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I had high hopes for this book, I really did. The back cover touts the book as a gentle love story about a woman who gets along better with animals than people, and teaches the hero to love. I adore these types of stories. Unfortunately, Untamed Time doesn’t deliver the goods.
The story starts when Rafe Stricter, a career soldier, and his gravely injured comrade are forced to find shelter in a cave when their latest covert mission takes a deadly turn. One explosion later and they’re no longer in modern Bolivia. They’ve been catapulted back in time to 1874 Sierra Nevada – and they’re no longer the only ones in the cave.
Lorilie is one of the “Gifted.” She has an affinity with nature and animals and because of this she is feared and hunted by her neighbors, the Ketchums. This family of vile men have destroyed Lorilie’s life, ruined her home and murdered her beloved grandfather. When they give her an ultimatum – she must tell them where her grandfather hid his gold and become the son’s whore or she will die painfully – she fakes her death. She has taken refuge in a shelter while she awaits the chance to escape with her friend Marica, a healer, and another of the “Gifted” people. It’s there she finds Rafe and his wounded friend Craig.
Rafe thinks “Lorilie had hugged one too many trees” when she tells him the year, but since Craig needs immediate medical attention, he doesn’t ask any questions when she volunteers to help. They travel to Marica’s home and leave Craig there so he can get fixed up. Rafe goes back to the shelter with Lorilie. At this point, the book was moving very slowly, but I still had high hopes.
Disappointingly, the pace never picks up. These two strangers have nothing in common except their sexual attraction. She abhors killing and he’s a trained killer. This difference in lifestyles becomes a major hurdle in their relationship. They talk very little and when they do have a conversation it inevitably ends in an argument that has Rafe stomping off in anger or Lorilie running away from her emotions. When they finally break down and make love I was so bored by all of the fighting that I didn’t even care. It didn’t help that they still hadn’t resolved anything at the time. Also, the bulk of the book consists of a tiresome cat and mouse chase with the nasty Ketchums, which really hindered the development of the relationship. The other stumbling block to my enjoyment was the unsympathetic hero. The author portrayed him as a bitter, hardened man but never showed any reason for his crabby attitude. There were no secret tragedies to endear him to me. All of his minor miseries – his career choice and lack of a long-time lover – were of his own making. When Rafe finally began to appreciate the beauty around him the story was nearly over and it was much too late. Lorilie was easier to like but never truly came alive. The near the end she does something foolish that causes a plot twist that I had anticipated miles away.
The secondary romance between Marica and Craig was much more enjoyable. She was an older woman with a heartbreaking past and he, also a military man, was a sweetheart rather than a bitter guy. They are off stage throughout most of the book, but when they appeared I was riveted. Craig won me over when Rafe told him he thought there was a way to get back to 1998. Craig replied,
“To what? I didn’t leave anything in Bolivia. Choosing between staying here and going back is a no-brainer. I’m sure as hell not dying in Bolivia when I can live here with the woman I love.”
Sigh . . . if only Rafe had the sense this guy did he and Lorilie might actually have gotten along.
I don’t usually complain about a book being too long but this one was. The wonderful premise and neat paranormal twist were buried beneath the lackluster plot. A bit more humor to lighten up the gloomy tone, some quality relationship building time with the lovers and a lot less of the Ketchums would have made Untamed Time a much more enjoyable read.
Grade: D+
Book Type: Time Travel Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 01/02/99
Publication Date: 1999
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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.