purchased for money – your money – the rules changed, making an honest review of this book justifiable, even though I feel like a worm doing it.
The issue here is not really whether Dreams of Yesterday is a good book or a bad one. The issue is more that any person with the tools and the time can publish books electronically. What does this mean to writers? This new medium allows writers who may have been turned down by publishing houses because the topics of their books may not have fit genre-of-the-moment, a place to showcase their work, and sell it anyway. What does this mean for readers? Readers are going to have to wade through a lot of unproofed, unedited, first-draft quality, unprofessional piles of pyrite to find the gold.
Dreams of Yesterday is just such an example. While the historical aspect of the book is fascinating, entertaining, enjoyable, and even educational, the book is riddled with typos, odd turns of phrase, confusing scenes, and storyline inconsistencies that several heavy-handed swipes by a good editor would have caught. Even in the age of electronic publishing, the rules of good writing must still apply – writing is not putting down words on paper then pronouncing it done. Writing is re-writing, and re-writing, and re-writing; polishing, polishing some more, re-reading, re-writing, and still more polishing. From reading Dreams of Yesterday, this process was not applied prior to making the book available for purchase.
The basic storyline is this: Sarah Tawes, a museum director from the 20th Century, is transported without explanation to 1777 where she meets Silver Wolf, a three-quarters Lenape (it is never explained that this tribe is more commonly known as Delaware) who is in the process of avenging his father’s death. This is a Time-Travel/Colonial/Indian/Quaker (that’s right) Romance. The time-travel element could have been left out entirely, for the focus on the historical aspect of native Northeastern Indians would have been enough to deal with.
The problems I had with the book are too many to address, so I’ll present an excerpt and you may judge for yourself whether or not this is a book you’d like to try:
“You are so beautiful,” he said while licking and teasing her navel.She needed to possess more of him than just his scalp lock. Her hands found the flame that would feed and quench her ache.
He moaned softly, “This is the drink of life,” he said, then claimed her womanhood.
She shifted so his manhood stood directly over her. Without hesitation, she took him.
Sweet moments of ecstasy bombarded her and sent a hail of wonderful sensations careening through her, but her goal still stretched beyond her reach. Releasing him, she whispered, “Make us one.”
Moments later, he buried his shaft deep within her moisture valley then covered her face and ears with kisses. She bit his shoulder to keep from crying out and lifted her buttocks to give him greater entrance. Shards of pleasure shot through her as she soared to the heavens and exploded like a falling star.
“E–e,” he said softly, then shuttered and collapsed on her.
She kissed his nose. “That was wonderful.”
He raised his upper torso, supporting himself with his arms, and lightly bit her chin. “You are a wild cat.”
“And thee is the ‘Tom’ that I’ve longed for.”
Oddly, when the author addressed the historical aspect of the Lenape, the story took on some interest. Overall, however, I’m sorry (and I am), Dreams of Yesterday just did not work.
Grade: F
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 14/05/98
Publication Date: 2001
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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.