TEST
Although there is nothing truly horrible about Stay With Me, there is also nothing riveting about it either. Frankly, this time travel tale is about as ordinary as a book can get and it left almost no impression whatsoever upon me.
Sarah Tremont is finished with being a social worker since she can no longer handle the pain of being unable to help those in need. Throwing in the towel, she quits her job and winds up at the ocean where she loves to be. But something strange is in the atmosphere and, when a freak storm erupts, Sarah suddenly finds herself no longer looking at the ocean but on a dirt road with waves of prairie grass rolling beside her. Barefoot and confused, Sarah stumbles to the only visible building – a plain, small cabin. When a hunk of a man comes to her aide, she faints into his arms.
John Beckett just wants a normal life, farming his land in peace. Yet peace is far from John’s mind when his sister-in-law shows up on his doorstep. Sarah was the one subject that caused many a fight between his deceased younger brother and himself and, after his brother died, Sarah took off with her late husband’s money. But since John gladly let Sarah leave just to see the greedy witch out of his life, he now believes that the only reason she is back is that she has run out of money. But Sarah is acting anything but normal and John cannot help but wonder what she is up to.
Sarah is immediately attracted to John and is grateful when he takes her in, but, oddly enough, he talks to her as if he knows who she is. Even more bizarre, John doesn’t seem to like her very much. It is only after a short time that Sarah realizes she ain’t in Kansas anymore – in fact, somehow Sarah has been transported to the Wyoming Territory in the year 1888. If that isn’t strange enough, Sarah looks exactly like John’s long, lost sister-in-law and they even have the same name! Apparently this other Sarah (or Sarah one, as she is called in the book) was not a very nice gal. Sarah tries to not take it personally when everyone seems to hate her, but the cold shoulders are starting to grate. The only thing that wonderful, virginal Sarah can do is to try and get back to her own time and help those in need while she is at it. When the coach comes rolling into town, you better bet your knickers she’ll be on her way to California and, hopefully, back to her own time.
John can’t help but notice that Sarah is acting mighty strange and in ways completely opposite of the woman he knew. She claims to have changed and that she wants nothing from him, but how can John trust her when she was so devious in the past? Unfortunately, the more time he spends with Sarah, the more he is attracted to her and John has no desire to be attracted to the woman responsible for his brother’s death. But when Sarah runs into danger, soft-hearted John must come to her aide.
I didn’t particularly hate the plot or the characters in Stay With Me, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the novel either. The problem lies in the fact that there is nothing original and nothing new in the premise. Further, the characters are stereotypical, complete with a beautiful prostitute with a heart of gold, a virginal and perfect heroine, a troubled hero (although I’m not quite sure why he is troubled), and a slightly mentally handicapped ex-slave whose innocence makes him more intelligent than most. Sarah also accepts her inexplicable time travel much too easily. Additionally, there is little depth to John, who pretty much spent the book seeming confused and brooding about this new Sarah. The blurb on the back of the book promises an exciting, real cowboy, but I found John to be rather ordinary as a hero.
I have certainly read worse books than this and there isn’t anything I absolutely detested about the book, but there is also little emotion gleaned from the characters or the plot and that is the worst offense of all. If you enjoy time travel stories and have nothing else to do, you might want to pick up the book to occupy your time – just remember it is a far cry from a keeper.
Grade: C-
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 04/02/05
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.