Monday 9 January 2017

Fated Memories - Joan Carney

Fated Memories
Joan Carney 

A woman, a war, a vision of the future past...

Burdened with the scars of a tortured childhood and a shattered romance, Kitty is being forced to resign from the dull, anonymous job she’s been hiding behind. With her life in shambles and her friends moving on without her, she jumps at her cousin, Maggie’s, invitation to visit. However, Maggie’s new boyfriend, Simon, has a secret that accidentally hurls the trio a hundred and fifty years into the past. Trapped in the midst of the bloodiest war in American history, the events that unfold will require more mettle than Kitty’s ever had.






Please Pass The Books Review:

If there's one thing Kitty, Maggie, and Simon won't be denied, it's the ability to use the phrase "Blast from the past" literally. Fated Memories by Joan Carney is a time-travel romance, set during America's Civil War. Simply written and wonderfully narrated, it is the characters Kitty and Maggie who steer an instantly engaging plot. The descriptions are extraordinary…

"It was early September, and Kitty couldn’t wait for this miserable Indian summer to end. The foul odor of garbage filled the hot, sticky days, and the only life in the muggy night air came from the abundance of biting insects that drove everyone mad."


I liked that Maggie was a woman aged in her thirties, and not the usual wonder-teen who dazzles with remarkable maturity--although readers who appreciate a younger heroine will find enough angst to fit the bill. It's tough to make time-travel believable, but Carney does a good job of at least making it satisfying. Where Fated Memories shines is in its historical detailing, which are woven naturally into a well-paced and active storyline. This is a relatively quick read for such a fleshed-out story, but it's not light. There are some very vivid, very violent moments that will force a reader to take pause, but once immersed, there's nothing that will make a reader want to put it down.

FIVE STARS


A transplant from the concrete sidewalks of New York City to the sunny beaches of Southern California, Ms. Carney enjoys writing stories about women who are strong—whether by nature or circumstance—and the men who love and respect them for who they are. Things that make her happy are rainy days (too much sun is a bore), writing the perfect first line, family get-togethers, reading books that grab her heart, and finding new connections in her genealogy research. Bold coffee and dark chocolate fuel the artistic fire inspired by her family, friends, and psycho, lizard hunting cat.




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