RaineDay2014

BLURB: In modern day Manhattan, preservationist Susan Lennox saves history for a living. Her long-standing battle with developer Joe McGowan brings a fragile Bowery rowhouse to her attention, and she's as determined to protect it as he is to tear it down. During an inspection, Susan discovers just how unique the property is when she comes across a frightened and apparently homeless man bearing a tale of time travel neither she nor her brother Neil believes—until they find they themselves have traveled three days into the future. 

Professor Robin Winfield learns too late the mistake he made in agreeing to help Joe's great-great-grandfather, Victor McGowan, decode a family journal connected to the rowhouse, a place once used as a laboratory for electrical experiments. When Robin is inadvertently transported one hundred and twenty-six years from home, Neil and Susan take him in, hoping to get him back where he belongs before anyone else learns of his presence. But Victor's will has already spilled those beans and Joe thwarts the attempt to send Robin back—only to end up trapped with Susan in 1887. 

Broke and homeless in the not-so-ideal past, Joe and Susan struggle to find common ground—and they aren't the only ones, as Neil and Robin join forces in a desperate search to rescue Susan before Victor figures out the secret to time travel. But a secret Victor's keeping is the one destined to change the future—Neil and Susan's—for all time to come.

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SUMMARY REVIEW: An uneven but still entertaining historical / time travel romance.

REVIEW:

Tamara Allen is the author of one of my favourite M/M historical novels, ' Whistling in the Dark ' a subtle, sensitive and completely delightful read. I completely admire the finesse of this writer's work. With regards to this new work I have to confess that in general historical novels are along with time travel among my least favourite genres within the M/M romance world. ' Blue Skies ' is a slight departure from her previous works in that it has both a m/m and a m/f relationship.

I found that while I enjoyed the gradual buildup to Neil and Robin's re, I couldn't connect with Susan and Joe in the same way. I thought Susan was a strong well written adversarial character, but Joe felt less likely as a partner for her; their initial antipathy towards each other and the whole opposite attraction didn't quite harmonise for me. Indeed this was the slight problem I had with this book, for everything I admired; fluid descriptive writing or nuanced historical detail, something slightly off key; irritating lightening restricted time travel and dizzying use of it, threw the story into unevenness.

The creation of a historical New York was particularly successful, the details and atmosphere are to be relished. Susan's painful adventures in the past were particularly effective, but were given too much time in the overall scheme of things. The built in tension of the time travel plot kept me turning the pages, I particularly liked the way things were resolved and would have liked more time to recover with the main characters post the sensational happenings.

I received this book as a free copy in exchange for a fair review. I would grade this as 3.75 rounded up to 4.