Read January 2020.
Welcome to a far future where time travel is the remit of an elite group of highly trained operatives from the Tempus University. Their job is to research and monitor the past to ensure the future remains stable, and if necessary, they will take action to correct timelines which seem to be going astray - even to the extent of erasing whole chunks of history.
Isobel, imprisoned after a car accident in which a small child was killed, is offered the chance of freedom if she agrees to undertake a dangerous mission to put right a timeline which has been inadvertently knocked off course.
The mission involves going back to France of the Middle Ages and persuading a young nobleman, whose descendants are destined to become the Bourbon Kings, not to run off and join the ill-fated Eighth Crusade.
The chance of freedom proves to be one Isobel cannot ignore and she grabs at it with both hands, even though success will mean that she has to live out her life in the thirteenth century and failure could lead to herself, and history, being erased.
How hard can it be to persuade the mind of a hot-headed youth? Well, as it turns out, nigh on impossible! And so Isobel embarks on a journey that will change her destiny in most unexpected ways...
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I am always a sucker for a time-travel adventure, and one that offers such a rich historical setting as this one does is always going to be a winner with me.
Going back in time does have a pretty vital part to play in the premise of this book, and be assured you will find yourself pleasantly mulling over the loops and consequences of Isobel's mission, which is one of things I find most enjoyable in such stories. But Jennifer Macaire quite sensibly does not dwell too much on the hows, whys and wherefores of the actual mechanics of the time-travel element. Although we do learn some bits and pieces about how things stand in the future that Isobel inhabits - enough to tell us that the world she is used to is very different to the one which is destined to become her new home - this is not a science fiction novel.
It is the past that matters, and drawing us into the past is where Jennifer Macaire's skills as an author really shine. Her uncomplicated writing style is able to completely draw you into France of the Middle Ages. The sights...the sounds...even the smells are described so well that you can almost imagine you are there by the side of Isobel as she tries to navigate her way through a reality she has previously only experienced through the pages of a history book.
The period detail shows that Jennifer Macaire has done her research for this book - one of the things I always enjoy in historical fiction. There is so much about how people lived during this time, not just where they lived. It was also fascinating to read about the danger presented by the rising power of the Catholic Church and how this was changing the attitudes of the population. I loved that she took the time to add a section with her notes about the history behind the tale too, so we could see how the story not only fitted into the time period in which it is set, but also showed the events that followed.
On the subject of humour, the excerpts from the Tempus U handbook at the head of the chapters - giving pithy little snippets of advice about the world Isobel has been sent back to - did make me chuckle. At each stage, Isobel found it necessary to completely go against most of this advice in pursuit of her mission, which was beautifully ridiculous.
I found this book to be utterly charming and became so invested in Isobel's tale that I raced through it in order to find out how the story ended - I and can tell you without the need for spoilers that I was very happy with the result!
A Crown in Time is set to be the first in a new series by Jennifer Macaire, called the Tempus U Time Travel Series, and I am looking forward to reading more.
Thank you to Jennifer Macaire and Headline Accent for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
A Crown In Time is available now from your favourite book retailer, or via the links below.
Waterstones
Amazon UK
Amazon.com
Amazon.au
From the cover of the book:
In the far future, a convicted criminal is given a chance at redemption.
Her mission? To save the crown of France by convincing a young noble not to join the ill-fated Eighth Crusade.
But nothing goes as planned, and Isobel finds herself accompanying a hot-headed youth on his way to fight the infidel in Tunis: a battle Isobel knows is fated to be lost.
From the rainy villages of medieval France, to the scorching desert of Tunis - Isobel faces her destiny and tries to fulfil her duty, knowing she can never return to her time, knowing that a wrong move can doom the future, or doom her to be burned as a witch.
About the author:Jennifer Macaire is an American living in France.
She likes to read, eat chocolate, and plays a mean game of golf. She grew up in upstate New York, Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. She graduated from St Peter and Paul High School in St Thomas and moved to NYC where she modelled for five years for Elite. She went to France and met her husband at the polo club.
All that is true. But she mostly likes to make up stories.
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Thank you for your lovely review and for hosting my book on your blog! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
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